Charmed by Chestnut Hill--Philly's Best Kept Secret

Nestled on the northwestern edge of Philadelphia, Chestnut Hill beckons to those seeking a respite from the hustle and bustle of daily life. With its cobblestone streets, cozy cafes, lush gardens, bountiful boutiques and burgeoning arts scene, this walkable neighborhood is tailor made for a weekend getaway to relax and recharge.

Staying in the Heart of the Action

The historic hotel dates back to the 1800s and its evolution can be seen in the photos that were posted in the elevator.

Our room was spacious and comfortable.

Using the the Chestnut Hill Hotel located at 8220 Germantown Avenue as a central location allows the the convenience of a large, free parking lot. It’s an ideal basecamp for daily strolls to the many shops and restaurants in the area.

A Growing Art Museum

A large sculpture in front of the Woodmere.

Also located on Germantown Avenue is the Woodmere Art Museum. Housed in a historic building that once belonged to founder and avid art collector Charles Knox Smith, the museum touts approximately 8,000 works, showcasing the talents of the many artists who call Philadelphia their home.

Outdoors, visitors can explore the museum’s growing sculpture collection known collectively as Woodmere’s Outdoor Wonder (WOW). Guests can take advantage of the opportunity to scan QR codes to learn more about each piece.

The exterior of the Woodmere Art Museum (Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill Business District)

A highlight with ties to Harrisburg is an exhibit by Violet Oakley, who is known for her 43 murals which festoon the walls of the Capitol building.

Violet Oakley artwork.

Edge of a Forest on the Susquehanna River by Edmund Darch Lewis

The Woodmere is among the elite three percent of U.S. museums accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, a recognition of its commitment to excellence. Recently, it announced the acquisition of a nearby building and four additional acres for expanded gallery space and outdoor exhibits. Officials expect an October/November 2025 opening.

Flora and Fauna

Beautiful blooms are in abundance. (Photo: Cynthia Schemmer, Courtesy of UPenn)

Nature lovers will enjoy the Morris Arboretum and Gardens, a 92-acre oasis that’s part of the University of Pennsylvania. The private estate of siblings John and Lydia Morris, the property was transformed from desolate land in the late 1800s, into a verdant landscape with plants from around the world. It became a public arboretum in 1933 after Lydia’s passing.

Morris Arboretum is home to 17 "champion trees." (Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill Business District )

Home to 17 "champion" trees--recognized as outstanding specimens in Pennsylvania—the grounds include a rare katsura tree and a grove of dawn redwoods once thought extinct.

Designed with inspiration from English parks and Japanese gardens, the arboretum features a lovely swan pond and scenic overlooks. Morris also hosts educational programs designed for both kids and adults on art, wellness, botany, birding, and more.

Bountiful blooms at the Morris Arboretum (Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill Business District)

Another natural retreat is Wissahickon Valley Park located at 120 Northwestern Avenue. With 50 miles of trails, the 1,800-acre park is perfect for a picnicking, walking, biking and wildlife watching.  On any given day one is likely to see wildflowers, deer and perhaps the occasional fox.

Shopping Along Germantown Avenue

I purchased a memoir written by Anthony Bourdain's assistant at Booked.

Germantown Avenue is home to many boutique shops, each offering something unique. At the Antique Gallery at 8523 Germantown Avenue, you may meet Gerald Schultz, a man with a passion for the decorative arts. Schultz established the business in the 1980s and enjoys offering information about his many interesting and beautiful pieces. During my visit, he introduced me to a striking Art Deco-style Longwy service in earthenware cloisonné enamel. I learned that Longwy is a French town known for its enameling techniques.

The Antique Shop can be seen here with the green awning. (Photo courtesy Chestnut Hill Business District)

A Longwy service at The Antique Gallery.

Art enthusiasts will also enjoy browsing the street’s many other galleries—there are at least seven along the avenue. Since I own a Britto and two Peter Max paintings, these two works caught my eye and were for sale at Moondance Farm Studios.

A piece by Romero Britto.

Peter Max painting

Food and Drink

McNally's Tavern is a popular spot for the locals. (Photo courtesy Chestnut Hill Business District)

No trip to Chestnut Hill is complete without a visit to McNally’s Tavern at 8634 Germantown Avenue. McNally’s is viewed as an institution in Chestnut Hill. The eatery dates back to 1921 when Rose O’Brien McNally, wife of a trolley conductor, opened “McNally’s Quick Lunch” in a small steel building across from its current location. The eatery was a respite for Philadelphia Rapid Transit workers and local laborers.

In 1927, the eatery expanded to where it is today, serving spirits and beer after the repeal of prohibition. Today the landmark, run by Anne and Meg McNally, is a testament to their great-grandmother’s legacy. Known for its signature Schmitter sandwich made with steak, cheese, fried onions, tomatoes, cooked salami, and "Schmitter sauce,” it is served on a kaiser roll.

Adelinas Restaurant and Bar is another standout located on Germantown Avenue. The Italian eatery opened in 2022 by brothers Antonio and Giuliano Presta and is named after their grandmother. The menu features traditional Italian fare made with locally sourced ingredients. Popular dishes include stuffed focaccia, chicken parmesan and a porterhouse topped with black truffle butter.

Adelinas, located next door to the Chestnut Hill Hotel, serves a variety of Italian dishes (Photo courtesy Chestnut Hill Business District)

After dinner, enjoy a nightcap at Char & Stave located at 8441 Germantown Avenue. The coffeehouse/cocktail bar hybrid was founded by Jared Adkins who applied his whisky-making talent to the art of coffee roasting.

Coffee and cocktails are available at Char & Stave. (Photo courtesy Chestnut Hill Business District.)

There's also Wednesday night trivia held from 7-9 p.m.at the Chestnut Hill Brewing Co., where guests can engage in friendly competition for a prize.

Wednesday night is trivia night at Chestnut Hill Brewing Co.

Customers also like gathering around the fire at Chestnut Hill Brewing Co. (Photo courtesy Chestnut Hill Business District)

For breakfast, head to CAKE, a place so popular that people queue up early to wait in line for employees to open the place. The bright, airy eatery housed in a converted Victorian greenhouse, is known for its baked goods and its brioche French toast with honey butter and spiced pecans. The business also serves up hearty lunch options like Philly cheesesteak marsala.

Cake is an eatery in a repurposed Victorian greenhouse (Photo courtesy of Chestnut Hill Business District)

Whether you're wandering through fragrant gardens, admiring local art, savoring a Schmitter at a historic tavern, or browsing boutique shops, Chestnut Hill offers the perfect blend of culture, history, and natural beauty. For a weekend escape that delights the senses, look no further than Chestnut Hill.

How a PA Boom Town with an Unlikely Name Gave Rise to the Petroleum Industry

This blog entry has nothing whatsoever to do with cheese plates, nor room service--quite the opposite. Yet it's a story I felt like sharing due to its interesting backstory and it seemed easiest this way. So here it is, shoehorned in. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

When my husband and I first learned of Pithole, we got quite the laugh and contemplated why a town would have such a name. Might it be Spanish? Pronounced Pit-hole-aay? No, we were told, there was no putting lipstick on that moniker, but we can't say we didn't try to fancy it up. And yes, it does indeed rhyme with another word that about sums it up.

Deeper research revealed that the origin of the name is a bit murky, not unlike the streets of that place located in between Pleasantville (once you emerge from Pithole I suppose) and Plumer in Venango County, Pennsylvania. There are two schools of thought here: it was named thusly due to the sulfur gases that wafted up through the holes between the rocks near a local creek. This led some to speculate that it was a portal to hell. Another hypothesis is that the name was derived from the excavations that took place when drilling for oil.

One thing’s for sure, the town lived up to its name, or down rather. You could say that the area attracted some of society's worst and became a haven for those with only the strongest stomachs and the most rugged constitutions.

How It Began

The City of Pithole, courtesy of the Drake Museum and Parks Collection

Pithole City began on the Thomas Holmden farm in Venango County in 1865 when two speculators, named Frazier and Faulkner, leased 65 acres of farmland hoping that there’d be gold in them thar hills, liquid gold, so to speak. It stood to reason, they figured, since nearby Oil Creek Valley was revealed to be rich with it. So, using a divining tool with a witch hazel twig, (it’s a Pennsylvania thing), they set off to drill. Well, their efforts paid off handsomely and pretty soon people from all parts of the country we’re flocking to the area to get rich quick. It seemed everyone and his brother wanted a piece of the action.

The City of Pithole photographed from the flats by Pithole Creek looking up towards the city (photo courtesy of the Drake Museum and Parks Collection)

The land was leased to speculators at $3K per half acre, a whopping sum in 1865. Because these speculators didn’t own the land, they’d erect makeshift wooden structures for living and drilling there. One two-story hotel built with astonishing rapidity was the Astor Hotel, which went up in one day.

Soon the city was home to 15,000 residents, 57 hotels and numerous brothels and bars. It seems as if those who had taken up residence there were also patrons of the arts. Never let it be said that those residents lacked class! In no time they had constructed theaters and hired actors. The city also established a hometown newspaper and a post office which was said to be the third-busiest in Pennsylvania.

People congratulated each other on the swiftness with which they acted to erect structures to accommodate their needs, but it turned out that the builders were short-sighted. Pennsylvania winters in the buildings were brutal, with gusts of air blowing through the hastily made log cabin structures.

Forget the Tussie-Mussies—Send Some Smelling Salts Over Here

According to Susan Hutchison Tassin in her book titled “Pennsylvania Ghost Towns,” the place literally reeked—reeked plus ultra, stunk to the high heavens—you get the idea. And water was hard to come by. Those who did manage to procure some were charged 10 cents a cup and then one couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be oily.

Shopkeepers, hoteliers, residents all pitched their garbage and chamber pots right into the streets. Those who had to cross said streets would remove their shoes and socks and then dunk them into a large vat of water provided by the business people around the city. The poor Pithole mules were flogged when they couldn’t keep up dragging barrels of heavy oil around and most were bald from the neck down due to the sludge that damaged the capillaries to the skin. When they finally chose death over pain, they were dragged to the edge of town and unceremoniously dumped. According to Tassin, the life expectancy of the poor creatures was but a few months. Because of the maltreatment, they ran out of beasts of burden, but the enablers just shipped them more, bringing mules in from Ohio and New York.

The Wild, Wild West

As time went on, the city became like the Wild West. According to reports, there were shootouts, murders and riots. One brothel felt the need to “advertise” and the girls would ride naked down the streets at night in a unique marketing campaign.

By 1866, Pithole City denizens had realized it was time to move on after wells dried up and a series of fires took on a life of their own with so much kindling in the form of shacks around. That was the death knell for the area and the end of the liquid gold rush that gave birth to a town which lasted a mere 500 days.

Today’s Pithole

When my husband and I visited a few years’ ago, there really wasn’t much to see. There was a small visitor’s center that displays photos of Pithole City, but it was closed when we visited. I later learned that the Visitor Center is open to the public from May 31 through August 31 on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For those who are interested in seeing old pictures of Pithole City during its heyday, there’s also the Drake Well Museum and Park located in nearby Titusville Pa. The museum opened in 1934 and pays tribute to the area’s petroleum industry, so visitors will be able to see even more photos of Pithole during its rough-and-tumble, short-lived heyday. The museum's 240-acre site features a replica of Edwin L. Drake’s engine house built around the National Historic Landmark well, along with operating oil field machinery. Guest will also be able to browse among 12,000 square foot of interior exhibits and view the largest artifact and archival collection focused on the birth of the modern petroleum industry.

Drake Well Visitors Center
Photos courtesy of Drake Well Museum and Park

The Drake Well building 

Drake Engine House

We ended up with one, lone picture of what used to be Pithole City, a photo which fails to reveal the state of the area all those years’ ago.

Today's Pithole.

Exploring Delaware Water Gap and Stroudsburg: Nature's Beauty and Small-Town Fun

My knowledge of Pennsylvania is vast, or at least I thought so. That is, until I stumbled upon some information while researching places where the fall foliage display is the most dramatic. It turns out that Delaware Water Gap, nestled in Monroe County near the Delaware River and known as the Eastern Gateway to the Poconos, takes the prize as one of the more-striking areas for viewing fiery fall foliage by foot, bike, kayak, or as in my case trolley. What surprised me the most, however, is that the small borough is also home to the oldest, continuously operating jazz club in the United States.

After touring Delaware Water Gap, I continued on to downtown Stroudsburg—a funky, friendly place where thrift shops co-exist with boutique shops and street art is intermingled with galleries. The walkable area attracts many a Delaware Water Gap visitor looking to shop, dine and perhaps take in a show.

The Trolley Tour

Pocono Day Trippers offers Trolley Tours in Delaware Gap

The easiest way to learn about Delaware Water Gap and its history is to sign up for a Pocono Historic Trolley Tour offered by the PoconoDay Tripper. When I visited, Pocono Joe regaled riders with tidbits about the area and how it was once the second most popular inland destination in the United States. On the tour, Joe also points out structures like the Castle Inn. 

The Castle Inn dates back to 1906.

Built in 1906, it once attracted many tourists seeking to escape the heat of the city and was the area’s first resort with running spring water and electricity. The tour also includes a drive through the Shawnee Inn Golf Resort, which was established in the late 1890s when a native New Yorker and business owner Charles Campbell Worthington made it his summer home. Over the years, the Golf Resort has hosted celebrities like Jackie Gleason and Arnold Palmer.

Riders will also hear how Fred Waring made his mark on the area. 

Fred Waring was a Penn State grad, a band leader and an entrepreneur.

Those of a certain age may have heard of Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, mostly due to Christmas albums that played in households once a year. Waring, a Penn State grad, brought to market an invention which helped revolutionize the American kitchen: the Waring blender. According to Pocono Joe, Waring was fond of using it to mix drinks for his musician friends.

Trolley Riders will also be able to disembark to take photos of scenic Buttermilk Falls, which flows down a series of rocky ledges and is a favorite spot for photographers, especially as the trees explode in a riot of color during the autumn season.

Buttermilk Falls is a scenic trolley stop.

We also stopped at a small church, which housed the Slate Belt Historical Museum and listened to an old Victrola. Now I understand why the old movies sound so "tinny."

We also saw this impressive carousel lion carved by a man named Charles Loof, who opened a carousel factory in 1880. After Loof died, this lion ended up, aptly, in a local Lions Club. You can read the story of this impressively carved lion below.

The story of the carousel lion at the Slate Belt Historical Museum.

Another stop on the trolley tour was a trip to a small town called Portland, where we picked up some chocolates at the Alexandra and Nicolay chocolate shop, and the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, which dates back to 1911.

The Shawnee Inn dates back to 1911.

The Shawnee Playhouse

The trolley also passed by the Minisink Inn, built in the 1740s on land purchased from American Indians. It has served as a stagecoach stop, general store, hotel and now a tavern.

The Minisink Inn.

The trolley trip takes between 1.5 and two hours and requires pre-registration on the Pocono Day Tripper website.

Peter Luck, owner, said, “It’s so rewarding when people tell me they enjoy the tour and our local history. It means everything to me.”

All That Jazz

The porch at the Deer Head Inn.

The Deer Head Inn is a Victorian style building with two stories of sprawling wrap-around porches, perfect for relaxing during warmer months as the music wafts its way outside. Built between 1853 and 1865, it was originally called the Central House and was renamed The Deer Head Inn in the 1930s.

The bar at the Deer Head Inn.

Jazz enthusiasts have been known to flock to the destination, especially for the annual Jazz Fest that is held the weekend after Labor Day. Those who are interested in staying awhile can choose from among eight rooms and two suites.

The stage at the Deer Head Inn.

Ian Carrig, nephew of owner Dennis Carrig, lists some of the jazz artists who have played at the club, including Stan Getz, Keith Jarrett, Phil Woods, Urbie Green, Nellie McKay and Nicole Glover, to name a few. Carrig works as chef at the establishment and turns out dishes like crab cakes, baked salmon, shrimp scampi, burgers, sandwiches and more.

Funky, Fun and Friendly Downtown Stroudsburg

Public art in downtown Stroudsburg.

Restaurants and small, independent shops are plentiful downtown.

If you like getting your shop on, look no further than downtown Stroudsburg, where you’ll find clothing boutiques, thrift shops and galleries tucked among eateries, bars and street art.

Grandpa Joe’s offers friendly service at their candy shop located at 730 Main Street. There you can find a wide range of candy, both modern and retro. 

Black Cow, Slo-Poke, Zagnut and Zotz are just a few of the candies available at Grandpa Joe's.

When I visited, they were handing out popcorn-flavored taffy and enjoying people’s reactions. (It was surprisingly good.) Not far from Grandpa’s is Carroll & Carroll Booksellers, an independent book store dating back to 1991 and selling new, used and rare books. 

And for antique lovers, there’s Olde Engine Works. Located at 62 N. Third Street, it’s one of the largest antique co-ops in northeast Pennsylvania.

If you work up a thirst while shopping, you may be interested to know that Stroudsburg is also home to Bovino’s Brewery, Stonehaus Meadery and the Raw Urban Winery and Hard Cidery, all on Main. Just outside downtown there’s the Mountain View Vineyard on Walters Road and the Eagles Rest Cellars at 188 Eagles Rest Lane. And for something a little different, there’s Sango Kura, Pennsylvania’s first and only sake brewery—but you’ll have to return to Delaware Water Gap to indulge in those libations.

You may also want to check out the historic Sherman Theatre, also located on Main. The theater dates back to early 1929 and today features comedians like Vic Dibitetto, (whom you may recognize as the man who does the “milk and eggs during a snowstorm” bit), musicians like Ace Frehley of KISS and various tribute bands, to name just a few of the acts that have entertained crowds just this year.

The Sherman Theatre dates back to 1929.

Whether you embark on a day trip, or stay a day or two, these suggestions should keep you busy as you explore eastern Monroe County—an area which offers a diverse array of experiences to cater to a wide range of tastes.

 

Learning about the Pennsylvania Dutch Culture at the Annual Kutztown Fair

It’s nearly impossible to visit the Kutztown area without absorbing at least a little knowledge about the region’s rich Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. To this day, the town is rife with remembrances of a culture that harkens back to the period between the late 1600s to the early 1800s when Germans arrived in large numbers, bringing with them customs, crafts, recipes, resilience and rigor. This group of hard-working people, known as the “Deutsch,” or German, eventually became known by their Americanized appellation--the “Pennsylvania Dutch.”

Three American folklorists recognized the importance of both preserving and celebrating this proud heritage.  Dr.'s Alfred Shoemaker, Don Yoder and J. William Frey conceived of the idea to bring a folk festival to the region and in 1950, the Kutztown Folk Festival was born.  

The event turned out to be a rousing success that attracted nearly 25,000 visitors over a period of just four days and to this day, visitors come from miles around to this day to get a glimpse of the Pennsylvania Dutch way of life.

The annual event returns, once again, to the Kutztown Fairgrounds and runs from July 1-9. Organizers estimate that nearly 130,000 visitors will travel to the area to get a glimpse into the colorful and curious Pennsylvania Dutch culture.

Prepare for some Guten Essen’

Guten Essen’ means good eating, so consider ditching that diet and splurging a little. The Pennsylvania Dutch pride themselves on serving hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare that satisfies even the greatest of appetites.

Cooking for a crowd is Diana Heffner’s bread and butter. The former restaurant owner has pleasing the masses down to a science. She’s been serving hungry folks at the festival for years now, turning out nearly 100 breakfasts and 200 lunches and dinners each day, on average.

Items on the menu include homemade chicken pot pie, ham and green beans, pork and sauerkraut, meatloaf, roast beef, chicken, pepper cabbage, red-beet eggs and the ever-popular shoofly pie. If you’re the type who enjoys a good debate, you’ll always find a willing participant to spar on which shoofly pie is superior—wet bottom, or dry bottom.

Steve Sharadin, Festival Director, mentions schnitz und knepp when describing another perennial festival favorite. The ham dish comprised of dried apples (snitz) and knepp, (dumplings, or rivels), is a big hit at the fair and few pass up the opportunity to enjoy this authentic Pennsylvania Dutch experience.

Homemade ice cream is extremely popular in the dog days of July.

Those “in the know” can also be found sniffing out pig snout over at the farmers’ market set up by Dietrich’s meats. “They preserve it so that it’s extremely tender,” said Sharadin.

Many visitors are also enticed by the heavenly smell of fresh bread, baked onsite daily in a 19th-century bake oven.

Bread is baked onsite daily in a 19th-century bake oven.

Live Music Strikes a Festive Chord

The 15-piece Shippensburg Blaskapelle German Brass Band will entertain the audience with beer-drinking songs, time-honored melodies and rousing polkas. Add to that various fiddlers, folk singers, country dancers and the Virginia-based, world-famous strolling Sauerkraut Band to continue the merriment throughout the nine-day extravaganza.

Cultural Enrichment

Those interested in learning more about education in the days of yore may want to make it a point to visit the one-room school house display, which features antique desks, blackboards and informational placards describing how schools were run in the past.

A one-room school house gives visitors a glimpse into the days of yore.

To pull back the curtain further, historians will be on hand to discuss additional Pennsylvania Dutch curiosities, like the hex signs that adorn many a barn situated along the sprawling countryside. A professional hex sign painter will practice his art on site to demonstrate how it’s done and those with questions can learn more about the colorful signs from representatives of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center.

Hex signs adorn many a barn.

An old-fashioned ride operated by a mule.

During the festival, a variety of quilts will be on display and available for purchase, with the top 24 reserved and selected by a panel of judges for an auction slated to occur on the second Saturday of the festival.

According to Heppe, the crowd-pleasing auction attracts an audience of at least 1,000. One of the highest-selling quilts commanded an astounding $15,000, with others selling for amounts $7-8K range “Most auction for a little bit above $1,000 or more,” said Heppe.

Arts, Crafts and Education

Nearly 200 nationally recognized folk artists and traditional American craftsmen will be in attendance to share the fruits of their talents. Visitors can watch craftsmen transform materials like raw sheet tin material into pieces like mugs, coffee pots and lanterns, to name just one of the many demonstrations that will take place during the event. 

Interesting handmade crafts are everywhere.

Those curious about Pennsylvania Dutch folk art that includes calligraphic script seen on various documents from house blessings, to marriage and baptismal certificates, can learn more by attending a class on Fraktur conducted by the Schwenkfelder Museum & Library based in Montgomery County.

Those who are curious about the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect can gain some insight into the language by attending any of the daily classes conducted by Keith Brintzenhoff, a long-time festival participant and musician.

Doreen Buchman is just one attendee who enjoys returning year after year. When pressed to pick a favorite activity, she chose the quilt auction. “I’ve purchased three over the years,” she said. Buchman said that overall what she enjoys is the variety. “There’s everything from hex sign painting, to broom making, and glass blowing,” she said, describing the walkways lined with booths, barns which house the crafters and the enthusiasm of the craftsman who enjoy sharing their skills. “It’s a family oriented event that appeals to all ages,” she added.

The quilt auction is a popular event.

Buchman says that she’s been to many festivals, but enjoys the Kutztown Folk Festival the most for its authenticity. “It’s fun and you feel like you are part of what this area is all about and that’s the Pennsylvania Dutch Heritage.”

To learn more, visit their website at http://www.kutztownfestival.com/

Admission: $16

Students (13-17) $6

Children (12 and under) FREE

Parking: Free