Visiting the Shriver House Museum in Gettysburg

If you're visiting Gettysburg this holiday season, you may want to pay a visit to the Shriver House Museum.

The Shriver House--view from outside

Located in the historic district, the Shriver House Museum exists to educate the public on the Civil War from a civilian perspective. 

During a recent visit, a docent dressed in period dress told the story of the Shriver family--George, Hettie and their two daughters Mollie and Sadie.

The Shriver family were well-to-do thanks, in part, to George's father, who ran a prosperous farm and was in the liquor manufacturing business. He died when George was only 16, leaving him quite an impressive inheritance, which included 3,000 gallons of liquor and a 200-acre farm.  

Just two years later, George married Hettie Weikert.  The couple started a family of their own, selling a portion of his farm to acquire a property on Baltimore Street where the family would reside and where George would operate a business known as "Shriver's Saloon & 10-Pin Alley." 

The saloon would be located in the basement of the home and the 10-pin alley would operate in a building erected in the backyard.

Just as soon as everything was built and ready to go, war broke out and in 1861 George volunteered to serve. Both he and his wife thought he would be away for a short period of time, but this turned out to be untrue and the businessman-turned soldier served for several years, returning to visit only once before being captured by Confederate soldiers and taken to Andersonville Prison in Georgia, known for its cruel conditions. It was there George died in 1864.

Guests are shown the parlor, which today is decorated for the season with a small Christmas tree taking center stage and adorned with simple ornaments, small flags and candles, which we are told were generally lit once. 

The Parlor of the Shriver House

Simplicity ruled the day in the mid 1800's during this time of year and small, inexpensive gifts were usually inserted "on" the tree in between the branches." For a person who always wondered why the lyrics of White Christmas," described presents as being on the tree, this was a moment of clarity for me.  

We were shown the dining room where the food was served, Hettie's kitchen with its impressive stove (due to their wealthy economic status), the sitting room and the bedrooms upstairs.

The dining area of the Shriver House

Shriver House bedrooms

A curious thing happened to me outside of one of the bedroom's upstairs when I took the tour. As I listened attentively to the docent, my stomach began aching, causing me to break out in a sweat from head to toe. Too embarrassed to make a scene, I withstood the urge to leave the group, fanning myself with literature I had picked up along the way. When we moved from the area, the pain passed.

I have to admit that I have been in all sorts of structures in Gettysburg, including the attic and the basement of the Farnswarth House, alone with just a docent and nothing like this had happened to me before, so I really didn't know what to think.

More upstairs rooms in the Shriver House. Docent points out the Necco Wafers in the foreground. So now you know why they taste like the 1830s.

 
As we continued on in our tour, the docent told the story of the family leaving the house, only to return and find that it had been taken over by Confederate soldiers. We learned what scenes the family encountered in the fields surrounding their house and that the odor could be smelled as far away as Harrisburg. 

In the attic, guests will see where soldiers took turns keeping watch and firing at the enemy, while others passed the time in a separate, dimly lit area. (This you'll have to experience during your visit since the Shriver House prohibits flash photos.) 

Attic "nest" where soldiers were on watch

Modern CSI detectives using luminal determined that at least two deaths occurred in the attic perch.

Guests will end their tour with a trip to the basement which leads to an area where a makeshift operating table was crafted out of a piece of wood and two barrels. Just a few steps away is the home of what would have been the Shriver's Saloon, had it opened. Sadly, with the loss of George, the business plans for the tavern and the "10-Pin Alley," never came to fruition. During the summer, guests can instead tour the small, award-winning period garden that is cultivated outside.

       Makeshift hospital "bed" for wounded soldiers just steps away from the              Shriver's Saloon

A dream that never came true--The Shriver's Saloon

Next up: A visit to quaint Jim Thorpe, often referred to as the "Switzerland of Pennsylvania."

Visiting Gettysburg's Museums

The last few times I was in Gettysburg, time limitations prevented me from visiting The Gettysburg Museum of History and the Shriver House, both located within a block of each other on Baltimore Street.  Just last weekend, I returned to tour them both.

First Up:

The Gettysburg Museum of History

Located at 219 Baltimore Street, the Gettysburg Museum of History is described on its website as "one of the most extensive private collections of artifacts from the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, Presidencies and Pop Culture." The relatively small, privately owned museum is free to the public and contains more than 4,000 artifacts.

A gift shop with reasonably priced items is located in the rear of the building. During our visit last Friday at 3 p.m., we encountered few tourists for the first 20 minutes--and then they came poring in, which made it a little difficult to navigate around the displays at times. In the front part of the museum, a variety of  Civil War items are on display and range from ammunition collected from the battlefield, (back when it was legal to do so), to Calvary hats, firearms and even Jenny Wade's letters to Jack Skelly. 

Many display boxes are filled with artifacts gathered from particular battlefield regions.  Some of these are for sale along with other interesting items scattered throughout the museum, including framed wood slivers from the gallows where Lincoln's assassins were hanged.

Artifacts from Devil's Den

Other artifacts include rifles found in the ocean at the Battle of Normandy and bullet-riddled German helmets.

Rifle found in Ocean at Normandy

Some items seemed to have no rhyme or reason for being in the collection, like the 3,000-year old, Egyptian female mummy head under glass, or the Victorian rapping hand used in seances to contact the dead, although the "hand" is at least part of Americana. 

No one could get any rest when the Victorian Rapping Hand 

was brought out.

3,000-year-old Egyptian Mummy, female, age 16

Presidential memorabilia is in abundance at the museum, from locks of George and Martha Washington's hair, to Lincoln's wallet and the opera glasses he used on the night of his assassination at Ford's theater. Kennedy's rocking chair sits in a roped-off area aptly positioned near the Marilyn Monroe exhibit displaying one of her bras. Many pictures of past presidents visiting Gettysburg hang on the walls throughout the halls of the museum.

Marilyn's bra and Kennedy's chair sit across from 

each other

The Opera glasses used by Lincoln at the time of 

his assassination

Other items include a teapot that once belonged to Adolph Hitler and a piece of lingerie belonging to Eva Braun, that my husband pointed out to me as something she likely "flounced about" in, which gave me a chuckle. Both Eva and Adolph seemed to be very fond of monogramming.

Eva Braun's "flouncy" frock

Der Fuhrer evidently fancied a spot of tea at times

A small Bonnie and Clyde collection was also on display, featuring Bonnie Barrow's pistol and a series of snapshots acquired from the Barrow family.

Photos from the Barrow side wheeled out for public viewing, along with the pistol wielded by Bonnie.

The Gettysburg Museum of History was featured on an episode of American Pickers in 2011, which you can read more about in The Gettysburg Times, by clicking the following link: 

American Pickers Visit the Gettysburg Museum of History

Or, if you're so inclined, you can watch the episode here (30-day free trial):
American Pickers Gettysburg episode 

The intriguing collection has me wanting to learn more about the man who acquired these artifacts and the stories behind his acquisitions. You can be certain I will make an attempt to do just that for a future article, so stay tuned.

If you would like to learn more about this unique collection, you can visit the website at www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com/.

A Trip to Historic Bellefonte, Pa

Anytime a Pennsylvanian hears that the temperatures are going to hit the '70s in November, it's time to take action because who knows? It may be the last hurrah before we're plunged into a deep freeze for five or six months. This past weekend, we decided to "make hay while the sun shines," by taking a short trip out of town to see a few new sights. After some deliberation, we decided to make it a short trip and visit the town of my birth--historic Bellefonte, Pa. Although we're very familiar with State College, located just 13 miles away, we never spent time exploring the Bellefonte area.

It took us about an hour and a half before we arrived in town and thanks to Foursquare, we chose lunch at The Governor's Pub. Parking nearby was cheap--with just a few quarters needed for the meters. Although the outside didn't look like much, the inside was cute, service was prompt and friendly and the food was good too. We split a Reuben and fries.

Because Bellefonte is known for it's B&Bs, as well as its Victorian architecture, we decided to enjoy both by staying at The Queen, located on Linn Street. The Queen is beautifully decorated and is typical of many of the elegant Victorian structures that you'll see during a drive around town. Owner Nancy Noll greeted us, showed us the Victorian parlor that we'd have to ourselves that weekend, entertained us with a few notes on the player piano, pointed out an old-fashioned Victrola and demonstrated a stereoptic viewer (a precursor to the View-Master). Later on that evening, I grabbed the collection of about 100 slides and took them up to the room for further inspection. 

The Queen B&B on Linn Street in Bellefonte

Anne's Room at The Queen B&B

A Victorian Stereoptic Viewer

Accommodations at The Queen were spacious and comfortable, with a sofa, a flat-screen TV, a small bathroom and a "slipper tub" separated from the bed by a screen, which might not be for everyone, but we knew about it beforehand.  A writing desk overlooked the street and an extremely comfortable bed offered a wonderful night's slumber.

We took time to drive around town and were amazed at the many beautiful Victorian mansions that have been seemingly well tended throughout the years. Several operate as B&Bs, but most are private homes.

"Our Fair Lady" B&B in Bellefonte

The Reynold's Mansion B&B in Bellefonte

Random Home in Bellefonte

The "Molly Fisher," built in 1872

The Bellefonte area has a very low unemployment rate with top employers being the federal government, the Bellefonte School District, the state government and Geisinger Health System, so it stands to reason that the residents have been able to keep the huge Victorian mansions in such beautiful condition.

During our trip, we paid a visit to the Centre County Library and Historical Museum located in the 1814 Miles-Hume house.

There we learned more about early area employers like Titan Metal Company, the Bellefonte Glass Works and the Bellefonte Match Factory founded in 1899 by two entrepreneurs. (The factory shuttered its doors in 1947 due to competition from book
matches and cigarette lighters.) We also viewed a model of the statues that stand in front of the Pennsylvania State Capitol made by sculptor George Gray Barnard, who was born in Bellefonte.

A model of George Gray Bernard's work which can be seen at the entrance of the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

After touring the museum, we stopped in at Big Spring Spirits, a relatively new distillery housed in the old match factory mentioned earlier. There guests can choose from among a variety of hand-crafted spirits like gin, whiskies and rum. One of the owners is an interior designer and it shows. The spacious and inviting "tasting" room is more like a restaurant and the over-sized, comfortable chairs and tables are conducive to relaxing and enjoying an evening with good food and friends.

A glass wall behind the bar gives patrons a sneak peak into the nuts and bolts of the distilling operation.

Big Spring Spirits in Bellefonte

Before heading to State College for "First Friday," on that same evening, we took a few pictures of the attractive Talleyrand Park and visited the American Philatelic Center,where we viewed a few small exhibits.

Talleyrand Park

American Philatelic Center Exhibit

In the next few weeks, Bellefonte will be hosting its 34th annual Victorian Christmas.
Learn more here in this article at Flipsidepa.com. 

http://www.flipsidepa.com/story/entertainment/events/2015/11/10/historic-bellefonte-hosts-victorian-christmas/75493158/

Victorian Restaurant Offers Fine Dining

This week my husband and I visited an old-school restaurant that has managed to nail the perfect formula for longevity and they must be doing something right since they've been in business for more than 45 years.

Alfred's Victorian, operating in the former Raymond-Young mansion in Middletown, Pennsylvania, was one of the first "special occasion" restaurants to open in the area back "in the day." I fondly remember visiting the place just once as a teen, with my father.  After that, it would be many years before I could return. Let's just say it was a matter of funding back then. I can still hear my grandmother's words when I whined about it. "You have champagne tastes and a beer pocketbook," she would say, on more than one occasion..

Finances have since improved, thankfully, and my husband had a birthday to celebrate this week, so off we went to the place of our first date, oh so many years ago.

When we stepped over the threshold, there was no one in sight, which was a bit eerie, but shortly afterwards a hostess emerged from a back room to seat us. We noticed that we had the place almost entirely to ourselves, which made it easy to stroll around and take pictures of the interior without disturbing other diners. 

First floor rooms at Alfred's Victorian

A cute, little romantic alcove.

Stairs leading to the second floor where the ghost is said to reside.

Speaking of eerie, Alfred's is said to be haunted. You can read more on that story here Unfortunately I didn't see any evidence of such haunting in any of these pictures, but then again, perhaps I was just on the wrong floor.

The restaurant hasn't changed much over the years and still specializes in pasta, veal and seafood dishes, even preparing some items "old-school style," which is to say table side, like the Caesar salad and the Steak Diane. 

For old times' sake, we ordered the Caesar. Our attentive waiter Carlos can be seen making it here. One wonders how many salads have been made in that bowl, to date. I should have asked.

Waiter Carlos prepares Caesar salad tableside.

For my entree, I chose crab imperial in pastry. My husband, in keeping with the pastry theme, chose a cheesy chicken tenderloin/tortellini/prosciuitto mixture wrapped in pastry, which he said he enjoyed very much.

When the time came for dessert, I had my eye on a pumpkin martini, but my hopes were dashed since they were out of some ingredient. I'm a sucker for all kinds of pumpkin drinks and love this time of year because of it. Mike, who rarely orders dessert, predictably passed on it this time, so when a creme brulee emerged from the kitchen as a gift for the birthday boy, we were pleasantly surprised. I must say it was delicious, even though all I managed to get was a meager spoonful since someone devoured it in record time.

Although I blame construction and the fact that it was a Tuesday night on the lack of diners, I  do hope that this cool, old gem of a place survives the multi-mullion street project taking place in the borough. I can see how the detours and lack of parking on the block can be a deterrent.

I also learned recently that the owner hired a firm a few years ago to upgrade the old house, which is showing just a few signs of being a bit "long in the tooth." 

You can read more about that here.

Before we exited, I took a picture of the outside of the house as it looks today--of course since we are now plunged into darkness at 6 p.m., there's not much to see here.

Alfred's Victorian--front view at night.

Here's to hoping the Alfred's can survive another 45 years!

In keeping (innkeeping?) with the Victorian theme, it's off to another Victorian mansion called "The Queen" in Bellefonte, the town where I was born. Can't wait to learn more about the history of the property and to tell you more about this small Pennsylvania town in the next few days.