From Warhol to Wright: An arty trip through Pennsylvania

There are even a bunch of recipes that you can deploy for the PA products you find through the site’s info. This arrives just in time for the holiday season. Bon appetit!

-Jen

I had been hanging about in Gallitzin and then in Cresson, on the west slope of the Allegheny Front, watching some trains chug up and down the hill on their way east towards Horseshoe Curve or west towards Johnstown. And I bumped into some other rail fans, and one of the guys told me about this outstanding spot for viewing trains rolling up and down this long hill. Well, before you could say Norfolk Southern there was a convoy on down through Lily and to the tiny town of Cassandra, which offers a nice welcome to rail fans.

One of my shots from the Cassandra Overlook

The Overlook is actually an old bridge leftover from the Allegheny Portage Railroad (you can visit the historic site in Gallitzin) and pressed into service today as a train-viewing platform. You get views of a 3-mile long straightaway looking southwest, and of a picturesque curve looking northeast. To find the overlook, head into Cassandra, find Main Street, and travel more or less east on it until it dead ends. At the dead end you’ll find a small parking area, and of course the tracks and bridge and likely several other rail fans.

An intermodal train heads up the West Slope.

-Jen

Visitors gather at Hawk Mountain's south overlook point

According to the Sanctuary, about 20,000 raptors pass their location each year between August 15 and December 15, riding the air currents that rise above the mountain ridges on their journeys to points south. And it is a spectacular show indeed. Best bet is to pack your binoculars, a picnic and something soft to sit on, and make your way on the lovely trail system to the north overlook, where there is an almost nonstop parade of these marvelous birds rolling past. Some even put on an aerobatics show.

Downside to visiting on a weekend is the large number of visitors, not all of whom are particularly quiet and respectful of the sanctuary nature of the facility. If you’re like me and large numbers of hollering cub scouts don’t really float your boat, I’d recommend going on a weekday if you can get away from work.

-Jen

-Jen

from rideallegheny.org

I’ve biked sections of the trail a bunch of times when I lived in Pittsburgh, and boy is this a lovely trail. There’s a bunch of information about the route here. Right about this time of the year the scenery is going to be spectacular with the autumn colors and crisp air. You can check out Adventure Cycling’s info here or just head out on your own for a day or two or a week.

-Jen

Yellow warbler, photo Christian Hunold

According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which administers the refuge,

The refuge was established by an act of Congress in 1972 to protect the last 200 acres of freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania.  When acquisition is complete, it will consist of 1200 acres of varied habitats. Over the years, the refuge has become a resting and feeding area for more than 300 species of birds, 80 of which nest here.  Fox, deer, muskrat, turtles, fish, frogs and a wide variety of wildflowers and plants call the refuge “home”.

I’m a regular there, and I can tell you that the place is like an open-air zoo, albeit without stuff like lions and giraffes. But the thing is, our everyday Pennsylvania animals, as well as the seasonal migrating visitors, are just as lovely and interesting. The amazing thing is that in the middle of our major metropolitan area, there’s this patch of incredibly diverse ecosystem. There is nothing about the place that feels wild – you hear (and see) airplanes taking off and landing, the hum of nearby interstate 95, and the clanking and banging of the adjacent industrial zone. But it’s green (or brownish, depending on the time of year) and stuffed with an astonishing number of plant and animal species.

Northern Flicker, photo Christian Hunold

I think the best time to go is early in the morning or in the evening as dusk approaches, when many animals are on the move. You’ll catch a glimpse of the small whitetail deer herd, some wild turkey, and heron and egret fishing for breakfast in the impoundment. In the spring and fall, you’ll see numerous migratory bird species – songbirds, wading birds, ducks, geese, and more. And really, you’ll be amazed at how many animals are hanging out there in the middle of the winter. If you’re lucky, you might catch a look at the bald eagles who’ve established a nest in the refuge.

The refuge's impoundment, photo Jen Britton

The refuge hosts a whole range of formally organized activities, including guided walks, field trip presentations, fishing education days, cleanup events, and more. Visit their website, which also posts a frequently updated list of animal species recently spotted there.

Whitetail yearling, photo Jen Britton

-Jen

And now the east side of the state is getting in on the whole vodka thing, too. Philadelphia Distilling has added an organic vodka to their small but mighty lineup of products. Made of Pennsylvania rye, Penn 1681 recalls the state’s storied history as a center of rye whiskey distilling. You can find Penn 1681 on PA on many PLCB shelves lurking near the Boyd & Blair.

Read more about Penn 1681 here and about Boyd & Blair here, and serve at your next cockatil party. Cheers!

-Jen

And today it’s: the current local time in Pittsburgh! Actually, this is a super site, the date-time site. You can be close to the major PA cities no matter where you are around the globe. Right now, for example, I know that it’s 2:49:27 (and counting) for my people in the ‘burgh, that it’s 74 degrees (jealous – it’s ghastly hot in Philadelphia right now) with a 7 mph southeasterly wind, and that the Golden Triangle will experience sunset tonight at 8:32 pm in direction 294 degrees west-northwest.

This is interesting to me for a number of reasons. Philadelphia’s sunset tonight is 8:12 pm. That’s a 20 minute difference! Pretty cool.

You can also get time, date, geographical coordinates, up-to-date weather conditions,  sun and moon status, and other key information about Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Erie, and Allentown.

-Jen

For true adventure, however, it is rarely necessary to leave my home here in Philadelphia; if you seek excitement and danger there are few cities that can beat it. I had counted myself uninjured and unscathed after many an exploration – a fortunate man, cheating death or dismemberment more times than I can count (with a pair of mittens on I can barely count past three) – until I managed to break both my arms at the same time while bicycling on Kelly Drive, along the Schuylkill river. It was not my fault – another cyclist, moving at the breakneck pace of 1.5 miles per hour swerved in front of me – but it was enough to get me to lock up my brakes and fly over the handlebars with a form that the great Dick Fosbury would envy. (It was on Kelly Drive, not long ago, that a car careened off the roadway, barely missed several pedestrians, and flew into the middle of the Schuylkill River. It can seem a bit like the latest version Grand Theft Auto out there. The driver, recovered from the river, explained that he was in a hurry to get to court to answer an outstanding warrant.) Another time, I was hit by a car making a left turn in front of me near the Art Museum, and managed to hit the windshield of the auto with my (yes, helmeted) head. One of my favorite places to ride a bicycle is a lovely spot where a wide, well-marked bike lane suddenly ends, depositing the cyclist in the middle of two converging three-lane roadways. The city designs it this way, no doubt, to keep us on our toes, or perhaps to remind us of our mortality, and it works.

Even off a bicycle, opportunities for adventure are not hard to find. Those accustomed to paddling kayaks up raging rivers might nonetheless be cowed by the prospect of walking the length of Walnut Street near Rittenhouse late on a Saturday night…the experience of mating salmon swimming up the Columbia River might be a closer analogy, for any number of reasons. Similarly, you can try getting past the bouncer at your favorite watering hole in Old City, but be sure to hone your tae kwan do skills first.. It is not for nothing, as we say, that there used to be a judge stationed in the stadium for Eagles games – one remains on duty, but now across the street – and a poorly-placed word on the merits of the Dallas Cowboys will quickly require one to demonstrate the fight-and-flight skills of Indiana Jones. Be sure to pack a bullwhip. It was not long ago that a trial ended over the case of a man beaten senseless in an argument over who makes the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia, but not all food-related adventure in Philadelphia need be so violent: Philadelphia must be considered the eating-adventure capital of the United States, and the annual “Wing Bowl” eating contest draws gastronomically-inclined adventurers from around the world in a test of peristalsis that makes the exploits of, say, John Glenn or Neil Armstrong seem like child’s play. Piloting the X-15 is all well and good, but how would Chuck Yeager have fared if he had also eaten 241 chicken wings in a sitting, as Joey Chestnut had done?

Some men (and women) choose to mush dogsleds to the South Pole; others pilot rafts down raging rivers, or jump off cliffs attached to flexible cords. But for the truly daring, the streets of Philadelphia offer all the adventure a person could ask for. Come to the city and take your life in your hands: you don’t even need to change your middle name to do it.

-JEO.