Trip Report: Philly, New Hope, Gettysburg
Jun 13th, 2002, 06:25 AM
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Trip Report: Philly, New Hope, Gettysburg
I'm just back from a quick trip to Pennsylvania & thought I would share a couple of discoveries.
1. Downtown Philly is a pleasure. Many people on this forum have written about what a nasty city it is, but I must disagree. It has one of the most delightful downtowns with lots of beautiful landscape & architecture. As with any big city, there are parts to be avoided, but there is no reason to be visiting those parts as a tourist, anyway.
2. Cherry Street Vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown (Philly) is AMAZING. I read about it at the last minute on this forum & decided to visit. I am vegetarian, my husband is not, and we both agreed that we had some of the best chinese food EVER. You must try the Dynasty "chicken."
3. Fonthill (dream home of Henry Mercer) in Doylestown, PA is really a treat. We stayed in New Hope, and after one evening we had seen enough of the town, so we decided to visit Fonthill & the Moravian Pottery & Tile the next morning. It is worth a stop if in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. You won't find another home like it.
4. I HIGHLY recommend The Brickhouse Inn (Gettysburg). The inn is beautiful, warm, accomodating, and in great location.
5. You MUST hire a Licensed Battlefield Guide, if given the option (ie, one is available at the right time), to tour the National Military Park. It is first come, first serve, but we totally lucked out and showed up just in time to catch one. The guides are trained & must pass both oral & written exams to become licensed. The fee is $40 for up to 6 people for 2 hours, but our tour lasted over 3 hours. Considering that a bus tour may be $20 per person, it is a good buy. In retrospect, we would have spent twice the fee for the tour we were given.
We were fortunate enough to be guided by Richard Hohmann, who taught history & government in the Pittsburgh Public Schools for over 30 years. He not only knows details of Gettysburg inside and out (both the battle & the lifestyle at the time), but has such strong knowledge of political history & US history that he eloquently answers questions & takes them beyond the basics to include educated opinions, controversies, and analogies. The fact that he is a former teacher definitely added to his terrific ability to explain, depict, and teach us the battle of Gettysburg. He gave us handouts and has extensive knowledge of reading materials/authors on these subjects. He gave us his card, and his phone number is (717)337-0776 if you are interested in hiring him specifically. Please note: I do not know this man & am in no way affiliated with him, I truly just want to recommend him to others to maximize your trip.
I'm open to questions....and if you are planning a trip, have fun! These are great spots.
1. Downtown Philly is a pleasure. Many people on this forum have written about what a nasty city it is, but I must disagree. It has one of the most delightful downtowns with lots of beautiful landscape & architecture. As with any big city, there are parts to be avoided, but there is no reason to be visiting those parts as a tourist, anyway.
2. Cherry Street Vegetarian restaurant in Chinatown (Philly) is AMAZING. I read about it at the last minute on this forum & decided to visit. I am vegetarian, my husband is not, and we both agreed that we had some of the best chinese food EVER. You must try the Dynasty "chicken."
3. Fonthill (dream home of Henry Mercer) in Doylestown, PA is really a treat. We stayed in New Hope, and after one evening we had seen enough of the town, so we decided to visit Fonthill & the Moravian Pottery & Tile the next morning. It is worth a stop if in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. You won't find another home like it.
4. I HIGHLY recommend The Brickhouse Inn (Gettysburg). The inn is beautiful, warm, accomodating, and in great location.
5. You MUST hire a Licensed Battlefield Guide, if given the option (ie, one is available at the right time), to tour the National Military Park. It is first come, first serve, but we totally lucked out and showed up just in time to catch one. The guides are trained & must pass both oral & written exams to become licensed. The fee is $40 for up to 6 people for 2 hours, but our tour lasted over 3 hours. Considering that a bus tour may be $20 per person, it is a good buy. In retrospect, we would have spent twice the fee for the tour we were given.
We were fortunate enough to be guided by Richard Hohmann, who taught history & government in the Pittsburgh Public Schools for over 30 years. He not only knows details of Gettysburg inside and out (both the battle & the lifestyle at the time), but has such strong knowledge of political history & US history that he eloquently answers questions & takes them beyond the basics to include educated opinions, controversies, and analogies. The fact that he is a former teacher definitely added to his terrific ability to explain, depict, and teach us the battle of Gettysburg. He gave us handouts and has extensive knowledge of reading materials/authors on these subjects. He gave us his card, and his phone number is (717)337-0776 if you are interested in hiring him specifically. Please note: I do not know this man & am in no way affiliated with him, I truly just want to recommend him to others to maximize your trip.
I'm open to questions....and if you are planning a trip, have fun! These are great spots.
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