Harrisburg State Hospital, Harrisburg, Dauphin County

I'm eager for the weather to improve so that I can start going out again in search of markers (and other adventures - I have some ideas up my sleeve). I'm also looking forward to throwing off the last of this lingering cough and getting my voice back to normal, as that's kind of necessary for a project I've been contemplating for a while. In the meantime, I'm trying to devote my energies to tackling a number of other things, which of course includes blog posts. 

For this week's quest, we're going to venture out to lovely Harrisburg and take a look at one of the many beautiful buildings found there. This one isn't like most of the others, though; it sits on a lonely hillside, somewhat removed from the bustle of the city, and no - you can't go inside.

Nazareth, Northampton County

Well, the verdict is in - I've been battling an upper respiratory infection since the new year started. I'm doing much better now than I was these past two Wednesdays, and I'm easing myself back into the blogging saddle. I still have some lingering symptoms, so this update is a slow process.

I took the pictures in this blog post a few years ago when it was quite cold and the ground was covered with snow. As I write the post, it's actually even colder and, once again, the ground is covered in snow - meaning that the photos remain very accurate for the moment.

Happy New Year!

Not a usual blog post, I'm afraid, but I didn't want to let another Wednesday slip past without an update. As those of you who follow the blog's Facebook account may have seen, there was no post last week because I was sick. Unfortunately, I still am. I have some kind of upper respiratory infection which is lingering; according to my editor at the newspaper for which I do some light coverage, it's been hitting quite a few people around here. 

It's been hindering my ability to do a lot of things, including speak. But I expect to be able to return to my blogging duties within a few more days, so I'll ask your patience in the meantime. I have a number of interesting posts planned for the coming weeks, and I'm also working on a couple of other special projects - or rather, I will be once I'm well enough. History has more or less taken over my life, and I'm rather fine with it.

My beloved Zenkaikon is coming up in March again too, and I've been asked to bring back the presentation I did last year about the history of the city of Lancaster! I also applied to do a second one about some of the darker aspects of the city's history, some of which I've showcased in posts on this blog, so I'm hoping that will also be accepted. The convention's online presence is going to be offered free of charge this year, so I should be able to provide links eventually where my readers can, if so inclined, watch me talk about Pennsylvania history. (Spoiler alert, I'm a lot more eloquent in writing. Also, presentations at Zenkaikon can be a little unpredictable - last year's Lancaster history discussion was briefly interrupted by the head of live programming bringing me a box of doughnuts. I can't wait to be there again.)

I hope all of my readers had a very pleasant holiday season and that 2024 brings good things for all of us. Thanks for sticking with me on my adventures, and I'll look forward to bringing you another one as soon as I possibly can!

2023 Retrospective, 2024 Plans

2024 doesn't even sound like a real year to me. But neither did 2023 or 2022.

Nevertheless, here we are again for another end-of-year wrap-up post! As those of you who have been with me for a while know, I like to end the blogging year with a final post which shares some facts and figures related to the blog, acknowledges certain persons, and talks about what I have in mind for the coming year. I began taking the month of December off from blogging back in 2019, when I had severe pneumonia on top of my chronic health problems; and because my day job is in retail, it just seems like a good idea to do it every year. So this is the final post for 2023, and I'll be itching to get back to it by the time January arrives. (I'll also be itching to not hear any Christmas carols for the next several months, because my store and some of the radio stations have been playing them nonstop since November first, but that's beside the point.)

Christopher Sholes, Danville and Mooresburg, Montour County

Well, my friends, this is it! Today's quest is the final one for 2023. Next week I'll be doing my annual wrap-up and looking at all the weird and wonderful things I've experienced through this blog over the past year (there have been a lot!) and also examining the stats to see which posts have resonated with my readers the most, or at least went the most viral on social media. I'm continually befuddled to see which posts are getting hits, and I wish Blogger had a way to let me know how people are finding them, but it's exciting nevertheless.

Meanwhile, today's quest is a double whammy in Montour County. (Special hello to Shane Kiefer, at the Columbia-Montour Visitors Center - I promised I'd get one for you before the year was out! Thanks for your ongoing support.) Quite literally, the work I'm doing as I write this post would not be possible without the subject of today's post, and he's so important that he has two markers.

Joseph Priestley and Joseph Priestley House, Northumberland, Northumberland County

As I mentioned last month, my bff Andrea and I took a day trip through some of the more northeastern counties to collect a few markers, and this post is a result of that. After this there's just one more quest remaining for 2023 before I do my annual wrap-up for the year. My longtime readers may recall that, because I work in retail, I take the month of December off from blogging in order to have more time for little things like sleep.

This is only my second jaunt to Northumberland County with the blog; I hadn't managed to get there since I wrote about "Jumpin' Jim" Gavin some time ago. He had one thing in common with the subject of today's post - they both had insanely long lists of achievements, just in very different fields. In the case of today's subject, it was in a lot of different fields.

Gettys Crossroads and Tavern, Gettysburg, Adams County

I'll admit I was partly inspired to return to Adams County by recent events. Like many people across the commonwealth and the country, I've been fascinated by the exploits of Kevin Bacon the pig, who escaped from his enclosure a few weeks ago and was on the run. Kevin, who is a beloved pet, never went very far from his Cumberland Township farm home; he would come and eat and then leave again, and it was only last week that his 'mom' managed to catch him at last. He gained national fame as various news outlets picked up his story, and even the human Kevin Bacon took an interest in his namesake's antics. If you somehow managed to miss the nonsense and want to see what all went on, just look for the hashtag #GettysburgKevin on social media.

Happy to have their mischievous porker back where he belongs, Kevin's human parents changed the name of their Facebook page from "Bring Kevin Bacon Home" to "Kevin's Home Adventures" and revealed their plans for the farm, which is chiefly occupied by various rescue animals - they plan on opening their gates to the public, offering programs especially for children and adults with neurodivergence or mental health needs. They're also looking into writing a series of children's books about Kevin! To that end, the Rumbaughs have started a GoFundMe to bring in enough capital to improve the fencing on the farm and purchase some heaters, which will allow them to host hot cocoa events in the winter. If you'd like to help these incredibly nice people achieve their dream of sharing Kevin and his friends with the world, please check out the fundraiser by clicking here.

Well, since Gettysburg Kevin is all the rage, I thought I'd return to the time when my own Kevin and I were in that beautiful little community. Here is the story of how it all began, how an immigrant's tavern at a significant crossroads turned into a bustling borough, long before the battle which gave the community its biggest claim to fame.