January 02, 2025
Provided image/Sergio Valentino
The Philly Goat Project is hosting multiple Christmas tree recycling events in January. The first is being held Saturday at the Awbury Arboretum in Germantown.
If communing with nature was your New Year's resolution, you're in luck. The Philly Goat Project is helping folks recycle their Christmas trees and meet some hairy friends at a goat mixer in Germantown this weekend.
Over at the zoo, visitors can meet the penguins and their 40-foot light-up counterparts during the final weekend of the LumiNature show. Jurassic Quest also offers a chance to connect with — and ride atop — robotic versions of long-dead species.
If your resolution was to eat better, consider pushing the start date back a weekend. Hawthornes' decadent brunch specials are only available for four more days.
The Philly Goat Project is hosting the first of three recycling events Saturday, but it's not collecting paper or plastic. Instead, the nonprofit is inviting visitors to drop off their Christmas trees at Awbury Arboretum for the goats to nibble. Expect hot cocoa, s'mores, games and plenty of quality time with the animals. Though the event is free, the Philly Goat Project suggests a donation of $20 per tree.
Families can meet a bunch of animatronic, prehistoric animals at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. Jurassic Quest, a traveling collection of robotic dinosaurs, is stopping at the Oaks hall Friday through Sunday. The pack includes dinos that kids can pet or ride, plus an enormous 80-foot-long Apatosaurus. (Take that T. rex; the famous predator tapped out around 40 feet.) Guests can catch a live show or go on a scavenger hunt. Tickets cost $22-$36.
The Philadelphia Zoo is soon packing up its holiday lights, but there's still time to see the display's giant glowing jellyfish and penguins. LumiNature is open through Saturday night, with admission ranging from $18-$29. Stop by the Beary Sweet zone for twinkling bears and a candy/souvenir shop or the Wild Flurries area to search for hidden animal patterns in light-up snowflakes.
Sunday is the final day of business for Hawthornes, the brunch and beer spot that's served Bella Vista diners for 15 years. Though the owners have promised an eventual reboot, it's last call on the restaurant's waffles, pancakes and biscuits and gravy for the foreseeable future. Reservations are available on OpenTable.
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