Califoregon Living

One of David’s clients is a family who runs a farm an hour west of Philadelphia. Seasonally, they provide a very popular haunted house and hayride, as well as Christmas activities at Christmas time.

We were invited to their property for the afternoon and BBQ dinner with the family.

I am FOREWARNING YOU NOW!  Some of the pictures below are kind of scary for certain ages. Please use discretion if you have little ones with you…

The Bates family have a bunch of sheep and chickens housed in this barn.  This is a multi generation property. The current owner, Randy, was born and raised on the property. He now lives there with his wife, Ann, and there are four other homes on the 90 acres that houses five of their six children, and their families.

Inside the garage/shop.  This is where they work on gorgeous vintage cars and trucks, as well as store the haunt/seasonal attraction items.  They also make their own facial molds, etc. for the haunt.

We decided to walk through the haunted hayride.  It was day time and nothing was operational.  This is the only way I would consider seeing it.  You can’t get me to attend it when it was all set up and running.  No sir…no how…no way!

They have a bus that’s all spookified. ‘R’ loves all things spooky and thought it was cool.  ‘A’ wanted nothing to to with it and would not go inside….

Next stop is an old saloon.  Here’s ‘R’ with one of his buddies…

The entrance to the haunted hayride….

This is pretty much our boys in a nutshell…’R’ embracing the scary props, and this is as close to props as ‘A’ would get…

Walking the rest of the grounds, not related to the haunt…we cam across a reindeer!  They also have a few cows, goats, ducks, geese, and a big pot bellied pig.

They were hosting a fundraiser on the property for the ASPCA and we went on their hayride through the grounds (not the haunt part). They had some dogs their for adoption and had us cuddle with a puppy on the hayride. So cute, but we weren’t bringing a lab home….

After the event was over, Randy suggested that we let the boys drive the car on the big parking area. David kept control of the brakes and gas, but he let the boys steer….

Here is Randy with one of his 11 grandkids (this one is a twin!)  An incredible BBQ was set that included ribs, burgers, hot dogs, and homemade kielbasa.  There was even homemade wine! S’mores rounded out the evening.

This is one of the haunt props.  A foam cement block that looks totally real.

Randy gifted the boys with some hoodies, and he gave me a t-shirt. A nice evening with a very nice family.

Walking along Market St., we came across Franklin’s Court and his Print Shop. We were pleased to discover that we had the place to ourselves and did not have to share with the many school groups we had seen bopping around town.  The docent showed us how the printing press was set up and printed a page for us to see.

Walking along Market…the lower number streets have charming buildings and eateries.

A demonstration of the printing press…

City Hall…

Another highlight for me.  This is the country’s oldest residential street, Elfreth’s Alley.  It’s a row of beautiful homes, along a cobblestone lane.  They have a small museum in one of the homes, and docents standing out front for tours.  One of the tour guides was kind and shared with our family a little bit of information without going on a tour. (I want to do the tour next time).

This metal thing attached to the second floor window is called a “busy body”.  It has mirrors attached on the other side.  If someone knocks on your door, all you have to do is glance at the mirror and decide if you want to answer it or not.  You can also see who is visiting next door, hence the name, “busy body”.

Most of the older houses in Philadelphia and the outlying area has a small sign like this on their house.  Back then, you would pay one of the many fire brigades for coming to the rescue if your house was on fire.  Each fire brigade had its own symbol and you can tell by the symbol which house was covered by which brigade. There was a gentleman’s agreement and other brigades would put out fire’s on homes that were not covered under them, understanding that the same would be done for them another time.

This is the well that held the water.  The next picture is of the boys standing above the privy pit. Unfortunately, it was located on higher ground than the well, and the waste would seep through the ground into the well, making people sick.

A few blocks away is an old fashioned ice cream parlor.  They make all their own ice cream.  Rich and creamy! Franklin Fountain

Next door to the ice ream store is an America’s oldest candy store, since 1863, with a hot chocolate counter n the back! Shane Candies

Founded in 1695!

Christ Church was the church where many of our founding fathers/mothers worshiped.

Back in the day, families would financially reserve their pews.  The closer to the front, the more expensive…#70 is the pew where Ben Franklin and his wife sat…

Pews 56-58, as shown in this box is where George Washington and John Adams sat with their families while they were President!

People are buried all through the church, inside and out.  This is the plot of the founding clergy. It is front and center at the altar. After the church grounds were too full of burial plots, and additional burial ground was built two blocks away.  The burial ground has Ben Franklin and some other notable people buried there.

This is the baptismal pool that was donated to the church.  When it was in London, it was where William Penn (Pennsylvania is named after him), was baptized…

This was probably one of the highlights for the whole family. Established in 1773, this tavern was a place where many of our founding fathers spent their time.  The room that we ate in is called the Long Hall.  It was where they had Washington’s pre-inaugural ball, and other things of history.  You can read more about the City Tavern here. Unfortunately, the tavern burned to the ground in the 181854, but was rebuilt to exact specifications in the 1976.

The staff all wear what was worn back in the 1700’s, and the menu stays true to 18th century cuisine.

We were served three kinds of bread, all original recipes from the 1700’s.  The white bread is called the ‘Sally Lund’ bread.  The little sweet potato walnut biscuits are from the recipe of Thomas Jefferson!

David, ‘A’, and I ordered the Tavern Lobster Pie…to say it was yummy is an understatement.  This was amazing!  Big chunks of lobster under that flaky cover…

While David was in meetings, we spent the morning at the Museum of Natural History.

They had a nice little butterfly exhibit.  We learned that one of the differences between moths and butterflies is that the moth does not eat in its adult form. They live off their own body and die in a week.  Butterflies eat and drink and live up to three weeks.

Captain Cook’s cannon…

A real mummy… 

Following the walking pattern of a T-Rex and an alligator….

A fun computer interactive thing.  It’s a bit dated and pixelated, but fun nonetheless….

A few shots of the lovely yard where we stayed…

The oldest prison in America, this is a fun, unique, and kind of creepy tour that you can visit in Philadelphia.  Eastern State Penitentiary’s website is full of information and worth reading if you have time.

The original prison was created to have solitary cells for prisoners to fully spend time alone, and with God, to come to penitence.  They never saw, or interacted, with other prisoners.  Each prisoner had their own interior cell, and a small outside space that was used once an hour for their exercise.

The prison was created with a center hall, then wings that went out like the spokes of the wheel.  Over time, with the increase of prisoners, they created two story  wings, as well as doubling up the cells.

In the 1900’s, this space was used for football and baseball.  In the 60’s, it was discovered that baseballs would be hit out of the park, then returned over the same fence containing drugs or a weapon in it.

As the boys and I were going down one wing that has art exhibits within the cells, ‘R’ noticed the picture of one of the artists in the corner of the informational board.  He said, “mom, doesn’t this look like the lady we saw yesterday who owned that boutique you liked?”  I responded, “yes, that looks a lot like her.”.  Then, I looked up and saw the artist talking with someone else. I asked if she was the person on the board and she said yes.  She overheard our conversation and wondered if we would realize she was there.  We had a little chuckle.  Here is a picture I took of her, alongside with the informational board of her and her piece of work.  Another funny side note: I ran into her at the TSA line in Philly.  She recognized me, but could not recall the context.

This is the door to a very “special” cell…Al Capone’s cell.  Obviously, he was given some favor.

While David was visiting a client, the boys and I walked along the lovely main street (germantown Ave.) of the neighborhood Chestnut Hill.  Full of gift stores, boutiques, little markets, and eateries, we were not able to see it all before having to head back.  It’s the kind of neighborhood one dreams of, with everything you’d ever want on one charming street.

This was taken at the Iron Hill Brewery.  Good food. We ate there twice in one week.