FYI Philly checks out the Chinese Lantern Festival, Summer day trips and fun
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Chinese Lantern Festival lights up Philly with culture
The Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival is in its sixth year of shining a light on the city.
The giant light sculptures consist of more than 30 different displays with 1,500 different lanterns.
This tradition of Chinese culture comes to Philly each year with a different theme.
This year the focus is on nature - with animals, birds, and plants everywhere.
Two different dragons are each longer than 100-feet, and traditional Asian entertainment acts take to the stage. Folk artists will be on hand to make crafts that visitors can then purchase. Food and drinks are available in the Dragon
Beer Gardens, with cuisine from Sang Kee, Oishii, and SquareBurger. The park will close at 5pm daily for Festival setup, and reopen at 6pm for Festival admission.
Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival | Facebook | Instagram
Franklin Square Park
6th & Race Streets, Philadelphia, PA 19106
open nightly through Aug. 13, 6-11 p.m.
Delco chef making meals that heal at Ox's Way Food Truck
When the Ox's Way food truck hits the road, owner Jorge Lopez is dishing out comfort foods re-imagined with healthy fruits and vegetables.
He makes everything from fried enoki 'chick'n' sandwiches and avocado fries to Portobello mushroom Mac n cheese and fab cakes and steaks, which is his version of a crab cake but made with hearts of palm and artichoke hearts.
By sharing the food, Lopez hopes to take others on the same healing journey that he experienced.
He says he was a jumbo baby (nicknamed Ox by his dad at birth) and only got bigger as he grew up.
By 2011, he weighed 425 pounds, had early signs of Type II diabetes and his blood pressure was "through the roof."
He joined a kettlebell gym and started researching nutrition, learning specific foods that could help alleviate specific conditions in the body.
When he was down 150 pounds, he launched Ox's Way Food Truck and started spreading the gospel of healthy living.
He has a cafe and kitchen in Havertown where he makes meals for what he calls his heal plan and he makes cold-pressed juices for cleanses.
At 6-foot-3 and now a healthy 212 pounds, Ox describes himself as "a fat guy that fixed his relationship with food," and now he's hoping to help others achieve the same results.
Ox's Way | Facebook | Instagram
28 W. Eagle Road, #101, Havertown, Pa. 19083
Funplex brings amusements and super summer splashes all summer
This local destination for fun is second to none.
The Funplex in Mt. Laurel has a lot to offer for a full day of family activities and entertainment.
The outdoor section features amusement park rides, mini golf, and a waterpark complete with slides, tubes, and pools.
Cabanas offer privacy and shade, each with a television, fan, and fridge.
Head indoors for the arcade, bowling alley, go-karts, and more rides.
With food options offered throughout, you get a fun-filled experience for kids of all ages.
The Funplex | Facebook | Instagram
3320-24 Route 38, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
856-273-9061
open 7 days a week
A trip to Jim Thorpe
Pocono Mountain Network takes us on a trip to Jim Thorpe to get a view of the outdoors as well as indoor fun at their various shops.
What's old is new again at Beaty American architectural salvage business
Bob Beaty has spent much of his life working to reduce, reuse and recycle.
In 2014, he started his current architectural salvage business called Beaty American.
"We go into buildings that are being demolished or renovated, older buildings, and then salvage, pull out items," he says.
Beaty says it's beneficial for business and for the planet since these reclaimed items "could probably have a new home instead of going into a dump."
He co-founded more salvage companies in California before heading back to Philadelphia. Beaty has collections of hardware that they've acquired on different projects, along with building joists and flooring.
There are reclaimed items for both homeowners and contractors. About a block away from his business is a lot with more reclaimed materials he calls "the yard."
Many items he saves are from historic mansions, factories and churches. Recently, he acquired some limestone carvings that came from a church in North Philadelphia, but over the years he's collected a treasure trove of artifacts.
With each salvage, a little piece of history is also preserved, and that will continue through Beaty's venture called Philada.
He says this work is "very satisfying" and has been not only a passion, but a calling.
"What I'm going to do throughout the day is going to be beneficial, not only to the planet, but also to people that appreciate the materials," he says.
1800 N. American Street, Unit G, Philadelphia, PA 19122
Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is home to a variety of migratory birds
If you're looking for unique and interesting places to visit across our region, Action News is here to help with One Tank Trips.
Action News photojournalist Tom Kelly traveled to the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Kent County, Delaware.
It's a place to see a wide variety of migratory birds, including bald eagles.
Experience Sound Installation 'nkwiluntmn' at Pennsbury Manor
Tour the grounds of Pennsbury Manor with your phone as your compass and experience a sound installation called 'nkwiluntmn' by Indigenous artist Nathan Young.
"'nkwiluntmn' is the Unami Lenape name of this piece," says Young.
It means I am lonesome for it.
The Lenape lived on the land where Pennsbury Manor is located.
"Pennsbury Manor is a reconstructed home of William Penn," says Douglas Miller, historic site administrator for Pennsbury Manor.
"And the Pennsylvania story would be radically different if he was not welcomed by the Lenape," says Miller.
Young created what he calls a multi-sonic experience with four musicalized benches and four signs, that together create a narrative.
Young says it's been hundreds of years since the voices of the Delaware Tribe have been expressed in the area of Pennsbury Manor and "that's the longing."
The signs are two-sided.
Young says one side includes prose about exile, while the other side has designs meant to inspire what territories and space might have looked like.
Nathan Young's 'nkwiluntmn' runs through next April.
'nkwiluntmn' at Pennsbury Manor | Tickets
Pennsbury Manor
400 Pennsbury Memorial Road
Morrisville, PA 19067
Rock N Rolls, a restaurant known for innovative egg rolls, has a new outpost in Northeast Philadelphia.
Shamaya Oberlton aka Bella started the business out of her kitchen in 2016 when her late mom was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Oberlton says she and her mom curated every single recipe on the menu together, infusing traditional egg rolls with favorite Americanized fillings such as jerk chicken, sweet chili salmon, crab cake, General Tso's chicken and Philadelphia cheesesteak.
She makes sweet varieties too with the favorite being the strawberry cheesecake egg roll.
The new shop is open for takeout and delivery.
Rock N Rolls also operates out of a ghost kitchen on Girard Avenue, and Oberlton plans to hit the road with a food truck soon.
1308 Girard Ave (ghost kitchen) | 267-206-8208
2903 Holme Ave, Philadelphia, Pa.19136 (takeout only) |267-668-8439
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The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University has a fascinating new exhibit called Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity, which gives a deep dive into the many functions of skin, in mammals, fish, amphibians and birds.
The exhibit is multi-sensory with hands-on elements, a giant rhinoceros and all signage in both English and Spanish.
It runs through January 21, 2024, with special programming events planned throughout.
Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity | Facebook | Instagram
Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103
