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25 years ago, Philly was her 'fantasy vacation'

Elaine Riggs was way ahead of her time when she chose Philadelphia for a vacation in 1991. After winning a hotel chain's "fantasy vacation sweepstakes," she could have chosen flashy places like Malibu, Calif.; Boston; Washington; or that year's Super Bowl, in sunny Florida. Instead, she chose the City of Brotherly Love.

Elaine Riggs was way ahead of her time when she chose Philadelphia for a vacation in 1991.

After winning a hotel chain's "fantasy vacation sweepstakes," she could have chosen flashy places like Malibu, Calif.; Boston; Washington; or that year's Super Bowl, in sunny Florida. Instead, she chose the City of Brotherly Love.

"Everyone thought I was nuts," Riggs, of Tennessee, recalled Tuesday. "When I got off the plane at the airport, [NBC10 reporter] Bill Baldini interviewed me for some TV show, because even they were amazed. Maybe Philadelphia was going somewhere."

Inquirer reporter Larry Fish, sounding almost incredulous, wrote that "even those who love Philadelphia best might be hard-pressed to claim that it's more fun than Disney World."

Now, 25 years later, Riggs' choice seems clairvoyant.

"She must have had a crystal ball," said Meryl Levitz, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, the city's marketing agency.

Philadelphia has been racking up accolades as a tourist destination. On Tuesday, the prominent travel publisher Lonely Planet placed Philadelphia at the top of its "Best in the U.S." list.

That followed the city's selection to host the World Meeting of Families - and Pope Francis - last September, the Democratic National Convention this July, and the No. 3 spot in the New York Times' international compilation of "52 Places to Visit" in 2015.

The number of "overnight leisure" stays has grown 90 percent, from 7.3 million people in 1997 to 13.9 million in 2014. "Day leisure" visits climbed 35 percent - from 15.5 million to 21 million annually - during the same period.

Lonely Planet's ranking touts what many in and around Philadelphia have long known: The city boasts an exciting beer and restaurant scene, affordability not available in other large East Coast cities, and a host of historic sites worth seeing at least once.

UNESCO acknowledged that in November by designating Philadelphia a World Heritage site - the first U.S. city to earn such a distinction, putting it on par with Paris, Cairo, and Jerusalem.

"Philly's on a roll," Lonely Planet wrote. "NYC's more neighborly neighbor is experiencing a transformation to its urban core, as many U.S. cities are right now."

No one was saying that in 1991 - before Center City's transformation under Mayor Ed Rendell, before celebrity chefs Steven Starr and Jose Garces, and ambitious architect Bart Blatstein.

Levitz believes the momentum began with developer Willard G. Rouse's successful fight in the mid-1980s to erect two buildings - One and Two Liberty Place - taller than William Penn's hat atop City Hall. The buildings were completed in 1987.

"Success breeds success," Levitz said of numerous developments since then. "When Bill Rouse fought the 'gentleman's agreement' on building heights, Philadelphians thought the sun wouldn't rise the next day, but it did. And every building built after Liberty One was better because of it."

"Look at the skyline. It's incredible and keeps growing," said ex-Mayor Michael Nutter, who first took office in 1992 as a councilman. "Just imagine 30 years ago, none of them was there. None of them."

Levitz rattled off a list of changes and attractions that Riggs didn't get to see: the Constitution Center, the Kimmel Center, Old City's First Fridays, the Welcome America! festival. Not to mention an expansion of the Schuylkill River Trail and a bevy of warm-weather beer gardens.

"We'd love to have her back. How fun that would be," Levitz said.

Then, as now, Riggs was living in a suburb of Nashville. She "wasn't much interested in football" and had already visited Disney World, so she chose to visit a gritty city struggling with crime, financial crisis, and a reputation for rudeness.

On the contrary, Riggs found, "people were so incredibly nice. ... We had our own chauffeur. Betsy Ross showed us around. It was phenomenal."

At the time, the Inquirer referred to by her maiden name, Kempel. The unidentified "friend" she brought along on that trip turned out to be her fiance, now-husband, James Riggs.

"We had lunch with Ben Franklin," she said Tuesday, chuckling. "Everything was great, from Longwood Gardens and the symphony, and the backroom tours of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall."

In the years since, the Riggses have been to plenty of other places: Istanbul, Turkey; Dublin, Ireland; Osaka, Japan; San Francisco; and San Diego, to name a few.

But, she said, Philadelphia left an impression unlike any other city.

"Philadelphia kind of stands alone, because there is a lot going on there. And it really seems to have gone through tough times and gotten past that," she said.

@BrianXMcCrone