Mike and Bonnie in PA

Travelogue September 2007
"A Young Couple's Journey From Lewisburg to Perkasie"

Background: Bonnie wanted to visit her eldest daughter Marcey and family in Lewisburg, PA sometime in September 2007. Mike noted Jerry and Barbara Faust were not that far away in Perkasie, and what a great time of year to travel.

Baltimore-Inner Harbor: After looking at flights into Philly or Harrisburg, we took SWA direct into BWI. We hit it lucky on Priceline.com, with the 4-Star Marriott Waterfront Hotel right on Baltimore's Inner Harbor. After checking into our hotel, we took the water taxi around the harbor, smelling the sweet "Domino's" sugar refinery in continuous operation since 1922, stopping at Fells Point to shop and visit (including a Maggie Moo's), and finally having dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. The next morning Mike swam in the large hotel pool and then we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast buffet with our omelet prepared by senior Chef Paul, recently relocated from Manhattan where he had operated several delis. We had a long visit with Paul about grandkids, after which he packed up a lunch for us to take with us. After checking out, we visited the National Aquarium. Mike felt that Albuquerque's little BioPark Aquarium does not compare badly at all - and even with a senior discount the National ran $20 per entry. Bonnie particularly enjoyed the aviary and the brightly colored poisonous frogs ("do not eat").

Carlisle: Following Gen. George Meade's route from Washington to Gettysburg, we found ourselves in the quaint historic town of Carlisle (on many of the maps in The Killer Angels). There we had a wonderful afternoon sharing tea and tarts with Nan & David Blackledge. Dave is one of Mike's co-authors for the genealogical Magnum Opus, Blackledges in America, and this was only the second time that Mike and Dave had met in person - the first being that historic 1996 meeting in Gaithersburg, MD, when Mike, Dave, and Mary Ann decided to publish. Time permitted only a short visit this afternoon to their beautiful home and town - and apparently none of us thought of taking pictures - we definitely want to return to Carlisle for another visit!

Lewisburg: Heading north, by dark we made it to the picturesque little town of Lewisburg and checked into our Bed and Breakfast: The Tawsty Flower - owned and operated by Marcey's friend Jane. At breakfast the next morning, we were delighted with a most eclectic bunch of travelers - including Margaret, a Prof. of Archaeology from Australia, visiting Bucknell both for a lecture and to catalog much ancient glass. Some were most likely from T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)'s mess tent, as she found considerable 1920's beer bottle glass dominating some of the ancient specimens from Aqaba.

Bucknell: Marcey and Chris plus Maggie and Alan joined us after breakfast. We were treated to a tour of the Bucknell University campus with Chris as guide, and with Marcey running the projector in the Geology Dept lecture hall, as they pointed out many of their friends and colleagues at this exclusive private university of 3000 under- grads, recognized as one of the most beautiful campuses in the US.

Dragons: That afternoon Mike got his soccer fix watching Maggie, Allison, Julianne, and the rest of the Magic Green Dragons take on the dreaded Orange Marmalukes (or some such). The spirited play of all resulted in a 2-2 tie. Very exciting - Mike is convinced he helped considerably by coaching from the sidelines, however Maggie did great in goal, in defense, and on offense. She does it all. Later that evening we all went to dinner at the historic old Lewisburg Hotel on Market Street.

Gettysburg: The next morning the entire crew piled into two vehicles and headed south to the Gettysburg battlefield. Marcey had provided us with a CD of the audio tour of the battlefield, and had given us a reading assignment of The Killer Angels, the excellent historical novel of the four days of Gettysburg by Michael Shaara. We spent several hours touring the battlefield, getting out of the cars to walk the battlefield areas, watch Mike slip on Little Round Top, and take photos in the soft warm sunlight covering the 25 square miles. Wonderful, made the Killer Angels come alive again. Once we were all exhausted, Marcey's crew headed back to Lewisburg, and Mike and Bonnie continued on to Perkasie.

Perkasie: We ended up getting into Perkasie later than we had planned so we went directly to our 1749 fieldstone B&B as located by Barb: Arianna Miles. The next morning our host and Master Chef Kyle (age 43) made us his trademark 3-course breakfast to which we invited Jerry and Barbara: Kyle's homemade granola, a special pear with almonds, and an omelet featuring some of the mushrooms for which PA is famous. (All recipes from the French Culinary Institute in NY). After breakfast, we headed out to Lake Nockamixon State Park along with a blue heron and an aerodynamically sound turkey vulture plus numerous ducks. We enjoyed a good hike around the lake area, then off to Jerry and Barb's house, and their grand tour. J&B treated us to lunch both days at two different restaurants where Mike and Bonnie both tried some of the local fare. No wonder J&B love living here so much - their own park, pool and playground, river and bridges, toboggan area. We ended the evening with dinner and Monday Night Football. Unfortunately, Donovan McNabb did not have a great night - and Mike seemed to enjoy the game a little too much anyway, as Jerry will attest.

Back To Reality: We left Barbara and Jerry at their home and headed out Tuesday evening for Baltimore. Barb had warned us about the traffic from PA to BWI so by traveling in the evening, we had no stress as to arrival time. We checked into a 3-star hotel (using Bonnie's new Priceline skills) near the airport, spent a restful evening where Mike and Bonnie swam in the Sheraton indoor pool, and the next day made our return trip to ABQ and the real world. We both agreed it was a most excellent adventure. We reported to Bonnie's mom Sally that it was a great vacation. Now we realize we're not really on vacation from anything - we loved this trip which represents just one more facet of our new life! Hurray!