Wawa Welcome America festival, Adventure Aquarium top USA Today's '10Best' lists
The Wawa Welcome America festival is a can't-miss summer event, and a stop at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden should be high atop your summer destination list, according to the recent USA Today "10Best" rankings.
Every week, USA Today invites a panel of industry experts to nominate their favorite points of interest and attractions across a wide range of categories. USA Today's 10Best editors then publish the results on the "10Best" website.
Wawa's 'Welcome America Festival' makes USA Today's '10Best' list
Wawa's Welcome America Festival, the annual July 4th celebration concert and fireworks spectacle on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, ranked 5th on USA Today's "10Best Places to See Fireworks" list.
USA Today's '10Best' fireworks list: Wawa Welcome America Festival among top places to see fireworks
This year, R&B superstars Ne-Yo and Kesha will perform at the free-admission Wawa Welcome America celebration. The concert will begin at 7 p.m., and followed by the fireworks display.
The Wawa Welcome America Festival's fireworks displays ranked fifth on USA Today's "10Best Places to see Fireworks" list:
Navy Pier, Chicago
Concert in the Sky at the Amelia Earhart Festival, Atchison, Kansas
Minneapolis Aquatennial, Minneapolis
Addison Kaboom Town!, Addison, Texas
Wawa Welcome America
Let Freedom Sing!, Nashville
Big Bat Boom, San Diego
Fair Saint Louis, St. Louis
America's Freedom Festival at Provo, Provo, Utah
Simeone Foundation makes '10Best' list: Car enthusiasts rank Philadelphia, Delaware Valley institutions as USA Today's '10Best'
Riding the East Broad Top Railroad, checking out PA's rustic drive-in movie theaters among USA Today's '10Best' summer activities
Lazy summer days provide the perfect opportunity top hop the East Broad Top Railroad, which provides rides, guided tours and excursions through scenic Central Pennsylvania.
The East Broad Top Railroad ranked third on USA Today's "10Best Scenic Train Ride" list.
"Built beginning in 1872, The railroad is the only surviving three-foot gauge common carrier railroad east of the Rocky Mountains," read a portion of the railroad's website. "And its shops, parts of which date to the 1880s, are among the best-preserved examples in the U.S. of a late-19th-century/early-20th-century industrial complex — in this case, powered by an overhead belt system driven by a stationary steam engine.
"The railroad was completed in 1874 to service the iron furnaces and coal mines along a 33-mile corridor in Huntingdon County," continued the description on the website. "The railroad was sold in 1956 to the Kovalchick family who reopened the train in the 1960s."
The East Broad Top Railroad was the destination in the Delaware Valley to make this list.
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Drive-in movie theater fans will want to stop by two Pennsylvania drive-ins: the Evergreen Drive-In Theatre, and Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre. Both ranked in the top ten of USA Today's "10Best Drive-In Theater" list.
Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre ranked fifth on the "10Best" list, while Evergreen Drive-In Theatre ranked sixth.
PA drive-in theaters among '10Best': Two PA drive-in theaters named among USA Today's "10Best."
Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre, located in Orefield, Lehigh County, screens a mix of current releases and classic films. For example, Shankweiler's Drive-In Theatre is currently screening the recently-released "The Garfield Movie," and the original "Jumanji," released in 1995 and staring the late Robin Williams.
The Evergreen Drive-In Theatre is a three-screen complex in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, which screens new and recent releases.
Evergreen Drive-In Theatre is now screening "The Fall Guy," "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," "The Garfield Movie," "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," and "Tarot."
Adventure Aquarium, Ocean City, Somers Point Beach also make USA Today's '10Best' list
USA Today's "10Best" panelists favored several summer destinations in New Jersey.
Adventure Aquarium ranked fourth on USA Today's "10Best Aquariums" list, beating out industry heavyweights such as the Florida Aquarium and Texas State Aquarium.
Adventure Aquarium among '10Best' Adventure Aquarium in Camden among USA Today's "10Best."
The Camden-based Adventure Aquarium opened in 1993 and is home to more than 15,000 aquatic animals, according to the aquarium's website.
"Many surprises await visitors at the Adventure Aquarium. Among the aquarium's 15,000-plus aquatic critters in 2 million gallons of water are hippos, the world’s smallest species of penguin, and the world’s largest species of hammerhead shark," read USA Today's "10Best" review of Adventure Aquarium. "Guests can reach out and touch sharks, stingrays, sea stars, and horseshoe crabs. Live presentations and keeper interactions with penguins and hippos enhance the visitor experience."
Go to Jersey for the aquarium, but be sure to stay for the summer concerts.
Somers Point Beach Concert Series ranked second on USA Today's "10Best Outdoor Concert Series" list, trailing only the "Hot Summer Nights" music festival in Colorado.
USA Today's "10Best" Outdoor concerts: Somers Point Beach Concert Series among USA Today's "10best."
Overall, USA Today's "10Best" panel said Ocean City, New Jersey, is the place the be this summer.
Ocean City ranked second on USA Today's "10Best Summer Travel Destination" list.
Ocean City, NJ a top summer destination: USA Today's "10Best" panel ranks Ocean City a top summer travel destination
Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania, ranked fifth on USA Today's "10Best Summer Travel Destination" list.
Mackinac Island, Michigan
Ocean City, New Jersey
Catalina Island, California
Cody, Wyoming
Laurel Highlands
Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, Alabama
Door County, Wisconsin
San Juan Islands, Washington
Ocean City, Maryland
Space Coast, Florida
Damon C. Williams covers trending and regional developments for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: USA Today panel names '10Best' summer destinations in Delaware Valley