{"id":113,"date":"2015-07-21T20:47:47","date_gmt":"2015-07-21T20:47:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/?p=113"},"modified":"2019-07-15T12:25:40","modified_gmt":"2019-07-15T18:25:40","slug":"unexpected-nostalgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/2015\/07\/21\/unexpected-nostalgia\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Nostalgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

We just returned from Pennsylvania where we were attending the wedding of our son to his wonderful fianc\u00e9e.\u00a0 Obviously the point of the trip was to spend time with family and attend the ceremony and reception, but we planned a few extra days so that we could relax as well.\u00a0 Since the wedding was taking place near Valley Forge\u00a0National Historical\u00a0Park<\/a>, we felt it was only fitting that we should take a day and revisit the park.\u00a0 Shortly after we were married, we had moved to Exton Pennsylvania and on our first wedding anniversary we had gone horse back riding in the park, so naturally since we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary this year, it came as a nice surprise to be able to revisit a location that held dear memories in our hearts.\u00a0 If it wasn’t enough that we had the opportunity to recapture memories of our first year of marriage while enjoying our son’s wedding, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the town of Phoenixville, where the wedding was being held, was celebrating Blobfest while we were in town.\u00a0 It was truly a unique experience and something that we didn’t know anything about until we arrived in town.\u00a0 There was one thing, however, that we were definitely planning on and that was getting a cheesesteak and a hoagie, two things that we either can’t get, or at least can’t get the same, in Colorado as they are in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\"Pete<\/a>
Pete and Dona in Valley Forge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valley<\/a>
Valley Forge Chapel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Colonial<\/a>
Colonial Theatre from the Blob<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is hard to express how wonderfully romantic it was to walk through Valley Forge National Park, hand in hand, and reminisce about the early years of our marriage.\u00a0 Although we only lived in Exton for two years before work moved us halfway across the country to Colorado, it has always held a dear place in our hearts.\u00a0 Even seeing the sign for Chester County brought back memories as that is where our youngest daughter was born.\u00a0 The fact that the park doesn’t charge an entrance fee should certainly help entice anyone who is visiting the area to make the park a stop on their trip, but the historical significance alone should make it a must to visit.\u00a0 We highly recommend that if you travel inside the United States frequently or have any national parks near where you live, that you buy an annual pass<\/a> for the national parks, it pays for itself within a couple of visits.\u00a0 Lucky for us, the weather for July in Pennsylvania couldn’t have been more beautiful, the humidity had decided to give us a break and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.\u00a0 We chose to walk the loop through all of the sites of the park rather than drive so that we could enjoy the historical markers, monuments, and buildings as well as take advantage of being outside in a truly gorgeous park with rolling hills and lush trees.\u00a0 After enjoying a wonderful day in the park, we went into Phoenixville for a couple of glasses of beer and wine as well as an appetizer and\u00a0a burger at the Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant.\u00a0 Whenever we travel, we always like to find places that serve local beers, perhaps because we come from the home of a thousand craft beers, and Iron Hill definitely fit the bill, their Vienna Red Lager was the perfect pairing to our spicy burger.<\/p>\n

\"Valley<\/a>
Valley Forge Small Chapel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cannons<\/a>
Cannons in Valley Forge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Valley<\/a>
Valley Forge Statue<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While we were in Phoenixville, we learned about Blobfest, an annual celebration that occurs every July to commemorate the filming of original version of the horror movie classic, “The Blob<\/a>“.\u00a0 The festival lasts three days and the headline event is the reenactment of the scene in the movie where the blob attacks patrons of the Colonial\u00a0Theatre, located in downtown Phoenixville, and festival goers participate in the “run out”.\u00a0 We would return to see the festivities the following day, but not until we had found a place to get an authentic hoagie and cheesesteak.\u00a0 Although some people think that they are the same, there is a difference between subs, grinders, and hoagies.\u00a0 Specifically, hoagies are made in a deli where the meat is sliced as the sandwiches are made and the bread is baked fresh daily.\u00a0 The bread is traditionally softer than that of a sub, but there is something about getting everything fresh that makes all of the difference.\u00a0 We were fortunate to find a wonderful deli, with a line that wrapped around the store, called the Collegeville Italian Bakery and Deli\u00a0that made us the perfect cheesesteak and\u00a0Italian hoagie.<\/p>\n

\"Italian<\/a>
Italian Hoagie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Cheesesteak\"<\/a>
Cheesesteak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Collegeville<\/a>
Collegeville Italian Bakery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stomachs full, it was back to Phoenixville to enjoy the walking dead, costume and store front decorating contests, and a variety of street vendors selling horror memorabilia and more.\u00a0 The streets were lined with vintage cars from the 1950’s and there was even a fire truck that we believe was used in the original filming of\u00a0“The Blob”.\u00a0\u00a0Although we didn’t know anything about the festival before we arrived, anyone who is in\u00a0the area in early July should make an attempt to enjoy the festival, especially if you are into horror movies as we are.\u00a0 It was truly a treat.\u00a0 With that said, we were off to the main event of the weekend, the wedding.\u00a0 The bride and groom were glowing and the ceremony and reception were absolutely perfect.\u00a0 It was the perfect ending to a long weekend that was full of new memories, old memories, and pleasant surprises.<\/p>\n

\"Costume<\/a>
Costume Contest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Walking<\/a>
Walking Dead<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Vintage<\/a>
Vintage Cars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Blobfest\"<\/a>
Blobfest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The<\/a>
The Bride and Groom<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

40.101688<\/span>-75.422117<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We just returned from Pennsylvania where we were attending the wedding of our son to his wonderful fianc\u00e9e.\u00a0 Obviously the point of the trip was to spend time with family and attend the ceremony and reception, but we planned a few extra days so that we could relax as well.\u00a0 Since the wedding was taking … <\/p>\n

Continue reading Unexpected Nostalgia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89944846,"featured_media":114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Unexpected Nostalgia","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11113,28715951],"tags":[594157734,678,208486,594157758,6462994,22628,200,5001,233749],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pennsylvania","category-valley-forge-park","tag-food","tag-history","tag-national-park","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pheonixville","tag-philadelphia","tag-travel","tag-vacation","tag-valley-forge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/imgp4594.jpg?fit=3008%2C2000&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6pbM5-1P","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89944846"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45373,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions\/45373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isobaresoffit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}