August 20-26, 2019

French Creek State Park

Elverson, PA

 

Our final stay at a State Park in Pennsylvania was at French Creek.  Up until this park we had been very impressed with PA State Parks but French Creek was a disappointment.  (I didn’t realize until we had moved on that I hadn’t taken any photos of our site.)

The site was very narrow on packed dirt that became a big muddy mess after a rainstorm.  The bathhouse located right behind our site had a sign warning there was no hot water for showers.  But the worst part was the amount of spotted lantern flies near our site. 

The pest was first recorded in the United States in 2014 and is considered an invasive species.

I chose to camp at French Creek State because of its close proximity to Philadelphia and to Hopewell Furnace National Historic Park.

We began our visit to Hopewell Furnace at the Visitor Center where we watched a short film detailing the significance of the site. 

Hopewell Furnace, founded circa 1771, is an example of an American 19^th century rural iron plantation.

The site’s most prosperous time was during the 1820-1840 period.

Changes in iron making in the mid 19^th century from charcoal-fueled furnaces to anthracite-fueled steel mills rendered Hopewell obsolete.

In 1938 Hopewell Furnace Village was designated a National Historic Site.  It consists of 14 restored structures.

We join a ranger-led tour followed by a self-guided tour.

One of the buildings on the property is the ironmasters house believed to have been built in 1771.

 

 

 

 

Nearby is the barn that sheltered up to 36 draft animals and held up to a year’s worth of feed.

 

Down the road is an office store where purchases were charged against credits for work, the blacksmith ship that provided hardware and horseshoes, and tenant houses.

 

 

 

 

Our final stop of the self-guided tour was to the cast house, the heart of the iron plantation.

With the exception of shutting down once a year for refurbishing the inner walls and hearth the furnace ran non-stop through the year. 

Workers constantly fed it, watched its flame, and listened to the sound of its blast. 

One day we drove to the Lancaster area with our first stop in the town of Lititz to tour the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery established in 1861.

After paying the $3.75 tour fee we were escorted into the rear of the bakery where we learned the history of the bakery.

Julius Sturgis owned a bread business in Lititz in 1850.  According to legend, Julius provided a homeless man with diner.  The man in return gave Julius a pretzel recipe.  By 1861 the recipe had proven to be so popular that Sturgis stopped his bakery to make pretzels.

Our tour included a hands-on lesson in pretzel twisting using a playdough mixture.

 

At the conclusion of the tour we received a mini bag of pretzels.

After driving around Lancaster for a while, where we observed several Amish horse drawn buggies, we dined at Millers Smorgasbord established in 1929.

Every time we eat at a buffet we always promise never to do it again because we walk out overstuffed almost to the point of being nauseous.   

It took a little over an hour to drive to Philadelphia from French Creek State Park.  As with most big cities parking is an issue.  We found a lot within a couple of block from the Independence National Historical Park.  The listed price for all day parking was $20 but when we were ready leave it ended up costing us $30.  We failed to notice the very small print that listed an extra $10 fee for trucks.

The first thing we did when we entered the Visitor Center was to join the line of people waiting to receive tickets to visit Independence Hall.  Time entry tickets are required March through December due to large crowds.  There are a limited number of tickets available each day.  Our tickets were stamped with a 1:40pm time so we had to explore other areas within a walking distance of the Visitor Center.

The Liberty Bell is located directly across the street from the Visitor Center.  After going through security screening we entered the Liberty Bell Center that contains a number of exhibits about the bell.

The Liberty Bell is an international symbol of freedom.  Hung in the State House in 1753, it summoned the Pennsylvania Assembly to work.  In the 1830s anti-slavery groups named it the Liberty Bell. 

The bell itself is hung out of reach of visitors.

Our next stop was at the Portrait Gallery in the Second Bank. 

The Greek revival style building houses a collection of over 100 portraits. 

 

The building once served as a financial hub for the nation as home to the Second Bank of the U.S.

Moving on we came to the Franklin Court where we visited the printing office where exhibits including a typesetting area are housed. 

 

A costumed interpreter demonstrated the printing process steps.

After passing though another security screening, we still had a little time left before our scheduled tour of Independence Hall so we toured the adjacent Congress Hall.

Built as the Philadelphia County Courthouse, Congress Hall was home to the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800 when Philadelphia served as the temporary capital of the United States. 

The House chamber is on the first floor of Congress Hall.

The Senate chamber is on the second floor of Congress Hall.

A few minutes prior to our tour time we sat on the bench at the front of the line for our tour.

Independence Hall is the building where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United State Constitution were debated and adopted.

When it came time to find a place to eat our only decision had to be which restaurant to choose for a Philly Cheesesteak. 

We decided on Campo’s and were not disappointed.

While we were in the city we decided to check out this crazy thing we heard about called the Philly Naked Bike Ride. 

This year marks the 11^th year for the event that has thousands of cyclists wearing little-to-no clothes riding 10 miles to advocate for safe streets and body positivity.

We made our way to City Hall that was listed as being on the route take by the cyclists.

A large crowd began to gather and then we heard people yelling that the riders were on their way.  Sure enough over a thousand cyclists passed our location. 

All I can say is “wow”.

Our final excursion while at French Creek State Park was to Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Valley Forge was the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army. 

We watched a short orientation film entitled, “Valley Forge: A Winter Encampment.”

I had suggested we bring our bikes along because I read there was an 8 mile paved trail.  I should have done more research because the trail was very hilly.  In some parts of the trail we walked the bikes up the hill.  The only picture either one of us took was of me after using the restroom.  I forgot to “file” the paperwork.

One of the stops along the bike trail was at the Washington Memorial Chapel. 

The chapel was built one hundred and twenty-five year after the encampment as a sacred place to honor the faith, courage and commitment of America’s founders.

 

Back at the Visitor Center we joined a ranger-led walking tour that led us to the Muhlenberg Brigade Area that was the site of brigade encampments led by Peter Muhlenberg. 

The area consists of nine rebuilt log soldiers’ huts.