🏅The Olympics edition | Things to Do

Welcome to Olympics season. The global games begin this week, and I can’t wait to root for awesome athletes like Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, Sha’Carri Richardson, Joel Embiid, and the U.S. women’s soccer team. Plus: The men’s national soccer team is back at the Olympics for the first time in 16 years, and the roster includes the Union’s Jack McGlynn and Nathan Harriel. I’ll be tuning in this weekend because (fun fact) I’m an ex-professional fencer and I can’t wait to see the fencing competition, especially in women’s saber. What’s your favorite Olympics sport to watch? Who are you rooting for? Let me know!

This weekend, watch the Olympics, try the flavor of the summer (ube), see Sheryl Lee Ralph’s new movie, and explore Philadelphia history.

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

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It’s finally time to light the torch and kick off the Olympics! Technically, the competition started yesterday with men’s soccer and rugby, but the official opening ceremony is on Friday with tennis star Coco Gauff as the U.S. flag-bearer.

Here at The Inquirer we’re all over the international event so stay tuned for more! Catch up with all our Olympics coverage and find where you can watch all the action.

🎥 Barbara would never: Sheryl Lee Ralph — the thrice Emmy-nominated actor who plays veteran schoolteacher Barbara Howard in Abbott Elementary — plays a weed-growing granny in her new movie, Fabulous Four (out July 26).

🍦 Pretty in purple: The Filipino purple yam Ube is popping up all over Philly’s dining scene, from martinis to ice cream. Here’s where you can try it.

🪴 Burpee Open: For one day, guests can explore Fordhook Farms’ secluded garden paths, admire its historic seedhouse and glean home-gardening tips from horticultural experts.

🎩 Historical sights: Lincoln’s hat and Franklin’s music stand are just a few of the incredible historic treasures from the Atwater Kent Collection (formerly known as the Philadelphia History Museum) on view at PAFA as part of the new exhibit, “Philadelphia Revealed: Unpacking the Attic.” Among some 650 objects on display, here are the five most fascinating.

🖼️ Rarely seen: A precious drawing from George Washington’s collection — a gift from the Marquis de Lafayette, whom he loved like a son — will be on display at the Museum of the American Revolution in August before going up for auction. This may be the last time the drawing, titled The Destruction of the Bastille, is ever on public view.

📜 Don’t wait for it: If you want to see George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette singing onstage, the Broadway blockbuster Hamilton returns to Philadelphia this fall. It’s perfectly timed for the presidential election (Oct. 29-Nov. 23). Tickets go on sale today.

📅 My calendar picks this week: Shakespeare’s As You Like It in Clark Park, Culture Fest 2024, Frankford Day and Night Market

If you’re walking on Market Street at night, you might see the Declaration House — where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence — alight in a new way. Large, 5-foot-tall eyes now peer out of the windows as part of Monument Lab’s art installation The Descendants of Monticello. Screens show animated eyes, most belonging to descendants of Robert Hemmings, the enslaved valet who lived with Jefferson at the house. He was the brother of Sally Hemings, who mothered six of Jefferson’s children. (Hemmings, who taught himself to read and write, used two m’s to spell his last name, the rest of the family used one.) Robert Hemmings watched Jefferson sign the Declaration of Independence that supposedly claimed all men were equal. The installation is an effort to center the stories of the people Jefferson enslaved and examine his painful legacy. Take a look yourself.

🌲 Don’t get lost: No fear, there’s no Jersey Devil here. The beautiful, mythical Pine Barrens can be a bit of a bear to navigate, so we’ve got a helpful guide to exploring the Pine Barrens.

🚣‍♀️ Get on the water: Find a family-friendly summertime kayak or canoe tour that works for you, whether in Philadelphia, Chester and Burlington Counties, or the Pine Barrens. Here are 12 great tours.

🏮 The wow factor: The dazzling light displays at the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square are one of the can’t-miss events of the summer. From food offerings to live music and dance performances, here’s everything you need to know.

👙 Take a dip: The heat won’t quit Philly for quite a few weeks now. If you can’t get to the shore, here’s a list of Philly public pools where you can cool down.

💿 Not like us: Apparently everyone’s ratcheting up rap beef these days. Eagles safety and part-time rapper C.J. Gardner-Johnson is entering the ring, too — he just dropped a new album that includes a diss track about former Steelers receiver Antonio Brown.

Inquirer pop music critic Dan DeLuca and classical music critic Peter Dobrin break down the best shows coming up.

🎤 Thursday: Beck plays the Mann Center. The musically omnivorous L.A. songwriter still best known for ‘90s hits “Loser” and “Where It’s At” is being backed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

🎤 Friday: This week in Philly music features the first Blink 182 tour to stop in Philadelphia since singer-guitarist Tom DeLonge rejoined the band. Last year, the original Blink lineup of DeLonge, bass player Mark Hoppus, and drummer and Kourtney Kardashian’s husband Travis Barker reunited for One More Time …, their first album together since 2011. The tour for that album brought the pop-punk band to the Atlantic City beach for the Adjacent Music Festival but there was no Philly date. That gets rectified on Friday when Blink plays the Wells Fargo Center with Pierce the Veil opening.

⛱️ Also Friday: So much culture at the Jersey Shore this weekend. On Friday, Hank Williams Jr., who’s a formidable live performer — there’s a lot more to Bocephus than that old Monday Night Football song — is at the Etess Arena at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

🎤 Also also Friday: Faye Webster — an Atlantan who once wrote a song in praise of Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. (but we’ll forgive her for that) — plays the Dell Music Center on Friday, in support of her excellent, understated Underdressed At the Symphony.

⛱️ Saturday: Rapper and Fast & Furious movie star Ludacris plays the Etess Arena too, and his fellow Atlantans, 1990s R&B group Xscape are at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

🎤 Also Saturday: Regina Spektor, the Russian American classically trained pianist and canny singer-songwriter, makes a stop on an eight show mini-tour at the Met Philly.

🎹 Starting Saturday: From July 27-Aug. 4, see the Philadelphia Young Pianists’ Academy’s Piano Festival. Rising competition winners (Huiping Cai and Junwen Liang) and established artists (Jerome Lowenthal and the Westhuizen Duo) pull into Philadelphia for this year’s mix of concerts and master classes. Charlotte Hu opens the festival with an all-Liszt recital on Saturday.

⛱️ Sunday: Country rap chart topper Shaboozey plays the HQ2 Nightclub at Ocean Resort, and the great British songwriter and guitarist Richard Thompson is at Cape May Convention Hall.

🎤 Tuesday: Reyna Tropical, which is the project of guitarist and She Shreds magazine founder Fabiola Reyna that mixes Peruvian, Congolese, and Colombian rhythms, plays the Lounge at the World Cafe Live. She did indeed shred when she played the Non-Comm convention earlier this year.

What a wild few days in national politics, huh? Shoutout to my colleagues on the politics desk and across the newsroom who are abringing you essential updates on the entire hullabaloo. If you’ve touched a phone in the past few days, you’ve probably seen at least three Kamala Harris memes, whether it’s brat or the wheels on the bus. My colleague Elizabeth Wellington cautions against getting too wrapped up on the meme train in her latest: “I’m not interested in your Kamala Harris memes. I just want you to vote.”

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This week, I’m catching up on House of the Dragon after seeing way too many spoilers online over the past month. Oh well. Who’s your favorite character (if you remember their names)? Let me know!