Gring's Mill Glory

On Sunday, July 18, we headed out to Gring's Mill after I learned that there was a Civil War Encampment set up for the weekend. Saturday had been a brutal day with the heat and humidity, but Sunday offered a much more pleasant environment, so why not check it out?

Here you can see the grand total of participants,

 minus the "doctor" who was set up at a tent adjacent to the "battlefield", attempting to sell some of his wares.  (all for the sake of re-enacting).

The camp was set up near the beautiful red covered bridge known as Wertz's Covered Bridge

within view of the serene Tuplehocken Creek flowing by.  (Nicknamed the "Tullie" by some....not me.)

Along the walking/biking trail, stands the Bicentennial Eagle Memorial along with the Police and Veteran's memorial at a distance.

And, just on the other side of the Red Bridge, is the C. Howard Hiester Canal Center.  I had never been inside, and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised!

One's eyes are immediately drawn to the array of water craft used over the centuries through the canals that ran from north to south and west to east, right through this area.

Near the entrance was the front of a canal boat, set up to look as if one is steering down a canal in a past century.

which you can see in this photo, even if Joshua doesn't appear all that thrilled that I am taking his photo.

There were descriptions of the various canal boats that were used

various diaramas:  this one featuring a boatyard.

a great hands on explanation on how steam power works

as well as visuals of locks

and how they work as well.

By the entrance, there were model boats representing water craft from some of the locals over time.

Some of these can be seen through the front window, but I have to admit, looking at the outside, I would never have expected such information and detail to be inside.  Plus, there were two very enthusiastic guides, each eager for us to have the best experience possible.  You just can't beat that!

Across from the canal museum there is an old farmhouse, with a farmhouse garden in the back.  I took a couple of photos of some unusual flowers.

Just next to the garden stands the Epler's Schoolhouse.  It was just recently moved from a location one and a half miles away, saving it from demolition.

The interior underwent some damage during the transfer, and there is a non-profit group working to recreate the interior to look like it would in 1847, when it was first constructed.  New windows have been installed, carefully modeled on the original.  The restoration group have a photo that they are using as a guide to restore it to the original standards.  One can go inside for a peek, but there is still a lot of work to be done to recreate the interior.  Still, we found it impressive that one could transport a building to save it from destruction. 

Just next to the schoolhouse stands this tree: look closely and you will see the pods resembling green beans.

The formal name is Catalpa tree, but it has been nicknamed Indian bean tree in reference to the pods resembling those beans.

At this point, we decided to take a stroll along the path in search of the original locks to the canals that ran along the creek many years ago.  Upon our return to the red bridge, Becky spotted this in the distance.

A real treat for us prior to heading to the car.  One last photo as we made our way to the parking lot.

Where else would you see a Distlefink, an 1847 schoolhouse and an old fashioned well at a distance?

Not too many places, I'd dare to guess.  And, that's what makes gallivanting so much fun!

Until next time...

 

Sunday Fun!

 Today we decided to take a trip to Columbia, simply because it has a lovely bike trail and scenic views of the Susquehanna River. We packed a picnic lunch and headed out early in the day to try to avoid some of the heat and humidity.

The visitor center is quite large, sitting adjacent to a water treatment facility, and the grounds lead down to the edge of the river.  This is listed as a National Heritage Area, and along the trail, there are placards that tell the story of the canals that were built along the water's edge, and how they played a part in history.   

Canals had been built along the river as early as 1832, linking Columbia to the areas north and west of the Susquehanna.  In 1840, a canal was built along the York County shoreline, on the opposite side of the river, known as the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal.  It connected Wrightsville, across the river from Columbia, to the Chesapeake Bay.  People as well as goods were transported.  In the mid nineteenth century, there was a large African American as well as Quaker population living in Columbia, who helped to establish a way station on the Underground Railroad.  Runaway slaves from the Chesapeake Bay region found save haven here by traveling along the canal.

As you can see, the view of the trestle bridge from the path is quite lovely.

And, it appears that we weren't the only ones out for an adventure, although our's did not involve actually going out on the water.

Lucky Dog!

We were amused by this bike rack, , entitled, "May Fly".   It was actually designed by a 3rd grader, and certainly does make quite the recreation on a large scale!

Outside the center there is a huge pavilion, with picnic tables, where we enjoyed our lunch, 

and rocking chairs to enjoy the beauty of the river.

The inside told some history of the river, and included some entertaining duck decoys.

We decided to head on home, since the weather was heating up, but Joshua wanted to stop and take a peek at the Turkey Hill Experience, since he had seen the huge sign on the water tower by the road.  Marty and I had jested that we were eager to tour the facility some day, so this seemed like an excellent opportunity.

Unfortunately, the place was extremely crowded and we decided that it was best to attempt it on a future weekday.  But, we did get a photo of Marty and Joshua next to the cow that stands next to the entrance.

That was certainly entertaining!

We came home and decided to make some chocolate pizzelles to hold our home-made peanut butter ice cream that we were making for dessert.

Joshua was the timer.  

Becky was the molder. Not bad for a first attempt.

And certainly quite the treat when all was complete.  Becky made some "hard shell" chocolate to drizzle over the top.

This smile certainly tells you how excited he was at the finished product!

 I probably don't have to mention that they were delicious!

Legos and Hepburn: A winning combination

 One of the first things that we did when Joshua arrived, was to head to the local library, and sign up for the Summer Reading Program.  One of the library perks, of which I had been unaware, was a pass to visit the Reading Museum.  With the weather steaming up, it seemed the perfect opportunity to check out the pass and head to the museum with Joshua.  Especially since I had read that there was a Lego exhibit on view as well as a Katherine Hepburn exhibit.

Joshua was super excited about seeing Legos (and the mummy).  I was eager to see the Hepburn exhibit. (I'd already seen the mummy.....more than once.)   A win-win for both...well, last least in my eyes. 

We stopped for a quick photo before entering the museum

and, after checking in, we were directed behind the counter to begin the tour, where we immediately spotted some Lego creations that were made by some locals:

The Pagoda:

and some shops in West Reading

Continuing up the stairs, Joshua was delighted by what we saw.

The Empire State Building

The Sydney Opera House

and El Castillo Pyramid were just a few

In the gallery off of the main hall, stood an amazing reproduction of St.  Pancras Station in London.

On our trip to London a few years ago, we traveled in and out of this station, and stayed within eye's view of it overnight, so I was really impressed with the details that went into its replication

Along the sides of the room, we viewed:  

The Colosseum

London's Olympic Stadium

Amsterdam

Las Vegas

Hallgrimskirkja, Reykjavik

The Painted Lady's from San Francisco

Cartahena, Columbia

Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro

Halley VI, Antarctic Shelf

and a couple which will remain unnamed, since I didn't catch that information at the time:

Buckingham Palace

I found this last one to be particularly amusing, as it features the queen wearing one of her lovely hats as well as Prince William and Kate Middleton on their wedding day. This particular lego structure was created with a few customized parts to feature Royal hats and clothes that would be worn at a wedding. 

The gallery led to the Ancient Civilizations Gallery, where lies the infamous Nefrina under glass.  

I did not take a photo as it truly is the real deal, and the face is exposed and could be a little disconcerting to some.  But, a bust is on display that is believed to exhibit her features according to the forensic artist who determined her appearance over a decade ago. 

And a hologram told the story of her life.  This was actually all new to me, as the museum underwent a huge undertaking to update this part of the museum, working with Egyptologists to ensure that her appearance and narrative were historically accurate.  The Sarcophagus on display had held the entombed body. 

 It really was fascinating to hear her story, and Joshua listened intently as she told it.

There were several other artifacts displayed in this part of the museum.

Moving on, we checked out the armory,

and there was an entire section devoted to Native Americans in another section of the museum.

We took the stairs to the upper level, passing one of the beautiful stained glass windows, 

where there is a fine art gallery.  There were paintings from local artists on display, as well as other pieces of fine art.  This particular painting caught my eye, and I couldn't help but admire its beauty.

Off to the side of the stairs was the Katherine Hepburn exhibit.  I thought it was rather clever to have an exhibit of pants just at the entrance. 

 Katherine was known for being a trendsetter regarding women wearing pants.  There was a quote among the display from Hepburn herself: "Anytime I hear a man say he prefers a woman in a skirt, I say, Try one.  Try a skirt".  It went on to tell a humorous story regarding the time the RKO executives had all of the pants removed from her dressing room in an attempt to get her to stop wearing them.  She stripped down to her underwear and threatened to walk around the set naked if they didn't return the pants.  Needless to say, her pants were quickly returned!

The exhibit featured outfits worn during various films, as well as some posters from others.  Joshua was a real trooper and let me explore somewhat at my leisure.  There were many movies that I was not familiar with, so I can't imagine it would be all that exciting to a nine year old boy to spend much time looking around at clothes and posters from a woman whom he'd never heard of before today.

But here are some of the collection highlights that I found interestingly enough to share:

This feathery item was featured in "Love Among the Ruins"

and, of course, there were the pants. 

That was just about the perfect amount of gallivanting through the museum for both of us, so we headed outside to take a brief walk along the grounds.

 

As you can see, there were few people around so we could enjoy the lovely flowers along the path to the car.

Joshua had a fantastic time, and couldn't wait to tell his mom all about it when we got back home.

In the meantime, I'd like to thank Miss Tina at the library, for filling us in on the pass details.  It was a dynamic experience, and completely free, thanks to the library system.

You really can't beat that!