Go East Old Man, Pt. 1

As my mother so “gently” reminded me, it had been almost four years since my last visit out east - yikes! Nobody fires a guilt bullet with better aim than a mother. I had sent a stash of Leopold’s Ice Cream from Savannah (shipping to Philly is much cheaper than to San Diego!) so that we could both enjoy the best ice cream in the country.



Upon my arrival at the Philadelphia Airport, I noticed a Rocky statue on display in the terminal.



It looked pretty much like the one parked outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Sylvester Stallone made his famous climb of the steps back in 1976. Art patrons were not necessarily thrilled about the piece.



The airport also had a replica of the Liberty Bell that looked like it had been freshly minted from a basement 3D printer:



Waiting for my Lyft, I snapped this one:



In my family, food is always at the forefront of travel. Mom and I went to a local favorite, Nudy’s Cafe in Malvern:



Mom enjoyed her wrap:



Time for a selfie; if you don’t take one, it never happened. At least, that’s what I’ve read.



The "Best Ever" Carrot Cake French Toast was interesting, but I wouldn’t say it lived up to its name.



Interesting art on the walls:



What do you do after you fuel up? Friday Night Bingo! I didn’t win, but it’s always a hoot playing with the residents of mom’s retirement community. No, we didn’t play Jailhouse.



Rather than hit the Mother’s Day crowd, I took Mom out the night before. We went to the little town of Marshallton and had dinner at the Four Dogs Tavern, a historic building next door to the Marshalton Inn. For all you Karens out there, I didn’t make a typo; the name of the Inn is spelled with only one “l” due to a typographic error on a deed transfer and it has remained that way ever since.



This place “had” me at the name.



The interior was warm and well appointed:





Huh. “Interesting” is what I would call this piece.



The pear salad was DELICIOUS!!



As was the bolognese:



Mom enjoyed her meal as well:



The pineapple cake was a tasty way to end the meal (but you can rest assured that Leopold’s was consumed when we got home).



The Marshalton Inn:





This vintage 1930 Ford was parked out back:







More to come on my east coast travels!
 
See more Philadelphia photos at my main website.

Whatever Happened to Manuel’s?

This recently acquired San Diego slide from March 1958 baffled me, as I didn’t recognize this building which according to Google was located in Old Town State Park. The historic landmark sign refers to it as Casa de Pedrorena, and the neon sign to the right says “Manuel’s Restaurante.”



Doing an address search, I discovered I had photographed the building! However, it looks nothing like the structure in the 1958 slide. No adobe wall in front, no awning, and no red roof.



Scouring eBay, I found this vintage postcard which matched the 1958 slide:



This photo postcard with a notation from 1962 shows the patio of Manuel’s:



An interior view:



Want to see the menu and prices? Get ready to faint. Here you go:



I love the “Comidas al Gringo” section, which basically translates to “Food for the Americans who should probably be dining elsewhere.” At least that’s my translation. Back in the day, free souvenir matchbooks were part of doing 



Apparently Manuel’s sponsored a map of Old San Diego:





Back to present day, this plaque on a rock sits on front of Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano:



Miguel Pedrorena Jr. built this adobe structure in 1869. It was the final adobe built in Old Town. In January 1871 Pedrorena gave the building to his sister Isabel de Altamirano, joining together two pioneer California families. Isabel and her husband Jose Antonio Alta mirano raised their large family in the home. Isabel’s father, Miguel Pedrorena, was a prominent merchant in Mexican California, and represented the San Diego area at the California State Constitutional Convention held in 1849. Jose Antonio Altamirano was born in La Paz, Lower California in 1835, but came to San Diego in 1849 to explore the mining possibilities of the area. He also engaged in stock raising ventures on both sides of the border.

The porch has this timeline:



What baffled me was that there is no mention of Manuel’s Restaurant in either text.
 
Grokipedia to the rescue! Here’s an edited version of what it had to say:

Subsequent modifications in the 1890s converted portions into a Victorian bungalow aesthetic, introducing wood-frame additions that overlaid but did not fully supplant the adobe core, leading to eventual structural strain from material incompatibilities. From 1907 onward, the structure accommodated a range of commercial activities, reflecting the adaptive reuse common to surviving adobes in San Diego's Old Town district as the area's economic focus shifted southward. Notably, it operated as Manuel's Restaurante from 1945 to 1974, where owners Manuel and Thelma Moseley renovated the building and promoted it as a historic dining venue specializing in Mexican cuisine, capitalizing on its adobe authenticity to attract tourists. By 1974, severe deterioration necessitated vacancy, prompting a 1982 rehabilitation by California State Parks that stabilized the adobe framework while respecting its hybrid origins. By the late 20th century, the casa integrated into Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, with the California Department of Parks and Recreation completing a major renovation in 1996 to stabilize the adobe and preserve its integrity. Today, it functions as a retail space housing a gem, jewelry, and mineral shop, maintaining public access within the park while supporting interpretive tourism.

My question is why have any mentions of Manuel’s been removed from the descriptive signage? While a mineral shop is lovely, Manuel’s seems a lot more interesting.

See more Old Town State Park in San Diego photos at my main website.

Trip to Valley Forge, Pt. 2

Just at the edge of Valley Foge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania lies the Knox Covered Bridge, as seen in this image I shot back in December 1983, and the one below from Summer of 1984.



On my recent trip back east, I decided it was time to update my photos of the historic structure. It is not easy to do so, as there are no sidewalks, and areas to pull the car over to safety are few and far between. The road is narrow and only one lane each way; as I found when I ran the half mile or so to my destination, I was constantly praying as cars whizzed by. The things I do to get my shots!



Persistence paid off though and in between dodging cars, I was able to create the illusion of a peaceful pastoral scene with a historic bridge added for interest.



I went to the National Park Service website to get the background on the Knox Covered Bridge:

The first covered bridge across Valley Creek was built in 1851; it had to be rebuilt in 1865 after being washed away in a flood. Measuring 10 feet wide and 65 feet long, the bridge connects Yellow Spring Road and Route 252. For many years the bridge was known as the Valley Forge Dam Bridge. In the 19th century there were a number of factories and mills along the Valley Creek with a dam near what is now Route 23 providing water power for their operation.



Today the bridge is usually identified as the Knox Bridge – though there is some disagreement over from which Knox its name is taken: Senator Philander Chase Knox or General Henry Knox. It seems more likely that it takes its name from the former. In 1903 he purchased 256 acres of land adjacent to the bridge and moved into the old farmhouse to the west of the bridge that had been the quarters of General William Maxwell during the Encampment at Valley Forge. Today the house is known as the Philander Chase Knox Estate. He was an attorney and prominent in the Republican Party in the early years of the 20th century, serving as Attorney General under President Theodore Roosevelt and as the Secretary of State in the cabinet of President William Howard Taft. He also served two terms as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. The suggestion that the bridge may have been named for General Knox stems from the fact that, during the Valley Forge encampment, the 300-pound commander of the Continental artillery had his quarters in the old farmhouse to the east of the bridge.



The bridge looks about the same as when I first photographed it some forty years ago, just a bit cleaner as a result of recent restoration and repair. I realized when I got home and processed my photos that the first two in this post were taken from the opposite side of the bridge, where it is easier to find parking! Duh.



If only I’d remembered that I could have saved a lot of sweat and fear!
 
See more Valley Forge, Pennsylvania photos at my main website.