Every year during the warmer months I take a couple of long weekend car trips around the Anthracite Coal Region in northeastern Pennsylvania. A trip I would recommend to anyone.

The terrain is the Appalachian highlands of "ridge and valley" mountains. Not rugged like the mountains out west, but the forest covered mountains akin to the Great Smokies south of here in Virginia and North Carolina or the Adironacks in upstate New York.

The scenery is gorgeous. Green...

At the beginning of this century I purchased a house that was built in the early 1890's - a "French Second Empire" Victorian house. It has a mansard style slate roof, a porch supported by fluted Doric columns, three floors, 6 bedrooms and three fireplaces.

One thing that attracted me to the house was that nearly all of the original architectural features were still intact: leaded stained glass windows, fireplace mantels, moldings, wood floors, main winding staircase and servant's...

Clark Park is a city park in West Philadelphia's "University City District." It was established in the 1890's by a local real estate developer who felt that children and families needed a green space as the neighborhood was being built up and urbanized. His name was Clarence Clark.

Clark Park is just 5 blocks west of the "Ivy League" University of Pennsylvania. It is just across the street from USP - the University of the Sciences Philadelphia - which is the oldest...