🏖️ Time to get to the Shore | Things to Do

After a rainy, mostly disappointing Spring, it’s time for us to turn our attention to the summer. We’re less than two weeks away from Memorial Day and aside from making plans about hamburgers or hot dogs, we’re gearing up for the Shore. What’s your favorite beach? Let me know!

Dig into our Shore Guide to make all those fun beach plans, from where to eat to what concerts to see. This weekend, head to South 9th Street for the delicious and fun Italian Market Festival, see the opening of the PMA’s Mary Cassatt exhibit, and explore the city’s charming and bountiful farmers markets. If you want to follow our Shore coverage all season long, sign up for our Down the Shore newsletter, for all the news, trends, and guides to our favorite beach towns and haunts.

— Rosa Cartagena (@_RosaCartagena, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

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It’s time for the Inquirer’s annual Shore Guide! If you’ve been daydreaming about clear skies, boardwalk fun, and ice cream, you’re not alone. I can’t wait to put my toes in the sand and enjoy the beachfront views. Whether it’s a day trip or a week-long stay, there’s always tons to do at the Shore and we have you covered.

🎤 Summer concert lineup: See Bruce Springsteen, John Legend, Peach at the Beach, and so many more great acts throughout the season.

🥪 When you’re hungry: If you need a bite on your route, we have recommendations for delicious spots to stop along the way. Once you’re there, these are 12 excellent places to get a sandwich.

🏨 Where to sleep: Finding the right place to stay on the Shore can be more challenging than securing a spot on the sand on Memorial Day. No fear: From traditional hotels to bed-and-breakfasts, here are six options.

🏕️ Get off the grid: For folks who prefer some hiking with their vacation, we know where to find all the best campsites near the beach.

🍟 It’s always sunny: Catch up with Danny DeVito, who grew up in Asbury Park working his first job on the boardwalk and soaping windows on Mischief Night. The hilarious actor recounted some of his best memories of growing up on the Shore.

🇮🇹 Time to grease the poles: The legendary Italian Market Festival returns this weekend, bringing more than a hundred food, drink, and craft vendors to South 9th Street along with a hoagie competition, a half-ball tournament, and the unforgettable greased pole climbing competition.

🥕 Find what’s fresh: Get your favorite tote bags because it’s finally the season for farmers markets, from West Philly to South Jersey and everywhere in between. Here’s a guide to local farmers markets (with a handy map!).

🎨 Spring is for impressionism: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts alum and renowned impressionist painter Mary Cassatt takes the spotlight at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a new exhibit opening on Saturday. I just saw it this morning and there’s so many incredible highlights! It begins with her mysterious quote: “What one would like to leave behind one is superior art, & a hidden personality.” The show contains more than 130 paintings, prints, and pastels examining her intensive process. Here’s why it makes the case that Cassatt’s portraits of women underscore the value of domestic labor.

🎹 Date night: The Greek romance of Daphnis et Chloé is the fertile ground for French composer Maurice Ravel’s lush, mystical composition, which will be performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in three shows this weekend. Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will be at the helm.

📅 My calendar picks this week: New Hope Pridefest, Girard Ave Street Fest, Altered Book Making

While you’re down the Shore, definitely make some time to explore the local arts scene. In Cape May, a new exhibit showcases the history of ice cream. “We All Scream for Ice Cream: A History of Summer’s Favorite Treat” (running through Nov. 3 at Cape May MAC) looks back at early flavors like parmigiano and asparagus from the 1800s while spotlighting innovators in the industry like Augustus Jackson, a Black Philadelphian called the “father of ice cream.”

🎆 Fireworks: Believe it or not, Fourth of July is around the corner and now we know who will headline the annual Wawa Welcome America concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway — Kesha and Ne-Yo.

🔊 Watch the tables turn: The MakingTime ∞ festival returns to Fort Mifflin later this year with more than 100 electronic music artists and bands. Here’s everything you need to know.

🖼️ More than wine and cheese: First Fridays are a beloved tradition in Old City (and across Philly) where art lovers go gallery hopping. After a few quieter years, First Fridays are so back.

🏛️ Curious case: The Philadelphia Museum of Art holds many treasures in its vast collection. In a new book, an amateur art historian argues that it also has an unknown Leonardo da Vinci painting. Could it possibly be true?

🎻 Classy and free: Head to the Mann Center this summer for three free concerts from the Philadelphia Orchestra, including a concert hosted by Philly drag queen (and Rupaul’s Drag Race runner-up) Sapphira Cristál. See the orchestra’s full Mann Center lineup.

Dan DeLuca breaks down some of the best shows coming to town this week:

🎸 Thursday: The Mann calendar gets going on Thursday with the Avett Brothers. North Carolina siblings Scott and Seth Avett — last seen at the Mann covering Jim Croce’s “Operator” at Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival last year — are releasing their new Rick Rubin-produced album on Friday. It’s their 11th, simply called The Avett Brothers.

🎸 Thursday: Tye Tribbett, the Camden-born, Florida-based gospel artist, plays the Met. He won a best album Grammy this year for All Things New: Live in Orlando. During its 116-year history, the Met has frequently functioned as a church, and it will surely feel that way on Thursday night.

🎸 Also Thursday: A cool double bill at Ardmore Music headlined by Buck Meek, the singer-guitarist who plays in Big Thief with his ex-wife Adrianne Lenker. His new solo album is Haunted Mountain. Opening is singer and violinist Jolie Holland, who also has a new album called Haunted Mountain. Each album includes a song they wrote together called — you guessed it — “Haunted Mountain.”

🎸 Friday: In 2019, Kara Jackson was named National Youth Poet Laureate. Last year, she released an affecting debut album called Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? Her new single is a cover of 1960s folksinger Karen Dalton’s “Right, Wrong, or Ready?” She plays Johnny Brenda’s on Friday. And then she’ll be back at the TLA opening for Allison Russell on Oct. 30.

🎸 Saturday: Legendary trumpeter and A&M Records cofounder Herb Alpert and vocalist wife Lani Hall — the former singer with Sergio Mendes and Brasil ‘66 — make a rare Philadelphia appearance at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center on Saturday. Also that night, slide guitarist extraordinaire Sonny Landreth joins the Iguanas at World Cafe for a show that namechecks their home state, called Louisiana Calling.

🎸 Sunday: On Sunday, Camae Ayewa — the Philadelphia poet, sonic experimenter, purveyor of “witch rap,” and educator who performs as Moor Mother, is at Solar Myth. Her latest album, The Great Bailout, digs deep into the history of the European slave trade, and features visual artist and musician Lonnie Holley and harpist Mary Lattimore. Lea Bertucci and Henry Fraser are also on the bill.

While we’d always prefer Quinta Brunson’s beloved sitcom to film here in Philadelphia — like they did for the Franklin Institute episode last year — this season’s finale showed us a replica of the storied Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse that the show recreated for a Los Angeles set. The big thing: Getting the massive wooden slide just right. Did they capture the essence of that classic Philly institution? You tell me.

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This weekend I will be binge-watching the new season of Bridgerton and blasting Shakira’s new album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, where she goes back to her rockera roots. What’s on your listen or watch list? Let me know!