Things to do in Philadelphia
There is a town 39 miles from my home in Philadelphia, PA that has quite a few interesting attractions for a small town. Its name is Doylestown, PA. We decided to take the SEPTA train from center city Philadelphia and reached it in about 1 hour and 18 minutes. Since gas has become quite expensive, the train looked like the better choice. All my stops were within a 10-minute walk from the Doylestown station.
Since we got to Doylestown at 11:38am, it was time for a lunch break. We headed to 86 West, (86 W. State St., Doylestown, PA 18901, tel. 215 345 8600). Since the weather was very nice, we elected to have outside seating. I had the sirloin sliders and Maria went for the spicy tuna sushi. The menu was quite extensive and the service was very attentive. You can book a table for 86 West and many other nearby restaurants at Open Table.
Al Fresco lunch at 86 West
After, lunch, we headed on a 15- minute walk to two nearby attractions, one was the Mercer Museum and the other was the Michener Art Museum. We went to the unique Mercer Museum first and saved the Michener Museum for second.
The Mercer Museum is named for Henry Mercer (1856-1930) who has quite a story to tell. He was a businessman (Moravian Pottery and Tile Works). Also, he was an amateur archeologist and artifact collector. He was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. Mercer received a liberal arts degree from Harvard and studied law at the University of Pennsylvania. He never practiced. He apprenticed himself to a Pennsylvania German potter before starting Moravian Pottery and Tile Works.
Meeting with Henry Mercer
The genesis of the Museum involved Mercer’s travels through Europe in which he found that artisanal culture was being diminished by the rise of mass production in industry. He decided to collect artifacts that predated the Industrial Revolution. These artifacts would pay tribute to these crafts that were slowly disappearing. There are over 17,000 items on exhibit and 60,000 in the collection.
Mercer was heavily involved in the design of the Mercer Museum that would house the collection. The Mercer Museum was 6 stories high and made of poured-in-place concrete. Its completion was in 1916. You see exhibits of various tools related to hat making, shoe making, furniture making, etc. It even includes a whaleboat and several carriages. The Mercer Museum is located at 84 S. Pine St., Doylestown, PA 18901.
The next stop was the Michener Art Museum. The museum is named for James Michener (1907-1997) an author of over 40 books and a Doylestown native. His most famous work was “Tales of the South Pacific.” Michener received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction (1948).
At the library of the castle. Has that Medieval Vibe
The Museum is a 35,000-square-foot structure. Its central collection features “Pennsylvania Impressionism”. I was fortunate to be at the museum when the museum featured Keith Haring who was known for his “graffiti and street art style.” The location is 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, PA 18901.
After the Michener, we had a 10-minute walk to the Doylestown station for the 3:11 pm train back to Philadelphia. I would like to get back to see Fonthill Castle (Mercer’s home which really looks like a castle) and his Moravian Pottery and Tile Works) on our next visit.
If you are visiting the Philadelphia area and need overnight accommodations, please click on Trip.com as I do and save, save, and save.
Thanks for reading,
Steve
