Jello Legs

Saturday, March 28, 2015

After almost a week staying in beautiful Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Mother Nature finally decided to lift some of the dark, rain drenched clouds and let some blue sky peak through. Excited about the early spring sun, we impatiently grabbed our day packs, some snacks, and our new Nikon DSLR camera. After a short drive to French Creek State Park near Birdsboro, PA and some confused wandering around the visitor’s center in order to find a map, we finally started our hike. Parts of the trail led us through a demonic looking landscape with tall, burnt black trees surrounded with fire red thorn bushes. We found ourselves in complete silence, as we suddenly heard the angry screams of two turkey vultures fighting over some deer remains.

Turkey vultures wanting in a tree for us to leave.

Following the Mills Creek trail further through the thick woods, the landscape completely changed on us. The scenery became friendlier, trees did not look like shadows anymore, and the trail changed from one big mud slide into a romantic trail covered with crunchy leaves. By the time we reached Mills Point, which overlooks the valley like the ruins of a castle, it was time to enjoy our lunch. Some Lebanon bologna, cheese, and dill pickle sandwiches that tasted more like horseradish mustard than anything else. Side note to myself: Use mayonnaise or butter next time. Everyone knows that everything tastes better with butter… Anyway, strengthened by our sandwiches we continued the hike around the park.

Paved stairs on the trail in French Creek State Park.

After more than 9 miles we finally reached our car with burning jello legs. And since the only effective cure for jello legs is a cold served beer, we found ourselves on the way to the Sly Fox Brewery in Pottstown, PA. I must say there is something special about this combination: long hikes in the spring followed by a nicely crafted beer. It refills your body with the most pleasant energy. Feeling refreshed by delicious beer, mouth numbing spicy honey siracha chicken wings, and not so worth mentioning French onion soup, we decided to stop by an establishment that is gaining more popularity than I thought.

On the way to the brewery we spotted Manatawny Still Works across the street, which has been crafting their own whiskey, gin, vodka, and rum since April 2014. I ordered a whiskey ginger and James ordered a pint of cold water. He was driving. I never really thought about it, but as the waitress described to us, whiskey is actually white, it get’s it significant color from the aging process in the barrels. Makes sense, doesn’t it?! Well, i ordered a pretty tasty drink, but oh boy, I could not finish the whole darn thing. Somehow i am not the biggest liquor fan and drinking “by myself”- since we are responsible adults – isn’t the biggest thrill either. In my eyes it’s just too strong in taste and it kicks right in, especially after a beer flight – even if the 6 glasses were evenly shared with my husband.

Overall our first hike in the woods of Pennsylvania was a great success and we are looking forward to exploring the rest of the park tomorrow. We are not sure about the exact route yet, but we are hoping to explore the other half of the park.

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