1-26-23, Day 25 In PTL Perrin’s Life

Welcome to day twenty-five of A Day In My Life! Happy Thursday!

Who doesn’t like to travel? New places are fun to see, but the road trip I like best is one where we revisit places we’ve lived and where we built lives.

When Bill and I met, he lived in Holland and I lived in Newtown, both towns in Bucks County, northeast of Philadelphia. We married in Newtown and settled there for a while.

A lot of history happened in Bucks County. William Penn bought the land and founded Newtown in 1682. Newtown was the County Seat of Bucks County from 1726 to 1813, before it was moved to Doylestown.

In 1776, General GeorgeWashington made his headquarters in Newtown after the Battle of Trenton and the famed crossing of the Delaware River. The town that was built where he actually crossed the Delaware is known as (drumroll please) Washington’s Crossing, Bucks County.

The Bird-In-Hand was built as a private home around 1686. Over the years, it became a tavern, a post office, and a tavern again, and has been known as the Bird-In-Hand for over 200 years. This structure has stood at this corner for 337 years and is believed to be the oldest frame building in Pennsylvania.

Bill and I drove through Newtown, which we always do when we visit our kids who live nearby. We love this little town, but when we visit, it’s for one specific purpose. We’ll get to that. Meanwhile, I’ll share a few drive-by photos with you.

Have you seen the 2002, M. Night Shyamalan movie SIGNS, starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, and Rory Culkin? It’s about crop circles and alien encounters, and it was one of my favorites. That movie was filmed in Bucks County, and several scenes were filmed in, you guessed it, Newtown!

Here are some drive-by photos for your viewing pleasure:

Built in 1763, The Brick Hotel is a fifteen-room inn with a classy restaurant, Rocco’s Steakhouse & Bar. Our son worked there back in the day, and we’d go there for special occasions. Hmmm. We have an anniversary coming up.

The Newtown Theater has been the center of entertainment in town since 1906. It smelled like Aunt Bernice’s attic (a bit musty, with a warm hint of sawdust) and showed one newish movie release a month. It’s like PBIEA in that many live performances grace its stage. I recall seeing a live Christmas performance there once.

I loved walking up and down State Street to shop at stores with original colonial flooring and the scents of over a hundred years of occupancy soaked into the walls–whiffs of incense and cinnamon, old books and furniture polish. The owners took great pride in offering up-to-date goods in some stores, and antiques in others.

I took pride in my beautiful town, especially in the Spring when the pear trees lining the streets bloomed, or on July 4 when the whole town turned out for the patriotic small-town parade. We had the traditional tree lighting and caroling over Christmas, and an occasional ice storm would drape the trees in glittering crystals.

One such ice storm, the day before our wedding, convinced us to move to Florida. Now we visit with one destination in mind.

Yep! Rita’s Water Ice, Newtown, Pennsylvania! The BEST Gelati, Italian ices, and custard treats in the good old USA! This is the reason we only visit in the summer, because it’s only OPEN in the summer! This location has been here since before I moved to Newtown, back in the 1900s. It has been our go-to place for treats ever since.

Note to self: Rita’s is a franchise and you can find them all over the Northeast, and maybe elsewhere. However. THIS Rita’s is firmly set in my heart as the best. Perhaps because it has so much history.

Is there a place you love to visit? A particular attraction? Tell me about it!

Here’s my to-do list for today:

1. Write my daily blog. (Check!)
2. Read the blogs of everyone participating in this challenge and comment. (daily)
3. Read and critique my writer’s group’s chapters.
4. Take a nap.
5. Spend a few hours editing my friend’s book.
6. Relax with dinner and a movie and Bill.

Thank you for reading my blog today, and please visit my friends and fellow RRBC Bloggers at  https://ravereviewsbookclub.wordpress.com/rrbc-member-chat/

Blessings!

Patty Perrin (writing as P.T.L. Perrin)

https://www.ptlperrin.org