Three more ways I’ve found to wake up a week
Tubes along the Hudson River
1. Go Tubing: I did this several weeks ago, when I was back up in the Adirondak’s with my family. I’ve been passing signs for tubing adventures in Lake Luzerne for years, and finally decided to try it. Acompanying me were my 13-year-old son, and my brother with his 13-year-old daughter. It was billed as a two-hour trip, but that actually included a bus ride to the tubing site near the headwaters of the Hudson River. The bus trip was pretty adventurous, taking us down a very narrow unpaved road through heavy woodlands. The scariest moment of the entire experience was when we passed another bus. The tubing itself was different than I’d expected. We were in a group of roughly 40 people, and we were accompanied by about five guides. The guides were in inflatable kayaks, and they used their oars to push wayward tubes back to the center of the river whenever anyone drifted too far to one side. I had to be pushed about a dozen times, which was somewhat unnerving. Overall, though, the river was beautiful and the experience was very fun. My favorite part was towards the end when we came to a rock and the guides invited us to jump off. Mostly the water was very shallow, but at that particular spot it was deep and cool and refreshing. We all agreed we would try the white water rafting trip offered by the same outfitters next year.
Saratoga Race Track
2. Go to a Horse Race: Also while up in the Adirondak’s I visited the Saratoga Race Track. My husband and I had gone there a few years ago, but since we didn’t know what we were doing, we left quickly. This time, I was with my sister and her husband, and my parents, all of whom have been to the race track before and who understand terms like exacta and boxing a bet. It was all so complicated that at first I thought I’d never figure it out. Then, I realized winning money was possibly involved and I caught on remarkably quickly. I won 90 cents on the first race, and a similar amount on another race. Other than that, I lost the seven other races we bet on. Which was okay because I never bet more than the minimum of $2. I will add here that the people taking the bets were very patient and never seemed annoyed that I was pestering them with $2 bets. None of us won a lot of money, although some of my family members did a bit better than I did. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable day. The horses are incredibly sleek and beautiful (sadly, though, one did fall); the crowd is interesting to watch; and the activity itself, of trying to figure out which horse to bet on, was sort of like a math problem that engrossed us as a group and entertained us at the same time.
Duryea Day
3. Spend a few hours with Classic Cars: I’m so not a car person. I can hardly see the difference between a car show and a parking lot. But last weekend I felt we needed a family activity, so I suggested we all go to the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles Annual Duryea Day classic car show. My husband and son agreed to come along very reluctantly. But, as it turns out, classic cars are fascinating. There were hundreds of vintage cars on display, ranging from some not very old, but quite unique sports cars, to a 1916 vehicle with a crank engine. Some of the souped up 50’s era cars were fun. Others were enormous. One Cadillac measured about 18-feet long, so it seemed like parking that could be a problem. The interiors were also interesting, particularly in the 30s and 40s era cars, many of which featured rumble seats and polished wooden dashboards and delicate seeming steering wheels. My son pointed out that even the tail lights were notably different than what is around today. I’m still not a car person, but I was glad I went.
I Go to a Bob Dylan Concert
Last month, I tried unsuccessfully to convince my family that we should buy tickets to a family-oriented symphony performance at the Mann Music Center. While one daughter agreed it sounded interesting, everyone else informed me that they would prefer to be left out of that venture. So, I scrapped the idea. But, while visiting the Mann’s website, I noticed that Bob Dylan was playing in August. My husband and I both thought that sounded interesting, so I bought the tickets. Here’s how it went.
- I’m not really a Bob Dylan Fan: Nevertheless, I find him fascinating. And I like a lot of his songs, many of which I grew up listening to. I remember dissecting “Like a Rolling Stone,” in a high school English class, for example. And off hand I can think of at least two-dozen songs of his that I enjoy because the lyrics are interesting and somewhat mysterious and the music is captivating. So you get the idea. I don’t really know that much about Bob Dylan. I went to the concert and discovered I was kind of like a person who goes to an art museum and realizes maybe there’s lot more to art than looking at pictures (I’ve done that too). In other words, it would have helped if I’d known a little bit more.
- Traffic: Getting to the Mann at 7:30 was hard enough on a Wednesday, but we made it harder by printing out directions for westward bound traffic when we were heading east. That meant that in addition to fighting stop and go traffic on the Schuylkill, we also wound up driving through an interesting part of West Philadelphia. I don’t think it mattered much, since traffic from all angles was pretty intense heading into the venue. We got there at close to 8:00 and saw part of the opening act.
Leon Russell was the Opening Act: Which was kind of funny since he also played with Elton John at the last concert I went to. I know even less about Russell than I know about Dylan, but what’s kind of unique about him is that he has long white hair and a long white beard and, since the last time I saw him, I periodically find myself saying “Hey, that guy looks like Leon Russell.”- The concert setlist: Okay, here’s a link to the setlist. If you click on this link you can listen to any of the songs played at the concert.
- About Dylan’s voice: For argument’s sake, let’s say you click on “Don’t Think Twice it’s Alright.” That’s one of several songs he played that I’ve always liked. I’m not sure when the version on the playlist was recorded, but Dylan first played it in 1962. His voice on the recording is clear and clean and crisp. Now he’s 70, and his voice is quite different. At the concert, I could barely understand anything but the chorus. I enjoyed this song anyway, because it was kind of cool to be there, listening to a musical icon sing one of his iconic songs. However, when he played songs I was unfamiliar with I felt frustrated. The music and the band were good, but all the words were lost.
- About the songs: Dylan has famously reinvented many of his songs. My husband commented that when he played the song “Mississippi,” it was barely recognizable. That was true of many of the other songs, as well. I felt like I knew them but I didn’t know them. Which is maybe kind of how I’ve always felt about Bob Dylan, so I was okay with that.
- He played for 90 minutes: Dylan’s been a major figure in American music for 50 years, so I expected a lengthy playlist. In fact, he didn’t take the stage until about 8:30, and he exited at 10:00. During that time he played guitar and keyboard, but he never spoke to the audience except to introduce his band (which, by the way, was great). So, you know that air of mystery that always surrounds Dylan? That was what I felt this concert had captured the most.
- About the audience: Before we arrived at the concert, I wondered if the audience would be an older crowd. In fact, there was a good mix of ages, from families with children to quite a few people who looked like they were contemporaries of Dylan. I found it kind of interesting that even 60 and 70 year olds were required to wear an ID bracelet in order to buy beer!
- Bob Dylan at 70: Even if his voice wasn’t what it used to be, and even though we were sitting pretty far away, he still exhibited a lot of energy and musical talent that made me glad I had attended. At the end of the night I felt like I’d done something interesting and different, and definitely worth doing.
Five Things I’ve Done Since My Last Blog
What with it being summer and my kids home from school and college and the garden producing a lot of vegetables I need to attend to, well, I haven’t kept up with my blog. But I have kept up with my challenge to try to do something different every week. So, for this blog I will give a brief synopsis of five things I’ve done but haven’t blogged about yet.
1. Made a bowl on a pottery wheel: This sounds more impressive than it really was. But, a group of friends and I all bought a Groupon for a BYOB pottery class at Clayote in Boyertown. The instructor–a very nice woman named Danielle–gave us a quick lesson in working with clay, then guided us through the process of throwing the pot, centering it on the wheel and worked with us individually to form the bowl. This only took a few minutes, after which we spent quite a bit of time decorating our bowls and talking. I did not really learn how to make a bowl on a wheel, but I spent a lot of the evening working with clay and watching what my friends did with their bowls. Overall, I felt that I learned something, while having a nice time with a group of friends. I would definitely like to go back and learn more.
2. Tried Thai Food: This one also came to me thanks to Groupon, which offered a discount on a meal at a Thai restaraunt in Limerick, Thai Spice. Neither my son nor my husband were all that excited about trying this, but my daughters weren’t home so I talked them into it. We were initially puzzled by the menu options, having no idea what pad Thai even was. Apparently this happens a lot, because the waitress offered us photo albums with pictures of the food. Everything looked amazing, and, in fact, everything we tried actually was. We tried pad Thai, pineapple pad, a chicken appetizer that was marinated in a coconut mixture, and we even got the dessert sampler. We all loved everything we had, and agreed we would definitely go back.
Our raspberry-blueberry tart
3. Went extreme Raspberry picking. I’ve been sworn to secrecy on the location, but my neighbor discovered an extensive grove of wild raspberries growing along a roadside in Berks County several years ago. I know this because she bakes delicious dessert which she occasionally shares with me and she never has a shortage of raspberries. She divulged her location to my daughters, who got in the mood for raspberry picking one day last month, and we headed to the spot. Thus we discovered what my daughter Juliet called Extreme Raspberry picking. The bushes were located on a very steep hill that formed a 90-degree angle with a road that had no shoulder and just enough traffic to make us all certain we were going to die picking these berries. We didn’t die. We got lots of berries and went home and Juliet made a delicious raspberry tart.
4. Set Free 1,500 Ladybugs: Several years ago I planted wildflowers on the side of my house where nothing else seemed to grow. Some kind of tall,
Ladybug on a flower
yellow wildflower has since taken over that entire area, which measures probably four feet wide by 10 feet long. It turns out that aphids love these flowers. I can’t even describe how many aphids were stacked along the three and four-foot high stems. Lots, okay. A little internet research led me to determine that the best way to defeat this was to unleash a swarm of lady bugs–the natural predators of the unsuspecting aphids. So I bought 1,500 for about $10 on Amazon. That’s a lot of ladybug for your buck. It took a surprisingly long time for them to arrive (0ver a week) and during that time many of the aphids died of extreme heat. However, the ladybugs survived the trip with few casualties. They were sluggish at first, climbing out of their container onto my son’s arm, so my daughter began placing them on plants. Over time they dispersed and spread themselves out more evenly. It was interesting to see them working their way up the stems and chomping away on the aphids. It’s hard to know how effective this was since a lot of the aphids had succumbed to the heat, but it had a certain entertainment value that made it worth doing no matter what.
A farm along my bike route
5. Went exploring on my bike: One of my favorite summer activities is exploring the back roads of Chester County on my bike. I really like it when I can find new roads in beautiful areas that I’d never been on before. Recently, I took a ride on some side roads off Route 23. On a Sunday morning, I’ve found that you can ride for hours and hardly see a car on some of these roads. Whenever I do this I am spellbound by the scenery of the countryside that is literally only a few miles from where I live.
Vacation in the Adirondaks
My parents own a cabin on a small lake in the Adirondacks near Lake George. Every year, I spend a week there with my entire family. Here are ten reasons why it’s great.
The cabin
1. Into the Woods: To get there you have to travel down several country roads to a dirt road in a thickly wooded area populated mostly (as far as I can tell) by deer. Not only do you leave behind the souvenir shops that clutter parts of the Lake George region, you also can forget about cell phone reception, for the most part. Usually, there are a minimum of 12 of us staying here for the week. No problem. With the entire Adirondack region in reach and a lake at our fingertips, we all spread out (0r stick together) and find lots to do.
The view from my kayak
2. Like go kayaking: Two years ago my brother-in-law bought two kayaks, and now it is a favorite activity for my kids and their cousins to go paddling around the lake. I like it too. It’s the perfect way to start your
day, sneaking out first thing in the morning, when the lake is like glass and most people are still sleeping. It’s absolutely silent, the only sound is the paddle hitting the water.
My daughter Juliet holding strawberries with her cousins and brother.
3. Strawberry Picking: Last year we picked blueberries, went back to the cabin and made four pies. This year, strawberries were in season. When we arrived at a pick-your-own field, the attendant told us the season was coming to a close, and we’d have to hunt to find good strawberries. Well, there were nine of us, so we had no trouble finding heaps of strawberries, as you can see in the photo on the left. They were sweeter than any strawberry you could buy in a store, and the entire field smelled wonderful.
4. Making strawberry jam: We quickly noticed that the strawberries had no shelf life, so we needed to either eat them or otherwise use them up very quickly. Making strawberry pies just didn’t seem like a good option, so instead we made jam. The recipe called for seven cups of sugar to four cups of strawberries!!! It tasted amazing! We made about 20 jars in two batches.
5. Biking: In my opinion, there’s no better way to see the world than from your bike. My sister and I headed out every day for a ride around the lake (5-6 miles). Then, one day, we traveled along a bike path into Lake George, sat for a while drinking iced coffee and enjoying each other’s company and the scenic views that are literally everywhere in the Lake George region. Another day, my brother-in-law–a serious cyclist who easily puts in 70 miles and comes back ready to refinish the deck–led me on a ride to a place called Assembly Point where the houses were magnificent, and the views of the mountains from the shore of Lake George were stunning.
A view from the boat
6. The Lake our Cabin is on: Known as Hadlock Pond, it’s a man-made lake in a wooded area that was dammed up in the late 1800s. It measures a total of 4.6 miles of shoreline, and it’s great for swimming, fishing, boating and just gazing out onto the beautiful blue water. My dad has a pontoon boat, and he often takes us out in the evening for rides around the lake. I love doing this. You can see the Lake from so many different angles, and it’s also nice to see all the other houses, cabins and camps filled with people like us having fun in the water.
7. Fishing: Trying to catch the largest fish in the lake is a popular activity at our cabin. Mostly, we catch small sunnies. The lake is abundant with these, and the cove where our cabin sits seems to be their favorite hangout!
8. Cousins: My one complaint is that it’s hard to get the kids (the youngest two are 13) to leave the cabin and
Cousins
have other Adirondack adventures. One day I recommended tubing, horseback riding, a local cave attraction. No go. They want to spend time together fishing, kayaking, swimming. They also paint rocks, do puzzles, and hunt for miniature frogs (there were thousands of them hiding among the rocks). My husband did arrange for a day long hike in the high peaks that my daughter braved, along with the men. And our dog Daisy.
9. Downtown Lake George: The one thing everyone agrees to is a nighttime trip to the Village of Lake George, which features boardwalk-like shops, attractions and crowds. It just wouldn’t be a vacation for our family without a visit to the arcades where my son can win a whoopie cushion and my niece earned enough tickets to get mood changing lipstick. The adults understand that this is clearly a waste of money, but a good time to work on our competitive skee ball skills.
Jumping in!
10. Family, food, fun. Repeat. We are Italian, so part of the fun for us lies in making truly great dinners every night. Although, at one point the oven refused to work and Juliet had to make her pie in a toaster oven–not the best baking scenario. However, for the most part we have so much fun being together, eating and spending time in the water that we hate to leave. Therefore, we decided to return for a second round in August! I can’t wait.
I Witness Canal Jousting
Lock 60 on Schuylkill Canal
Every year the Schuylkill Canal Association hosts Canal Day–a day-long festival that includes an intriguing activity called canal jousting. This year, I decided to see for myself what exactly this was all about.
1. The Schuylkill Canal: I, as a writer for the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, have learned a lot about local history. What I have found to be arguably the most fascinating aspect of local history is the Schuylkill Canal. So, I’ve been to the restored Lock 60 in Mont Clare many times. Apparently I never took my kids, though. I attended Canal Day with my son, 13 and my daughter, 19. They were both pretty interested in the canal.
2. Why I like the canal: Because it was hand-dug in the early 1800s, which seems pretty amazing. And because it was a key transportation route for about 100 years, but there’s very little left of it now, so the locks, the locktender’s houses and the visible canal channels are all relics of a long-gone era.
3. Here’s a little history: The Schuylkill Canal is actually a navigation system that, for reasons to complicated for me to want to explain here, consists of a series of dams and canals along 108 miles of the river. The canal made the otherwise mostly too-shallow river navigable, so that coal could be carried from Schuylkill County to Philadelphia. It also allowed for boats to make a return trip back to coal country. I like the fact that canal boats only traveled four miles per hour. I can’t even imagine traveling so slowly!
4. About Canal Day: It’s a small festival, so there were crafters, food, music, but it really didn’t have a carnival atmosphere. The lock tenders house was open and my kids and I liked walking through it. By today’s standards, it was a small house so I found it interesting that some of the upstairs bedrooms were for guests, not for the family that lived there. The lock was restored in 2005 and is in working condition, so really a highlight of the festival was the opening of the lock.
A crowd gathers to watch a demonstration of the lock
5. How the lock works: Locks were built to allow boats to travel through changes in water levels without having that Disney Splash Mountain experience. Here’s a more detailed explanation, with illustrations and even an animated video. It was fun and interesting to see it in person, though.
Juliet and Ian watching a canal joust.
6. Canal jousting: This was small town competition at its best. It seemed anyone could sign up to do it. The result was a series of matches against two people who had either never canal jousted before or had minimal experience (because, really, how would you get experience? It’s obviously an under appreciated sport). Two docks were set up, connected by a long plank about a foot wide. The contestants stepped out onto the plank, armed with padded jousting sticks, and met in the middle. They proceeded to try to knock their opponents into the water. In most cases, both people ended up in the water. Here’s a YouTube video of a 2010 canal joust.
7. Why this was entertaining: Okay, I’m not sure. But we probably spent a good 45 minutes watching this event (it went on longer than that but we wanted to get home). Inevitably the crowd chose one person to root for, and each match was over very quickly–the winner of a match won two out of three jousts. Besides, the opponents weren’t always evenly matched, size-wise, but balance was also a major factor, so it was interesting to see which contender came out ahead.
A tanker cools off the crowd
8. Overall this was a fun day. This was a good mix of having fun and learning something. It was also a pleasant way to spend a warm summer afternoon. There was live music, some vendors (I personally met and spoke with the Bee Queen of Pennsylvania, who was very knowledgable about Beekeeping–something my daughter has always wanted to try). Another bonus? When it got hot, a fire truck was on hand to cool off the crowd.
Week 16: I Kayak on the Schuylkill River
- Kayaks lined up on the first day of the sojourn
Every year, the organization I work for, the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, holds a weeklong, 113-mile paddle down the Schuylkill known as the Schuylkill River Sojourn. It’s a major event and a tremendous amount of work for our small staff of six, so none of us actually get out on the water much. Still, every year I try to participate in a small piece of the sojourn, just to keep in tune with what it’s all about. (And, hey, I get to kayak in the middle of the working week!) This year, I chose a short section I’d never done before–a stretch of the river that spans from Douglassville to Pottstown. Here are ten things you might find interesting about my experience.
1. I am not a kayaker. My experience in a kayak is limited to the three other times I’ve ventured out onto the water during the sojourn, as well as a few paddles around a small lake in upstate New York. Oh yeah, and one fairly terrifying float onto Long Lake in Maine, when a sudden storm brought on rough water that left me and my kids spinning in circles. Fortunately, my husband, who has spent a lot more time in a canoe, guided us out. But you get the idea–I’m basically a beginner.
2. About the sojourn. Paddlers on the sojourn travel about 14-18 miles a day. Usually, there are anywhere from a maximum of 100 people on the water to about 75 people–most of whom only do part of the trip. They range from experts who have paddled all over the world, to novices who have never even picked up a paddle before. It’s a guided tour, which means there are safety boats, and it’s led by an organization called Canoe Susquehanna, run by Allan and Betsy Quant. Allan stays at the front and steers everyone safely through and around all obstacles. Betsy paddles the sweep boat at the back of the group. I always wind up near Betsy, because I am slow and don’t have great control of my kayak so if I’m in with a cluster of kayaks I bump into people. Also, I like Betsy.
3. About the Schuylkill This is the 13th year our organization has held the Schuylkill River Sojourn. Why would a nonprofit group devote so much time and energy to taking people on a weeklong trip from Schuylkill Haven to Philadelphia? Well, here’s something you might not know–rivers used to be dumping zones. Up until the middle of the 20th century (that’s right, less than 100 years ago) industrial waste and raw sewage were poured untreated into the Schuylkill. Coal production sent so much coal silt into the river that the water ran black. Beginning in 1948, the river was cleaned up through a major environmental undertaking called the Desilting Project. And in the 1950s, sewers were constructed and the Clean Water Act was enacted, restricting pollutants from being dumped into the water. So what does this have to do with the sojourn? The sojourn allows people to see for themselves that the river is beautiful and that it’s much cleaner than it once was. And research shows that people who spend time on a river are more likely to respect it and protect it.
- A restored home in Morlatton Village
4. Now, back to my experience: I’m really good at worrying, so I do it a lot. Even though I’ve paddled in the river before, I usually put a lot of energy into worrying about it right before I get on the water. Mostly, I’m afraid that I’ll lose control of my boat and go careening downstream or into something I shouldn’t be careening into, like a felled tree. So far, this has proven to be a groundless worry. Sojourners get breakfast, lunch and dinner on the trip (the food is so good that some people complain they gain weight despite paddling six to eight hours a day!) The piece of the river that I chose to do started after lunch at Old Morlatton Village, in Douglassville, and ended at Riverfront Park in Pottstown. I attended the lunch, which was awesome fried chicken served up by Union Township EAC on the lawn outside the Mouns Jones House. Tablecloths, candlelight and Vivaldi were included. Nevertheless, I was too busy worrying to eat much.
5. The lunch program: The sojourn has an educational component, so every lunch and overnight stop includes a presentation. This year, programming was organized by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, with a focus on conservation. The lunch presentation I attended was about gardening. The speaker talked a lot about her own really interesting garden, and about the importance of native plants. I was impressed by the fact that she had multiple rain barrels that can hold, altogether, 600 gallons of rainwater, and she uses this to water her garden. I took a pause from worrying to decide that I would order a few rain barrels for my garden.
- I did not attempt this.
6. On the water: After lunch for the sojourners and a goodly amount of worrying for me we finally headed to our kayaks. Mine was provided by our outfitter, HRO Adventures, who kindly placed the kayak by the water for me, at the end of a long trail. I’d already made friends with one of the safety people, a young woman named Sarah, who assisted me in getting into the water and advised me to stay at the back of the group. And then, I was in the water and I had one last moment of worry that I was going to go careening out of control. But I pretty quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen, and that the real challenge might be keeping up with the group. In any case, I settled easily into slowly paddling along.
7. Paddling: Sarah came along and gave me a few paddling pointers, noting that I shouldn’t be using my arms so much as my torso. This made absolutely no sense to me, but I spent much of my two hours in the water attempting this feat. I was also fortunate enough to meet up with Positively Pottstown blogger, Sue Repko–also a novice kayaker (but not, I noticed, as good a worrier as me, since she seemed pretty comfortable with her paddle). You can read her wonderful blog about the sojourn here.
- Sojourners on the Schuylkill
8. Where are we? I am incredibly familiar with the area between Douglassville and Pottstown. However, seen from the river, it is a different world. And it is a really beautiful world. It’s been reported to us that people have seen eagles along this stretch of the river. The banks of the Schuylkill are lined with trees that block out views of roads and buildings. Your only landmarks are bridges, and it’s not always obvious which bridge you are passing under. So there you are, on a river that sits between Routes 724 and 422, and you are suddenly in a lush natural paradise. It is amazingly scenic. What’s more, temperatures were in the 90s but a cool breeze blew off the water and I never felt real hot. It’s also an easy piece of the river, with no dams to portage around and no other obstacles to manuever through (Although it’s worth mentioning that rivers change based on water levels and flood situations, so a fallen tree can create an obstacle where there wasn’t one the day before).
9. This was fun. People who go on the sojourn every year often talk about how much they love paddling–and many also say the Schuylkill River Sojourn is their favorite sojourn. Now I know why. It’s fun paddling with a group. You get to meet people, enjoy the scenery and get your exercise at the same time. And kayaks themselves are fun because they are lightweight and colorful and easy to manuever. Overall, being in the water on a beautiful day is just a very pleasant experience.
- Me working hard at registration on day one of the sojourn
10. Please don’t tell my co-workers. It would be best if they didn’t know how much fun I had. Our entire staff works incredibly hard during the sojourn. Virtually all of my co-workers tell me they can’t even spend half a day on the water because they have so much work to do. I tell them that I’m only doing it for research purposes (I am the staff writer, so it helps if I know what I’m writing about). Still, when I return to the office I try to make it sound like being on the water was just okay. So if you read this and you know my co-workers, please don’t let them know that I really had a blast and that I have absolutely no regrets about abandoning my work for the day to spend a couple of hours in a kayak on a beautiful stretch of river.
Week 15: I Go to the Great Pennyslvania Favorfest…
…It tasted kinda grapey.
PA Favorfest
For the Memorial Day weekend I found myself in the unusual position of having nothing in particular planned. I discovered online that something called the Great PA Flavorfest was being held on the grounds of the Renaissance Faire outside of Hershey. It promised free admission, free parking and free tasting. It sounded perfect. I decided to go, accompanied by my daughters (19 & 23), my oldest daughter’s boyfriend, and my son (13). Here’s how it went.
1. It always takes us a while to get out of the house: By the time we got on the road it was already after 12:00. It took us over an hour to get there, so we were starving when we arrived. Since the website promised an “all-encompassing showcase of Pennsylvania’s unique cuisines and the region’s cultural diversity,” I was pretty excited about all the great food I would be able to taste.
2. Wine glasses: At the entrance, we were greeted by a woman offering commemorative wine glasses for three dollars each. They were, of course, for tasting the wines. I wasn’t really interested in the wine, though, because I was driving, and also I was with my kids. My oldest daughter and her boyfriend are both over 21, but were disinterested in the wine tasting as well.
3. More wine: We passed by lots of wine tasting tents and quickly began scanning the grounds for the food tents. We found a number of booths with food, but they were selling things like BBQ, pizza, nachos, hot dogs, sandwiches and curly fries. This did not seem like the culinary diversity I was promised. What’s more, the grounds of the Renaissance Faire are charming, but they are also quite large and it was close to 90 degrees outside. So we were hot and hungry and searching for the advertised “delicious array of the state’s culinary and wine offerings.” We had no trouble finding the wine offerings.
4.Potato Pancakes and crepes: We ended up eating potato pancakes, which were delicious. My daughter and her boyfriend got crepes from a carnival-type truck. These were good, too, they said, but when I tried to order one, I noticed the wait time was quite long. Sodas were $2 each. When my son asked for a root beer, the clerk told us there was none, then gave us a list of off-brand sodas that were available. These had names like Morning Dew and Sun Pop. Again, this seemed at odds with the culinary excellence we’d been expecting. So, after wandering about the grounds for a while I finally figured it out. This was a wine festival.
5. Wine tasting: I returned to the entrance and purchased my $3 wine glass. I’d never been to a wine tasting before, and I discovered that it was actually kind of fun. Each vendor had a list of available wines and you could choose which one you wanted to taste. The easiest thing, though, was just to taste whatever the vendor was pouring into the glasses of the people around you. That was okay with me. The first one I tasted, from Heritage Vineyards (I think), was called Niagara. It had a grape juicy flavor that was kind of appealing.
6. Apple pie and ice cream: Mostly when I drink wine I choose dryer red wines. But I was afraid of getting a headache, so I stuck to white wines. Virtually every one I tasted was sweet. The most unusual was an apple wine that the vendor described as tasting like apple pie and ice cream. He was right. It was fun and fruity and he insisted it was even better warm, but since it was the weather was blisteringly hot, I passed on the heated up version of that wine.
7. Not really a great family activity: There were kids crafts, but my son was too old for them. And, overall a wine tasting isn’t a great family outing. Even though I only tasted a few wines, my son and younger daughter quickly grew impatient. My older daughter went off on her own. I probably wouldn’t do this again with kids, but I think it would be a fun event with a group of friends. It was also an interesting opportunity to taste the many Pennsylvania wines that are available.
Grounds of the Renaissance Faire
8. The Renaissance Faire Grounds: As I said earlier, the fair grounds are, in themselves, charming. There are quaint shops laid out to resemble Renaissance-era streets. Many of these were open, including a very authentic looking herb hut that sold a wide variety of dried herbs, and a tiny tea shop where my daughter purchased a cute teapot. There was also musical entertainment on several stages and a glass blowing demonstration that entertained us for a while.
9. Overall: This wasn’t really the event I was expecting, but it was still a nice way to spend the day and, since I’d never been to a wine tasting festival before, I felt I’d learned a little bit about Pennsylvania wines. There seem to be a lot more wineries than I’d realized in this state! Also, there were some foods to taste, including a booth with lots of dips to try, and another with sauces. My kids spent a while sampling those sorts of things.
10. The best part: I entertained the five of us for the day and hardly spent any money. Admission was free, the wine tasting was free and the food we ate wasn’t outrageously expensive. Also, I’d expected that at a food festival I would eat way too much, but, in fact, I really only shared the potato pancakes and had a few small bites of other foods. So, I didn’t spend too much and I didn’t eat too much. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it turned out okay after all.
Week 14: Do Yoga on the Steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
On the Art Museum Steps
I don’t do yoga regularly so this was definitely–pardon the pun–a stretch for me. I was encouraged to participate in this fundraiser, called Yoga on the Steps, by my friend Barbara, who operates a yoga studio in Pottstown. She put together a team called Tri-County for the Cure. Despite my inexperience with yoga, I agreed to be part of the team for several reasons. One, because it sounded like such an interesting and fun event; two because it was for a good cause; and, finally, because I always admire Barbara’s enthusiasm for yoga. Nevertheless, almost from the moment I signed on, I worried. I’m the type of person who doesn’t wear high heels for fear of tumbling off them. So, performing balancing and stretching exercises on steps just sounded dangerous. Here’s how it went.
1. About Yoga on the Steps: This is a fundraiser organized by a group called Living Beyond Breast Cancer. It’s in its ninth year, and this year 1,100 people participated. While I worried that everyone else there would be expert yogis, it is, in fact geared toward people of all experience levels and abilities. The event raised a total of $245,000 (the goal is $250,000 and fundraising is ongoing through June 30).
2. Logistics: I felt that our team, Tri-County for a Cure, was very well organized. I didn’t do too much in advance. I just followed instructions and participated in a few team fundraisers. The T-shirt, designed by an artist in the group, was beautiful. The day of the event we had about 25 people traveling from the Pottstown area to Philly, so we met at a parking lot and carpooled down. I have a van, so I agreed to drive. Fortunately, I didn’t have to parallel park!
3. Driving there and back: There were so many things I enjoyed about this day. Among the best, I met some really great women and got to spend time with friends. I, a woman who is not usually thrilled about driving on the Schuylkill Expressway, honestly enjoyed the trip there and back because I was in such pleasant company. (Special thanks to one of my passengers, Pat Dillon, whose photos I used for this blog.)
Sitting on our mats, the Philly skyline behind us
4. Being there: Part of what was fun about this day was just being there. You can see in the photo on the left that our vantage point on the art museum steps was spectacular. And it was just kind of cool to be surrounded by so many women, so many yoga mats and, ultimately, so much positive energy.
5. Fear of falling: Most of the time, worry is worthless. This was no exception. My fear of falling off the art museum steps proved unwarranted. We weren’t on steps, but on wide landings. So there was plenty of room and I didn’t fall anyway.
6. How it worked: The event lasted from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m, but the
Barbara, me and my friend Anne pose and listen
program itself was held between 9:30 and 11. A yoga instructor led the group, telling us which poses to perform. Then, we held the poses for two minutes while breast cancer survivors told their stories. This was pretty challenging. Ever try standing on one leg with your arms outstretched for two minutes? I couldn’t do that pose, but it was kind of fun trying. Even less difficult poses required strength, agility and concentration to hold for two minutes.
7. A positive message: When I heard that women would be talking about their experiences with breast cancer, I expected to be hearing some very sad stories. But these women were incredibly positive. The messages that were repeated over and over were about the value of friendships, overcoming adversity, being comfortable with your body, and appreciating each day of your life. For me, someone who really doesn’t do yoga, I felt an intense synergy between the spiritual and mental component of listening to these messages, and the physical challenge of holding a pose.
8. Afterwards: We all agreed it was an exceptional experience. Another plus? On the ride home, my friend Anne–who really should be a chef–gave us some great cooking tips. I can’t wait to try her baked kale chips. (Mix kale with salt, olive oil and bake). She says her kids love them.
9. Anne’s video: Anne put together this incredible video that gives a wonderful perspective of the day.
10. Barbara’s blog: Barbara wrote this excellent blog about her journey putting together our team.
In the end I just felt lucky to have been part of this event.
Week 13: Visit St. Peters Village
A view of St. Peters Village
Last Sunday, for Mother’s Day, I had an idea that St. Peters Village, which is located only a few miles from my house, would be a great destination, and not a place most people would think to go for Mother’s Day. I was wrong about that Mother’s Day thing. There were plenty of people clambering around on the boulders. But it was a very fun destination. Here are a few things you might want to know about my experience.
1. This isn’t New Hope: St. Peters Village dates back to the early 1880s, if Wikipedia is to be believed. It was built along French Creek as both a granite quarrying village and a recreational retreat. Today, there’s not a lot there in terms of shopping or, well, in terms of anything. But there is a nice restaurant–the St. Peters Inn–as well as a great bakery, a wine store and a few other shops and businesses. So what’s the attraction? That I-just-stepped-into-1881 feeling you get when you walk down the street. Oh, and the boulders.
2. Very Victorian: There are maybe a dozen of so homes and shops
An antique shop hung quilts along the fence
that line the single street that is St. Peters Village. All are cute and Victorian and there’s a certain pleasure to be had in strolling past them, imagining what it must have been like here 100 years ago or so. What’s more, it doesn’t have a lavish, Disney-type feel. Instead, it’s very authentic. The houses are mostly small and charming, painted in cute colors, but none are elaborate, except maybe the inn.
Ian sitting on a boulder
3. Boulders!: The real reason to visit St. Peters is the boulders. Giant rocks protrude from French Creek. It’s fun to climb around on them, as the water rushes by below. It’s also fun to watch people jump from rock to rock. There’s a swimming area and a few kids were wearing bathing suits, but the day we went no one was braving the cold water!
4. What not to wear: Even though St. Peter’s is near my house, it’s been years since I’ve visited. Maybe that’s why I forgot that you shouldn’t wear sandals with heels. Not very conducive to hopping about on boulders.
Lunch on the deck
5. St. Peters Bakery: We ate at St. Peters Bakery, which is located in the village’s former general store. Inside, this place defines quaint, with a few key elements that once were part of the store still in tact (a fireplace, a small window, maybe for a post office). Outside, there’s a deck overlooking French Creek. That’s where we ate. I’ve never eaten there before, but we found it so scenic and so unique, it almost felt as though we had traveled to another country, and not just a few miles from home.
6. The food: We had sandwiches, which were fabulous. But next time I’m going for the desserts. They looked phenomenal!
Pinball machines
7. The arcade: Oddly, one of the businesses that seems to survive well in this little village is an old-fashioned arcade, with lots of pinball machines. It’s only open on weekends. My son loved it!
8. The quarry. After you’ve climbed on the rocks and admired the town, it’s also interesting to walk through the parking lot across from St. Peters Inn, up a hill to look down on the quarry. Again, it’s very scenic.
9. The History: St. Peters is actually on the National Register of Historic Places. It has a pretty interesting history, both as an excursion town and a mining village, which you can read about here. I found it fascinating that a train once brought people to this little town. Also, that the bakery was once so popular people would travel from miles away to buy bread.
10. Worth the trip. This was definitely a great way to spend Mother’s Day, or any nice weekend day, really. I hope to go back soon, without sandals with heels so I can spend more time climbing around on rocks!
Week 12: Ride the Perkiomen Trail
Lower Perkiomen Valley Park Trailhead
Well, I have ridden on the Perkiomen Trail before, so this isn’t completely new. But on Sunday I rode on a piece I’d never tried, and I went with a friend I’d never biked with before, so that seemed to fit my mission of trying something different for the week. In any case, it was a chilly spring morning, so it definitely woke me up!
Here are ten things you might be interested in knowing about my experience:
1. We started in Oaks: According to the Perkiomen Trail Website, the trail runs 19 miles from Oaks (where it connects with the Schuylkill River Trail) to Green Lane. I’ve ridden several sections of the trail in the past, each time starting from either Green Lane or Schwenksville. This time, we opted to start at the Lower Perkiomen Valley Trailhead, which is easily accessible from Route 422, and a good meeting point for my friend and I, who were coming from opposite directions. The trailhead was easy to find, well maintained and had lots of parking.
2.My sense of direction. If I’m being honest, I have to admit I haven’t actually got a sense of direction. So, of course, since I was leading, we headed in the wrong direction, which leads towards Valley Forge. Therefore, I’m grateful that there were signs posted along the trail that quickly informed us, after maybe half a mile, that we were not, in fact, en route to Collegeville.
3.Trail maps. The trail website has plenty of useful information, not the least of which was a trail map with distances to trailheads and towns. For a variety of reasons, we knew we wanted a shorter ride. It was cool and breezy and we were definitely not doing the full 19 miles–and back. So we decided on a more manageable five-mile trip to Collegeville.
4. A word about my friend and I. I went with my very good friend Beth, who bikes so infrequently that she had to borrow her teenage daughter’s bike to accompany me on this adventure. We’ve known each other since college (so, you know, a few years) and we live an hour apart, so we try to get together a couple of times a year. Beth, who is a runner and in very good shape, knows I’m an avid cyclist so she bravely offered to ride with me one morning. I didn’t want her to regret her decision, so I tried to choose a trail that was not too difficult but still fun. I feel like I definitely made the right choice. The gravel surface was sometimes rough, making it a bit hard to manage at times with my road tires, but overall, it was a pleasant place to ride.
We saw some beautiful wildflowers
5. About the trail. The Perkiomen Trail was built on an abandoned railroad bed, so it’s kind of fun when you are riding on it to imagine what it was like when the trains went through there. In any case, it is an interesting route, with a nice mixture of sceneries. It’s mostly treelined and woodsy, with some steep slopes along the sides of the trail, but we passed by some cute old houses and crossed a few streets before we came into Collegeville. It’s also a scenic trail, because it follows the Perkiomen Creek and offers some pretty views of the water. Despite being a chilly morning, there were quite a few other people on the trail, although it was never crowded.
This isn't us. I forgot my camera so I got pics off the Internet.
6. Riding with a friend. I love to bike–I almost always find it fun and refreshing and great exercise. I also love to talk and spend time with friends. So biking with a good friend is, for me, the quintessential activity, since I get to do two things I really enjoy at one time!
7. Collegeville. Possibly I was enjoying the talking part of this experience too much because we kind of wound up off the trail in Collegeville. Nevertheless, the short trek we took into a residential area was nice, and included an obvious trail connection. But because of that I’m not sure what route the trail actually takes through Collegeville. Still, it was a nice stopping point and good spot to turn around.
8. The return ride. The way back was easier. I’m not sure why that was–perhaps the wind was less gusty, and there may have been a very slight downward grade. Or maybe we were just warmed up at that point. I usually think the first five miles of every ride is the most difficult, because it generally takes me about five miles to warm up.
9. Pizza. All good riding experiences end with good food experiences. After the ride we drove a short distance to a nearby shopping center (we probably could have biked there) and found a great little pizza place. We each ordered a slice and the food was very good. I never quite get used to being out in public in biking clothes and helmet hair, so it was nice that there weren’t too many people there!
10. We’re definitely doing this again. Next time, we’re setting our sites on riding to Schwenksville, which is about 10 miles from the Oaks starting point. We figure we’ll be hungry by the time we get there, so we’ll stop for lunch before turning back. I think it will be a great 20-mile ride.
52 Ways to Wake Up a Week 