This week, wee small giftie is focused on Christmas in the Brandywine Valley, a favorite holiday destination for first the Lockharts, now for me & my Keet.
If you're going from Bryn Athyn, skip the big, burly interstate & bustling main roads. Go back country! Follow the directions OR get Tea Cup Tours (aka ME) to do the driving.
From Bryn Athyn Post Office, head across the bridge & up Fettersmill, then turn right on Terwood. Take a leisurely drive down the roller coaster hills that cut through the fields of the Pennypack Trust, then up to the intersection with Edge Hill - turn hard left onto Edge Hill, heading toward Willow Grove.
Continue on Edge Hill all the way to the stop sign at the T with Tyson Ave; turn left onto Tyson, then an immediate right at the stop sign, onto Jenkintown Road; cross the tracks & turn left at the light, back onto (surprise!) Edge Hill Rd.
Pass Mt Carmel Church (on your right), cross Mt Carmel Ave (Edge Hill becomes Limekiln Pike after the traffic light), keeping to right lane; turn right at the next intersection (there is no left turn) onto Willow Grove Avenue. Stay on Limekiln Pike all the way to Stenton Avenue, a shade under 3 miles.
Stay on Stenton to its tricky intersection with Paper Mill (on your right, in Montgomery County) & Bethelehem Pike (Phila), a tad over 1 mile. Keep to the left & take the 2nd left at the intersection, staying on Stenton (what you were just on becomes Bethlehem Pike - see what I mean by confusing).
You're in for some fun! Stenton Avenue takes you a mere corner of the Morris Aboretum, packed with its own holiday fun. Strolling past its epic garden railroad is a Lockphy Murphart tradition.
Now comes one of our favorite parts of the ride - going through Erdenheim, the estate/farm of Fitz Dixon. Fitz was a far thinking fellow, who struck a deal with Montgomery County - he left a hefty section of his estate for very high-end senior residences in exchange for the rest being left as is, complete with Black Angus, Border Cheviot sheep & handsome Morgan horses.
Erdenheim Farm has been farmed for centuries, dating back to William Penn! I should add that all the farmers were quite well off, with the property always a feather in their cap. Many were like Fitz* & the Widener uncle who left it to him - gentlemen farmers with great wealth & a hankering to be close to the land. Once the railroad came out to the far edges of Philadelphia & suburbs began swallowing up neighboring farms, Erdenheim Farm stayed what it's long been - an oasis of tranquility that housed prize-winning sheep & cattle & horses, instead of developments. We can still enjoy its beauty because Fitz Dixon & his heirs placed community service above massive profits.
As soon as you cross Wissahickon Avenue, you're driving through Erdenheim. First up, on your right, you might see some Black Angus (we did on our last drive past, this past weekend - that was the first time we'd spotted them far from their usual pastures). Keep an eye out! Hopefully, the horses will bel out, too. You can't miss, also on the right, the magnificent horse stables with enclosed riding rink (Fitz' daughter, Ellin, was an Olympic equestrian).
Past where the road bends to the left & goes over a small brook is where you'll often spot Black Angus (best time - spring, with heifers close to their mamas). Continue through the light at Cricket Road - the beautiful "farm" building on the left houses the lucky Border Cheviot sheep often grazing in the pasture.
Bye-bye, Erdenheim!
Continue on Stenton Avenue to Butler Pike (about 1.5 miles); turn left onto Butler & stay on it through Conshohocken; at the first traffic light after the bridge, turn right on Front Street. Turn left onto Balligomingo (I think it's less than a mile) for one of my favorite short drives; when it Ts (not sure if it's onto Holstein Road or Trinity Lane), turn left, so you drive under the overpass,
then turn left at the next traffic signal, onto S. Gulph Road & then turn right at the next traffic light, onto Arden Road, another charmer.
Our hearts always melt as we near the T with Upper Gulph Road - to the right is a dear not-so-small animal cemetary, associated with the Francisvale Home for Smaller Animals, an organization that's become dear to our hearts - they've sheltered & cared for grateful critters since 1909!
Turn right onto Upper Gulph Road, all the way to where it Ts with King of Prussia Road - turn right, then immediately left back onto Upper Gulph, which you stay on for a little bit over a mile, turning left onto N. Wayne Avenue.
At the intersection of N. Wayne Avenue & Lancaster Avenue, turn right - resist all temptation to stop & browse mega charming Wayne! We're on our way to Brandywine Country & barely half-way there!
Continue on Lancaster Avenue (Rt 30) for 5 miles (maybe pull over at Clay's Creative Corner Bakery in Berwyn for a reviving nibble -we would!), then turn left onto Darby-Paoli Rd (Rt 252). Continue down Rt. 252/Darby-Paoli Rd, about 5.5 miles, turning right onto Goshen Road. Go ahead - feel sickened by that UGLY housing that invades the hallowed ground (at least to Lockharts) that was Fox Catcher Farm, the once-beautiful estate of John DuPont, a man who was the polar opposite of Fitz Dixon. (We once spotted him driving his tank up Rt 100 - in a business suit.)
Another stretch of road beloved by Lockharts stretching back to when Dad first introduced us to in in 1970. Still a lovely stretch. Turn right when it Ts with West Chester Pike (Rt 3). Continue on Rt. 3 into charming West Chester. Turn left onto E. Gay Street, head down Gay Street & turn right onto Bradford Avenue that becomes another great stretch of road - Rt 100.
Rt 100, or Lenape Road, skirts along the Brandywine Creek & is the gateway to Brandywine Country! "Where Southern Chester County meets Northern Delaware." A treat for the soul, sight, senses. Continue on down after Lenape turns right & Rt 100 becomes Creek Road, the heart of Wyeth Country!
Stay on Rt 100 all the way to Chadds Ford. You have arrived! Where you turn depends on where you want to go. Or you can continue down Rt 100 (turn left onto Baltimore Pike, then immediately right) for even more natural beauty OR you can turn turn right then left a ways down, onto Rt 52 & a reviving cocktail at Buckley's Tavern just south of the PA border (took a grilling class there once) OR, as I said at the beginning, you can have ME drive you!
* Fitz Dixon was descended from storied wealth. An heir to the Widener fortune (street cars & railroads), he always wore his grandfather's emerald ring, handed by George Widener to his wife as she boarded a lifeboat from the sinking Titanic. I have to wonder if Fitz Dixon's devotion to public service & community well-being was at least partially rooted in his grandfather's selflessness - George Widener didn't try to push his way onto a life boat, in spite of friends urging him to use his wealth & power as leverage. To me, it speaks volumes that he named his first & only son George Widener Dixon.
Fitz Dixon, a man of both remarkable wealth & personal accomplishments, was proudest of his career as a teacher and coach. He was a man of immense wealth who devoted his life to helping others. I am proud to have met him through the June Fete Horse Show, which he so generously supported. Its show ring is named for Fitz.
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