How wonderful we can enjoy this center together tonight…read more Neighbors together, singing songs and doing some activities like making cookies. It was nice to enjoy the evening this way. I feel like it was such a tough year in so many ways and it's nice to have the special place.

The Peace Center in Langhorne, Pa., has been doing excellent work in conflict resolution in schools…read moreand communities for more than twenty years. Its reputation for helping out in difficult situations is well deserved and a credit to the many people who have donated so much of their lives to this worthy cause. A nonprofit organization, The Peace Center has dedicated itself to creative and effective mediations, diversity training, educational programming, and crisis consulting since its founding. Its Executive Director, Barbara Simmons, is truly a saint walking the Earth. Please lend a hand when you can.

One of the better thrift stores in the area. Cleanly, organized, fairly priced, and all sales go…read moretowards charities that support recovery. This is probably the fourth different thrift store I have gone to since getting the thrifting itch from watching all the episodes of Antique Roadshow. I was very close to pulling the trigger for my first purchase for an old-time popcorn magnet that played music but ultimately held off the urge to buy just to buy. Highly recommend if you are in the area to check out this store and it will not take too long to peruse their items as the store is fairly small in size. As always people SYOY!!!

Doing some retail tourism in the area, we stopped at this thrift store. It is small but laid out…read morewell. The cashier was personable and helpful. Prices were a bit on the high side compared to others in our experience.

My favorite local thrift shop! I mean it when I say I leave everytime with excellent finds…read more everything is already mostly on sale and you won't believe the prices... it's not overpriced like many other thrift shops I've been to. And most importantly, it's all for a great cause, too. would highly recommend!

Amazing selection, unbeatable prices, they have stuff that's even better than goodwill or boutique…read morethrift stores in the area and it goes towards a great cause!

Beautiful scenery for a good price, parking needs to be reserved before 3 so make sure you do that…read morebeforehand as there is no parking nearby! Very walkable if you're looking for a short day

This place is a gem. It's beautiful, serene, somewhat whimsical. We went last week and the fall…read morecolors were stunning. It's a place I think I'll go back to with every season. And next time I wanna go early enough that I can do the house tour as well.

Good visit with a friend who is a regular. The paths are coated with a recycled rubber mix and are…read moresoft to walk on. Wide variety of well-labeled plants. Apparently, Stoneleigh welcomes local humanities professors holding classes on the grounds

What a lovely garden that is free to the public! I was too busy admiring it with my family to take…read morepictures. The ambassadors at the front were so helpful knowing it was our first time visiting, and we also met some staff to thank them for maintaining it so well. I'd love to come back for a formal tour in the future and see the mansion. We'll be back!

In the heart of Abington, and about a hundred yards away from the Roslyn train station, you can…read morefind Briar Bush, a hidden nature preserve tucked away on Edge Hill road. With scenic walking trails, an outdoor classroom, day camps and a small indoor animal habitat, Briar Bush is a great spot for small children, couples on a date, or anyone looking for a brief respite from the urgency of the modern world. With free admission for locals and a small fee for out-of-towners, the preserve is accessible to all patrons provided that they are able to walk down some wooded trails that circle through the admittedly short walking routes. The centerpiece of the trails is a picturesque, secluded pond with benches for sitting and an interactive sign with information on the local fauna and flora. The indoor animal habitat has a small gift shop, pamphlets on upcoming events and information on other parks in the area, and several interesting animals such as a blind possum named Odin, a bearded lizard named Karl, and several other unique turtles and reptiles. All of Briar Bush can be walked through in an hour or so, but the low admission, interactive nature events and scenic walking trails will have you wanting to return again soon.

Staff are very informative when it comes to presentations but the facility is not very well…read moremaintained in some places because multiple trees have poison ivy on them. I know what poison ivy looks like, and when it's in hairy vine form, it can choke a tree and kill it. There was a wildlife sanctuary in the neighborhood that I grew up in as a child, and many of the trees almost died because they were being choked by poison ivy. Hairy vine, no friend of mine. But, on a more positive note, they have some animals that you can pet (when they are being presented by a lecturer), including rabbits, rats, and snakes, plus a turtle. In fact, now, as I am typing this, I remember coming here as a kid with school and Cub Scouts and my family as well, and I remember Boo the Rat (R.I.P!) and I remember a turtle who came to Briar Bush after being fed dog food by its owner. Eww. Bottom line, presentation is everything. One thing that I personally don't mind but that wildlife and some other visitors are probably irritated by is the fact that SEPTA's Warminster Line runs behind Briar Bush with a train going by every so often.

First of course some history:…read more Hope Lodge was completed in 1748 by Samuel Morris who was a wealthy Quaker businessman. As a young man Sammy worked with his father at a mill complex in Ambler. Later he bought and sold commercial property in Philadelphia along with owning ships, a quarry, kilns, a tannery and Mather Mill which is only a block away from the mansion. As if that wasn't enough, Morris also had side hustles as being the justice of the peace for Whitemarsh, Philadelphia county commissioner and an assessor for Philadelphia county. While Morris supposedly had never been to England, he adopted the most current architectural style of the day in both England and America, Georgian, named for King George I who was reigning at the time. The style was popular in Great Britain for its balance and symmetry. Fun rumor #1 is that Edmund Woolley, architect of Independence Hall, offered some advice on the mansion's design in exchange for some quarried lime and farm goods. Now here's where the historic part comes in. In 1777 the Whitemarsh Encampment, a six-week period of the American Revolution when the Continental Army camped in the surrounding fields after the Battle of Germantown and before encamping at Valley Forge occurs. During that time the house was used as the HQ of George Washington's Surgeon General, John Cochran. Fun rumor #2 is that while Washington never slept at the mansion or on the property, supposedly GW rode his horse through the first floor hallway of Hope Lodge during a visit. There is no evidence to support this claim, even though the hallway is wide enough, but no doubt that Washington would have visited Dr. Cochran frequently during the encampment. Eventually everything gets sold to English banker Henry Hope. Hope, to give you a sense of his importance, has enough juice at the time that Adam Smith in the 4th Edition of his still read today economics masterwork The Wealth of Nations, dedicated the book to Hope. Also if the Hope family name sounds familiar it's because among other things the Hope Diamond was named after them due to their ownership of the diamond. Never intending to live in Whitemarsh, Hope purchased the property as a wedding gift for his ward, James Watmough. It was the Watmoughs who named the site Hope Lodge, in honor of their benefactor. Prior to that and during Samuel Morris's lifetime the property is known as Whitemarsh Farms and Whitemarsh Estate. The property is then sold to a family who for almost the next century uses it primarily for farming. Lack of funds prevented upgrades to more modern things gas lighting and indoor plumbing in the late 19th century which meant the mansion's 18th century integrity is retained. From the Internet: "In 1921 the property is sold to Keasbey and Mattison, a development company whose plan was to demolish the structure and extend a nearby limestone quarry. To save it from destruction, William and Alice Degn bought the property in 1922. Early historic preservationists, they carefully restored the house and added their collection of 18th and early 19th century furnishings. They did not install a central heating system in the main house because of its destructive piping; rather they added a wing onto the existing summer kitchen for a winter residence. Both of the Degns loved flowers, and they created a beautiful rose garden on the south side of the house. After Mr. Degn's death in 1940, and Mrs. Degn's death in 1953, ownership of the house was transferred to the Hope Lodge Foundation, and in 1957, to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, Hope Lodge is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with the Friends of Hope Lodge, a non-profit support group formed to assist with operations at the site." So what you have today is a house that does not have the historical gravitas of a place where a Founding Father lived, worked or slept but due to the love it has received particularly from the Degn's the actual bones of the house are in amazing condition with the feature being the incomparable woodwork. If you go: Hope Lodge is not unlike a lot of other PHMC sites in that you really have to want to see it. Tours are only done one day a month, usually the 3rd Sunday, at 1pm and 2:30pm. Some months offer special events like a symphony concert, beer tasting, movie night under the stars and the biggie which is the annual re-enactment of the 1777 Whitemarsh Encampment which takes place in November. Tour admission is $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for seniors, $4.00 for youth age 6-17, children under 5 are free and Friends of Historic Hope Lodge members are free. Cash or check only. Active military personnel and their families are also free. Parking is via two smallish lots one on the side of the property near the gardens and the other in the rear of the property. The property is on South Bethlehem Pike which is very easy to get to from both the PA Turnpike and Route 309.

I give this 5 stars but with the warning that this is for people who are fans of history and old…read morehouses. A pre-revolutionary manor house outside of Philadelphia and about 2 miles from the Fort Washington exit of Pennsylvania turnpike it was a private residence until the early part of the 20th century. Now the house is open at intermittent hours but if you have an interest it is well worth the visit. It was a 4 up 4 down house the outside is a typical Georgian mansion of the 18th century. In side the great door one side of the house has been kept, redone, in the style of the colonial era. what was a parlor like and so forth, the other side is in the neo-colonial style that was fashionable in 1920's. You can compare with what people thought the idealized image was like with the historic truth. The cellars of the house are in the colonial style with different rooms for root and veggies, dairy and smoked meats and a food prep area. The kitchen is, like all good colonial houses, another building behind the mansion and has the big fireplace you'd expect a mansion to have for it's food. The site is pretty and when open they give tours but keep an eye out for their special events such as the colonial re-enactment the fist weekend in November or their colonial Xmas.

I've been to this pantry about 6x's now.Here's my take on its pros & cons…read more Pros - 1) On 1/9/23 I asked one of the ladies who always seems to oversee the frozen meat area if the workers are all volunteers. Yes, she said. I think that's great. 2) A lot of the food seems to come from Whole Foods. (Not sure if that's a good thing or not, as they're owned by pretty greedy Amazon now.) 3) A lot of the prepackaged stuff is organic. 4) I think It's nice everyone can choose theitems he/she wants. Someone usually cites that said the number of things in each distribution group we can have. I sustained one exception to that the last time I was there3/13/23. one of the regular volunteers informed me I could have as many pantry items I wanted. Don't quote me but I think she said that was because I was there within earshot of the closing of the hour long giveaway time frame so sufficient edibles were there still. (I don't know, that said where they store "leftover stuff that needs refrigeration or freezer space. There's a small free parking lot on Carson street that's across the street from the pantry entrance which isn't on GREEN LANE, ACTUALLY. (If you've a car this is an important point to be aware of -- the workers here correctly inform me about given how difficult it can be to find parking on a lot of the street in this neighborhood. I think it's far better that groceries and a place like Whole Foods are giving away food they don't want to sell anymore -- due to their (likelihood) notions their customers don't want anything that's almost "expired," (I could go on and on about that $) than trashing these foodstuffs in landfills that are already clearly overburdened, giving rise to global warming hence, etc. Finally given the food here is free when all is said and done it's definitely a good place to frequent if you're interested in just saving your coinson the recent hiked cost of grocery food. Cons - Regarding my query about where refrigerated food is stored here I had a fairly nasty taste of that (no pun intended lol). The last time I was at the pantry I picked up a fairly large plastic container of carrots and celery (see picture) which had an expiration date of 3/12/23 but which I wanted anyway because I've found "expired " things often last a lot longer than what's noted on various food items. Well for the first time in my life these particular veggies were pretty much rotten-- about two weeks after I brought them home. That's VERY unusual for carrots and celery as these pretty hardy vegetables usually last a lot longer than two weeks in my fridge. I'm 100% certain due to the fact they Had NOT BEEN PROPERLY REFRIGERATED -- if in fact they'd been refrigerated at all after Whole Foods donated it to them however their usual (innate capacity shall I say) to withstand pretty accelerated decay was obliterated. That's disappointing that something like that can happen at a food pantry of all places! I'm not trying to belabor the vegetable matter here but since I've already broached ithere's another thing I don't think is great about this pantry For some reason one can't get fresh vegetables here much. I think that's strange and unfortunate. I've usually had to wait 40-45 minutes before being called up to get my items. The wait time here can be tiring, therefore. After all is said and done of course -- to end on a positive note the fact that much of the food here is organic and pretty decent, healthy, etc I've no reason NOT to recommend it.

I haven't been to North Light Community Center since I moved out of Manayunk but my sister's…read morekickball team had been short people so I started to sub for them and found myself back here. Its street parking which with all the snow isn't as easy to find as it normally would be but I managed to get a decent spot both trips. Its a little cold when your not moving but once you get started the temperature ends up being just fine. If you live in the area its a little small but not a bad place to participate in an indoor sports league.