I was recently in Pennsylvania and had an hour or so to explore Philadelphia. I have been there once before, when I accompanied Andrea as went to Conshohocken to take an exam for medical school, but as I’m a history buff, I thought I’d take another short walk around town.
I walked up Market Street to the Philadelphia Town Hall.
Way up top is a statue of William Penn, the founder of the colony of Pennsylvania. If you’re looking for a closer looks at his fancy duds:
As I wandered about, I discovered this nice little street, Quince Street, blessedly free of shawarma stands:
My favorite spot in historical Philadelphia is Independence Hall, where much of the debate that would determine the future of the United States for done. The statue is of Commodore John Barry, considered the father of the US Navy.
And finally, Carpenter’s Hall that hosted the first Continental Congress in 1774:
I hope you all had a happy New Year’s Eve and Day. At the Stoecker house, we started our year with bubbly wine from Bel Lago and many, many snacks along with sushi from Fuji.
Before the bowl games of January 1st, I needed to get out and hike, and Alligator Hill in Glen Arbor won out as my first hike of the year. When I arrived, I was happy to see no footprints in the snow, so I was the first to climb these hills for 2024. I didn’t win a prize or anything, but I could count on having the place to myself.
When I entered the parking lot, I was greeted by these brick and concrete structures. These are kilns built in the 1950s by Pierce Stocking, the man the Sleeping Bear dunes drive is named after. Pierce was a lumberman and there was quite a bit of waste wood left over, and these kilns were used to produce charcoal.
The trail soon gave me a choice, left or right. I chose right because in that direction led the advanced trail, a section of the trail I hadn’t yet hiked. I can’t claim it is any more hillier than the other trails – Alligator Hill has a lot of vertical changes – but it was stepper than most of the trail system. And it escaped most the damage of storm of eight years ago, so you will see many more tall trees.
Along the way, I saw numerous animal tracks. Animal footprints are not a specialty of mine, but my best guess was a coyote. I suppose it could have been a lone dog, but I went with the coyote theory because there were no people tracks beside it.
Much of the trail still suffers from the damage of the August 2nd, 2015 windstorm that torn through the Glen Arbor area, downing many trees and damaging buildings. It will be decades before the damage is finally erased, hidden by new growth.
My first hike done, I spent the day rooting for teams that lost in the bowl games. Nothing new there. That didn’t mar the great hiking I had done earlier. And as I only hiked four miles of the 9-mile trail system, I have many more miles to look forward to.
Traverse City does a great job of lighting up its downtown area. Front Street is always well done, but let’s not overlook the J. Smith Walkway.
J. Smith was Jay Smith, an editor of the Traverse City Record Eagle and the co-founder of the National Cherry Festival, one of the defining events in Northern Michigan. It’s an easy piece of real estate to overlook as a connection between Front Street and the parking lots to the north, but it’s a neat little park.
There was once a fountain, but that was removed last year – it hasn’t worked in several years.
Shortly after we moved into our house in Leelanau County in 2021, news came that a new housing development was coming to the corner of M-72 and Bugai Road, a partnership between Habit for Humanity and New Waves United Church of Christ to provide affordable housing, something that is needed around here.
The roads to the subdivision were put in later that year, and then… nothing happened. For a long time.
But things are on the move! The first two houses have started going up and progress is being made.
That area has seen a lot of changes since we moved in. Edge 72, the apartment complex, was just an empty piece of unused field on the southwest corner when we arrived. And a non-functioning windmill was on the northeast side. And the solar panel array expanded quite a bit last year.
I’ve heard rumors of other changes to that area, such as a gas station on the south side of the road (in Grand Traverse County). But there is no doubt the metropolitan area of Traverse City is expanding west.
By far the best ugliest fence belongs to this house on Fourteenth and Cass:
Adding more colors to something doesn’t make it look better, it just makes it more garish. The Biblical verse is nice, though. Love thy neighbor even when they have no sense of style.
Traverse City has gotten its very own Circle K! Yes, at the corner of South Airport and Cass, the legendary convenience has arrived, though it is still being rebranded from a Holiday station:
Perhaps “legendary” is too strong a word. Perhaps “excellent” is a better one. Circle K will always remind me of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the place where their adventure through time starts.
Unfortunately, that particular Circle K (in Tempe, AZ) closed last year. We perhaps if there is ever a “Bill and Ted’s Part 4” movie, they’ll film it here.
This the Speedway at the corner of Grandview Road and M-22. That was quite a shot, getting around the pole and hitting the pump hard enough to take it off the cement. There were no explosions or billowing clouds of smoke, so evidently the safety measures on the gas pumps work.
Perhaps it was someone that finally got fed up with the Speedy Rewards card scanner not working. I’ve been there, too.
A long time ago (when I was still a teenager), in a city far, far away (Lansing), I used to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show every Friday night at the Spartan Theater. I wouldn’t call it a good movie, and I would question the taste of anyone who says it is, but it was something to do at midnight on a weekend.
Well, decades later, lo and behold, Rocky Horror is at the State Theater here in lovely Traverse City:
No, it wasn’t a midnight, but it was also sold out, something that never happened at those midnight showings, except perhaps on Halloween, which is when I saw it last week here in the north.
It was also my first visit to the State Theater, and it was a beautiful place to see a movie. They usually show things I’m not interested in (like lefty documentaries), but this time they made a great choice of films, and I couldn’t resist reliving parts of my youth. The theater was beautiful, and I loved the stars on the ceiling and enormous red curtain – it was like being in theaters before they became the standardized version you see in every mall out lot these days.
There were some old pros in the audience who knew all the things to say, which warmed my heart. No, there was no 2:00AM meal at Don’s in Lansing on Oakland, but I’m looking forward to seeing Rocky Horror at the State again next year.
I was perusing a Traverse City events site – I’m always looking for interesting things to do – when I saw this description:
Description: Join GTCD and partners from across the state for Pollinate 2023, an inclusive conference for women and non-binary professionals in agriculture and natural resource conservation.
Do you remember when the word “inclusive” meant including everyone and not excluding half the population of planet Earth? George Orwell called it “doublespeak”, saying one thing when actually meaning something quite different.
I’d like to help the GTCD with their description. Here is what it should say:
Description: Join GTCD and partners from across the state for Pollinate 2023, an inclusive conference for women and men pretending to be women in agriculture and natural resource conservation.
I’d be happy to review any future posts by the GTCD.
If you are a fan of fall colors, this is the time. Right now! October 22nd, 2023. Things are at their peak, and if you read this next week, you’ve missed the best of the colors and will have to wait until next year.
But in case you do, here are some photos of yesterday’s hike at Lost Lake Pathways.
Lost Lake Pathways is north of Interlochen. I’d give directions, but you have Google Maps. Or Apple Maps. Or MapQuest, if you’re still in 2005. There is a generously large dirt parking lot to begin your hiking pleasure. Or if you’re the camping sort, there is a campground. I don’t camp much – found memories of when I did – but for whatever reason, I do like wandering around empty campgrounds. And in the fall and winter, Michigan is full of them.
And what looks nicer than clouds and colorful trees and their reflections on water.
I realized as I passed the duck hunters that I needed to start wearing neon for the next several months. But I safely navigated the trails and waterways to make it back to that fabulous dirt parking lot.
