Skating in Center City Philly at the Rothman Skating Rink at Dilworth Park and City Hall

In the winter, the Rothman Rink has become a fine tradition for ice skating in Center City Philadelphia, in Dilworth Park and the shadow of City Hall. For 2021, they have added a roller rink, which is absolutely awesome. It is a place with a tremendous atmosphere that is a ton of fun. It was initially supposed to run through June, but the immense popularity of the rink has lead them to extend through July. I hope the roller rink becomes a mainstay for Dilworth Park, for it is as lively and lovely as the winter ice rink, and Center City Philadelphia is an awesome place to take in on a warm summer evening. 

It is cool skating is the shadow of City Hall and the Center City Philadelphia skyline. 

 For more information on hours and visiting, check out their website at https://centercityphila.org/parks/dilworth-park/rothman-roller-rink 

Route 88 Mon Valley Views: Joe Montana Bridges, Viaduct, California Overlook

Today we head out on a little journey up and downstream through the Mon Valley. We start off at the Joe Montana Bridges, named after the football hall of famer that went to nearby Ringgold High School. 

The Joe Montana Bridges cross over the Mingo Creek Valley and are the second highest bridges in the state at 250 feet. They are 2400 feet in length. They were completed in 2002 for the Mon-Fayette Expressway. They are internationally recognized as an engineering feat. The bridges are also amongst the tallest highway bridges in the country. 

The Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad trestle beneath it was no small feat either. This bridge crosses 200 feet above the Mingo Creek Valley, built in a similar manner to the famous Kinzua Bridge Viaduct. This spot is located almost adjurent to the cool Mingo Creek County Park, which is home to several beautiful covered bridges, great public gathering places, and access to nature. 

Just down Route 88, you are treated to a spectacular view of the Monongahela River in California, PA. Here you can see where the ferry ruins, which was the second to last river ferry crossing in the state, though it went away a number of years ago. You get a terrific view of the meandering river from this spot, though it is pretty heavily grown in.

We highly recommend taking a relaxing drive down Route 88 and the Mon River. The views are beautiful and the road is excellent for cruising from Pittsburgh. It is easy to launch off to places like Ohiopyle State Park, or Cooper Rock State Forest in West Virginia, and lots more. This is a great area to go for a lazy Sunday drive from Pittsburgh. 

Coudersport Ice Mine: A COOL Roadside Oddity Along Route 6 in Potter County

The Coudersport Ice Mine is a quintessential roadside oddity. In the summer months, this strange spot produces ice. Last Memorial Day Weekend had the stars align for us in being able to visit, and I have to say that it was cool to see and feel. Our dog CeCe enjoyed it and the fresh icy water. This small attraction is family run, with the operation involving access to this ice filled hole, along with their little gift shop and picnic areas on a beautifully wooded lot. This is a great place to go and relax and have a picnic lunch. 

Due to the hot spells in April and May, the ice is exceptionally abundant this year, with the actual pit essentially sealed up from this year's ice "crop." 

This mysterious spot occurs because the cold winter air gets trapped within the mountain and the condensation from the hot and humid Pennsylvania weather gathers and freezes up when it comes in contact with the remaining winter cold of the mountain. 

The story of how this place initially came to be is comical in a way. In 1894 Billy O'Neill used a snake oil kind of device called a divining rod that supposedly told him there was silver in the mountains. He dug the 10 foot long, 8 foot wide, and 30 foot deep shaft that is now the ice mine. It eventually became a roadside tourist attraction, but it abruptly closed in the 80s. After 25 years, the ice mine was reopened in 2014.

"Tourist trap" has a pejorative connotation, but this place is along those kind of lines. It is as closest thing that Pennsylvania has to a place like South of the Border in the Carolinas, or Wall Drug in South Dakota, albeit this is much smaller. I personally love this kind of roadside stuff. They help break up drives and add excitement to the road. I am known to take the longer and more scenic route when road tripping. I live off of this kind of stuff and the Coudersport Ice Mine is quintessentially American with this. If you find yourself in the area of Coudersport in the summer, go and pay the five dollars and feel the crisp and cold air, stretch out your legs, and relax at this cool spot. It is located right off of Route 6 in Coudersport, about 45 minutes west of the PA Grand Canyon. For anyone heading to the PA Grand Canyon from west and southwest points, Central New York State on routes passing from the south and southwest, or to Kinzua Bridge State Park from the east, this place easily en route to visit and even worth a small detour. A few years ago I included this place within our PA oddities list. Since that list was published, five of those places have vanished. This place needs to be checked out and is well worth stopping at when you are in the area. The Ice Mine is generally open from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. For more information on visiting, check out their Facebook page.  

Yuengling: Touring America's Oldest Brewery

Yuengling Brewery is an American and Pennsylvanian institution. It is the oldest remaining and operating brewery in the country and has been owned by the Yuengling family since its inception. Through boom times and hard times, Yuengling has remained a constant in Schuylkill County. It is especially impressive that the brewery has not only survived, but flourished, as the economy of this region of the state has really bore the brunt of the nation's economic changes over the last fifty years. The company itself almost did not make it in the 1980s with the shift towards corporate mega brewers taking out the regional brewers, and the regional economy in a deep slump. In 1987, Dick Yuengling reintroduced the company's Yuengling Traditional Amber Lager, as consumer tastes shifted back towards craft brewing. This ended up leading towards a huge expansion for the company, with the construction of a new brewery nearby, and the purchase of an old Stroh's Brewery down in Tampa, Florida. This expansion, and consolidation within the industry and foreign acquisitions of the larger American breweries, Yuengling has become the nation's largest American owned brewery. 

Yuengling has always worked to be a staple in its two largest nearby metro markets, including Philadelphia and New York. They even invested in dance halls in both Philadelphia and New York, and they owned many regional bars and had exclusive distribution rights in many others. These shrewd business moves likely helped the company to continue in times when the majority of the country's breweries shuttered. Pottsville is a strategically decent location for sourcing ingredients, and for market access to selling their products, since it was located on the Reading Railroad. Chilled products from the brewery, and ingredients were shipped to and from Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. Additionally, the location of Pottsville also insulated the company from losing its skilled brewers when the brewing industry consolidated. Through Prohibition, the company survived by brewing "near beers" with ABV under 0.05%, the opening of a dairy and ice creamery across the street from the main brewery, and the brewing of full ABV beers for a "medicinal purpose" in which doctors would prescribe beer as a remedy for certain ailments. As soon as Prohibition finished, the company sent down a wagon with beer for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to drink, though the wagon never made it all the way down.

Surviving the corporate consolidation of the brewing industry in the post-war economy, and the fall of the regional economy in Pottsville was an almost insurmountable feat for the company. Similarly incredible, the company has remained under ownership of the Yuengling family since its founding.

The founding of Yuengling is a truly American story. David G. Yuengling (Jüngling) was born in Germany in 1808. He emigrated to the United States in 1823 and opened a brewery, then named the Eagle Brewery,  in the then booming anthracite town of Pottsville in 1829.

Our most recent visit is the first since they have built their new visitors center, gift shop, and museum. It is built in what was the old dairy building. The future of this building was unclear for as long as I can remember, as it sat abandoned for decades. The growth of the company, and the growing tourist draw to the old brewery, made the restoration of this building feasible.

The new bar and tasting room overlooks the old brewery from across the street. While the old tasting room in the brewery is missed, this space is still very nice. The bar for the tasting room was saved from a local bar that had gone out of business and been demolished. The new visitors center serves as the starting and finishing point for the brewery tour.

Now we are headed out for the tour.

The tour starts in the cellar of the brewery, with a knowledgable docent who tells visitors of the illustrious history and the brewing process from past to present.

Here you can see a collection of antique kegs.

Prior to the days of modern refrigeration, the cellar was a great place to keep products and ingredients chilled during the brewing process. The location of the brewery on a hill gave it great access to a natural spring. The brew cave complex is now fully included in the tour, which is definitely a great spot to cool off in the summer. 

This brick wall was built at the start of Prohibition, 100 years ago. The thought process was that if Yuengling could not access their cold storage area, they would be unable to brew. Wink, wink, the strategy was really effective. When Prohibition ended in 1933, they blew a hole in the brick wall and left a portion of it up as a reminder of that failed policy. 

The cave complex is really pretty impressive. The ingenuity of people to find cold storage prior to the days of refrigeration is really quite impressive.

Note the Prohibition wall which was built to prevent brewing by blocking access to the cold cellar.

Prior to the renovation of the old dairy building into a brand new tour hub and tasting center, this cozy bar area was used for sampling.

Now we leave the remnants of other eras from Yuengling and go into the portions of the plant that remain in use.

A brewing tank

This portion is one of the most breathtaking, with the stunning mural and stained glass ceiling.

Ghost signs on the old plant building. In this day and age, when you see ghost signs like this on the sides of buildings, more often than not, the activity in the buildings is long gone. These signs are often a reminder that these buildings were once thriving centers, but in the case of Yuengling, this remains the case. This place is truly a jewel

Yuengling cases awaiting filling

The bottling line is an awesome thing to see and hear.

A case coming off the line

The old dairy building, which now serves as a state of the art visitors center and tasting area.

Sampling at the end of the tour. Yuengling is an American classic that retains a quality niche in the macro-brewing scene. At its price point, its quality cannot be beat, and the story of the company is one that parallels American history and the overall American dream. The tour is well worth going out of your way to check out. For more information about specific visiting hours and information, check out their website at https://www.yuengling.com/visit-us/. The most important thing to remember for preparation is to have closed shoes on, for this is an active production facility. It is pretty close to Knoebels Amusement Resort, so we highly recommend pairing these two on a visit.