Sometimes a Lazy Day is in Order!

Elfreth's Alley - Our Nation's Oldest Residential Street

Sunday July 17.  I got up early and ventured out to take some photos of Elfreth's Alley, Betsy Ross House, and Christ Church Burial Ground, among other places.  I left everyone sleeping in the hotel - it was a great morning to catch up on some zzzzz's.  When I returned, we ate a late-morning complimentary breakfast downstairs and then piled up into the car.

Keep-away in the pool!

We drove to Holland PA to visit my uncle Bill, my aunt Patti, and my cousins Kelly and Becky and their families.  We spent a lazy afternoon there hanging out at Uncle Billy's pool and visiting.  Andrew and Kylie were very glad to get some swim time in, as the hotels we stayed at did not have pools.  Uncle Bill whipped up some excellent burgers and the pickles were exceptional - especially the finesse of the slicing.  :)  We listened to Uncle Bill's questionable jokes, of which Aunt Patti did not seem to be much of a fan.  LOL.  It was great to see Kelly & Ross and Drew and Cameron, as well as Becky & Carl and Alexis and Chase.  I had never met my second cousins and they are all SO CUTE!!!  Thanks to everyone for hosting - we had a wonderful time!

The Kohler crew!

 

Nana's house is the right-hand side of the duplex.

After leaving Uncle Bill's place, I suggested we take a nostalgic little drive (nostalgic for only me!) around Philadelphia.  We drove by Nana's house on Knorr Street and it looked fantastic.  This is the house that Nana lived in since she was married in the 1920s or 1930s until she passed away in 1980.  We spent just about every Thanksgiving and every Easter there while growing up in upstate New York, so I have a ton of good memories.  We walked over to the next street to see if Forman's Grocery was still there, but it had been turned into a hair salon.  As kids, my brother and I and my cousins used to go over to Forman's to get treats occasionally.

Glading Memorial Presbyterian

Next we went to find Glading Memorial Presbyterian Church where my mom and dad were married in 1963.  We found it and it is darling!  When we pulled up, I said, "Those look like the doors from Mom and Dad's photo."  They were on the side of the church so I wasn't sure that was right, but, after walking around the perimeter, they were the ones!  The doors were red, as so many church doors in Philadelphia are.  Dan and I began to question why that was so and I found a nice little blog on the internet.  There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer, but it's a very curious topic!  Click here to read about it.

The beautiful Tookany Creek

While visiting Nana's house, Mom, Scott and I (and occasionally Dad) would stop in New Jersey and pick up my Aunt Bobbi and my cousins Gretchen and Tammy (and later, Matt).  Aunt Bobbi has always been a "big kid" and she would be the one to take all the children places and do things with them.  One place we all liked to go was to Tookany Creek Park in the Cheltenham Township (where Reggie Jackson was from, incidentally).  We would play on the playground and then walk along the creek's path.  The creek had many spots where you could go down to the water and stand on lots of large rocks, so we loved doing that.  There was also a very old tree which had one of those branches that just seemed to grow sideways.  We would always climb onto that and sit on it over the water.  That tree did not appear to be with us anymore, sadly.  :(  Andrew and Kylie were a little annoyed at Mom taking them to yet another "boring" place, but once we walked a ways and we went out onto the rocks they agreed it was a pretty cool place!

After my day of hanging out with my relatives and reminiscing, we headed back to the hotel and just decided to stay close and eat dinner at TGI Friday's, which was the restaurant inside the hotel.  We retired to our room at a decent time and took it easy!