A Tranquil Time In Northern New Hampshire

A Tranquil Time In Northern New Hampshire

By John Gilmore

A small town, almost a village in northern New Hampshire near Conway, the prime time tourist location in the winter for skiing, sledding, snowshoeing and winter sports, and in the summer hiking the many trails and pine forests, sits quietly and tranquil today.

It is rainy today, in Tamworth. I sit looking out the window in the wooded area from a small cabin in a community of people who seem to have found a way to live with all of the modern amenities, but be in a small, quiet community surrounding Moore’s Pond. No need to go to a park to walk the trails for the visitor. This small community is full of many dirt roads with beautiful cabins, all uniquely designed, close enough to see from the road.

It is rainy now. It just enhances the sleep ability factor here from the rain and most importantly, the quiet. Sometimes it is good just to be in a quiet place. To be away from the city and the roar of cars and blazing sirens, and the lawn mowers and weed wackers constantly going in the suburbs and immersed in the sounds of birds singing, wind blowing through the trees and the natural noises that we often don’t hear or even pay attention to anymore is both fulfilling and enlightening.

It is just life in it’s rawness and in its fullness instead of the hustle and bustle of living according to the wishes and demands of others and the great machine-like culture we often find in US American overcrowded cities . It is what is needed for the healing of the human soul. The human soul needs quiet, it needs solitude as well as community. The human soul thrives while immersed in nature with other human beings, not in avoidance.

As I sit and listen to the sound of distant conversation in the house in which I am staying, and look outside of windows and off of the balcony surrounded by the beauty of nature, I find that I am more relaxed and more at rest than I have been for quite some time. This seems more the real world than my small suburban town.

A Visit To White’s Lake

White’s Lake is a very large lake about two miles from Tamworth. There is a beautiful beach with a cordoned off area for swimming, many picnic tables, and a small store and rental shop where you can rent one and two people kayaks, paddle boats, and canoes. The water is warm. A lot of activity is going on.

A Tranquil Day In Northern New Hampshire

Instead of going in the water we decided to hike the two mile trail around the lake, noticing the beautiful landscape, and resting along the edge, every so often, looking out over the beauty of the pristine looking, yet well utilized lake. The lake is large enough for people to swim in a very small section without disturbing the fisherman and people in boats and canoes, and large enough so people doing the boating don’t usually cross paths unless they want. The best part–no motor boats, or jet skis.

I realize those things must be fun, considering that almost every quiet lake where people swim, canoe, or kayak eventually gets overrun with someone loudly running up and down with a wake following so large that it can sometimes swamp a kayak if the paddler is not careful. Though it may be exciting for the few grinning speed lovers on those vehicles it usually ruins the atmosphere for everyone else. This doesn’t seem to be a problem at White’s Lake.

The major problem for me is the steep entrance fee of five dollars per person for out of state visitors compared to three dollars a car for state residents. Despite all of the fun, the water, the friendly atmosphere with music, picnic tables and children laughing and playing, I doubt that we will return there with only one day left to explore more of his fascinating area when we can for free elsewhere.

The trees, the trails, the quiet, the friendly atmosphere, all of these things add to the charm of the area. I marvel at how few African Americans and People of Color are located here, yet again, I lived in NH for several years so I shouldn’t be surprised. The greatest thing that I notice, and noticed back then, was that it is more comfortable for a black person here than it is in many of the suburban towns surrounding Philadelphia, or Boston. I think many of the people in NH believe in minding their own business and giving people the space they need.

On some issues they are quite conservative. On some they are quite progressive. They are, however, by no means moderate. I kind of like that to be truthful. Stand up for what you want, don’t hate people who don’t agree with what you want has always been my motto. Don’t water down everything that you want or need to the point that it is useless. I think we can all learn something from the state of NH. It isn’t perfect, but what is? And we can make what we learn from it perfect if we have the nerve to stop driving down the middle of the road and get to one side or the other appreciating the fact that we may need to go in the other direction sometimes if we want to get back home.

A Tranquil Time In Northern New Hampshire

A Tranquil Time In Northern New Hampshire

Rabbits And The Rhythm of Jazz In A City That Never Sleeps

Rabbits And The Rhythm of Jazz In A City That Never Sleeps

John W. Gilmore

The City that never sleeps awakes despite being bruised, beaten and injured by the Covid 19 Pandemic.  With fewer people in the streets some of the businesses have shut down as you walk up and down Broadway and along the streets of the upper west side.  Some of the restaurants have set up small seating areas open to the elements so people can sit in and eat.  Things are diminished.  The subway is on a different schedule The crowds aren’t as heavy, but life still goes on.

Rabbits And The Rhythm of Jazz In A City That Never Sleeps
View From Central Park River Walk by John Gilmore

People are walking the streets and picking up food to go most of the time.  Every so often a few people will pass you on a City Bike or bicycles of their own.  There seems to be more E-bikes flowing up and down bike lanes set aside solely for their use.  Some even have street lights set up for bicycles and the small, electric scooters that pass by every so often as people make it to their destinations. 

Everyone is wearing a mask.  Living together in the proximity of a city and caring about one’s neighbor has caught on as part of the milieu of the city and this city, where people are presented to the world as having citizens who are cold and uncaring, has proven itself, yet again, to care more for each other than groups of people located in many smaller cities, towns and rural communities when it comes to protecting them from the virus.  

Walking down 107th street passing many people wearing various types of face covers we come to the entrance of Central Park, one of the largest urban parks in the US.  We walk up a ramp and enter in.  A jazz band is playing funky tunes close to, but not quite, the type of music you would hear on the streets of New Orleans.  People are standing around tapping their feet, clapping.  Some are moved to dance.

A couple whirls and twirls touch dancing.  A few people find secluded corners where they dance with glee on this beautiful Easter Weekend. People are moved to share their time together to the beat of the saxophone, trumpet, trombone and a set of drums.  It is a light shining into the darkness and the fear of a pandemic bringing hope and majesty back to this dynamic world class city.

The park is grand and beautiful.  No matter what tragedy befalls the city and this nation, nature still stands out wonderfully with all of it’s winding trails, streams and rivers, birds and squirrels running free and doing the same things they have been doing for thousands or perhaps even millions of years.  One man stands still holding seeds in his hand as the bravest of the birds fly down and pluck them up and as the squirrels approach them.  People stand their watching, spell bound at the display of trust and comfort he had cultivated with these animals over a period of time.  The city is masked, but not dead, as one might expect.  People aren’t cowering in their homes.

Perhaps we all can learn a lesson from New York City.  Many people are leaving the city.  The Covid virus is still spiking.  The city has been devastated, but there is still a vital energy and power that exists at the core of this city.  In a class I took once at University of Creation Spirituality a teacher named Carl Anthony described it in a class on Urban Spirituality.  He explained it as the power of humanity and the power of possibility that existed in every city because of the diversity, the history, the closeness, and the ability of people all living so close to create the atmosphere they wanted to provide experiences that will take every person to a higher understanding of what it means to be human and to learn the true meaning of joyful living.

This spirit–this spirit of life and resiliency in the face of pandemic, was what we experienced during this weekend trip to the city that never sleeps.  It awakened the realization that no matter how dark and battered, no matter what experiences that we go through as we pass through the fire together, if we want to and if we will stay together, we will not only survive, but prosper.  Like the Easter Egg that promises the hope of new life, or the empty tomb that represents the power of life over death, new life coming forth out of desperate circumstances is always a possibility.  

Out of the egg, the shell of pain, suffering, and desperation holding the city in a tight grip of fear and despondency a new city can arise.  A new people can arise, but we need to nurture ourselves and our society and protect the shell that surrounds it, the very thing that holds it altogether, until what is inside is ready to crack through into a new world and new way of being.  That is what we need now, and that is what is happening as many people stand around a small jazz band in one of the largest urban parks in the country wearing masks, singing, dancing and remembering what the beautiful part of life really is.  Togetherness.  

Rabbits And The Rhythm of Jazz In A City That Never Sleeps
Rabbits And The Rhythm of Jazz In A City That Never Sleeps

Rabbits And The Rhythm of Jazz In A City That Never Sleeps

Trump Hears Truckers, Makes Wolf Reopen Stops

Trump Hears Truckers, Makes Wolf Reopen Stops — The Wolf administration in its not so brilliance closed rest stops on Pennsylvania’s interstates excepting the Turnpike.

The oh-so-necessary-in-these-times truckers objected. The Trump Administration learning of the stupidity confronted the Wolf gang who agreed to reopen stops in seven counties albeit the one in Delco on I-95 stays closed.

As with the Turnpike, the indoor bathrooms will remain closed but each stop will have five portable toilets that will be sanitized daily along with two hand-washing stations.

Medical personnel have noted that the outdoor toilets are far more likely to spread the Wuhan virus, than the indoor ones.

In more stupidity, PennDOT has suspended all construction projects. You would think now would be a pretty good time to get the work done.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Monday (March 16), sent home all toll booth operators. Motorists who don’t have E-ZPass will have their license automatically photographed and a bill for the toll sent to them. A man-made traffic snarl has just ended. Will the toll booth takers ever come back?

And Philly will not be enforcing its parking kiosks, meters or residential parking time limits.

Trump Hears Truckers, Makes Wolf Reopen Stops
If the trucker is resupplying the TP it could work out, maybe

Trump Hears Truckers, Makes Wolf Reopen Stops

Wyndmoor Going Upscale

Wyndmoor Going Upscale

By Dr. John W. Gilmore

My little town of Wyndmoor, Pa. nuzzled against Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill is changing at Traymore and Willowgrove avenues.   New shops and buildings are popping up while others, old stores, small business, and gas stations that served the neighborhood well, are disappearing under the shovel and hammer of progress.  The most recent change is a large condo unit replacing our gas station, our small but convenient hardware store, and a few houses and small businesses. Some of the condos cost as much as $400,000.  Rumor has it they have already been sold.

Wyndmoor Going Upscale
You can tell a town by its coffee shop.A view of Wyndmoor from Locals Coffee & Eatery

On the bottom floor there are new businesses. Captain Andy’s Market where a Tanning Salon used to be; Enza wine and Pizza where a house once stood; Toni’s Pizza (the only neighborhood shop left standing) surrounded by and having to compete with it’s new Pizza selling neighbor; Lash Lounge; Pure Barre (an upscale clothing store); and across the street Skin Smart Dermatology are just a few new shops, and at the very corner of the building Locals Coffee shop.

Locals is a coffee shop with a large open space and polished concrete floors.  The ceiling is painted black with a large fan and silver ducts and pipes running along it giving it a polished, industrial look. Blond wood tables–some large and long with a raw rustic look, but well polished and varnished, others small and square with padded benches provide comfortable seating.  There are four leather chairs seated in front of a small fireplace embedded in the wall below a large screen TV.  The music is pleasing.    

There are various items placed artfully around the room that attract the eye:  old wooden  baskets of fruit, potato chips, various types of food.  A dark metal case with sodas, orange juices, water, and various drinks for those who may want something other than coffee sits close to the counter.  Pastries, sandwiches, and many variations of the  main ingredient–coffee and even tea are sold.

I always thought that one could tell the quality of the town by its coffee shop or lack thereof.  Now we have one we can compare. I sit in a large leather chair next to the fire place.  Is it real fire?  It looks as though it is a fire sealed behind glass and plastic, yet I don’t feel the heat.  The atmosphere is relaxed.  Soft jazz is playing.  It can be crowded sometimes, but due to the openness of the space the voices seem muffled and absorbed. It is good to have a coffee shop so close to my home that I can walk. 

Wyndmoor is changing.  It is the closest town to Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy.  Upscale houses, mansions and estates line the streets directly behind it.  Real estate prices are high in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill.  Perhaps this is the next hot spot for gentrification and housing prices will rise.  I really don’t know if that is a good thing.  What has the world come to when even middle class neighborhoods are unsafe from the shovel and hammer? 

Wyndmoor Going Upscale

Walking Media Pa With John Gilmore

Walking Media Pa With John Gilmore

By John W. Gilmore

Media, a quiet little town just north of Chester, Pa., didn’t have much going on in the ’80s. The major hang out spot near where I lived was the Old State Tavern on Old State Road. It featured various local rock bands playing rock music, dance music, and pop music accompanied by drinking, dancing, and outright partying.

Walking Media Pa With John Gilmore
The Seven Stones Gallery in Media, Pa.

People often visited the most popular restaurant, the Plumstead, located downtown at the center of everything. That’s not true anymore. When I arrived to take my walk 2020 and explore the new happenings I almost got lost because the landscape had changed so much and so much more was going on. I parked my car on East State St. and headed toward downtown not even knowing if I were headed in the right direction.

I passed large buildings encircling a large flat park near State and Manchester. It didn’t look the same as I remembered. Several sets of old concrete steps led up to the large open space dotted tastefully with just a touch of trees and greenery. Upon further inspection I realized that there had been houses in that field. They had been knocked down, only leaving the stairways for the continued use of the new residents.

The town had been subjected to major construction. As I got back in my car circling for some familiar reference point I noticed several large buildings and a very large number of banks for such a small town. I finally found a free parking place next to a clump of churches on Church and Franklyn Sts. in front of the Media Presbyterian Church. Near the churches and in the downtown section there was not a spot of dirt or piece of trash anywhere. The building’s were even clean, showing very few signs of wear and tear.

I parked my car, since there was no no-parking sign, and headed north toward the center of town walking past a Citizens Bank. I was perplexed for a moment. I thought it was a TD bank when I drove in. I noticed a TD Bank to the right of the Citizens Bank touching it, and a large WFSC Bank right across the street with a United Savings Bank nearby.

There were many thriving local businesses: JP Cleaning; Baker Printshop; Media Fellowship; and the House Restaurant in large two and three story buildings–some with bevelled roofs and old fashion fire escapes.

Walking down the street reminds you of the old times in the ’50s and ’60s when people didn’t spend their time shopping in enclosed spaces, but took themselves out into the natural elements scurrying from one store to the next during winter months and strolling, slowly during beautiful spring days doing their weekly shopping.

On the left you’ll find an old fashioned hardware store, on the right, Deals, not a dollar store, but something resembling a 5 and 10 cent store. A myriad of restaurants and shops all under matching green awnings along with the Media Town Mall located at State and Orange stand out. The old Plumstead is now replaced with an upscale bar named Brick and Brew. I can see the dark brown stools bolted to the floor with customers eating, drinking, and cavorting in the middle of the Friday afternoon. It is surprisingly full, located next to a large, open courtyard overlaid with dark brown bricks and benches where people can pass through down to Baltimore Pike, or just sit and look at some of the other shops or watch people passing by in this small downtown section within a downtown section. Several shops are closed waiting for the weekend onslaught, but the open ones have plenty customers.

The choices of shops to visit are many for such a small strip of road and the parallel block of Bethlehem Pike just around the corner. Everything from bookstores to nail salons, from 7 Stones Store, which sells spirituality odds and ends to juice bars, from gyms to Massage Therapy and Healing Centers all right there, within a few blocks, along with a variety of food and restaurants.

Making my way to the end of the street I retrace my steps looking for a quick lunch spot.

I finally stop at Jaco’s Taco and Juice Bar, order a large orange juice and two Tijuana Style tacos. I take the last open table. The places at the bar fill completely as I watch people pouring in and wonder where all of these people are coming from during the middle of the day. Seems that this lazy, little town has become a hotspot in the Delaware County.

Walking Media Pa With John Gilmore

Walking Florence On A Warm Autumn Evening

Walking Florence On A Warm Autumn Evening

John W. Gilmore

Choosing overnight accommodations are always difficult online. The pictures only tell half the story. The reviews are often blazingly good or horrible with nothing in between.  If the price is reasonable sometimes competing motels and hostels report that the place has bed bugs in order to turn the guests away, which makes the choices even more difficult.

Despite this, in October we booked an overnight stay in a very small hostel in Florence, Italy that was very close to the most popular sites and near a more expensive hotel that we stayed in on a former trip.  Albergo Paola was only 65 dollars a night and in the center of the city, but had a shared bathroom and shower with very few amenities and no elevator, according to the reviews.  After a long night of flying it was a great relief to arrive in the morning and find a warm soft bed minust bedbugs, and an elevator that wasn’t supposed to exist according to one of the negative reviews, within walking distance of the main transit center.

We took a nap in the afternoon and awakened early evening.  The sun hadn’t set yet so we decided to take a walk. The city wasn’t as crowded as the last time we were there. It wasn’t the tourist season. Nothing was planned so we wandered where we wanted, walking through the winding alleys paved with well set cobblestones (much better than the clunky ill fitting ones we find in the oldest parts of the US).  On both sides of the narrow streets and allies there were small hotels, shops, stores and restaurants, no boarded up places and nothing broken down.  We wove our way through the small alleyways of central Florence, marveling as we came out of the small streets into wide avenues lined with upscale shops.  We knew we were not in Philadelphia anymore just by walking through the city, looking at the shop windows, the way the stones were laid on their cobblestone streets, and the architecture, made it apparent. Everything was classy, but very humane including the little classic scooters shooting around here and there on the small cobblestone streets.  

It was just a regular day for them.  People were making their way to and from work on a Friday evening.  A group of teenagers meeting downtown laughed as they gathered for a Friday night adventure. Traffic was heavy, but moving, on the main thoroughfares.  We walked along them until we reached the main tourist attractions. The streets were roped off with minimal traffic in places like the Piazza San Lorenzo where you will find El Duomo, one of the churches that was one of the greatest architectural feats of its time in Europe.   It was a work of art itself, not only because of its construction, but because of the beautiful artwork by the great Italian artists of the Renaissance it contained.   

Walking Florence On A Warm Autumn Evening
A tetrahedron around a tree.

From there we made our way to the Piazza Della Signoria.  A large open space where people meandered in the evening sun, talking and observing the artwork of great people like Michael Angelo, a replica of the famous statue of David, a large statue of Neptune riding his chariot in the center of a fountain, a large overhang where many statues honoring the myths of Roman Heroes, and even a celebration of Leonardo Da Vinci with a tree enclosed in a tetrahedron which Da Vinci understood as  the secrets of the universe, encoded in geometry.

Eventually we came to a restaurant along a narrow cobblestone street that was empty.  We were seated quickly on a patio overlooking the street.  Soon after the restaurant filled up with regulars who were a mixture of people who lived in Italy but who had moved from Canada or the US, or people on extended vacations.  As in most restaurants in Italy, the food was beautiful, fragrant, and tasty.

Roman Heroes
Tribute to heroes of Rome

 They offered five courses but we only took three.  No GMO breads or vegetables.  The tomatoes and tomato sauces actually tasted like ripened tomatoes and was full of herbs and spices; no holding back on salt or seasons there, or the rejection of butter or fat that came as a result of the cholesterol scare we went through in the United States for almost 30 years.  The food was fresh, hormone free and natural by law.  We could taste that it was more healthy as if our bodies remembered how real food tasted in the US many years ago.  With stomachs full we returned to our small room thinking that it might be hot because of its lack of air conditioning.  It actually turned out to be a bit cool as the temperature went down when the sun dipped below the horizon, and we awakened the next morning refreshed and ready for the next leg of our journey to Tuscany.    

Strolling Manayunk And Pondering Pink Punch

Strolling Manayunk And Pondering Pink Punch

By John W. Gilmore

On rainy days early Friday afternoon the streets of Manayunk are quiet. Despite the quiet, if you look around, you can see the merchants gearing up for the busy nightlife to come.  Manayunk is a section of Philadelphia 15 minutes from Center City, King of Prussia, and the Mainline running along the Schuylkill River, with a strip full of many diverse shops, restaurants, spas and recreational facilities packed into a very small space.

Strolling Manayunk And Pondering Pink Punch

One wonders how they survive.  How do all of these restaurants compete with each other?  I walk down the street looking at all of the stores, restaurants and businesses in wonder.  I like to come here in the early afternoon when fewer things are open and the streets are not crowded and one can have a choice of quiet restaurants at which to dine.  I notice that some businesses have closed, but only a few, leaving the storefront properties available right there on the main street.  It is prime commercial real estate to be taken by someone who will add their commercial interests to a place booming with business and activities in the evening hours and weekends. The Manayunk Stroll the Street program initiated this past summer to introduce visitors to Manayunk has helped make the business district even more visible.  

From Memorial Day to Labor Day every Thursday this summer one could shop, walk, and stroll through the neighborhood late into the evening.  The majority of the restaurants, bars and recreation facilities participated with free offerings.  From enjoying $6 spiked lemonades from Bourbon Blue, or Spritz Watermelon Margaritas, or Pink Punch at Craft Manayunk along with some spiced chicken skewers to Jakes Wine Bar  where you could enjoy Napa Pinot Noir or Pan Seared Figs with Gremzelax Crisp Prosciutto and Port wine reduction, you could enjoy your walk paying $6 for food and drink.  Most likely next summer the same type of adventure, due to its success, will await you.  Be prepared to stroll the streets and enjoy the nightlife.  There are always activities in this small section of Philadelphia not only in the summer and night, but all year round, (more than I can possibly list in this article) and their calendar is readily available online.

If you would like to explore some adventure off the beaten path right in your backyard and not in crowded downtown Center City, Manayunk is available for you all year round and close to many of the suburban cities.  You can find out more about this small, but popular, section of the city at www.manayunk.com. Just take a look at their events, or better yet, sign up for the newsletter or the online magazine so that you will be ready, at any time, to take advantage of the adventure that awaits.   

Strolling Manayunk And Pondering Pink Punch

Old City Makes Philly A New City

Old City Makes Philly A New City

By John W. Gilmore

As children living outside of Philadelphia in the ’60s and ’70s we thought of it as a large, dirty old useless city.  As far as we knew there was violence everywhere; every street had a gang associated with it; the Mafia would often fight it out on the streets of South Philly; and the prostitutes, drug dealers and organized crime was known to reside at 13th and Locust streets — the Red Light District, right in Center City.  The main train station (30th Street Station) was filled with empty holes and caverns where businesses used to be some time in the distant past.  The most viable station we often saw in transit was the 69th Street Terminal, which had many dirty, shabby shops and restaurants and slimy, slippery floors.  Philadelphia was a place to be avoided at all costs.

Even so, I remember visiting every so often on hot summer’s nights later as a young adult.  I remember taking the Elevated line from 69th Street, getting off on Market Street, and walking down to Penn’s Landing for free concerts.  Penn’s Landing was always extraordinarily hot.  There were bleachers, more like stair steps made of stone and concrete, and not a tree or piece of shade in sight.  Now, on the waterfront, there are free summer concerts at Spruce Harbor Park.  

Multi-colored lights hang from the trees, and people swing in the breeze in hammocks in the shaded areas underneath.  Picnic benches surround the stage where the band plays.  The music can be heard from everywhere, even the lounge chairs looking out over the ice-cream parlors, snack bars, and restaurants on the long boardwalk that runs along the river.  From the boardwalk you look out on the water and see small boats, large ships, and even naval vessels harbored there.  Someone goes by on a goose shaped paddle boat straight out of a Snow White Disney Cartoon, as people are walking, eating, or sitting and talking.

Several docks are set together in a square configuration that resembles a manmade lake or very deep pool enclosing floating gardens.  Large stores and museums are at one end of the Harbor Park portion of the boardwalk and a Hilton Hotel is nearby, while giant ships turned into high class restaurants are moored at the other end.  You can enjoy walking on the boardwalk or through the shady park, maybe even stop for lunch in one of the luxury restaurants.  Whatever is your choice. 

The band plays.  This time a Cuban Band, maybe something else next time.  Cuban Jazz and Salsa music fills the space as we sit trying to eat our ice cream before it melts in the 90 degree heat.  It is good to be in the shade listening to music and watching a few people dance, moving to the Latin beat.  

We walk out of the park and go a few blocks down Columbus Avenue.  We climb the stairs to the bridge leading over this six lane road to find a cross-over with a stone and brick slab designs on the floor and not a scrap of paper in sight.  Large, red-brick flower-box gardens line the sides full of echinacea, daisies, sunflowers and gardenias creating an elevated urban garden.

Descending from this garden, we make our way down the cobblestone streets.  We walk down Dock Street, make a hook around many large, stone buildings and monuments to find a Chinese restaurant where we have an early dinner.  We are in no hurry.  Spot Hero, an internet parking app,  gives us more than 20 hours of nearby parking for $14 in a lot that usually costs $16 per hour.  But we will not stay that long.  

We end the day on a pleasant note. The day has been good.  I begin to reimagine Philadelphia.  The whole riverfront has been redeveloped.  The little broken down, dirty city that I remembered doesn’t exist any more.  I want to explore the new, lively version of the city more fully.  Old City seems to have come back to life, near the riverfront anyway, and the stations.  I would like to see the rest.

Old City Makes Philly A New City

Summer Boating At Bartram’s Garden

Summer Boating At Bartram’s Garden

By John W. Gilmore

Summer Boating At Bartram’s Garden

From Lindbergh Boulevard it is difficult to tell where Bartram’s Village ends and Bartram’s Garden begins. Bartram’s Village, built in 1942, began as a housing project built adjacent to Bartram’s Garden, and was one of the oldest in Philadelphia.  In 2018 the Bartram’s Garden Project received a 1.3 Million Kickstarting Grant to revitalize it into mixed income apartment buildings.  Bartram’s Garden’s Boathouse, which we were seeking, is located  along the river behind what is now Bartram’s Garden Village.  It offers several opportunities for boating several times a week with kayaks, tandem kayaks, row boats, and paddle boats.  Its position along the Schuylkill river makes it a prime location.  The water is very smooth and the river wide at the Boathouse launch.  But on weekdays the offices and welcome center close at 4 making the evening boating launch difficult to find for those unfamiliar with the area.

The GPS leads one down highway 76 and off the Passyunk Avenue exit.  After many twists and turns we come to an empty lot with locked gates.  The scene is surreal.  We enter a small parking lot along a fence with small patches of grass beginning to break through the parking spaces as nature begins to reclaim the asphalt and concrete.   We see a very large towering sign saying Bartram’s Garden, but no people.  We don’t find any signs or instructions, only a walking path leading in two directions that seems to go nowhere.  A road only open to authorized vehicles leads deeper in.  We are lost.  We look around for signs.  They don’t exist.  

We find one man fishing near the deserted parking lot who directs us to go farther down the road to the next turn.  He motions to the bridge farther down the river where we see several row boats and kayaks along the river bank.  We drive back out onto the busy, cracked, concrete road and turn right heading pass many large, brick buildings.  They look old, but renovated. The small, brown sign we pass with yellow writing on the right side of the road says Boathouse, but points into several buildings.  We continue until we come to the next twisting street and turn right.

The name of the housing complex is also called Bartram’s Garden for short, which is a bit confusing, but we continue to drive until we come to a sign that says parking.  We drive down a narrow road pass several close to buildings, park off to the side of a circle, and make our way onto a wide, asphalt walking path, not sure which direction to take.  We only see long grass and weeds.  Some of it near the road has been trimmed with much left wild and many paths leading into nowhere like the Vincent Van Gogh painting of The Wheat Field.  The next sign that says Boathouse points into a clump of weeds.  We keep walking.  Our persistence pays off.  After almost 15 minutes of following the path it loops around the field of weeds and we come to a picnic table near the Boathouse where we have lunch. In the meantime people are arriving to open the Boathouse for their Summer Tuesday Free Boating Event.  Guests are beginning to show up.

Soon everything is ready.  Life jackets are provided for everyone.  We sign a waiver, learn the necessary rules, are reminded of a 30 minute limit, and are ready to go.  The volunteers and employees are very helpful when it comes to choosing the right life jackets, choosing the right boats, and helping us step down into boats constantly shifting back and forth under our weight as we climb in.  In a tandem kayak with life jackets on, whistles attached just in case of an emergency, and black shiny paddles, we push off heading up the river toward the designated limits — a tree in one direction and down river a large, metal bridge.  

We row out into the river on the smooth current moving ever closer to the tree and examine it and a few gardens growing on what used to be docks.  We move along the shore, and even move back and forth across the large river a few times noticing several nooks and crannies we could probably explore along the way, but not on our first trip.  We want to see as much as we can.  We head down toward the bridge.  Before we reach it, our time has ended.  We return to the smiling faces at the dock, disembark and attain our goods that were left safe at the docks.  It was a good afternoon and an interesting place that we may never have noticed except for the internet and our persistence. 

Bartram’s Garden offers many opportunities for those who are interested:  Summer Tuesday Free Boating; Saturday Free Boating which includes free bike rentals to ride The Bartram’s Mile Trail the third Saturday of each month; and Every Last Wednesday Free Fishing with rods, bait and instruction provided.  Bartram Gardens also offers memberships on many levels, that allow one to partake of classes and community events as well as get organic foods from their Sankofa Community Farm.  This hidden enclave on the backside of Bartram’s Village and along the river, offers many opportunities for those who live in the congested neighborhoods nearby.  It is just down the road from many small homes and apartments offering summer fun and also education opportunities on gardening, nutrition, and health and wellness in a safe, family setting.

Bartram’s Garden wants to revitalize downtrodden communities through education and community, and through helping to revitalize unused plots of land in the city for the good of the whole community. You can find out more about Bartram’s Garden and their many volunteer opportunities at www.bartramsgarden.org or call 215-729-5281. 

Oldest Botanical Garden In The USA.

According to Wikipedia, “Bartram’s Garden is the oldest surviving botanical garden in the United States. John Bartram (1699–1777), the well-known early American botanist, explorer, and plant collector, founded the garden in September 1728 when he purchased a 102-acre (0.41 km2) farm in Kingsessing Township, Philadelphia County.”  It was run for several years focusing on research and the transatlantic sale of native, North American plants.   It came upon hard times in 1850 and was sold to Andrew M. Eastwick.  

Eastwick continued running the business and continuing the botanical research until his death in 1879.  There was a movement to preserve the garden and its resources.  Eventually after raising funds and with help from an organization in Boston, the garden was turned over to the city of Philadelphia.  Bartram’s Garden Village (previously Batram’s Garden Housing Project) which is very close to the Garden, is close enough to almost be considered the same land. 

— John W. Gilmore


Ambler Tranquility Off The Beaten Path

Ambler Tranquility Off The Beaten Path

By John W. Gilmore

Since the invention of the internet and better technology, small towns with a lot of activities are the places that offer the best of both worlds — the excitement of the city and the warmth of a small community.  Many of the small towns in Montgomery county and other areas, like some of the sections of Philadelphia, are beginning to blossom and offer the type of community people want.  The borough of Ambler in Montgomery County, Pa. offers the tranquility of a small town with a lot of activity.  It is easy to walk the streets instead of driving, while taking full advantage of the many amenities.  There is a building boom taking place.  Houses and condos are being built rapidly, or renovated, in this town that has been recognized as the best small town in PA by Thrillist Travel in 2017.  The infrastructure that suits the millennial population’s need has developed. 

Ambler Tranquility Off The Beaten Path

There is no need to drive all the way to the next city or even downtown.  You can easily walk or bike.  Even so, if you want to drive or are a visitor you can.  There are meters in the downtown section.  During lunchtime hours, after six, and Sundays they are all free.  If you cannot find parking on the street there is a large municipal parking lot right at the center of all of the activity.  You can also find parking in the nearby residential areas on the street.  No need to drive all the way to the city anymore.  You can find the activities right there and not bring the car.  You can walk if you’re a resident, or bike, if you would like, to get to the exciting, hot spots.

Just down Main Street you see two coffee shops plus other places that sell coffee,  ice cream parlors, Gelato bars, Indian Mexican food restaurants, and even large Yoga studios, dance classes, hardware stores, and pizza shops.  On week nights the trees are lit up in a girdle of bright, white lights, along the main street that gives adds to the festive atmosphere.  Crowds of people mill around traveling to various places.  The crowds are not overwhelming and hard to navigate.  There is a feeling of excitement in the air.  One can get around easily looking at the various shops.  Music is pouring out of some of the restaurants. People are talking — some are eating water ice and others are going in and out of Limon’s Mexican Restaurant.   Everything is alive and buzzing.

You hear a band playing at the Lucky Well, right across the street from the Ambler Theater, a Non-Profit 501c3 membership theater that plays both first run and alternative movies.  Want live theater?  In the same block Act ll theater offers live performances of plays and musical performances.  Just at the end of the Main Street you walk into the Sweet Briar Cafe, famous for its many flavors of ice cream and deserts.  It serves you a variety of meals.  Breakfast lunch and dinner served in a warm setting with friendly waitstaff.  Several booths located close together permit the unplanned conversation between residents of the community while dining and relaxing.   It is a small town where people know each other.  

If you want more you can explore the many other shops and stores off the beaten path, but close to Main Street.  You can enjoy many festivals during the summer including a Restaurant Week Festival, The Annual Ambler Bike Race, and just south of the town a trail that is an extension of Wissahickon Park Trail. Very close by in the town of Gwyned, celebrate the coming of autumn by sampling many types of beer at the Oktoberfest. These are just a few things happening that you can take advantage of  in this small, but growing, exciting town.    

Ambler Tranquility Off The Beaten Path