VAMPA exceeded our expectations…read more The exhibits are immersive, thought-provoking, and often genuinely eerie, with an impressive collection that explores the line between faith, folklore, and the paranormal. We loved it... VAMPA was my wife's suggestion to check this out, though she was ready to leave before the museum was finished with us. There is an unexpected presence there. Not to be taken lightly. ‍

It's ok, a lot of alleged vampire killing kits and art, not sure how much is historically accurate,…read moreit was cute but not worth $20. In the gift store there are some nice antiques though.

I take my 2 y. o. granddaughter nearly every week. There are so many wonderful things to explore…read moreand learn from. They have a walking path through the woods with a natural playground and sandbox, a bird house building to watch and interactive displays, a mini zoo inside a house with small animals and activities including a treehouse. They also have weekly activities and seasonal events for elementary school kids. My granddaughter calls Briar Bush "The Animal House" and loves to put a donation in the collection box before we leave.

They were so friendly and it was a great little center to see the local wildlife and learn. We…read moredidn't get to do the whole path with a stroller but it was nice and shaded on the trail so even on a hot day it felt cooler.

Let's start with some history. I think it's safe to say that few people associate Daniel Boone…read morewith Pennsylvania but indeed he was born in PA on this site in 1734. Boone's father Squire in 1730 bought 250 acres of land and eventually builds a one room log cabin house with a spring cellar on the property. Daniel, the sixth of eleven children, received little formal education. Boone learned how to read and write from his mother, and his father taught him wilderness survival skills. Boone was given his first rifle when he was 12 years old. He quickly proved himself a talented woodsman and hunter, boldly shooting his first bear when most children his age were too frightened (whether or not that even actually took place is still contested but it sounds to good not to be true). Boone moved with his family when he was fifteen to North Carolina thus ending his time in PA and at this location. Why did this happen? The rumor is that it had something to do with Squire getting thrown out of the Quakers for allowing a daughter and then a son to marry non-Quakers. So after the Boone family moves what happens to their home and land? In 1750 Squire sells everything to William Maugridge, a relative of the Boone's from Philadelphia and a friend of Benjamin Franklin. Maugridge during this time adds the right-hand section of the current stone house on the foundation of the Boone's log cabin. Maugridge dies in 1766 and the land is purchased by John DeTurk. DeTurk remodeled the house completely by removing the remaining walls of the log cabin and replacing them with stone. After DeTurk dies in 1808 the land changes hands several times over the next century until eventually it's abandoned around 1919. Finally the rector of a local Episcopal Church buys the property in 1926 and in 1937 sells it to the Commonwealth of PA who dedicates it as a state historic site the following year which begins the restoration that will eventually to lead to the site that exists today. So if you go what will you see? In terms of original you've only got one thing. The spring cellar of Squire Boone's log house. The stone walls are the foundations of the Boone's log house; and along the one wall, the original spring can be seen flowing through a trough in the floor. Past that there are several other buildings on the site but they were either built by the DeTurks or they were moved to the Boone Homestead site during the renovation which lasted into the late 1960's. What's honestly the best part of coming here would be the grounds. The entire property is almost 600 acres which means that everything is very spread out and there is a small network of trails that can used for either hiking or for bringing your horse. Lots of wild flower fields, deer and the quiet peacefulness of the surrounding Oley Valley. Great place for a picnic and a great place to bring the dog. If you go: Current hours during summer are Tuesday-Saturday 10-4, Sunday 12-4 and closed on Monday. I think in the offseason the hours are only the ones on Friday-Sunday. The grounds outside of the historic area are 100% free to picnic/walk in. If you go inside the historic area and are seen by one of the staff working there they will hit you up for $3 per person Historic Grounds Fee that they charge. It's a very odd set up because while there are signs set up telling you this, if you hang around you will notice especially on weekends very few people respect this/it's near impossible for them to realistically enforce this. 45 minute guided tours of the Boone House are given at different times of the day (no schedule posted anywhere except at the visitors center) and they also have a short fifteen minute video at the visitors center about Boone and the history of how the site came together. Current tour prices are Adults - $7.00, Seniors/AAA Members - $6.00 and Children 12 & Under - $4.00 but I think if you pay the $3 grounds fee you can also walk around the Boone House on your own without a guide. We did the tour the first time we came last year and it was well done. One more thing about the grounds and the hours. On the way in you'll notice a large gate arm that can be used to block the road. Make sure you get outside the gate area before 4pm. If not and if the staff can't find you, you could be locked in and then the only way out is to call the state police or something like that, i.e. a huge hassle. Come for the beautiful grounds and even dabble in a little bit of history but either way there is something about the Boone Homestead site which makes it a picturesque winner. www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/pa-heritage/kentucky-frontiersman-pennsylvania-roots-daniel-boone-homestead.html

If you enjoy parks being randomly closed, exceptionally rude 'volunteers', and being yelled at by a…read morewoman on patrol, this is your park. It is a shell of what it once was and is now more or less a money grab. Half of the site is closed off unless they are doing an event and the rest is nothing to pay attention. So, go to Hopewell Furnace, VF Park, Audubon, anywhere you are actually welcomed as a visitor.

I visited the 1719 Museum this past Saturday and really enjoyed the experience…read more The guided tour starts with a short film about the property that provides some great context for the rest of the tour. Then you leave the visitor center and walk over to the first structure of tour, which is a full-sized reproduction of a Native American longhouse. Longhouses (large multi-generational family homes made of logs, saplings, and tree bark) were once ubiquitous in Pennsylvania, including along the Susquehanna River. At the time the Hans Herr home was built, south-central Pennsylvania was home to several Indigenous tribes, including the Shenks Ferry, Conoy, Lenape, Mohawk, Nanticoke, Seneca, Shawnee, and Susquehannock peoples. The 1719 Museum collaborated with the Circle Legacy Center and members of the local indigenous community to build the longhouse reproduction in order to share the history of and honor Pennsylvania's native communities and educate visitors to the area. With your guide, you walk into the longhouse, where you sit down while the guide explains quite extensively about the Native communities in the area, the longhouse and its architecture, and the relationships between the indigenous people and the Mennonite people who made homes in the area. After the longhouse, the guide walks you over to the Hans Herr House. It was built in 1719 and is a 2-story, rectangular sandstone Germanic-style dwelling. It is the oldest dwelling in Lancaster County and the oldest Mennonite meetinghouse in America. The guide walks you through various rooms in the house and shares information about the Herr family as well as the larger Mennonite community in early Pennsylvania history. Our guide was Cindy, and she was incredible. I learned so much about the Native, Indigenous and Mennonite communities of 18th century Pennsylvania (and - in the case of the Native peoples - a much earlier history of their lives in Pennsylvania). She really educated us on a broad range of topics, while keeping the tour fun (I love fun education)! She made my tour extra special. If you're spending some time exploring Lancaster Counter, the 1719 Museum should definitely make your itinerary! In one place, you can learn a little bit about Pennsylvania's Native and Mennonite communities, and it's just a special place!

Why is the Hans Herr House significant and who the hell was Hans Herr?…read more The house itself is significant as it is the last remaining structure that is still standing from the original group of Mennonites who came to the Lancaster County area to escape religious persecution from their native Switzerland. The house is also significant in that it is the oldest structure in Lancaster County and likely the oldest remaining Mennonite meetinghouse in the Western Hemisphere. The original group traveled from Switzerland to Germany to escape religious persecution then after a governmental regime change they were forced from Germany to England where they met with William Penn who allowed them to colonize a portion of what is current day Lancaster County or when they arrived in 1711, the extreme most western frontier of Pennsylvania. One interesting piece of information is that the house did not belong to Hans Herr as it was built by his son Christian which is why his initials are over the doorway along with the inscribing mark of 1719. On the tour you are told why the name remained(s) Hans Herr House versus Christian Herr House but honestly I forget why. Maybe something just deferential from Christian towards his father or because of his father's status with the original group that came to the area or maybe everyone just liked the flow of the name more so it's based on tradition? The tour itself is around 40-45 minutes and it starts in the building which houses the gift shop and you are given a brief overview of the Anabaptist faith, the Mennonites who are direct descendants of the faith and a map which shows the route the initial settlers took from Switzerland to Pennsylvania. After that you are taken over to the house where you see the three rooms which make up the first floor (kitchen, bedroom and all purpose dining room-meeting room-family room) and the second floor which is where the eight children slept and finally the basement which is accessed from a side entrance outside of the house. You learn that the key to the home's design is that they didn't believe in wasting any space so every inch served a purpose such as not having hallways so as soon as you walk in the front door you're right in the kitchen. One thing worth noting, if you are someone who is hardcore hung up on only visiting historical places if they have lots of original items then this place might not be for you. There is not a whole lot original to the house that you can see with the exception of a piece of the ceiling insulation on the first floor (rye straw + manure + ??), the wooden crossbeam over the kitchen fireplace and the steps which go from the second floor to the third floor attic (obviously you can't use them). Past that I think most everything else was changed out in the 19th century when the house was still used as a residence or in the early 70's when the initial renovation occurred to make things into a tourist destination. If you want more original take a look at the bibles on display in the gift shop which are original to Hans and Christian. I wouldn't call the Hans Herr House a must see, but it's interesting enough and the tour is the right length to keep everyone interested along with being located close enough to most of Lancaster County's tourist elements. If you go: The 1719 Hans Herr House is open April 1 through November 30, Monday-Saturday, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM. Forty-five minute Herr House tours are offered at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This is not the tour information for their reproduction Native American Longhouse. That tour is offered at 10 a.m., 12 noon and 2 p.m and has an entirely different focus. Prices are currently Adults: $8, Children 7-12: $4 and Children 6 and under: free with a slight discount if you choose to tour both structures. There are also several special events that happen throughout the year and that information is available on their website.

Climbing the famous "Rocky Steps" in Philly's 93-degree heat made me feel I'd really accomplished…read moresomething when I reached the top. My reward -- a leisurely browse through the air-conditioned Philadelphia Art Museum. Augustus Saint-Gaudens' towering "Diana" sculpture welcomed me, then I gravitated towards familiar favorites: "Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen" by Degas, & Impressionist paintings; Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow"; & Diego Rivera murals. During my visit, Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" were temporarily on display, which are a treat to behold, as well as "Rising Up," an exhibit dedicated to boxing in the US & our fascination with the Rocky statue & steps here at the museum. Though the front of the building is iconic, there's a rideshare pick-up/drop-off point at the back West Entrance that's less congested with traffic & requires less walking for those not keen on a 72-step climb.

Nice museum to see a bunch of paintings and history. The prices are $30 for an adult, $28 for a…read moresenior (65+ years old), $14 for a student with valid ID, and $0 for those 18 years old and younger. The fountain out front was turned off. Inside is a ton of American history. Also, Japanese art, European art, and well pretty much art all around the world. Oh, and I love all of the Japanese samurai stuff. It's so cool seeing the armor warriors wore way back in the day when going into battle. Claude Monet, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, amongst plenty of other famous artists have paintings here. We probably spent 90 minutes to 2 hours in here. That was enough for us. A fun way to start your morning.

Wings of War (WoW) is just starting out as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. We have…read moreacquired a 1941 WWII Cessna T-50 Bobcat that was a Crane MK1 during WWII with the RCAF. The aircraft is currently portrayed as a U.S. UC-78 and will remain in U.S. colors. We believe this aircraft is the oldest, flying Bamboo Bomber in the world. We are actively pursuing nose art for this plane that will link it back to its Canadian lineage. Please go to our FB PAGE and add your ideas there. Call if you want to schedule an appointment to tour the aircraft.

From the owner: Wings of War (WoW) is just starting out as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. We have…read moreacquired a 1941 WWII Cessna T-50 Bobcat that was a Crane MK1 during WWII with the RCAF. The aircraft is currently portrayed as a U.S. UC-78 and will remain in U.S. colors. We believe this aircraft is the oldest, flying Bamboo Bomber in the world. We are actively pursuing nose art for this plane that will link it back to its Canadian lineage. Please go to our FB PAGE and add your ideas there. Call if you want to schedule an appointment to tour the aircraft.

What a cool hidden gem in Valley Forge National Park! I took a tour of this museum in November…read more2025. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and intriguing as he guided us around the property and inside the home/studio. Esherick was extremely talented and it was incredible to see his stunning creations. Tips: The tour is inside and outside so dress accordingly. There are steps inside the building. Booking ahead is required and tour group counts are limited.

Visiting the Wharton Esherick Museum in Malvern had been on my to do list for a while, but the…read moretours sell out, and I've missed out on visiting a couple of times! Last week, I planned a last minute day trip to the Philadelphia area and noticed that they had exactly four tickets still open on tours for the rest of the month and they were for the upcoming Saturday at 11am. It was a sign, and I jumped on buying those tickets. How to explain the Wharton Esherick Museum?! Wharton Esherick was an American artist and designer (he's best known for his modernist wood furniture), and - while not a trained architect - he designed this house and studio compound (of four separate buildings) in Malvern to live and work in. By the time he was adding a workshop to the compound in 1955, building codes had made their way into law and Esherick got help from none other than Louis Kahn to help design that building. So what will you see if you visit? Just an incredible home and studio. Esherick was not into straight lines or right angles or wasting perfectly good wood, so the house and studio is an amazing sight: that staircase! the wood floor in the dining room! the concrete extension painted in colors that blend into the natural surroundings! the art and furniture pieces of Esherick's shown throughout the house! It's a hard place to describe, but our tour guide did a marvelous job of teaching us about Esherick and the buildings during our tour, while sharing some woodworking facts and passion, too! Reservations for the tours are required, and they do sell out. Regularly. There's an exhibit on Esherick at the Brandywine right now, and that might be generating more interest than usual in seeing his home and studio - or maybe tours of this amazing place are always this popular?! We did the Experiencing Esherick Tour, which takes you into the home and studio building and lasts about an hour. They offer some specialized tours of more limited days as well - I will definitely be visiting again for the architecture tour which takes you into at least one additional building you don't see on the general tour! The house? Fascinating. Our tour guide? Lovely. The grounds? Beautiful even in December. And a lovely little gift shop in Esherick's old garage where you can do some holiday shopping? Bonus. What's not to love about the Wharton Esherick Museum? I know I'll be returning to bring friends and family to this wonderful place in the future.

Carrie is absolutely amazing. I work at a brand new senior living community, and we have had the…read morepleasure of having Carrie paint several murals in our community. She is truly a wizard of her craft and makes her work look effortless. It is all so realistic--she works wonders.

Promiseland murals did two jobs for me and both of them created so much new traffic for my…read morebusiness. I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from the community and from customers. I am so grateful for their hard work and their creative ideas that helped take my pizzeria to the next level!