It's Good To Be Chantilly ...

“…Oh baby you know what I like

Chantilly Lace …”

                  “Chantilly Lace”

         ~ written by Bill Rice & Jiles Perry 

             “The Big Bopper” Richardson

                      ~ recorded by The Big Bopper

                                  ~ 1958

What’s not to like about Chantilly Goods and Weissport Washboard in historic Weissport, Pennsylvania? Chantilly Goods is an old fashion ice cream parlor, vintage soda fountain and candy shoppe. Walking into this old time soda shoppe is like stepping back in time into a 1920s and 1930s soda fountain, as I discovered when I visited on an early September afternoon.

Inside and outside, it’s a wonderful scoop of Americana, a real vintage gem … with sprinkles on top!

Chantilly Goods is located near the Weissport Trailhead of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) and rents surreys (multiple-person bikes) to ride on the trail.

Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Get Off Of My Cloud ...

“I says, Hey! You! Get off of my cloud

Hey! You! Get off of my cloud

Hey! You! Get off of my cloud

Don’t hang around 'cause two’s a crowd

On my cloud, baby …”

                     ~ “Get Off Of My Cloud”

                             ~ The Rolling Stones

                                ~ 1965

      ~ written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards

 “Hey, you, get off of my cloud … and my perch!” That’s what this bald eagle’s expression seems to say as it gazes up at a very noisy crow, making it clear two’s a crowd!

It was wonderful to photographic a majestic American Bald Eagle for the first time as it was perched in the late day sunlight along the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (D&L Trail) at Lehigh Gap, Slatington, Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend 2017.

Perched in the shadow of the Kittatinny Ridge, also called Blue Mountain, the eagle was apparently disturbed by the very loud crow nearby – and emitted a call to let the crow know! I was blessed to spend 15 minutes photographing the eagle, during which time the crow flew away.

The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States. The bald eagle appears on our nation’s seal. In the late 20^th century it was on the brink of extirpation in the contiguous United States. Populations have since recovered and the species was removed from the U.S. government’s list of endangered species on July 12, 1995 and transferred to the list of threatened species. It was removed from the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in the lower 48 states on June 28, 2007.

The Lehigh Gap is a crossroads where the Lehigh Gap Nature Center’s trails connect two historic trails – the Appalachian Trail and the D&L Trail.

The Appalachian Trail, a foot path, follows the ridge on both sides of the Lehigh Gap, running 1,245 miles south to Georgia and 930 miles north to Maine. Running from Wilkes-Barre to Bristol, the D&L Trail passes through the Lehigh and Delaware rivers and their canals in Pennsylvania.

Background texture by Jai Johnson added for artistic effect.

Fawn On Summer's Ridge ...

“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous.”

                    ~ Aristotle

                        ~ 385-322 B.C.

There are few sweeter sights than a young and innocent white-spotted fawn such as this beautiful white-tailed deer fawn posing on a ridge near her mama doe on an early September evening as summer wanes at Trexler Nature Preserve, Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.