FERN AND VERNE

To travel well is to enjoy life wherever it takes you. Adapt to your new surroundings, marvel at the unique beauty, relish the tastes and sensations of cuisines and libations offered and smile broadly at your luck at having alighted on such a promontory.

Here we are now, Team VFH, nestled in the bosom of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Collegeville and one could go on and on about how it ain’t what they wanted in life, and easily overlook the beauty that is at hand.

Sure, it’s a townhouse, sure it’s a deck, sure there is the potential to have nosy neighbors ogle your every move as soon as you flounce outside. Here, there is none of the solitude I had in Lambertville and the sophistication of the tony drinking establishments and restaurants of this area currently remain hidden from these searching eyes.

I’ll find them … don’t you worry.

Most importantly, Janet has worked her magic. She has transformed this little slice of real estate into a Garden of Eden, again. Again, the small deck in the back of her townhouse is a beautiful oasis for the summer. Flowers arranged tenderly in pots resting on the deck surface and ferns in window boxes adorning the rail. Hostas are sprouting and tomato plants have again been planted. Festive lights, candles and a pastel colored green umbrella complete the beautiful scene. Janet ekes out more beauty in such a small area that all my harbored misgivings and complaints are without merit. I sigh. I smile.

And that is what this website is all about. Enjoying life wherever the swells of fortune takes you. Janet makes it very easy to go with the flow. If we cannot go somewhere, what better way to spend the afternoon than to sit on our little deck with a book and a drink? Life beyond the ferns is inconsequential. 

GIVE IT AWAY GIVE IT AWAY GIVE IT AWAY NOW

I can’t tell if I’m a kingpin or a pauper

This really isn’t a travel piece, but it is one of good karma.

Faced with needing to consolidate a lifetime into a manageable array of boxes for the impending move to Janet's townhouse was daunting. The task of unloading much of a four bedroom home in order to squeeze into her place already brimming with things was a steep task, and given the short time of just 7 weeks until closing there was no time to dawdle or for that matter haggle over selling things in a yard sale. Time constraints and work pressing meant I had to make quick decisions and given the horrific timing I could not even rely on Lambertville’s storied Sparkle Week where one can throw EVERYTHING away. For whatever reason, Sparkle Week was pushed back to June this year rather than the first week in May.

SPARKLE WEEK 2016

So, I realized I could not bring THAT much with me and unless the item was slathered with sentiment or necessity it wasn’t making the trip to Collegeville. BUT…I collect things! Matchbooks, t-shirts, hats, sand, Olympic pins are just some of the crap I’ve acquired over the years. How does one toss away a bottle of sand from Normandy Beach, or for that matter the Banzai Pipeline!? When a matchbook from the Japanese Bullet Train is hovering over the abyss of a garbage can how can I let it go!? Don’t even mention my Olympic pins, or, my Aloha shirts.

JAPAN'S BULLET TRAIN

PAYING FORWARD

Turns out these sentimental things were easy to keep, because I wasn’t giving them away, but having a four bedroom fully furnished house had to be unloaded. Janet’s place was already nicely furnished so I had to get rid of stuff quickly. Thankfully I was smart and knew this move was inevitable, so for the past few years I had started shedding things in earlier Sparkle Weeks, or giving away things to people who could use them. The past couple of years my pile at Sparkle Week was impressive; the envy of the neighborhood. 

The King of
Sparkle Week

My dining room set and my son’s old bedroom set found new homes with greatly appreciative friends. I gave away my Discovery 158 Old Town canoe to my childhood friend.  My son took Edgar, the steer skull I drove with in the back of a rented sedan all the way from Texas. I had driven to the Lone Star State in order to research my second novel, “The Music Made Me Cry,” which takes place in the Hill Country of Texas. I offered my rustic looking chiminea to the buyers of my house and they said they had been secretly hoping I WOULD leave it behind.

 THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY

The only item sold was my record collection. The rest was given away. Goodwill Industries and the Salvation Army each had numerous visits from me, but it was the VVA, that helped me the most and left me feeling the best about the whole process. The Vietnam Veterans of America helps the general welfare of veterans of all conflicts, but especially those homeless and disabled. They take donations of clothes, shoes, books, small appliances and other household goods, as long as the boxes or items can be carried by one person and with them VVA helps assist those veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other disabilities. It is a good cause and, they come to your door.

You phone or go to their website in order to schedule a pick up. It’s that easy. I felt like I was doing something worthy and it was a huge help with my limited time.  

PICK UP PLEASE.ORG

The house though was still brimming with things too large for the VVA to pick up and so I placed an ad in Craigslist. I’ve heard horror stories about the website that it was crawling with unsavory types. I placed an ad that basically said, Free! Get it Outta Here!,  and posted several pictures of my furniture.  One of the first and really the only viable contact was Ray from Trenton. He’s a grave stone engraver. His small family was moving from a “1 ½ bedroom house” in Trenton to a farmhouse and they needed furniture…. Lots of it! It was like hitting the lottery for both of us. Ray cleaned me out of everything. Overall he made four trips in his pick-up and he took everything but my couch.

HOW TO BECOME AN ENGRAVER OF TOMBSTONES

I was thankful that this process of moving out of Lambertville was so easy and that sentimental items found new loving homes.  It was important to me to give things away to people who would appreciate them and somehow cherish and use them as I had over the years. Life should always be so good.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Lambertville free bidge

Ciao Lambertville  

Readers of this fickle travel blog of questionable validity may have had their interest fade completely away by now. It has been quite a long time since I’ve entered anything of note or have even explored the possibility of being cheap in the name of fun. Not even dubious “destinations”, like having a beer at the pub at Wegman’s or going to Karaoke night at the Limerick Diner, have been scribbled on this waste of 0’s and 1’s.

DRINKING AT THE SUPER MARKET

KARAOKE AT THE DINER

“Why, Why, Why?”, you may ask, although I know you won’t....

Well in the long run there is good reason, though in the short term it has been chaos.

Your lovable cheapskates have conjoined their lives. I have sold my house of 18 years on Music Mountain in Lambertville, NJ and moved in with the true captain of Team VFH, Janet. Yes. It is true. Not only are we a couple, but we are roommates. I have left Lambertville, a lovely river town on the Delaware River in New Jersey and settled into Collegeville, PA…. the home of the Bears of Ursinus College.

URSINUS COLLEGE 

“Why, Why, Why?,” I have been asking myself.

Well. For starters love is involved. Money as well, as in, ‘two can live as cheaply as one’. “Love” may be the driving force of this sea change of life, but toss in the money aspect and it makes sense. We have been a team for 11 years now and the only benefit lost from this move to Collegeville is I no longer have a place to park during Shad Fest in Lambertville…which happens to be this weekend. Although Shad Fest is incredibly more alluring than Karaoke Nights at the Limerick Diner, living apart from Janet had become a too lonely affair.

MUSIC MOUNTAIN

I had lived in Lambertville for 28 years, the first 10 in a solid stone twin constructed in1860 and across Clinton Street from the feeder canal, and the last up on the hill named for the tent venue that had musical acts. Long, long ago when I announced to the Sinatra crew and orchestra that I was moving to this little town called Lambertville many said they had played at some kind of tent venue there.

MUSIC MOUNTAIN HISTORY 

IF YOU’RE THINKING OF LIVING HERE

The tent and the music were gone by the time I arrived with my little family in 1989, and the grit and decay that was sadly a prevalent part of the city were slowly dissipating. We bought in Lambertville at a very good time and soon after the only city in Hunterdon County New Jersey was an extremely viable place to live and to visit. A few years after we moved into 126 Clinton Street, on the corner of Buttonwood, I was astounded to read an article in the New York Times Real Estate section, “If you’re thinking of living in…” about Lambertville. 

Yeah, the city was a place for day trippers from New York and Philadelphia and for people like us who appreciated the rural quality of a place you could still walk and get a newspaper.

Yeah, more than once I remember conversations with friends and neighbors about Lambertville that WE LIVE in a popular tourist destination.

Canal side bar Lambertville Station

Once when I had family from England come to visit, the entire experience of leaving the car unlocked, strolling through the quiet streets or along the canal, stopping for a drink at the outdoor bar at the Lambertville Station and then visiting my house on the hill had them saying “DON’T SELL”.

 HUNTERDON COUNTY

MOVING FORWARD

Yeah, I could go on and on and on about the joys of Lambertville, about the sophisticated bars and restaurants, about how everything just seems right there. It is a great place to raise children. There's art and music and antiques too. It's close to everything and yet far enough away to feel like you've left it all behind. 

Sigh..

Like anything in life change can be exhilarating or painful or cathartic. In preparing for this next step in our conjoined existence there has been a revolving combination of these emotions. Having to let go… of things… of experiences… of embittered embedded hatreds… in order to prep my house for the market and to get rid of all the unnecessary things has been a lengthy time-consuming process. Twenty eight years is a long time and I've always been one to ponder my next move rather than diving madly into the process....

So I have not been lazy my fair and noble readers, nor have I been idle. 

As I have finally returned to you, reporting now from my townhouse garret in this little town on the banks of the Perkiomen River, I hope you’ll again find great pleasure in following our antics on Vacations From Home even if we get thrown out of Karaoke Night at the Limerick Diner for heckling.

PERKIOMEN WATERSHED

WALLS AND SHAMBLES AND SNICKELWAYS

YORK (just like I pictured it)

During my recent visit to England, a little side trip was planned by VFH’s Commander-in-Chief, Janet. It was to York, an ancient walled city in northern England and a popular tourist destination. I guess she did it to appease my angst at sitting still for so long, for we really were in England to visit the family and not go gallivanting about. Truthfully though, I was very pleased with this side trip. Having traveled across the Atlantic, and spending quite a bit of money for the convenience of not having to row myself along in a dingy, I wanted a bit more bang for my buck. Janet too felt we all could use a little ambling-about time to explore the area. After all, Patrick TV, featuring the remarkable 18 mo. old grandson, may be on 24 hours, but even with him there are reruns. So, we embarked on our mini-vacation within our vacation to the old medieval city of York in the kid’s little Vauxhall Astra. The ride wasn’t that uncomfortable, as long as we breathed in unison. We must have looked like a clown car emptying out when we reached the apartment we rented for the occasion.

THE ROBIN HOOD TOWER

MEDIEVAL AND POSH

We at VFH swear by Airbnb, the website that finds us incredible vacation stays all over the world for less than the price of a hotel. The team has stayed on the north shore of Oahu and the Big Island of Hawaii. We stayed in Austin, Texas & Washington, D.C., and now York in the UK.

Now, one doesn’t just “book” a room with the website. It’s quite the vetting process to gain a reservation on Airbnb, but we are great and conservative travelers and we have had our choice. For our stay in York though, Janet outdid herself and she found an incredibly “posh” apartment right outside the medieval wall of York, near the “Robin Hood” tower. Considering there were 5 of us, including Patrick, and the listing included our own private parking in this very popular tourist destination, Airbnb was far cheaper than a hotel! They even accommodated Patrick with a travel bed gratis. It was clean, private and well, posh!

See for yourself: AirBNB listing in York UK

YORK MINSTER FROM THE WALL

FREE YORK

Now, you may ask: ‘Why York?’ I know, I asked the same thing when told of our itinerary. My query was an honest one, as I knew nothing about the city, but it proved to be an engaging side trip. York is not only historical, but fun. There are plenty of activities and sights and a fair amount of pubs. Not only is it a popular destination for foreigners (I did hear a number of different languages and accents while plying her streets) it is a popular destination for the English as well. It seems a few of our friends in the UK have traveled to the city for weekend (drinking) soirees.

I'M WALKING HERE….

The most engaging feature of York City is her wall, or “bar”. The wall was started with the Romans when they erected a fortress there in 71 AD and called their establishment Eboracum. The Vikings added to it when they conquered the area in the 800s and renamed the town Jorvik. The present day wall was started in the 1200s.

THE SHAMBLES

When other cities like London were removing their walls, as they had become obsolete as a form of defense and were crimping the growth of the city, York maintained theirs. Although the city did apply to Parliament to have the wall demolished in the mid 1800’s, this was met by a fierce and influential preservation movement and York was forced to keep their wall.

To this day the wall is kept in fine repair and walking along its ramparts is a very picturesque and, most importantly, a free activity. There are spectacular views of the Minster, York’s soaring cathedral, and the gardens within the walls from the walkway and those wishing to stroll along this 2 mile historic edifice can enter at any of the four barbicons or gates. One doesn’t need to walk the entire length all at once and can stroll at their leisure. The wall is open every day except Christmas and whenever inclement icy weather makes the walking treacherous.

Here’s a great website for particulars: YORK UK WALLS

In York all the Streets are Gates, all the Gates are Bars and all the bars are Pubs

The meandering streets of the inner walls are also a joy to explore. Today they are clean and touristy with plenty of shops and restaurants, but back in the medieval times narrow streets like The Shambles and Gropecunt Street (thankfully renamed now to Grape Lane) was where butchers and the ladies displayed their offerings.

The narrow Shambles is perhaps England’s most famous street and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Then it was an open air slaughterhouse and meat market. Butchers would display their meats on hooks or on shelves curbside and throw the blood and offal into a little channel in the middle of the street. THAT was cleaned out at least once a week. Now, The Shambles is tourist central with several souvenir shops and eateries along its length and tourists marveling at the narrow street with leaning buildings with many of the old store fronts still displaying meat hooks and their “shelves” for meat.

 

A YORK SNICKELWAY

Part of the medieval make-up of York City is its alluring maze of alleyways and footpaths that honeycomb the inner city within the walls. Exploring these snickelways, as they are locally known, allow one to meander through a backwater that is often passed unnoticed by both tourist and citizen alike. Some are short, some narrow, one just 2 ½ feet wide, some lead to courtyards and others take the traveler to another section of town. Some are named for the commerce or activity that once was found there, like Gropec__t Lane where the red light district was found, while other colorfully named snickelways describe an event like Mad Alice Lane. Alice was hanged after found guilty of poisoning her husband and her very own snickelway is supposedly haunted.

If so inclined to explore the warren of York’s pathways, one should prepare to take the time to get lost, but go armed with some knowledge of where to look, just so you won’t miss anything.  Mark W. Jones’, “A Walk Around the Snickelways of York”, is a good resource.

Also, here’s a couple of great websites to plan your diversion:

SECRET YORK

SNICKELWAY PICTURES

The traveling circus of Team VFH had no such luxury though to get lost. As always, traveling with a child requires a teetering balance of timing and luck.  We were able to explore just a bit of the alleyways and they were our own. Entering a few of the quiet backwaters we quickly left the tourist masses behind. Not able to venture very far though, we had to be content to peer into these backwaters like children sneaking down to spy on their parent’s party.

YORK PASS?

Because York also offers a multitude of worthy attractions that COST MONEY we had to juggle our time between exploring on foot and visiting places. We knew going in our two night visit would not be enough time to see and experience all that the city offers, so we had to plan our trip carefully with the help of the YORK PASS. Buying a 1, 2 or 3 day pass gives one entry to 30 different attractions in and around the city. We considered trying to hit all 30, but had to settle on a few. Some of the attractions are a tour boat ride on the River Ouse, a guided city sightseeing double decker bus tour, the York Minster, an incredible soaring cathedral that dates from the 12^th century, Clifford’s Tower and the York Chocolate Story. Evidently York was once the seat of the English .Chocolate Industry. If so inclined one could explore the Norse history of York at the Jorvik Viking Center, Roman culture at an unearthed bathhouse, or the peculiar medieval predilection for torture at the York Dungeon.

 

MONKGATE

We bought one day passes at £38. We could have used three days at £60. Two days are £50.

YORK PASS 

Our 1^st Day

After unpacking our bags we entered the city through Bootham Gate, bought our passes, had a drink down by one of the many pubs at the River Ouse sunning ourselves in the brilliant sunshine, quite happy it wasn’t flooded as the Ouse often does. The frequent river flooding is why the Romans abandoned the area after one too many slog fests.

FLOODING IN YORK 

We strolled along the streets, eyeing baubles in the windows, listened to street musicians, followed the herd along The Shambles and eventually had dinner at a proper and very old British Pub, Ye Olde Starre Inn, found on Stonegate. We exited the city through Monkgate and walked back along the ramparts to our posh digs. It was a long great day.

YE OLDE STARRE INNE

TRAVELING BEER

Parks On Tap

Faithful readers of this blog know Team VFH can work up a thirst and that’s why living in the Philadelphia region is convenient for quenching the palate. The beer culture in Philadelphia is strong and dates from the founding of the city. Philadelphia once had 700 active breweries and there is even an aptly named section near the Schuylkill River called Brewerytown, where several breweries used the river as a source for water.

Today the craft brewing industry in Philadelphia is solid. Walk into any modest looking gin mill in and around Philadelphia and the beer lists rival some of the storied Belgium bars your favorite beer lovers have frequented in the past. The people in Philadelphia know and appreciate their beer and the city embraces this culture of imbibing.

PUBLIC DRINKING

This summer the city’s Parks and Recreation Department is staging a traveling beer garden, providing a place to gather in the parks and enjoy beer and food and music. There are 14 destinations in all this summer and because Hurricane Hermine put the kibosh on our Labor Day weekend at the shore we decided to visit this week’s destination, FDR Park. Located in South Philadelphia just across Broad Street from Philadelphia’s sports complex near the tennis courts, The Parks on Tap beer garden was a great way to spend the day. Although blustery at times, there was music and games and plenty of free folding chairs, hammocks and picnic tables. Janet claims the port-a-potty was so clean she did not have to hover. Sadly, the beer list is a bit limited but it is very dog friendly and there were lots of children playing and "dancing" along to the live music that was presented by the Philadelphia Songwriters Project. This family event lent the day a convivial quality that comes when a lot of people are all on the same page enjoying beer.

This week’s destination at FDR is open today (Sunday) until 11 pm and tomorrow (Labor Day) from 12p – 10p.

If you can’t make it this  weekend, there are four more scheduled destinations. Go to PHILADELPHIA PARKS ON TAP to see where you can drink next! There is no cost to enter the beer garden and all beers are $7.00 except Yuengling at $5.00. There is food, mixed drinks and water also available at the beer garden!

Thanks for reading.

Greg 

GOING FULL MONTY

ENGLAND

I have to admit that I had never considered England a “sexy” destination for travel. For me England, outside of London, never had the cache of Paris or Rome or was an exotic destination like the Dalmatian coast or Greece. Even Australia, as American a country in all my experiences, continues to hold such a place in my heart because it is so exotic, but perhaps this is because it so very far away, and in a sense quite inaccessible.

This has all changed. Previously I had been loath to return to a destination. The world is so very vast and inviting that it would be impractical on a timely or monetary basis to revisit a destination.  Previously I could never see the allure of returning to, say, the same New Jersey beach house year after year. What’s the fun in that to limit one’s lifetime experiences? I would hazard to state that endeavor was a complete waste of time. Even my number one destination in the world, Hawaii, which I’ve been to for work and play 7 times now, has probably seen the last of me.

But my thinking has changed with the growing VFH brood and I’ve enjoyed a fairly steady diet of Full Monty breakfasts and bitters while visiting the kids and their family in England. I’ve been to Northern England 3 times over the past five years, splitting time between the kids in either Liverpool or Newton-le-Willows, or at the in-laws in Nantwich, and although there’s only so much one can take sitting around on the couch being family-like and yammering about the weather this recent trip has changed things up a bit and we’ve begun to explore the area. Like the expansive breakfasts, we’ve gone Full Monty in the English experiences and the family and Janet have planned an assortment of small and large trips while here and what little down time there has been has been filled with chasing after young Patrick!

THE BACKBONE OF ENGLAND

The Pennines

Team VFH was off recently for a three day trip to the walled city of York as part of our family visit to England. We started our English adventure in the little town of Nantwich where we had greeted 2016 in the town square to the chimes of the medieval church St. Mary’s. We then spent a day in the even smaller town of Newton-le-Willows where the kids live.

The day before we left for York, Tuesday, was a day of chores like doctor appointments and prescription refills with a stop in for a drink at a chain pub called J.D. Wetherspoon. The local name for this pub is the Nine Arches, named for the nearby Sankey Railway viaduct and located in a former pet store that was once a Methodist church.

 

The Sankey Railway Viaduct

Known for converting old buildings into unconventional pubs, the chain is known for a great beer list and cheap prices for food and beer. There are nearly 1,000 of them throughout the UK. I bought a round of drinks, including a Chimay Blue and a child’s portion meal for Patrick for under £14.

WETHERSPOONS 

“Oh the Places you’ll go…” – Dr. Seuss

Given the opportunity to make a left or a right on our travels to York, I might never have reached the 2,000 year old walled city. Thankfully the tiny Vauxhall Astra was brimming and the 18 month old Patrick demanded we travel the 90 miles between the cities as efficiently as possible. I had to be satisfied with the spacious views of the Pennines the M62 afforded us.  

 

The Pennine Way

Colin had mentioned the Pennines to me on our drive through the midlands the other day, but I didn’t quite understand the beauty that awaited me. Called the “Backbone of England” this mountain range runs north / south from the northern midlands to the Cheviot Hills that border with Scotland. Although the highest peaks are less than 3,000 feet, the Pennines are considered some of the most scenic areas of England.

As we barreled through the area it looked like raw untouched land, but there is a very well used trail called the Pennine Way that runs 270 miles from the Peak District in the northern midlands, past Hadrian ’s Wall, the Cheviot Hills and ending just inside the border with Scotland. It is estimated 250,000 day hikers and over 10,000 long hikers enjoy the Pennine Way yearly. The trail is accessible at several points and also serviced by mass transit and it passes through several small towns.

Though I oohed and pointed Adam would not stop the car and the Pennines will have to patiently wait for another visit from Team VFH. If you have the time and the inclination to hike all or part of the trail here is a great place to get valuable information.

PENNINE WAY PARTICULARS