Philadelphia Zoo Bringing Back Popular Summer Event

Summer is in full swing, the Philadelphia Zoo is bringing back a very popular summer event. Philadelphia is so fortunate to have this great zoo right in our backyard, as well as events like these.

The Philadelphia Zoo has announced that it's back with its famed Summer Ale Festival. This is always such a great combination of zoo fun and good drinks. The event will offer more than 100 craft beers, ciders, hard iced teas, hard seltzers, local food trucks and live music on its 42-acre campus.

The Summer Ale Festival is unique, in that it's the only beer celebration in the area where you can see animals and drink beer. The event will take place Saturday (July 20) from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. You have to be 21 or older to attend.

New this year are musical performers Moon Poodle, Marielle Kraft and Nik Greely & the Operators. The event will also have DJs. As for the brews, this year's brewery lineup features Tired Hands Brewing Company, Three 3’s Brewing Company, Two Locals Brewing, Dock Street Brewing, and amazing out-of-towners like Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company, Desperate Times Brewery, New Trail Brewing Company, Ship Bottom Brewery and more. For those who don't drink, there will be plenty of non-beer beverages, too.

"We hear year after year from our guests that this festival offers a great variety of beverages and gives them the chance to see our animals up close with fewer crowds," vice president of guest experience Cara Treadway said in a statement. "Not only is Summer Ale Festival an incredibly fun night, but more importantly, supports the animals in our care, our global conservation work, and our local community programs."

If you want to attend this event, you have to get tickets in advance via the Zoo's website, as tickets won't be available for purchase at the door. The cost of tickets includes admission to the Zoo. Discount tickets for groups are available, too. 

Summer Ale Fest is for a good cause, too, as it's a fundraiser. The event helps the Philadelphia Zoo in its "mission to create joyful discovery and inspire action for animals and habitats." While you're there, check out Pioneering Zoo360, which the Zoo describes as a first-in-the-world system of animal exploration trails, which has "inspired more than 70 zoos around the globe to design new ways to invite animals to travel and roam through their own campuses."

Summer always brings a bevy of vacation options, some more exotic than others. But, you don't have to travel far or do something major to have a great vacation. There are many fun and affordable staycation ideas that can give you a memorable vacation memory by just staying close to home.

So, what exactly is the definition of a staycation? It's pretty self-explanatory, but according to the Oxford Dictionary, it's "a vacation spent in one's home country rather than abroad, or one spent at home and involving day trips to local attractions. Similarly, Merriam-Webster says it's, "a vacation spent at home or nearby." I think it's a stretch to call any vacation that's spent in your home country a staycation. That would mean that someone living in Michigan who travels to California for a vacation is really having a "staycation." It makes much more sense to define a staycation as a vacation where you literally stay at home or do something fun in your local area. Thankfully, there are a plethora of great staycation ideas out there.

Plenty of cities have "be a tourist in your own town" activities promoted by their local city tourist bureaus, which are perfect for a staycation. Really, staycations have been around forever, but they increased in popularity during the pandemic, when people actually weren't allowed to travel abroad. Still, even after the pandemic, the staycation is going strong. According to an international study by tourism and hospitality experts in the U.S. and China, the "staycation phenomenon" that started during the pandemic is still very popular and likely to stay as a new normal. The study, dubbed "Customer Preferences for Staycation Package Attributes," is published online in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. It researched the local staycation preferences of Chinese tourists, as well as staycation information from the U.S., Netherlands and Indonesia.

I love a good staycation. It can be stressful to plan a huge trip to squeeze into your time off. By the time you get everything packed, do all the flight stuff and get to your hotel, you might just feel like resting for the short while that you're at your destination. What's more, you can often find so many great places close to home that you've never experienced before. I've had so many great staycations where I ventured to a part of town or the state that I had never been before, and those are among my favorite vacation memories. In that spirit, here are some fun and affordable staycation ideas. Send me your ideas, too.

Have a vacation in your living room or bedroom. Make it a movie-watching marathon. Watch a string of your favorite guilty-pleasure movies or binge-watch a brand new series. Either way, it'll be cozy and comfy.

If you have a state or national park nearby, use your vacation time to go adventuring. Being at a local park can offer some breathtaking scenery, especially in the summer. Have a picnic out there, too. If you don't have a state or national park close by, try a local park.

Nearly every town has a local museum or art gallery. Perhaps you've never really had the time to visit your local museum or art spot. Use your vacation time to explore those local spots, and you might find a new favorite place.

If you've driven by that new hotel for a while and wondered what it's like inside, why not book it for a night? You don't have to be traveling to say at a hotel, Airbnb or local bed-and-breakfast. It can make for an exciting adventure right in your backyard.

Using vacation time to plan a big party for friends is a good use of that time. Instead of traveling around the world, bring to world to you. Invite lots of your good friends, and spend some of the cash you would have on a vacation for your party. It'll be the party of the year. Make that decade.

Pamper yourself. Maybe you think having a spa day is too much of a luxury, but if you're saving money by not taking a big trip, why not use that money for a spa day? It's not just for ladies, either. Guys can book a spa day for a variety of services. It'll make for a day of bliss.