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Past Time Bears
I'm back from Philly and full of adventures! Will now relate how 10 senior ladies terrorized Philadelphia and surrounding areas! First pic is our little group of ten friends from Anson, Texas, who went to elementary, middle, and high school together. We graduated in 1959 and have kept in touch ever since. Our awesome hostess was Sidney West, the lady in the hot pink outfit (second from the left). Her husband is a vice-president at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and in charge of development (he raises funds for lots of different things). They live in a gorgeous house (3 stories) on the Swarthmore campus and housed all of us. Next photo is of Sidney, Kay, and Paula in the back yard.
Past Time Bears
These are photos on the Swarthmore campus. The first two show where their commencement is held (weather permitting) and it is just breathtakingly beautiful. The next photo is an unbelievable tree on the campus, then a couple of photos of the chapel. The whole campus is an arboretum and every plant is labeled . . . incredible!
Past Time Bears
The next set of photos is taken at the place where the US government began. The first pic shows the horse/carriages waiting to take visitors on an outdoor tour of the Independence Hall area. The next two photos are taken inside Independence hall . . . places where the decision to break from England was made and where the Constitution/Bill of Rights/Declaration of Independence were hammered out. The closeup of the table in the fourth pic has Ben Franklin's actual cane lying on top of it. Also, in the second photo, the pretty mahogany chair behind the table at the front of the room is an actual chair from that era. Then we go to the Liberty Bell photo which is housed in a separate building and shows Independence Hall behind it. A closeup of the bell in the next-to-last photo. The bell was MUCH smaller than I thought it would be. The last photo is a little scene along a small branch off the Delaware River, which runs through Philadelphia.
Posts: 8,574 Past Time Bears
Next on our adventure trip is the Philly Arboretum. All these photos were taken there.
Past Time Bears
Okay, the last set of pics is from the Amish country - about 50 miles out of Swarthmore. I'm telling you the straight truth . . . the name of the community is Intercourse, Pennsylvania. LOTS of jokes about it, as you can imagine! We took a little ride in the horse powered buggy around the countryside - gorgeous and interesting way of life. The last photo is the Amish schoolhouse.
Past Time BearsOoooh, Dilu, yes . . . the Wests' house is decorated beautifully - some of it is theirs and some the school's. Sorry, but I was so awed by the outdoors that I didn't get anything on the inside. 
I did learn that the house dates back to about 1920 and is constructed of native Pennsylvanian stone. Most structures in Swarthmore have been built using the stone and it's about to be depleted. We had other adventures, but there is just too much to report on. I will have to tell you that we used both of the Wests' cars and I drove one of them . . . following Sidney who was driving the other. I have never been so tense and tight while driving. Philadelphia proved to be a very tough place to navigate - especially following someone who makes up her own rules while driving and doesn't signal when changing lanes. The streets are exceptionally narrow with taxi drivers and bicycle riders cutting in and trying to maneuver into your lane. And that was just on one day! The other days were equally exciting. Our tour of the Independence Hall area was so awesome . . . we sat in the very seats that those brave men sat in when holding the first congressional meeting. We also learned some interesting facts about the Amish. Our buggy driver was of Amish/Mennonite descent (although she did not practice either religion) and told us how they get around the problem of using no electricity. Compressors and propane! The children do not go to school beyond the 8th grade. You may have noticed that the houses look large - and they are! They keep adding on to the main house as the family grows, because all the generations live together. We laughed, talked, ate, told a million stories, walked a LOT, and in general had a super time, but I am so glad to be back home. I have a bear show in Austin next weekend and will need to keep plugging ahead with my bear stuff. Thanks for taking time to look at my report! :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Melbourne, AustraliaSue Ann,
What wonderful pictures. :clap: :clap: :clap: Love them all.
Sounds like you all had a great time together, even if you did get stressed by the driving.
Particularly loved the photo of the senior ladies ... it's nice to see that I'm not the only one who's beginning to round off the edges! 
It's great to have you back in the bearworld again.
Well I gotta get out of this place,
Big :hug:
Sandi
bears by beesley TMOh Sue Ann!! How wonderful! Thank you Dear for the wonderful pictures and I am so glad you were able to have this awesome time! I am so excited as in October my girlfriends are having a Pajama party for me for my 50th birthday and I can't wait!!
Many Hugs Louise
Sophie Z'OursI am happy you enjoyed your time with your friends.
It looks like very peaceful places you visited.
Thanks for sharing pics with us.
Beary hugs,
Sophie.
Great pictures, Sue Ann! I love Sidney's house. 
We went to the Amish country last summer, including Intercourse. We went to Philadelphia 2 years ago.
DoodlebearsSue Ann thank you for sharing your wonderful time. The photographs are great although I can't spot any 'OLD LADIES' I did however spot a group of beautiful young looking ladies! 
Everyone looks so good!
Thanks again.
Hugs Jane. 
Posts: 1,836I have never been so tense and tight while driving. Philadelphia proved to be a very tough place to navigate - especially following someone who makes up her own rules while driving and doesn't signal when changing lanes. The streets are exceptionally narrow with taxi drivers and bicycle riders cutting in and trying to maneuver into your lane. And that was just on one day!
...we are so bad up here! I'm so used to the driving in Philly and New Jersey that you forget how others feel while trying to navigate our roads!! We are notorious for our driving (and our sports nuts), but I must admit I'm a safety freak because of it...it wasn't me cutting in front, promise
Sue, were you able to get into Bucks County....Doylestown, New Hope, surrounding areas?? It's Just outside of Philly and so full of history. So many artists, writers, and historians are from. I grew up here and love it. Just a couple of the local favorites...... Mercer, Pearl S Buck, The Bernstein Bear Creators (yep, they're here!), M. Night Shyamalon has filmed movies here and lives close by.
Every summer my folks would load us into the car and we would spend the day in Lancaster, Intercourse (too funny), and surounding areas. It's so lovely out there...and the food is amazing 
I'm so glad you were able to visit and enjoy this area with good freinds!
(This is such a huge area for the arts....I wish we could get a teddy bear/doll show up here....I've never seen one! I know it would do amazingly well.)
~Chrissi
coming summer 2006...www.CatherWoods.com
eBay, CTCatherwoods
Newcastle, OntarioSue Ann,
I've been waiting for your posts about your trip - you all look fabulous!!! Your pictures are amazing - I've also seen the Liberty bell and it is much smaller than you would think. The university looks beautiful! Thanks for all the pictures.
We are very familiar with Intercourse, PA. We go to that area every fall and are going again for a week in September. The whole area is beautiful. The Harrison Ford film Witness was filmed in the area 20 years ago and we took the tour of the farm last spring, for the anniversary celebration. There is nothing like driving on the back roads, among all the Amish farms. The outlet shopping is super there as well.
Thanks again for all the wonderful pictures!
hugs,
Brenda
Raccoon Creek BearsSue Ann - I'm so glad you had a good time on your trip! I'm biased because I live so close, but I love Philly! Of course the fact that my daughter's University is there has a lot to do with it too! It's funny, but I love driving in Philly but hate it in other cities. The streets ARE narrow though!
Suzanne
Wild Thyme OriginalsSOOOO NEAT Sue Ann! I'm in awe of those trees! 
Kim Basta
Wild THyme Originals
Sunnie BearsHi Sue Ann.
It is great to have you back! What an awesome trip! Just facinating! Kind of reminds me of when I went to my 25th high school reunion. I looked around and said, Who are all of these old people? hehehe
Seriously you all look amazing. What fun.
Sonya
Kim-Bee BearsYou went to Philly and you didnt stop to see me??? 
Beautiful pics!!! :photo:
Kiprie BearsOh Sue-Ann, thanks for sharing those
wonderful photos !!! :photo:
I love Sidney's house !! So gorgeous !!! 
I'm so glad that you had a great time with your girl friends.
You all are so fabulous and non of them are old lady.
Hugs/Marie
aerBearsThank you for sharing Sue Ann, those pictures were beautiful. I went to Philadelphia about 10 years ago and your pictures revived a few memories I didn't remember I had.
Aerianna
LuxembearsWhat an adventure you had Sue Ann. That must be a very special group of ladies to keep in touch like that. I love your photos! I would love to visit there some day and see all the history. It also looks like you had fabulous weather!
Thanks for sharing. :clap:
Teddy Bear and FriendsGreat pix, Sue Ann!
When you were in Intercourse, you were about five miles straight down the street from me! There'a a joke around here that you can go from Blue Ball to Intercourse to get to Paradise (these are real Lancaster County place names!). Bird-in-Hand is right in the same area, too. Needless to say, the Amish generally have large families!
Mindy
Ha! That's funny, Mindy. I live next to a town called Paradise myself, but going from Chico to Paradise just somehow doesn't have that same "ring" to it...
:crackup:
Sue Ann... these are GREAT photos, and I just love seeing you hamming it up front and center in one of them! Looks like just a wonderful trip to somewhere I've never been and always wanted to go, and what a beautiful place it turns out to be. I'm having a college girlfriend get-together later this summer with a smaller group (there will be five of us total; one couldn't make it) and I'm so looking forward to the reminiscing and rejoining of it all. It's always special to be with people we've known... forever. I'm so glad you had the opportunity.
Thanks for sharing your pictures!
Bears-a-Bruin!Love your photos, Sue Ann - it looks like you had a fantastic time!
I visited Intercourse once....about 20 years ago. It's a beautiful area. I remember stopping at some place (Bird-in-Hand?) that boasted being 'halfway between Intercourse and Paradise'. That caused no end of chortling! :crackup:
Thanks for sharing, I've really enjoyed seeing and reading about your trip :hug:
Kim-Bee BearsLOL... we do have some pretty funny names for towns here in PA !!! LOL... :crackup:
