Port Kennedy - or how building a bypass helped end a town

Fact:

• Port Kennedy Village was named after Alexander Kennedy and was built around the limestone quarried from the nearby Valley Forge Hills.
• Port Kennedy expanded under the guidance of Alexander's son, John, who established an extensive Lime production, employing up to 70 men.
• During Port Kennedy's prime,  the village included a hotel, furnace and workshops, and starting in 1849, a Reading Railroad station.
• In the 1960s the Pottstown Expressway (US Route 422) was constructed, effectively cutting through the town.
• Today only the Kennedy-Supplee Mansion (1852) and the First Presbterian Church of Port Kennedy (1845) remain.

Photo by Jack E. Boucher

Do:

• Visit the Kennedy-Supplee Mansion located in Valley Forge National Historical Park and originally known as Kenhurst. You can lease it!
• Check out the National Historic Registry for more information about the Mansion and it's interesting past.

Don't:

• Know how the Kennedy-Supplee Mansion got its name? In 1911 J. Henderson Supplee purchased the mansion and lived there until his death in 1936.
• Know who J. Henderson Supplee was? In 1936 he was one of the last Civil War Veterans of Montgomery County. He had fought in Antietam, Stony River, Chattanooga, and Gettysburg.

Quote:

 "I eventually had to go down to the cellar..."
"That's the display department."
"...with a torch."
"The lights had probably gone."
"So had the stairs."
"Well, you found the notice, didn't you?"
"Yes. The plans were on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet, stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard."
Douglas Adams' A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Camden Aquarium - or it's annoying to take a ferry with Rascal Flatts fans

Fact:

• The Camden Aquarium started out in 1992 as the non-profit New Jersey State Aquarium.
• The new Adventure Aquarium reopened in 2005 and is most definitely for profit.
• You can take the RiverLink Ferry from Philadelphia Penn's Landing to the Camden Waterfront.
• The ferry takes about 15 minutes even though it's directly across the water. Maybe it has something to do with currents or people wanting to sit longer.
• The ferry is every hour and only runs Saturdays/Sundays from May-September.

This is not the octopus from Adventure Aquarium. It's from a much more interesting article in the LA Times.

Costs:

• Aquarium is an overpriced $22.95 (plus tax! I know! There' s tax!) for adults and $17.95 (don't forget the tax) for kids 2-12.
• RiverLink Ferry is $7.00 round trip ($6 for kids)- they have a special concert series schedule too. So if you're lucky - like us - you can share the ferry with teenagers with daisy dukes, fake curls, cowboy hats and a thing for Rascall Flatts.

Do:

• Take advantage of their free fountain refills in the aquarium's cafe. Not only do you get free soda refills - but you get free slushies! (seriously - when's the last time that you had a slushy?)
• Look at the octopus - it's fascinating.

Don't:

• Go on the weekend. Unless you love the smell of dirty diapers or you're a giant and can see over everyone's heads.
• Have high expectations - then you won't be disappointed that you just spent a fortune to see fish you could see in a nearby lake.

Pennsylvania Highways: Or please can you remove the roadkill?

It's bad enough that I have to drive to and from work on the Schuylkill but must I also see the roadways littered with bloody and bloated animal carcasses too?

Fact:

• Pennsylvania has the highest number of deer-related accidents in the country
• Deer crashes result in at least $1.1 billion a year in vehicle damage (in the country -not just Pennsylvania)
• I couldn't locate much helpful information on who to contact, but I did manage to find a lovely poster about deer safety on the dmv site

Do:

• Call the Southeastern Regional Office of the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 610-926-3136 if you see dead wild animals like deer or elk or raccoons
• Test yourself with this non-related question from the Motorcycle Operator's Manual:

Don't:

• Try and put a wounded animal out of it's misery. For one it's illegal and for another - just how were you planning on doing that?
• Try and help a rattlesnake across the road. I didn't think it needed to be said, but then I saw this...

Because I find this fascinating

Fact:

• I'm a sucker for fountains. But even more so - for the stories behind them

On 9th near Spruce

• This particular fountain was in remembrance for Edward Wetherill who was born in Pennsylvania in February 1821 and who died October 2, 1908
• Even more interesting is that a census reports his occupation as Abolitionist
• He and his family were Quakers and lived at one point at 1413 Spruce street

The city really takes care of its fountains

•  He came from a long line of Philadelphia Quakers mentioned as far back as 1783

Do:

• Visit and peruse Edward's abolitionist letters and collections at the Pennsylvania Historical Society
• Read about other famous Philadelphia Wetherills

Don't:

• Get confused but read this short but fascinating excerpt from the New York Times December 26, 1905 edition about another Edward Wetherill
• Know anything about paint manufacturing? George Wetherill owner of George D Wetherill & Co  - was the first to manufacture white lead in 1804 - which later became Dutch Boy Paint

Things People have said to me on the Street

Fact:

• All sorts of crazy people accost me while I’m peaceably walking 
• This happens to me all over the city
• These are in no particular order or chronology
• It does not include people asking me for directions

 What was said:

• Damn! Anyone ever tell you that you’re built like a black woman? (said by man sitting in front of his low income housing)

• MMMMMMM you sure are juicy! (said by homeless man on bicycle)

• You retarded bitch! (said by mentally ill woman when I didn’t give her money)

• Don’t you know it’s Christmas? (said by homeless man asking me for money on January 4^th)

• SMACK! (no words, but me getting my ass slapped (hard) by Mexican guy on a bicycle)

• Cookie? (asked by homeless man holding a crumpled open box of girl scout cookies in exchange for money)

• Don’t go to North Philly! You’ll die in North Philly! (said by crazy homeless woman)

• MMM Looking good girl! (said by flamboyant queen)

• PUTA! (said by white frat guys in a car)

Why I love the city of Philadelphia and so should you

Fact:

• Because I do love Philadelphia. I may not say it, but it doesn't mean that I don't feel it. I'm just not the demonstrative type - alright? Will you just drop it? I already said I loved Philadelphia why do you have to make such a big deal out of it?
• Philadelphia has historic buildings, beautiful architecture, blooming gardens, and glorious hidden side streets.

• It also has unsentimental hoodlums who think that putting graffiti on fountains and littering is awesome.

Back of fountain on 9th near Pine

Front of fountain on 9th near Pine

• But even the most hardened heart can admit that Philadelphia in the spring is a gorgeous gorgeous place.

Do:

• Walk around the city or you'll miss out on sidewalk plots and impressive facades.

• Watch where you're going. It might surprise you - but you're not the only person strolling on the sidewalk.

• Do look at the window boxes. Rich people pay a lot of money to have them look so good.

Don't:

•  Stop in the middle of the street or sidewalk to talk or gawk. 

• Take a duck tour and obnoxiously blow your stupid yellow kazoo. 
• Hassle Philadelphia inhabitants while directing a bus tour by asking them for some M&Ms.

Philly Driving: Or I wouldn't have bought a car unless I was forced into it

I have a new job and it requires me to drive. On THE SCHUYLKILL. Which means nothing to those not from the area. But if you are from the area then you realized that having a 2 LANE HIGHWAY serving thousands upon thousands of people is not a good idea.

Facts:

• I hate other drivers
• I have no depth perception
• I curse like a sailor when I drive 
• Driving in Philadelphia is a special sort of torture

Do:

• Complain to the city of Philadelphia. The amount of potholes on our city streets is outrageous. Going down 21st street reminds me of this: (but with actual potholes and not in French)

• Use your turn signal. It's not a choice. It will prevent accidents and me screaming and flipping you the bird.
• Plan a playlist, listen to an audiobook or have satellite radio. It will make your idling in traffic slightly more bearable.
• Let people in when lanes are merging. Really. It would make things go more quickly.
• Have city street lanes defined. I have no idea which are one lane streets versus two lane streets until someone honks at me.

Don't:

• Take the Schuylkill between the hours of 6:30am-10am and 2pm-7pm. (Or at all if you can help it.)
• Forget your GPS. It will help if you decide to take a "shortcut" off of I-76.
• Weave in and out of traffic like you're at NASCAR. You're not. Also, you're going to cause an accident which will make me late for work.
• Get behind a bus when driving in the city. They don't actually care that you're stuck behind them. 
• Honk your horn in the city just because I'm not turning as soon as the light turns green - there's a reason and they're called PEDESTRIANS. THEY HAVE RIGHT OF WAY.