Streetside Sights & Scenes: Pennsylvania!

Philadelphia Area

Philadelphia, PA - Here's a few shots of the main street through the Chestnut Hill section, Germantown Avenue. As you can see, it's a beautiful and very quaint neighborhood of the big city. The trolley lines running through the street, sadly, are out of service.

In this neighborhood, we saw an ACME, a Weavers Way Co-Op, and a Fresh Market.

A look at an alley behind rows of rowhouse-style apartments in the Mayfair section. Around here, we saw quite a few stores which you can revisit here, here, and here.

Lehigh Valley

Bethlehem, PA - The Lehigh Valley is home to any number of long-standing business institutions, but Vallos Bakery is maybe the most delicious. Vallos has been making pastries, donuts, and breads since 1926 and just recently opened their second location in Allentown at the Allentown Fairgrounds. Purchased here was this incredible apple turnover, absolutely covered in powdered sugar and a good 8 inches wide.

Near the Vallos Bakery, we saw the former Bottom Dollar in Fountain Hill.

Allentown, PA - We saw a few small stores in center city Allentown, which also has a lot of historic houses and well-preserved buildings -- some of which hold grocery stores. Some streets around center city clearly don't have the income level they used to, but they are still beautiful and I enjoyed my time strolling around the tree and rowhouse-lined downtown streets.

Here's a look at some of the independent grocers in center city Allentown.

And to the north of center city Allentown, towards Whitehall, we have this art deco beauty (if in bad disrepair) -- the former Lehigh Valley Dairy production plant. The building was sold in 2019, interestingly enough to a grocery store owner (the Elias family, who previously owned what's now Azar Supermarket). As of 2021, it had yet to be demolished...

Just to the north of here, we saw a former Bottom Dollar Food in Whitehall.

Stroudsburg Area

Bushkill, PA - Around 15 miles northeast of Stroudsburg is the 300-acre Bushkill Falls preserve, a collection of paths, trails, and boardwalks along the Little Bush Kill. There are eight main waterfalls along the path, which stretches just under two miles.

It's beautiful, as you can see! The series of waterfalls run through the lush green forest and down through rocky gorges.

A series of cairns along the hiking trail.

The walk can be very steep, as the water itself is of course descending rapidly down the, uh, rapids.

The trails directly abut the water so you get some great views of the waterfalls from above and below.

And of course, the money shot -- the main waterfall!

This is the one you're likely to see on promotional materials for Bushkill Falls. For good reason!

In this area, we saw the Foodtown and Price Chopper in East Stroudsburg, and the former Weis in Marshalls Creek.

Portland, PA - The former Lackawanna Railroad depot in the middle of town still stands, and although the railroad line still exists, this station is no longer in use. Portland also has a bridge that you can walk across from the middle of town to the even tinier town of Columbia, NJ, population 229. Before route 80 was built, the road used to cross the Delaware River from Columbia to Portland, and when the traffic was redirected, the town of Columbia all but evaporated.

The pedestrian bridge gives you beautiful views up and down the Delaware River, including up to the Delaware Water Gap above!

On a day with a less dramatic sky...

The bridge is in the place of the former car bridge from Columbia to Portland, although a new bridge has been constructed just to the south.

There are some old signs around the bridge, too, such as this litter sign...

Returning to Portland, here's a look at the Portland Railroad Depot from the front...

...and an abandoned garage on Delaware Drive, the main street in Portland.

Here's an overview of the main street in Portland, Delaware Drive.

In Portland, we saw the Portland Market (which appears to have been closed permanently).

Lower Coal Region

Lehighton, PA - Here's a look down the Lehighton street where we saw Mallard Markets.

Harrisburg

Harrisburg, PA - Welcome to Harrisburg! Here's a look down the beautiful State Street, leading up to the state capitol building. The day I was in Harrisburg, I took a long walk around the whole city. We went up the Capital Area Greenway along the Susquehanna River, which gives some beautiful views of the river and the city.

North of the city, the river widens and has a few small tree-covered islands in the middle of it. Here we're looking northwest of the city.

In Uptown Harrisburg, I took a walk through the very pleasant Italian Lake Park.

Back down to the downtown area, we have this BAR BAR BAR opposite the train station. Love the old signs!

And now for the train station itself, which is beautiful! Harrisburg has always been a big railroad city, so it makes sense that the train station is both large and prominently located.

Inside, the train station has been beautifully preserved.

And outside the train station, I lingered for a few minutes at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Bridge and enjoyed watching a Norfolk Southern freight train passing through town to the north.

I will always take the chance to stop and watch a train!

And what's the local food like? Good! Here's some stuffed pizza slices from Ciervo's at North Second and Reily Streets in midtown Harrisburg. One pepperoni, one cheese steak. Delicious!

For a look at Harrisburg's grocery stores that we visited, check them out here, here, and here.

Hazleton Area

Hazleton, PA - Back in 2018, I ate lunch at the Alta Pizza & Pasta House just up the street from the former Heritage ShurSave. While I loved the homey interior and the food was good, it took SO long. To the point that probably they forgot about my father and me and only started making it (just two subs!) when my father asked about our order's status almost an hour in.

Conyngham, PA - When eating at Tom's Kitchen directly across from Gould's ShurSave in Conyngham, a massive Christmas tree was being transported through town. So much fun to watch it passing through!

White Haven, PA - The White Haven Family Diner is famous for its giant hamburgers, which of course come on normal sized rolls. It's as big as a plate! It was also delicious, and as of July 25th of this year (according to their Facebook page), this massive cheeseburger was a whopping $6.80.

I mentioned that the White Haven Market was built on a property previously occupied by a rail yard, and the mall still has this historic Union Pacific caboose on display in front of it.

Just outside of White Haven is Penn Lake Park, a small community around Penn Lake.

It's a beautiful lake!

North Central PA

Enola, PA - I suppose this is more the Harrisburg area than north central PA, but Cupboard Maker Books in Enola has a delightful collection of cats who roam around the store including this one who I think wanted to come home with me. I think my three cats at home have other opinions, though. In Enola, we saw the Weis and the former ShurSave!

Millersburg, PA - The small town of 2500 where we saw a BG's Value Market doesn't have a bridge to cross the Susquehanna River, but instead, a ferry.

Forksville, PA - I mentioned the Forksville Covered Bridge on the Forksville General Store post, but here's a look at where Bridge Street crosses the Loyalsock Creek.

Trout Run and Warrensville, PA - Some beautiful views from high up above the Williamsport-Faxon area in this area, from two separate but similar hikes I did to the north of those towns.

If you ever find yourself in this area, stop by Grim's Diner in the former Warrensville General Store. It's a great place with fantastic sandwiches, and you can't go wrong with the amazing burger and fries.

Worlds End State Park, PA - Another beautiful hike along the Loyalsock Creek, this one to the northeast near Forksville at Worlds End State Park.

This hike takes us up a mountain to the Loyalsock Canyon Vista, elevation 1750 ft.

Along the hike up, there are beautiful rock formations up the steep trek.

But there sure is a big payoff when you get up to the top...

The views from the Loyalsock Canyon Vista is beautiful! (Worth noting that also you can drive directly up to the vista and park and look out. You don't actually have to hike... but the hike is worth it.)

Here you can see the parking lot. So you can drive up, take pictures, and insist that you made the arduous hike up the mountain to impress your friends.

But many places in this area have beautiful views in all directions.

Plunketts Creek, PA - The Loyalsock Creek (basically between where we saw it in Warrensburg and Worlds End) gets very wide and curves east around Plunketts Creek.

Here it also gets wide and very rocky.

Lewisburg, PA - A look across the massive Silver Moon Antique Center in Lewisburg -- just one part of many. There's also an enormous flea market. Lewisburg is a cool little college town, home to Bucknell University. In the downtown area, here's a look at the Campus Theatre!

Lewisburg has the Weis and ALDI we visited, along with a former Save-A-Lot.

Watsontown, PA - Just across the street from Lingle's we see some beautiful sunset views across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River!

And, of course, a Norfolk Southern freight train crossing the street just outside of town...

Poconos

Hawley, PA - Welcome to the tiny Poconos town of Hawley, a bit of a tourist destination at the northern end of Lake Wallenpaupack, a manmade lake.

A look at the closed Hawley Diner, right in the middle of town. It looks like it's all still mostly intact inside!

And some views of Lake Wallenpaupack.

Lake Wallenpaupack is an artificial lake, and there's actually a former town that's now underwater near the dam. You can read more about it here.

I took a boat ride out on the lake, which was a nice tour of the area and its history.

And then a walk across the northern end of the lake...

It was a beautiful day to look out at the lake!

And running through the town itself is the Lackawaxen River...

Also just outside of Hawley is the Dairy Twist, a wonderful old-fashioned ice cream stand which, on Memorial Day weekend, was absolutely jammed...

...and I got my favorite thing to get at a place like this, vanilla soft serve with that waxy tasteless chocolate dip. It's so terrible and it's the best thing in the world!

In Hawley, we saw the Lake Region IGA and their other former location.

White Mills, PA - A quick look at Butcher Pond at the Dorflinger preserve, and another view of the Lackawaxen River closer to Honesdale.

In Honesdale, we saw Dave's Super Duper, Clark's Sunrise Market, the Weis, and a former Insalaco's.

Blakeslee, PA - I took a short hike through the beautiful but poorly-marked trails in the relatively small Austin T. Blakeslee Natural Area recently and the fall colors along the Lehigh River were gorgeous!

It's just around 120 acres along the river, but it's a nice place to do some walking! Unfortunately, it was pretty muddy when I was there and I got lost a few times, but hey, it was still nice.

I believe what we're looking at below is Tobyhanna Falls, but to be honest I'm not sure because of how lost I got in that relatively small area.

There's also plenty of opportunity to hike through forests of a few kinds.

In Blakeslee, we saw the Ahart's Markets of the past and present.

Effort, PA - Somewhere between the Poconos and the Coal Region I stopped by the Heckman Orchards which had no shortage of all kinds of apples! Almost more varieties than I've ever heard of, with bushels and bushels all around the farmstand. A great fall stop this October!

Well folks, thanks for taking a trip through Pennsylvania with me! It's of course a very brief glimpse of a small part of the state, but I hope you enjoy. And now, we're going to see some other things while we take our Winter Break, then we'll be taking a trip through a few parts of New York State before moving right along to New England!