T's Travels

Hotels of the Past, #39

The Hotel Belvedere in Apollo, PA, burned down a couple of nights ago. I have driven past it many times without giving it a thought beyond "boy, that building is huge!" It was a commanding presence even though it's been vacant a long time. I'll let the Dark Matters & Mysteries blog fill you in a little more.

Hocker Park (A Love Story)

This blog is about travel, about overnight stays and restaurants, about experiences and people. But it’s also about places and how they affect us, how they add to our lives.

Every day I walk my dog up or down the mountain. Some days we head up to Hocker Park at the top, and then take the Darlington Trail (the east side—see link) back into the woods for a bit, or just turn around and head for home. The trail leads along the mountaintop to Boyd (no relation) Big Tree Conservancy, with occasional views of Fishing Creek Valley on one side and Harrisburg on the other, before ending above Route 322. It was on this trail one spring that I saw two bears playing (chasing each other).

Hocker Park has picnic tables and some grills. An old TENT SITES sign shows that people used to camp here. At the base of a tree is a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Chester Weaver, adorned with flowers or a flag. Every so often the flowers are refreshed. The note has been replaced at least once since I’ve known the park (and most recently the end of August 2012).

               
                

[Pictures updated 8.30.12. Our condolences on the loss of your sister, Nita Liota Moore.]

Sounds beautiful, doesn’t it? It certainly was when I first saw it five years ago. Unfortunately, Hocker Park has turned into a dump. I don’t mean “What a dump!” I mean people have decided it’s a good place to dump their yard waste and construction material.

I’ve long been a vocal opponent of littering, but what I’m seeing in the park these days goes far beyond the Sheetz and McDonald’s soda cups and lottery tickets I pick up on the road. Cans of paint, buckets of spackle. Old roofing shingles. Christmas trees (happens every year!). The pile in this photograph is tree trimmings, some of which are in a paper bag. I’m sure the criminal who left these thought, “Oh, the paper bag is ‘biodegradable’ so it doesn’t matter.” It matters.

Not only do these piles of waste (no matter what they are made of) stick around for a long, long time, but Lower Paxton Township taxpayers end up footing the bill for these selfish individuals because the township has to clean up the mess. I think Mr. and Mrs. Weaver would be very sad to see “their” park in this state. I know I am.

Update 7/10/12: Someone is too lazy to go to the Dauphin County Recycling Center with their electronics. Right now a TV and stereo speaker are lying in the weeds in the park.

UPDATE!! 8-18-12

Someone has been giving Hocker Park some needed TLC (don't know if it's the township or local residents). The electronics pictured above disappeared within a day of my post (yay). Better yet, the picnic areas have been cleaned up and are now inviting for picnicking visitors. What a perfect place to lunch before or after a hike on the trail. Thank you!

Tomato Pie Cafe, Lititz, PA

Lititz is one of those towns that when you mention it, people say, “Oh, I’ve been there.”  Or “my girlfriend loved that place.”  Or “Wilbur buds. Mmmm.”  I’ve visited Lititz a number of times—eaten at the General Sutter Inn, had a drink at the Parkview Hotel, toured the chocolate museum at Wilbur’s, and shopped, shopped, shopped. I have also stopped at Glassmyer’s soda fountain, considered a landmark in town (and where my mother always took my niece on their annual Easter Wilbur shopping trip).

 

I was in Lititz recently with Mary the Photographer, researching the next book, and she said, “We’ll go to the Tomato Pie Café for lunch.” I was very surprised when she pointed to what I knew as Glassmyer’s and said, “That’s it.” Things have changed in Lititz!

 

The place was bustling and we had to wait a few minutes but were soon seated at a table in the small round room in the back. The menu has some unusual items. I was considering the sweet potato and marscapone on a grilled brioche (really, when do you see that on a menu?) but then Mary asked, “Is the tomato pie pizza?” The server said, “Oh no, it’s a real pie with a crust and low-acid tomatoes and a cheese top.” That did not sell Mary but I had to try it. Offerings called “signature dishes” are meant to be ordered.

 

And this one is worth it. The tomatoes were flavorful without any sour bite to them, the cheese top was baked, crunchy, wonderful. It came with a little side salad and a small wedge of a very soft herb scone—the living definition of savory. Mary had a grilled cheese sandwich (muenster and Vermont cheddar on grilled sourdough) but did not get the optional artichoke hearts. Our meals were not so big we couldn’t split a dessert, a citrus layer cake that was spongy and light and colorful. 

 

The Tomato Pie Café was opened by the Fisher family, who also owns the Lititz Family Cupboard and the Bakery at the Cupboard up the road (where our dessert came from). They get their coffee from Square One Roaster in Lancaster. You couldn’t get more local than that!

Photos (c) Mary Brenner 2012

 

UPDATE (10-12-12): Tomato Pie Cafe is coming to Harrisburg!