From museums to movies to bowling, there is plenty of non-traditional (and a few Christmas-themed) fun activities to be had on Christmas.
By Dan Stamm ••
For those who don’t celebrate the Christian holiday, or are looking for something to break up the day, more businesses and institutions are open on Christmas than ever before.
What to Know
Some area attractions will be open on Christmas for anyone looking for a non-traditional holiday.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of alternative Christmas fun.
Looking for an alternate plan this Christmas?
Here are a nine fun things you can do around the Philadelphia region that don’t involve all the normal holiday traditions and that are open to the public.
If you want to avoid the Black Friday shopping crowds today, go to the Blue Cross RiverRink,where Winterfest opens today. For opening day, they will stay open until 1am. This opening day is a great way to kick off the holiday season!
Being ________ at Christmas at the National Museum of American Jewish History
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
That blank is an intentional move by the Old City American Jewish history museum as they welcome anyone from “Snowy. Jewish. Happy. Caring. Buddhist. Generous. Family. Creative. Friendly. Sparkly.” to fill in the blank from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Museum at 5th and Market streets has a full day of activities on tap including movies, storytime, face painting and crafts. The price of admission is $12 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. The museum food services won’t be open so people are encourage to bring their own food.
With so many blockbusters and awards season darlings now in theaters, it’s the perfect time to go out and catch a movie on Christmas. Many are theaters have showings of Aquaman, Bumblebee, Holmes & Watson, Mary Poppins Returns, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Vice and other movies showing throughout the day and night.
And, if you want to grab a bite before or after the flick, call your local Chinese restaurant, which may be open for some tasty hot eats.
Go Bowling
Lucky Strike on Chestnut Street in Center City Philadelphia is open from 5 p.m. to midnight. Take the family after Christmas dinner or just plan a night out with some friends.
Besides bowling, Lucky Strike also features food, a full bar, table tennis, shuffleboard, billiards, dart boards and more.
Take a Winter Walk Along the Beach
Be it the Jersey shore or Delaware beaches, there are miles of FREE walks to be had this time of year along the coastlines. With dry and crisp conditions expected, it will be the perfect day for it.
Christmas Day will stay calm, with crisp seasonal temperatures and none of the white stuff, says NBC10 First Alert Weather meteorologist Steve Sosna.
Take a Christmas Stroll at Longwood Gardens
The gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. for a Longwood Christmas. The garden Railway (perfect for the kids), Organ Sing-Alongs and the Open Air Fountain Show will all be taking place.
Tickets (starting at $16 for children 5-18 up to $30 for adults) can be purchased online.
Get Historical With Washington’s Crossing
A tradition nearly 250 years in the making. The annual re-enactment of then General George Washington’s 1776 Christmas crossing of the Delaware River takes place at Washington Crossing Historic Park in Washington crossing, Pennsylvania, from 1 to 3 p.m.
The event is FREE and features reenactors (including Washington himself) in full revolutionary gear marching. But due to high water, there will be no river crossing this year.
HewittLexy
On Memorial Day weekend, a violent arrest was caught on camera in Wildwood, N.J., showing a woman being held down by three police officers as one punched her in the back of the head. She was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and being a minor in possession of alcohol, among other charges. Police released widely watched body camera footage of the ordeal and started an internal investigation.
CSNPhilly.com
You might remember that the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year. Usually, that merits an invitation to the White House. But President Trump broke with tradition when he rescinded his invitation for the Eagles in June. Trump cited player boycotts and anthem protests, but the Associated Press reported he was furious when he learned only a few players were expected to attend the ceremony.
Pepperidge Farm
Some of our best-read stories are consumer stories. One of the top this year was Pepperidge Farms' recall of one of its biggest sellers: Goldfish crackers. The company was notified by one of its ingredient suppliers that whey powder in a seasoning applied to four varieties of crackers had been recalled due to the potential presence of salmonella. That led many families to check their shelves -- and toss their crackers.
SkyForce10/ Bucks County DA
In 2017, authorities made a terrifying discovery: The bodies of four young men buried on a sprawling Bucks County farm. Nearly 10 months later, cousins Sean Kratz and Cosmo DiNardo were charged in their deaths. Each victim reportedly thought they were meeting DiNardo to buy weed — and each drug deal turned into an ambush, according to authorities. In confession tapes obtained exclusively by NBC10, the cousins detailed the murders and their attempts to cover their tracks. DiNardo has pleaded guilty in the case, but Kratz has pleaded not guilty to three counts of criminal homicide.
EFE
A North Philadelphia restaurateur who gained local fame last year for spending $25,000 on her son's prom party -- which featured a camel, three tons of sand and exotic cars -- and a Christmas party that included hundreds of gifts and two real reindeer was charged with defrauding the Social Security Administration. According to prosecutors, Saudia Schuler collected nearly $37,000 in government benefits by claiming she was disabled but continuing to work.
AP
Sometimes our big stories aren't local. In Texas, a white ex-police officer was convicted of murder for fatally shooting a black, unarmed 15-year-old boy while firing into a car packed with teenagers in suburban Dallas, marking a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case. Dallas County jurors were not swayed by Roy Oliver's claim that he feared for his partner's life when he fired into the vehicle in April 2017. The gunfire killed Jordan Edwards. Pictured: The teen's father of Jordan Edwards, getting a hug from Dallas County district attorney Faith Johnson after hearing a guilty of murder verdict.
Cydney Long/NBC Philadelphia; GoFundMe
Our hearts melted when a homeless man spent his last $20 to help a New Jersey woman whose car had broken down, and she paid the favor forward by raising more than $400,000 with a GoFundMe campaign that lit up social media and landed the woman and her boyfriend on national TV. But it was way too good to be true. In November, NBC10 broke the news that Mark D'Amico, Kate McClure and Johnny Bobbitt Jr. were accused of conspiring with one another to make up the story. Their scheme "hoodwinked an awful lot of people," authorities said.
AP
Ecstasy. Pure joy. Delirium that comes not just from tailgate beer but from the still-can't-believe-this feeling that the ultimate underdogs, the Philadelphia Eagles, were World Champions. Four days after the Super Bowl, Philadelphia threw a citywide party. Universities, schools, government offices, museums, city courts and even the Philadelphia Zoo shut down in preparation for the city's first-ever Super Bowl parade, capped with Jason Kelce in Mummers gear shouting a profane victory speech from the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The rest of the world may not have liked us, but we bleeping loved it.
Keith Holloway/National Transportation Safety Board via Getty Images
Our biggest story of the entire year was a rare tragedy. An in-flight engine explosion in April blew a hole in the side of a Southwest Airlines jet and sucked a woman partly out of the plane, killing her. Fellow passengers frantically worked to yank her back inside the airliner as it depressurized and quickly descended thousands of feet per minute to Philadelphia's airport. Jennifer Riordan was a bank executive and mother of two from New Mexico. The investigation into the incident is continuing, but investigators believe a piece of engine cover struck and shattered the window.
