Last week Lily Bean and I hopped the train along with my aunt and great aunt for a day in the city. The Philadelphia International Flower Show is an annual event that takes over the Pennsylvania Convention Center for a week in early March. Despite the massive crowds (more than a quarter of a million!) that pour into the show, the exhibits are truly breathtaking pieces of art that are worth the look.
We take the local Septa train from Lansdale, PA and for just $11 round trip (Lily was free), the train stops at Market East train station in Philadelphia. Take a couple of escalators up and into the convention center. It’s so easy and I love that there is no hassle with parking, etc.
This year’s flower show theme was all about England. Entitled “BRILLIANT!” there were exhibits filling the large exhibition hall that reflect some part of British past or present.
And of course, around every turn we caught a glimpse of the Queen herself. 😉
The flower show is a long day with a LOT of walking. At one point I really wished that I had brought the stroller for Lily to relax in, but the thought of wrestling a stroller AND a 4 year old on and off the train had just not appealed to me AT ALL.
Though we were super tired, sore and a tad cranky by the end, we had a great time.
Here are some highlights:
When you first walked into the main hall, you were greeted by enormous, regal looking gates that were head to toe flowers. They smelled so good!
Staring down on most of the flower show was a huge (digital!) replica of the famous clock tower Big Ben. This clock was the highlight of Lily’s entire day because she remembered the seen from Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue where Lizzie and her Dad fly around the top of Big Ben. LOL Not a bad connection for a 4 year old. This clock was really cool though – it kept real time and at the top of every hour the clock face disappeared and a British-themed sort of highlight reel played, set to the classic Beatles song All You Need is Love.
Lily insisted on posing with Big Ben. This picture was taken right before she lost her balance and came within an inch of being that kid who falls in the fountain. So close.
There was one exhibit towards the beginning of the show that I thought was really neat. It was a walk-through exhibit and we had to stand in a short (maybe 10 minutes or so) line in order to check it out. The wait was definitely worth it. Entitled “Jack” it was a dimly-lit rather creepy winding collection of scenes set in 1888-era England. You were supposed to feel like you were wandering the dangerous back alleys of the city – in the time period when Jack the Ripper was on the loose.
At first glance, these looked like simple upside down roses. Upon closer inspection, the are roses HANGING in little rope NOOSES!
This enclosed room had a literal bed of thorns surrounded by heaps of rose petals. The walls were thousands upon thousands of rose blooms.
A couple of other cool things we saw – many magnificently set tables…
A garden fit for Peter Rabbit…
And even a woodsy cottage with its own quaint pond…
What a great show!
After looking at all of the exhibits and shopping from the hundreds of vendors at the show, we didn’t have too much time left to check out some of the other demonstrations, make and take room, etc. One thing that we were literally dragged into by Lily was the “KID ZONE.” This conference room was designated as a place for kids to unwind, kick around some beach balls, dance to music, etc. Lily thought it was awesome, my aunts and I appreciated the big comfy chairs to sit for a bit before catching our train.
We were not compensated for this review, nor did we receive any sort of admission discount. All opinions are 100% our own.