Fall is a wonderful time of the year in the Philadelphia. Winter is cold. Spring seems to bring a pent up energy. Summer is hot. Fall is the perfect combination of good weather, festivals that don't seem overly packed, and free time to enjoy the areas offerings before the winter accounting busy season picks up again. It feels like there is something going on every weekend...because there is something going on every weekend.
WEEKEND 1: September 9, 2023
We started our fall explorations where Philadelphia started...Penn Treaty Park. We ate breakfast at Her Daughter's, a neighborhood cafe deep in the heart of Port Richmond. An area that we rarely explore and yet shows that Philadelphia has great neighborhoods throughout the city. A Port Richmond breakfast sandwich (a crazy combination of pork roll, mustard cream cheese, and Ruffle potato chips) and photo op in front of a flower wall and we were on our way to the Philadelphia waterfront. Arch Street Pier. Check. Cherry Street Pier. Check. Off to the historic district.
We started our fall explorations where Philadelphia started...Penn Treaty Park. We ate breakfast at Her Daughter's, a neighborhood cafe deep in the heart of Port Richmond. An area that we rarely explore and yet shows that Philadelphia has great neighborhoods throughout the city. A Port Richmond breakfast sandwich (a crazy combination of pork roll, mustard cream cheese, and Ruffle potato chips) and photo op in front of a flower wall and we were on our way to the Philadelphia waterfront. Arch Street Pier. Check. Cherry Street Pier. Check. Off to the historic district.
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One of the nice elements of Philadelphia, is that if you show up early on a weekend morning, I'm talking before 9 or 10, you can easily find prime, convenient street parking. When you are doing a lot of walking and your feet are sore or you've been carrying a toddler, parking the car close by makes for an easy escape at the end of the trek. A walk through Old City lead us past Christ Church to Betsy Ross's house. Around the corner from here, one of the area's youngest residents saw the oldest, continuously inhabited, residential street in America for the first time. We then grabbed a Turkish coffee and baklava with Cousin Mike and Janelle, his wife.
A good start to the fall exploration. You can never go wrong with a quick morning pass through Philadelphia's historical section.
A good start to the fall exploration. You can never go wrong with a quick morning pass through Philadelphia's historical section.
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WEEKEND 2: September 16, 2023
Wondering what could cause such a smile on Charlotte? It's a carnival! The Spring Mill Fire House hosts a charity carnival every fall - this year marked the Fire House's 100th anniversary. Overall a good time. Carnivals always seem to have a mix of fun and scary, family friendly and creepy. This carnival was no exception. The rides looked safe but weren't...at least for a 19-month old. No straps on the Merry-Go-Round horses? Although that's exactly what I'd expect at a carnival.
Wondering what could cause such a smile on Charlotte? It's a carnival! The Spring Mill Fire House hosts a charity carnival every fall - this year marked the Fire House's 100th anniversary. Overall a good time. Carnivals always seem to have a mix of fun and scary, family friendly and creepy. This carnival was no exception. The rides looked safe but weren't...at least for a 19-month old. No straps on the Merry-Go-Round horses? Although that's exactly what I'd expect at a carnival.
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Huge blunder on my part to take her on the herky, jerky roller coaster. I can't believe she didn't cry. We had to get french fries and an ice cream after that experience.
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A few more Carnival photos. We spent the next morning in Wayne shopping for winter coats - really just an excuse to get to Wayne.
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In the afternoon it was Conshohocken funfest, although Charlotte may need to wait another two-to-three years before she can truly participate in the fun games of funfest.
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WEEKEND 3: September 23, 2023
Tropical Storm Ophelia made this weekend a literally wash out but figuratively we kept the Fall season party going. On Friday we took a loop out to Lancaster for Charlotte to get her first taste of how her ancestors lived. We did what all visitors to Lancaster do...started at a smorgasbord. The Bird-in-Hand restaurant's buffet had all the Pennsylvania Dutch classics - corn fritters, brown-buttered noodles, ham balls, chow chow, chicken corn chowder, macaroni and cheese topped with stewed tomatoes along with Shoofly Pie for dessert. We burned off all those calories (or at least some of them) with a walk around Lancaster's Central Market.
Tropical Storm Ophelia made this weekend a literally wash out but figuratively we kept the Fall season party going. On Friday we took a loop out to Lancaster for Charlotte to get her first taste of how her ancestors lived. We did what all visitors to Lancaster do...started at a smorgasbord. The Bird-in-Hand restaurant's buffet had all the Pennsylvania Dutch classics - corn fritters, brown-buttered noodles, ham balls, chow chow, chicken corn chowder, macaroni and cheese topped with stewed tomatoes along with Shoofly Pie for dessert. We burned off all those calories (or at least some of them) with a walk around Lancaster's Central Market.
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We then drove up to Lititz for a quick stop at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel factory. Charlotte was a bit too young for the tour but we wanted to show the oldest pretzel factory in America along with how nice Lititz is to our out-of-town relative visitors. One final stop at The Green Dragon, a new place recommended by Aunt Karen and Uncle Jim. The Green Dragon is a massive, Friday's only, flea market of sorts offering everything from animal auctions to produce to more Pennsylvania Dutch food to toys to clothes.
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