It was to escape this historic summer heat that Jake set about finding some place within a reasonable driving distance that was, if not cool, at least not as blazingly beastly brutally hot as NJ. Research is a wonderful thing when one has the time and inclination, and after Googling his way through historic temperature graphs, dew point maps, topo maps, weather blogs and the like, Jake found that Bradford, PA, was consistently 10-15 degrees cooler than central NJ, and only about six hours away by car.
Jake and Stone ended up setting up their end-of-August week's HQ not in Bradford, but a little bit south of there in the tiny town of Ludlow, PA, which sits like a pin head in the Allegheny National Forest. Being told that our cell phones were of no use in this secluded glade, we decided before we left New Jersey to go completely native and left our laptop at home. Doing so freed Jake from his usual daily task of note taking, but the resultant lack of a daily record means this travelogue will not be the usual sequential spiel, but subject based instead.
 |
| The Manor at Olmsted |
 |
| Balcony Off Kitchen |
PS – While Protestantism is typically connected with industry and frugality, it might be well to remember this popular quotation from the writings of John Wesley, the English cleric and theologian who founded Methodism, which adds a third leg to make a sturdy and interesting Protestant stool: “Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can.”
Culture: The Methodists are also responsible for our seeing Neil Sedaka and Bob Newhart. In the 1870's the Methodist Church founded, on the shores of Lake Chautauqua, NY, a summer training camp for Sunday school teachers that over the next several decades evolved into the Chautauqua movement. The Chautauqua movement was basically a further evolution of the Lyceum movement, which in the early 19th century sought to enhance adult education and entertainment in America. (Ralph Waldo Emerson made a good living giving lectures on the Lyceum circuit and Abe Lincoln is said to have honed his speaking skills at the lyceum in Springfield, IL.) During its most popular years, the Chautauqua movement had scores of outposts ranging from tents to large auditoriums throughout America. At the bigger Cahautauquas thousands would flock to the summer lectures to hear the likes of William Jennings Bryant and Mark Twain. Early on, the educational and religious tone of the movement was supplemented by popular entertainment, which brings us ultimately to Messrs Sedaka and Newhart.
The automobile, radio and movies pretty much ended the Chautauqua movement as a force in American culture, but at the Chautauqua Institution, on the original site at Lake Chautauqua, the cultural tradition lives on in spades. During the summer months the Institution hosts scores of lectures, talks, discussions, plays, religious services and entertainment. This summer the line up of speakers included the likes of PBS's Jim Lehrer and Ken Burns, Alan Alda, the NY Times' David Brooks, Sandra Day O'Connor and the author extraordinaire, Salman Rushdie. The entertainment was just a varied, ranging from the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra to the Air Force Concert Band, and from Clay Aiken to Tom Chapin.
For us it was an easy 90 minute drive from Ludlow and the wilds of northwestern PA to this island of high culture in the eastern finger tip of New York, and these two concerts were the highlight of our week. We're on the mailing list for next year's offerings at Chautauqua and hope to return.
PS – Jake grew up with a Chautauqua in his home town of Boulder, Colorado. When he was a lad he used to see movies in the big auditorium, a large, wooden barn of a building that housed not only the flickering light shows from Hollywood, but also the more-than-occasional family of bats, the sight of which sent many a early 1960's bouffant hairstyle shrieking to the exits. The current Boulder Chautauqua has a spectacular mountainside setting, is one of the oldest continuously operating Chautauquas in America, and features one of the best restaurants in Boulder.
 |
| Kane Country Club |
Having not played much at all during this Summer of our Discontent, I had hoped to play alone but instead joined a threesome who were just teeing off. To add to my discomfort they all hit their drives long and straight. I manged to not lose my ball and somehow made a bogey on the straight, short (345 yds) opening hole, which gave my game more credence than it deserved.
After this one hole it was obvious that my partners were quite good and I was in over my head. It didn't help me feel less intimidated when I learned on the way to the second tee that the young guy was a 2 handicap(!), that the other guy worked in the pro shop, and that the third guy played at Kane CC about four or five times a week during the summer. Still, golf being golf, they hit some bad shots now and then, I played about as well as I can, and we all enjoyed the nine holes I shared with them.
Nine holes and about two hours of play is no basis for judging any golf course, but from what I saw, Kane CC is a good golf course kept in good condition. It is relatively short (5,944 yds) but the smallish greens that are typical of older courses (nine holes date from before WWI) are quite quick, while the generally tree-lined fairways reward straight drives but do not severely punish slightly wayward ones. The course's setting I found most appealing. Only on the first two holes do you see a car, and the rest of the course is a true walk in the park with not a house nor condo in sight. And the price is certainly right – $20 to $25 to walk the full 18 holes.
I played another nine holes at the Chautauqua Golf Club before we went to Friday evening's show. There are 36 holes at Chautauqua; I played the Lake Course nine, twilight rate, with a cart for $42, which included a small charge for Stone riding along with me. The Chautauqua GC is generally well regarded, and the atmosphere was certainly upscale yet nicely friendly, but from what little I saw of the course I doubt I'd play it again at the high rates charged.
 |
| Pine Acres Golf Course |
PS – The young 2-handicapper I played with at Kane CC is on the golf team at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, which he (and everyone else in the area) referred to as “Pitt Brad.” In private, always in private, both Stone and Jake referred to it as Brad Pitt.
Hiking/Biking: The Allegheny National Forest (ANF) is a hiker's paradise, but unfortunately Jake and Stone never got much of a chance to do any long walks in the woods. And besides, the Olmsted estate itself provided ample opportunity for enjoyable walking around its substantial acreage. At one edge of the estate there is a sort of trail head for a subsequent mile walk through the woods to Wild Cat Park, which is a large public park overseen by the Ludlow Community Association. This trail also gets the walker up close and personal with the freight train that rumbles virtually unseen through the forest. The train's rumbling, which seems so romantic when heard from a distance is less so when heard alone in the woods, and the steadily increasing rumble severely elevated Stone's heart rate on her first amble into the trees.
 |
| Allegheny River by Tidioute |
Originally it was thought that while Jake hiked the golf links Stone might hike some of the North Country Scenic Trail. The NCST is nothing less than a 4,600 mile trail that runs from New York to North Dakota. It makes it way briefly (only 100 miles worth!) through Pennsylvania and spends a lot of that time in the ANF. However, upon reading the notes at a trail head that warned of recent black bear sightings and cautioned hikers to use “bear awareness techniques” it was decided to try the trail next time.
Having for some time wanted to do it, Stone finally bought herself a folding bike which we took along on this trip. It is a Schwinn 20” model which we got from Amazon for about $160. Folding bikes can easily cost two or three times what we paid, but Stone has been very happy with this cheaper bike. If this bike has one drawback it is its weight – it is not light by any means. But it still folds into a carrying bag, can fit easily into half of the back seat of a car, and is not impossible for a reasonably fit middle aged woman to carry short distances. Though time and logistics didn't allow Stone to ride any section of the Chautauqua Rails to Trails, she greatly enjoyed riding her handy bike around the Olmsted estate and on the nary-a-car streets of Ludlow.
 |
| Stone & Her Bike |
Food: We knew this trip would afford us little in the way of memorable meals out, still we had a couple of nice experiences. Warren, PA, was about a 30 minute drive from Ludlow. It was here we had our only “fine dining” experience at the Liberty Street Cafe, which was quite nice indeed. But our favorite two meals out were breakfasts at Kimberly's Cool Beans Cafe in Bradford, where the vibe was relaxed, the coffee delicious and the breakfast a world class value. Highly recommended.
Most often we took advantage of the kitchen in our rental, finding fresh goodies to cook at the Farmer's Market in Bradford where we got some nice veggies as well as some local honey and jams. We also found some delicious peaches and grapes at one of the many roadside stands that dot seemingly every road in the area.
PS -- Man does not live by restaurants alone.
Out & About: Bradford, PA, is the home of Zippo lighters, and as befits this American icon, there is a Zippo Museum in town. The museum is free, is visited by thousands of people every year, and was more interesting than we anticipated. A few years ago Zippo acquired W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery, which is also headquartered in Bradford and makes the famous and much collected Case knives; the museum highlights Case also.
We also enjoyed visiting the Kane Manor Country Inn in Kane, PA, which is now a B&B. Originally it was built by General Thomas L. Kane, of Civil War fame, who helped found the town that bears his name. The owner of the inn, who gave us a little tour of the historic building he is now slowly renovating, told us that General Kane was a great friend of the Mormans, helped them settle in Utah, and that there is a statue of him in Salt Lake City.
This part of Pennsylvania is not wealthy by any measure, but it is not without its monied redoubt. Not far outside Bradford, within the ANF and on its own country road, is Glendorn. To gain entrance to the Lodge at Glendorn one must be buzzed in at the main iron gate, which swings open with seeming elegance (or is that reluctance?) to admit one's car. Glendorn is the type of place that has horseback riding, skeet shooting and Orvis guided fly fishing. In the summer, “cabins” of four or five bedrooms can be rented for about $2,000 a day – yes, we said a day. The cuisine is Relais & Chateaux rated. The swimming pool gleams in its current emptiness and the fish hatchery is over there, off to the left. There is a “Big House” (main lodge) that has a fireplace worthy of the evil Sheriff of Nottingham, a patio of perfect flag stone, and a screened in porch that seats about a dozen for lunch or dinner. The 1,200+ acres include a trout stream and at least a half dozen trails with varied degrees of hiking difficulty. It should be noted, however, that from November through April there are several rooms available in the Big House for $199 a night, which Jake and Stone allowed themselves to dream of occupying for a night or two sometime in the off-season future.
 |
| Soon To Be in a Juice Near You |
 |
| Longhouse Rd Reservoir View |
PS -- It is at first odd to note all the oil rigs around this neck of the woods (so to speak). It is actually not that unusual to see a rig in someone's (large) backyard. But in the late 1800's this part of Pennsylvania was enjoying an oil boom, and apparently there is still some in the ground to be found.
Weather: Since the initial draw of this area of Pennsylvania was the cooler weather, a weather report is necessary. Bottom line: it was indeed cooler than Jersey, especially at night. One morning the temp was 47 degrees. But the Bradford area is not a guaranteed oasis. At least two of our seven days were hot by any standard, but even on those days it was noticeably cooler in the shade, which is not often the case at home. Though we didn't stay in Bradford this time, we might next time as we noticed it was even cooler in Bradford than it was in Ludlow. For the record, for the six full days we were away the high temps at home were: 82, 78, 83, 92, 93 and 95. In Bradford, the same days saw highs of: 66, 69, 76, 82, 83 and 83.
PS -- So Bradford's chamber of commerce is telling the truth when it terms itself, “The cool town with the warm heart.” We plan to return next summer, when we are sure we will need another retreat.
