Revolutionary War Gun Factory, Hummelstown, Dauphin County

Yesterday I had a grand adventure, the likes of which I haven't been able to enjoy for some little while. I made my way to picturesque Hummelstown to visit a friend from my days at Kutztown University; AmyBeth and I were members of the school's Medieval & Renaissance Club (and you are shocked by that, I'm sure). She offered to be my tour guide if I would make the trip to visit her, and was so considerate as to schedule us a visit at the community's historical society. Geneva, who met us there, gave me access to all kinds of information related to the two markers in Hummelstown and was very interested to hear about what I do. 

We caught up on each other's lives while we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the 1950's themed diner The Soda Jerk (delicious burgers and excellent service!) and then took a trip to nearby Hershey. In total, together we collected seven markers, visited two cemeteries (one of which I'll be writing about for my other blog, so look for that), and discovered a museum that neither one of us even knew existed. We both had such a good time that we're going to arrange another trip, maybe when it cools down some in the fall. Meanwhile, today we're heading back to the colonial era to learn about a brief moment in Hummelstown history.

John A. Shulze, Womelsdorf, Berks County

It wasn't my plan, when I wrote last week's post, that someone who rated a brief mention in that story would be the focus of this week's work, but here we are. I collected this marker a few months back while roaming the wilds of Berks County with husband Kevin and bff Andrea - I think we were on our way home from Zenkaikon, but at this point I don't honestly remember for certain.

In any event, this week we're looking at the life of another of Pennsylvania's governors. This time, it's number six.

Lehigh-Lafayette Football Game, Bethlehem and Easton, Northampton County

The weather this week has been really hard on me. I've been taking pain medicine at night in order to be able to sleep. Between the excessive heat warnings, the (sometimes fulfilled) threat of thunderstorms, and the rising humidity pushing the barometer down, I haven't been exactly well. My longtime readers know that I'm very much at the mercy of the weather for a lot of things, and it's hard to be awesome when you don't want to move. But I'm doing my best here.

Being subject to the weather isn't helping with another problem - I'm running low on stockpiled markers, as I've mentioned. I'll be fixing that a bit in the coming weeks; I have a planned day trip to Schuylkill County near the end of July to collect markers with a college friend, and a few other possibilities up my sleeve. I have some plans for posts on the other blog as well, such as next month when some of my friends and I go to Dorney Park in Allentown and celebrate the 100th birthday of the roller coaster Thunderhawk.

All of that is to tell you why this week's post is about a football game. I just collected the second of the two relevant markers during a trip to Bethlehem with best friend Andrea last week; we were a little bored, the weather was decent, and we decided to grab a few markers in the nearby city and follow up with ice cream at the historic Bethlehem Dairy Store, familiarly known as "the Cup." I'd heard of it but never been, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in the vicinity of Lehigh University. A proper marker hunt always involves ice cream, you know, it's a rule.

Montour County

Before I get started, I just want to wish my parents a very happy wedding anniversary! Thank you both for all your generosity and support over the years.

I had mentioned it a while back, but when I gave presentations at Zenkaikon back in March, some of them were recorded, and the tech crew is still hard at work getting them uploaded to the convention's YouTube channel. For those of you who didn't see it on Facebook, my presentation about Celtic mythology and its impact on modern media is now available, so if you'd like to watch me babble my way through almost a full hour of the topic, you have the option. You can find it here. 

Meanwhile, today I'll be making a return to Montour County for the first time this year, to take a look at the county's general history. Once again, hi and thanks to Shane and the rest of the staff at the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau for their kind interest in my work!