Drive-in Delights

When I came across a blog post recently that featured Weber's Famous Root Beer in Pennsauken, New Jersey, I knew it was a place I had to check out. It's a drive-in that serves burgers, milkshakes, and most importantly, root beer floats. Since it's close to where my grandparents live, the three of us stopped there on a sunny afternoon for my very first drive-in experience.

This was not the first time my grandparents had been to a drive-in, so they had an easier time handling their floats than I did. While I love the concept, it is a bit challenging to eat a float filled to the brim while sitting in the car. Drive-ins were really popular in the 1950s and 1960s--A&W Root Beer had over 2,000 of them by the 1960s--so I'm guessing that with experience, you must get more adept at in-car float-eating. Hopefully I'll be working on that skill again in the near future.

Heading to Headhouse Square

The Library of Congress's undated file photo of the Headhouse

I had read a blog post about how great the Headhouse Square farmer's market was and I decided to check it out today. I had walked through the square for the first time earlier this week on my way to dinner at one of the country's top vegan restaurants, Horizons (which I really enjoyed--I need to figure out how to make pan-seared tofu!). After having brunch on South Street today, I walked all the way down to Society Hall to the market. Once I got to around 7th, it felt like walking through a beach town--a visual overload of signs, lots of cheap clothing shops, and a variety of delicious junk food options.

Then, suddenly, South Street opens up at 2nd st into Headhouse Square. Located a block from the Delaware River, the market there opened in 1745 to supplement the existing market on Market Street. "Headhouse" refers to the firehouse structure at one end of the market which was built in 1804. In the late eighteenth century, supposedly Dolley Madison and Martha Washington shopped here.

The market finally reopened there last summer, and it's one of the best I've seen--and I've checked out my fair share of markets. There's still cobblestone on the street and it does feel a bit like going back in time. Let's hope there was fudge as good as what I bought yesterday when the founding mothers went shopping there!

Ben Franklin was here

Well...it's not the most high-minded connection to history, but it's pretty funny that the National Park Service marked where Ben Franklin went to the bathroom. Privy pits are actually quite useful to archaeologists, because people threw away all sorts of trash into them--often pipes, broken pottery, or cooking leftovers. This privy is located right behind Franklin's grandson's print shop on Market Street in Old City. Behind the shop is a courtyard with two metal frames outlining where Franklin's house and shop would have been. How did archaeologists know this was the privy? Usually, by slight gradations in soil color that are revealed as they dig--and by all of the trash.

The remains of a 3-year dig at the site of the near-by National Constitution Center are being sorted around the corner from here at the Independence Living History Center. The large block where the museum is now located was once a busy neighborhood with a mix of socioeconomic classes and even races. The pottery that's being pieced together at the Center is indicative of this--some tables are full of plain, chunky bowls, while others have delicate blue and white (I assume delftware) tea cups.

My visit to Old City also included a stop at the Arch Street Meeting House, a walk through Elfreth's Alley and talks with some reenactors and storytellers. There's a surprisingly large area of 18th-century buildings that are still around, some of which are now private homes or offices. I also managed to make a stop for lunch at a Philly cheesesteak place called Campo's Deli (check out their website, there is actually a video of the making of their sandwiches). I got an enormous vegetarian wrap then headed toward home--all of this, without getting lost!