Taking the role of tour guide seriously

Once again, Philadelphia plays host to the world.

People love to come to Philadelphia for 4th of July week … and, what’s not to love.

Aside from celebrating the birth of this incredible country, Philly really knows how to throw a party.

The Wawa Welcome America event – complete with concerts on the Ben Franklin Parkway and a fireworks display that tops all other cities – has become an economic dynamo. Hotels operate at close to 90 percent occupancy all week. The museums are packed. The restaurants, which suffer during the rest of the hot summer, do outstanding business.

Against that backdrop, a call came from a longtime friend in the golf business. “We’re coming to Philly for 4th of July weekend.”

And, as true Philadelphians, we are rolling out the welcome mat.

Andy Mears is a native of Michigan but now lives in Chicago and is Director of Development for the First Tee of Greater Chicago. He and his girlfriend, Denise, plus his son, Zachary and his girlfriend Shauna, were making the trip east.

First stop is Gettysburg, where Zach will take part in a major Civil War re-enactment battle. They arrive July 4 and the battle takes place on July 5. Then they continue for a condensed but heavy dose of Philly and the suburbs on July 6 and 7.

Their request was simply, “We want to do as much of the entire Philly tourist scene as possible before leaving on Sunday.”

With that directive … a detailed plan was formulated.

Arrival around 6 p.m. Friday means dinner on the deck – featuring as much of the truly local delicacies as possible. The menu: For starters there will be Corropolese Bakery’s famous tomato pie, sliced Italian bread and hoagie dip. Hot out of the oven, Franzone’s heralded sweet-sauce pizza, accompanied by the iconic Mr. Ron’s cole slaw. From the grill there will be some of Venezia Meat Market’s Italian sausage.

Of course, to wash it all down there will be an assortment of beer from America’s Oldest Brewery – Yuengling. The sampling: Lager, Light Lager and the new Golden Pilsner.

Dessert will be cut fresh fruit, topped by some homemade Limoncello – courtesy of our friends at the Holy Saviour Club.

After that culinary prelude, the Philly indoctrination continues on Saturday.

Light breakfast (plenty of eat-