Saturday morning – Pennsylvania day 4

Since I missed the daily blog yesterday, today’s will be a little longer with a couple of extra photos. I had wanted Margaret to write the next blog to report on her genealogy research, but after watching her in action yesterday and thinking about what she could say, I decided it was better to write a synopsis with M’s comments as italics.

Weather-wise, yesterday (Friday), started out like the previous days, partly cloudy and mild. But by the time we got back around 5 p.m., it was raining heavily. Guess FAY must have found us finally after looking across Florida. Given that it was the start of the Labor Day weekend, the rain made the driving all the more difficult. I grabbed a shot of the traffic while we were inching along. We’ve seen a lot of this in Pennsylvania. Don’t know where they’re all coming from or going to. Guess it’s just a high population density area. Something we’re not used to.

Our first stop was in Kutztown to pick up forwarded mail (thanks, Deborah), see the town, and grab a late breakfast. Although few eateries were open at 10:30 in the morning, we did happen on a bit of Americana – Letterman’s Diner (check Internet site). The diner itself was fashioned after one of the old railroad dining cars, with an wood slat arched ceiling, although it was made specifically to be a diner. Built in NJ in 1925, and after years of use as a diner, it eventually found its way to Kutztown. There were 15 stools and 5 two-person tables. During the hour we were there, every one of the stools and tables was filled at some point. The waitress attributed it to the start of the K’town University, but no students were there. With one waitress and one cook, they were hopping. And yes, the food was excellent – large quantities. Margaret had a meal from her childhood – eggs, potato cakes, and SCRAPPLE. Her parents were from Pennsylvania; Margaret hadn’t tasted it in years. (M: Don’t remember that taste! Nibbled at the crunch bits but it was too mushy and sage-y for me. Ketchup helped a lot, probably did years ago as well!) I tried a taste and it was ok. (And no, I’m not interested in what goes into it!) (M:But if you are, check it out on the Internet.)

It’s hard to describe the ambience. I would label it as a blue-collar, hail-fellow / well-met, convivial atmosphere. People are relaxed, joking, and happy; talking in boisterous voices to the cook and waitress, friends and to strangers alike in friendly banter. (M: Everyone was called by their name; families asked about, local news and jokes traded.) If you’ve ever seen the movies and TV shows like Invincible (Philadelphia) or Cheers (Boston), you’ll have a sense of the camaraderie we saw in Letterman’s Diner.

Walking down Main Street after breakfast, we spotted a number of interesting items. The local Democratic headquarters office was similar to any other political office except how many have you seen that have a Pennsylvania Amish HEX symbol or a kicking mule pulling an Amish buggy.

In the bath and boutique window was a rubber duck bathing happily in a tub -- modesty prevailing with two discretely placed sea-shells.

The rest of the day was spent in various cemeteries – four in total: Kutztown, Reading, Kempville, and Oley. Even it though was raining, Margaret was oblivious and enthralled; wandering through each cemetery like she was alone in the world. After 100+ photos, I convinced her to come in out of the rain; that we could come back later. She was able, however, to visit / photograph members of her close family (paternal grandparents buried in Reading, PA) and a number of relatives, critical to her genealogy work. It was a successful, if damp, day.

(M: I was also able to show Wayne my discoveries of the previous day, a cemetery in K’town I turned into on impulse only to discover I was surrounded by previous generations of family.

Then we drove on to Reading (father’s home) which had been my destination the day before, then stumbled onto the cemetery where they are buried (having only been here once, I was incredibly lucky or memory served better than maps). Staff pointed us in the right direction. It was a beautiful, large (120 acres), rambling old (1846) place. Wayne took the photo show of a family plot (not mine). So many tombstones were exquisite – the modern brass plaque doesn’t do justice to this tradition of tribute, love and craftsmanship. Credit where credit is due, Wayne was a trooper.

From there to the Oley Valley were, generations ago, the first stone cabin was built by a stream. Got to show Wayne that, the farmhouse (also stone and still occupied; the land still farmed; the corn plentiful), places I remembered visiting – all by just following my nose. Cemeteries, again, the drizzle changing to rain – when my good-natured husband finally threw in the towel to end the fruitful, if wet, adventure.)

The day ended on a down note for me at least. We stopped in an ice creamery along the way. I made the mistake of buying an ice cream with hard crunchies. Sure enough I bit down on one the wrong way. I knew it wasn’t right – you know how all of a sudden your bite doesn’t feel right? About 20 minutes later while sitting in the car, watching Margaret wander the cemetery, a crown / cap fell off.

On the way back, I searched every little town we passed, looking for a dentist that might be open late on a Friday night, Labor Day weekend. Yeh, right! I did not relish the idea of three days without solid food, although it might be a good weight-loss program. When we got back to the RV Park, I asked the manager if she knew of a local dentist I might contact. Unfortunately, she has only been in the area a few months and had no idea. But she did suggest getting a “repair” kit at a local drug-store. Which I did. After several days of gluing and repairing RV cabinet doors that have sprung from the rough roads, I got to glue and repair a crown / cap. Not my idea of fun, but maybe it will hold long enough to find a real dentist.

Anyway, that was yesterday. Wonder what today will bring? At least it looks like we’ll have sunshine for a while before more rain moves in.