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Published: September 16th 2019
The transition from Cedar Creek Campground in Bayville NJ to Quaker Woods Campground in Quakertown PA on Wednesday, July 24, 2019 was smooth and uneventful. Quaker Woods Campground is, as attractions on my itinerary went, relatively close to everything and very close to nothing. Most of my targets were about thirty minutes in pretty much every direction from Quaker Woods. Most older campgrounds were built when a pop-up camper was a Cadillac, a major leap forward from tent camping; when a large camping unit was 24 feet long; and when 30-amp electrical service was top shelf. Quaker Woods is that in a nutshell. Not being conducive to the mega-motorhome crowd, the cost is lower and most sites are filled with RVs housing full-time residents or with permanent units whose owners bring the family sedan to the campground for the weekend. Since I was not here for “the great outdoors experience,” Quaker Woods filled my needs to the max.
I started the day on Thursday, July 25, 2019 by visiting two attractions with similar names that celebrated a single event but were located in two different states –
Washington Crossing Historic Park in Washington Crossing PA and
Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville NJ. Only logistics had
me visit the Pennsylvania facility first. It sits on the banks of the Delaware River where Washington made his famous crossing on Christmas night, December 25–26, 1776, has a small museum, boasts a village-like park with several outbuildings and a glass enclosure where visitors can sit and ponder the significance of that event regardless the weather. Things had not been going well for the Americans during the early stages of the Revolutionary War, and Washington’s decision to cross the Delaware River to launch a surprise attack on an isolated garrison of Hessian troops in Trenton NJ was a pivotal point in the war. After seeing the Pennsylvania offering, I made “Larry’s Crossing of the Delaware” via the 15 feet, 2-inch-wide Washington Crossing Bridge. Quick math tells me two 7’ 11” RVs travelling in opposite directions have got a problem! I have travelled over many one-lane bridges; indeed, most covered bridges are one lane, but this might be the narrowest bidirectional bridge I have ever encountered. To be perfectly honest with you, I cannot understand why traffic signals have not been installed such that one-way traffic takes turns, and RVers who come to the area for the history can take the
short path between parks. Probably one of those intergovernmental, interstate impasse thingys!
I made my way to the New Jersey offering which has a visitor center removed from the river. Indeed, I couldn’t even see the river from the visitor center. A parking lot (I didn’t visit and, therefore, know not of the appointments) is at the river. The visitor center, again, has a small museum and offers an excellent informative movie, “Ten Crucial Days: The Road to Liberty,” which explains the significance of the crossing, the surprise attack and the subsequent Continental victories in the context of the overall campaign. Which is better? That’s hard to say. Both have strong positive points. I felt much more connected to the event on the Pennsylvania side, but the movie was excellent. Traversing the Washington Crossing Bridge in a standard size car would be easy for an experienced driver, but sharing the bridge with another full-size pickup was a 2-3 m.p.h. challenge. RVs, fifth wheels and travel trailers are prohibited, indeed all trailers might be prohibited – I don’t remember the exact signage.
My next stop was the Clarke House Museum at
Princeton Battlefield State Park in Princeton NJ. Unfortunately, the Princeton Battlefield
The Clarke House Itself Is About as Plain as Jane Can Get
Princeton Battlefield State Park (Clarke House Museum) - Princeton NJState Park is the Clarke House Museum. On January 3, 1777, near the end of "The Ten Crucial Days" and following the two battles in Trenton, the Battle of Princeton gave Washington his first victory against British Regulars. The battle extended over a mile away to the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). The Clarke House, built by Thomas Clarke in 1772, witnessed the fierce fighting, and its famous Mercer Oak once stood in the middle of the battlefield, not far from the spot where General Hugh Mercer fell during the Battle. The Clarke House served as sanctuary for the wounded General Mercer, who died there nine days later. I suppose with no museum devoted to the Battle of Princeton, the Clarke House serves as a very good “next best thing.” The period furnishings and the Revolutionary War artifacts and exhibits are well done and convey a sense of the event; however, I felt no sensation of “in this place, on this day….” I took a drive into Princeton to take a glance at the campus which I had heard was beautiful. For those with a real zeal for architecture, find a parking place and take a walk. It’s
beautiful.
On the way back to the RV park, I had planned an “East Central Covered Bridge Road Trip,” but early on encountered
Bowman’s Hill Tower near New Hope PA, a remote component of Washington Crossing Historic Park. Bowman's Hill Tower is a 125-foot-tall stone tower that took nearly two years to complete, with construction done entirely by the Washington Crossing Park Commission employees. The total cost of the tower was $100,000, including labor and materials. In the early 1980s, Bowman’s Hill Tower underwent an extensive restoration, and an elevator was installed that takes visitors three-quarters of the way to the top. It still is necessary to climb the last 23 steps to reach the uncovered observation deck on the rooftop. Previously, the only way to reach “the last 23 steps” was a spiral staircase. I took the steps from ground to rooftop without any problems, but some could find “the last 23 steps” slightly challenging. Following the Bowman's Hill Tower interruption, I made stops at nine covered bridges and discovered an old mill adjacent to the last covered bridge of the day. The available parking was nearer the mill so I took a few pictures of the mill, and the
battery in my phone died. It’s a good thing it was my last stop.
I headed to
Valley Forge National Historical Park in Valley Forge PA on Friday July 26, 2019, I attempted to stop at the 97' Thomas Mill Covered Bridge (1855), but I ran into two detours that would have had me heading back in the direction from which I had come. I decided to not waste any more time and proceeded to the National Historical Park where the first order of business was the trolley tour of the encampment. The docent emphasized that this was not a battleground but was an area where Washington’s men stayed the winter of 1777-78. The encampment actually lasted from December 19, 1777 to June 19, 1778 and served as a time of rejuvenation and retraining under the leadership of a professional soldier, Baron Friedrich von Steuben. Those two components, rejuvenation and retraining, are now considered key to the subsequent success of the Continental Army, and Valley Forge marks a turning point in the Revolutionary War. For those with only cursory knowledge of the events and logistical hurdles encountered at Valley Forge, I would strongly urge taking the trolley tour wherein the docent placed the
magnitude of housing, feeding and supplying the main body of the Continental Army (approximately 12,000 troops) in perspective – something that totally caught me off guard. Valley Forge National Historical Park has several components – Washington's Headquarters, the National Memorial Arch and Washington Memorial Chapel. We visited the first as part of the tour. I returned in the Ram to visit the other two. All were impressive and worthwhile.
Not paying attention on Saturday, July 27, 2019, I made my way to the
New Jersey State House in Trenton NJ and found it closed. Checking the attractions list I had brought with me, I found it was open only Monday through Friday. For some reason, I had in my mind that it was closed only on Sundays. Oh well! I did find the
New Jersey State Museum, next door, open for business. The first exhibit I encountered was New Jersey’s role in the Civil War. There was a nice collection of vintage regimental flags on display, a map showing which units fought where and a placard highlighting nurses from New Jersey as well as other topics. Next on the docket was crocodiles in New Jersey! Don’t ask me, I’m the reporter. Somehow, I managed to
get photographs of two beautiful urns tucked in between the crocodiles and the Apollo 11 50
th Anniversary Exhibit. Then came the meat of the museum, well, actually just some imitation flavoring. The facility has loads of unused floor space yet the mounted animal specimens have been placed on shelves rather than developing a diorama in a natural setting. The museum has many very nice specimens and artifacts, but its shortcoming is presentation.
Down the block and around the corner was the
Old Barracks Museum. For as much of a disappointment as was the state museum, this was an unexpected bonanza. The structure is intriguing, the history is captivating and the docent was mesmerizing. In 1758, during the French and Indian War, the building was constructed by the colony of New Jersey in direct response to petitions from residents who were protesting compulsory quartering of British soldiers in their own homes. It was one of five such buildings constructed throughout New Jersey for the sole purpose of housing British soldiers during the winter months and is the only one still standing. Throughout the Revolutionary War, the barracks was used for a variety of purposes. British prisoners of war were held in the
Young at Heart Filled the Air
Menlo Park’s 1951 Carousel - Perkasie PA Officers' House, four companies of the Second New Jersey Regiment of the Continental Line were raised here and, in 1777, the barracks became an army hospital under Dr. Bodo Otto, who oversaw smallpox inoculations for the Continental Army. Disease was the biggest threat to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and disease killed more soldiers than combat. Smallpox inoculation was the first mass medical treatment in the Western Hemisphere, and the barracks is one of the only surviving structures used for that purpose. The docent (again, luck of the draw) was a wealth of knowledge and answered every question without flinching.
I started Sunday, July 28, 2019 with a stop at Menlo Park in Perkasie PA to ride the
1951 Carousel. Perkasie has community pride written all over the village, and the carousel is a prime example. Most carousels are just that – a carousel in a building, usually with a few chairs so adults can sit while the children ride. In Perkasie, although there were very few 13-20-year-olds (“What if my friends see me?”) riding the amusement, the ridership was about sixty percent children, twenty percent adults accompanying a very young child and twenty percent adults riding the
horses. Adults harvesting the fruits of their labors and enjoying life! Placards around the carousel building delineate community projects completed over the years, including the 1968-69 restoration of the carousel. A few community parks have a snack bar, but Menlo Park’s snack bar is in the carousel building, making the carousel the hub of the park’s activities. Perkasie appears to be a great place to raise a snow-loving family!
My next stop was the
Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro PA. Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett – what can I say? I don’t pay strict attention to dates of birth and death as related to other individuals; however, a timeline in the Daniel Boone Homestead visitor center grabbed my attention. Boone was born in 1734, two years after George Washington, whereas Crockett was born in 1786 when Boone was 52 years old! And for all these years I had them as contemporaries! The homestead was settled by Boone’s parents in 1730, moved into the ownership of numerous parties, was abandoned 1919 and then purchased by a local minister in 1926 to preserve its historical significance. The small museum is interesting as is the homestead, but, because of its remote location, the average
tourist on a vacation schedule might find better use of their time. A quote attributed to Daniel Boone reminded me of a story wherein my great niece got separated from her mother and approached a sales associate (or were they still clerks?) saying, “My mother is lost.” When asked if he ever got lost out in the wilderness, Boone replied, "I can't say I was ever lost, but I was once bewildered for about 3 days.” I’ve been bewildered for 10-15 minutes while hunting a few times myself.
Just the name of
Bethlehem Visitor Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem PA screams history. After all, who hasn’t heard of Bethlehem Steel? Well, who over 50! As I was making my way to the visitor center, I encountered roadblock after roadblock. Irene, my GPS, didn’t like it either. It turns out that the Thursday of my visit was the first day of Musikfest – an eleven-day extravaganza. Yes, eleven days. In Bethlehem PA! We’re not talking Dallas or Miami but Bethlehem PA. More power to ‘em! I’ve been to a handful of visitor centers that have taken full advantage of a repurposed physical plant and the legacy of the community’s major industry. Here, the visitor
cannot walk among the ruins, as can be done at a very few such facilities, but elevated walkways allow visitors to gain some insight into the vastness of the steel manufacturing industry while well done placards along the walkways explain the processes and humanize the company. If you have reason the take advantage of the visitor center, definitely take 10-15 minutes to check out the complex. Very interesting. My nagging question, and that of a fellow visitor, was, “Where did they get the steel to build the factory that made the steel?” Chicken or egg!
My next stop was the
Mack Trucks Museum in Allentown PA. There’s really only one thing to say to my readers – it’s a MACK truck museum. It’s not the best truck museum I have visited by far, but it does a nice job of depicting the history of Mack. One of the most interesting presentations was the company timeline and the accompanying photographs; however, the unexpected treat of the day was sitting in the parking lot upon my departure – an early 1950s Ford Woody station wagon.
I had no preconceived notions about the
Saylor Park Cement Industry Museum in Coplay PA but was game to find out
what the attraction had to offer. The Schoefer Kilns are one of several straight shaft vertical kiln types developed to manufacture Portland cement and are the only ones remaining world-wide. The kilns in Saylor park were constructed from 1892-1893 but were in operation only until 1904 when they were replaced by rotary kiln technology. Originally, the kilns were housed in a building with the tops extending forty feet above the roofline. The entire works was schedule for demolition in 1951 for safety reasons; but, instead, the kilns were shortened by forty feet (the deteriorated portion above the roofline which had been exposed for almost 50 years) and the building was removed. Now, the remaining formerly unexposed portions of the kilns have been exposed to the elements for over 50 years, and mother nature is having her way with them. A couple of informative placards devoted to the “rescue” and preservation of the kilns are at the site, but there is little else of value to the tourist. I did, however, find a VERY comprehensive article about cement kilns, “
Early Kilns.” If you want to see the Saylor Kilns in person, you’d better hurry.
My final stop of the day was
Weona Park’s
1923 Dentzel Carousel in Pen Argyl PA. This is another community park carousel and is unique in that several of the rows of animals contain nearly identical specimens – three deer, three spotted horses, three giraffes, etc. – AND the horses are all stationary and were intended to be that way. The is no mechanism to allow vertical movement in the animals. Actually, stationary horses preceded vertical motion horses, but they are not what we are accustomed to nor expect. The carousel has been nicely restored and has more operational hours than most.
Tuesday, August 3, 2019 started as Monday had ended, with a carousel – for THREE consecutive stops. The first was at the
1922 Carousel at Peddler's Village in Lahaska PA. Peddler's Village is an upscale, yuppie-appearing open-air shopping “mall” if you will. There is a large Fun Center where hubby can watch the kids while mommy “shops til she drops.” One shortcoming of this carousel is that there is no carousel music. It reminded me of the early 1980s Wendy's commercials wherein Clara Peller asked, “Where's the beef?” My second stop was the
1890s Carousel at Carousel Village in Wrightstown PA. This carousel is truly unique in that
it is the only “horse-drawn circus wagon carousel” known to exist. Unfortunately, some of the rows are missing a horse, some of the rows are missing all three horses, there was no carousel music and the “one of a kind” is not in any kind of enclosure (save its own cover on the top side); leaving it exposed to the elements. I don’t know if the carousel is moved indoors during the winter or not, but, if not, I’m afraid this treasure won’t be long for this world. Unfortunately, its ownership is a private party, and it’s their prerogative. My third stop and third carousel of the day was
The Carousel at Pottstown, a 1905 Carousel in Pottstown PA. This very nicely restored carousel is in an enclosure that is kinda hidden on the back side of a commercial-looking building. Irene brought me directly to the correct location, but nothing in the area looked like it housed a carousel. It took three passes before I pulled into the parking lot to investigate, but I found it and accomplished the “Carousel Trifecta.” Once I could see the back side of the building, the carousel location was obvious. One of the carousel horses was carved
and painted by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth who created animals for carousels at the Disney Parks and who was a key figure in Southern California's “Kustom Kulture” and hot rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s. Oh yes, once the attendants learned of my keen interest, I got a peek “behind the scenes.” There are not many places where one can ride three carousels with an aggregate age of over 300 years in a single morning.
My last intended stop for the day was the
Gruber Wagon Works in Reading. The wagon works actually is part of the
Berks County Heritage Center. Founded in 1882 by Franklin H. Gruber, the wagon works evolved from a single craftsman shop with a variety of specialized hand tools, into a family-operated business which employed up to 20 men who utilized mass-production methods. Unlike a modern assembly process, wagon parts were transported back and forth between various rooms in order to complete a segment of the work. Wagon wheels were constructed in the bench shop, and wooden parts of the wagon were made from patterns in the wood shop. Wheels were "tired" and wagons were "ironed" and assembled in the blacksmith shop. The distinctive striping and scrollwork
were applied by hand in the paint shop. During the winter of 1976-77, the Gruber Wagon Works was moved to the heritage center from its original location. One of the features of the wagon works that caught my interest was the elevator which moved completed wagons to the upper floor where the paint shop was located. This “remote” location was easier to keep free of the dust created by cutting and sanding wood. The landmark is available only by guided tour. My docent was interesting and knowledgeable, and I will recommend the attraction to those with an interest in historic agriculture or manufacturing. If the three carousels weren’t enough to make my day, an unexpected bonus landed in my lap. The Wertz-Red Covered Bridge (1869) is also located on the Berks County Heritage Center campus. The landmark, at 218 feet, 7 inches (portal to portal), is the longest single span covered bridge in Pennsylvania. That, my friends, is saying a lot, because there is a ton of covered bridges in Pennsylvania. Visiting and photographing them all could be a full summer’s activity unto itself.
I had a very productive week and a half in the Reading area. I visited
That’s a Long Way Across – 218 Feet I’m Told
1869 Wertz-Red 218' Covered Bridge - Berks County Heritage Center - Reading PA several Revolutionary War sites, saw lots of covered bridges, a full handful of carousels and a couple of lesser-known attractions that were interesting and unique nonetheless. I had no problems with navigating the area, and the folks I met were friendly and helpful. Riding all those carousels made me feel fifty years younger – well, would you believe fifty days younger!
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