chris’ grill, conestoga road in garrett...

Working Smarter To BeYour Real Estate “Agent For Life”

JOHN & BUBBA’S OFF THE WALL GUIDE TO THE

PHILADELPHIA SUBURBAN SCENE

The weirdest thing to get used to around here is the fact that every place has two or three names… and the worst of it is people will refer to a place as the “old something or other where the such and such USED to be!” Now how does that help you to know where some restaurant used to be in 1973? Who knows?)

Wayne for example is really a stop on the R-5 Train at West Ave and North Wayne Ave, but the town is a three-square block area full of stores and restaurants… the Wayne 19087 Zip Code for example is gigantic. It straddles Radnor Township in Delaware County; Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County and Tredyffrin Township in Chester County… it covers an area from Newtown Square to King of Prussia & 320 all the way out to Route 29 & Chesterbrook. So when you say you want to live in Wayne you could be talking about that little bitty area along Lancaster Ave or South Devon, or St Davids or Chesterbrook or Strafford… very confusing.

www.JohnChildHomes.com … Keller Williams Main Line 610.520.0100John’s email: [email protected] … John’s Fax: 610.879.5112

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.JohnChildHomes.com/


Getting in and out of the city without the expressway from the Main Line:

Here’s the key to getting out of town without the Expressway:

Ben Franklin Parkway; loop around AikensCircle (stay in third lane to the left) … the Kelly Drive traffic will peel off to your right, which is another great way to avoid the expressway. Go around the loop and aim for the underpass which will lead to the West River Drive. (bear right and you’ll go over the Spring Garden Street Bridge where you can either wind your way through Powelltown Village or peel off for the Expressway)

West River Drive to Montgomery Drive (thru Fairmount Park) to Belmont to Conshohocken Rd which winds around to become Montgomery Ave west to where ever… add ten minutes to your trip… but you’ll never get stuck. NOTE: for a scenic little detour through the Park: make a right on Belmont Mansion Drive and cut the corner thru Belmont Plateau for the famous view of Center City with the green in front.

West River Drive to Sweet Briar Cut Off; hang a left & take Parkside through Fairmount Park where the First Centennial was celebrated, passed Smith Civil War Memorial and Memorial Hall (Starting Point of the Philadelphia Grand Prix) to The Mann Music Center (people still call it The Old Robin Hood Dell) to 54th Street to Lancaster Ave to points west.

Kelly Drive (East River Drive) to Girard Street to Lancaster Ave.

Remember: Chestnut Street IN (east); Walnut Street OUT (west) … 23 miles an hour and you can supposedly catch all the timed lights … Try it…


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Walnut out all the way to 63rd Street (the north/south –quasi-expressway) to Haverford Ave or Lancaster Ave.

Walnut to 38th street north to Haverford Ave or Lancaster Ave and west from there.

TRICKS TO NORTH-SOUTH TRAVELING:Route 320 (Sproul Rd) was the “old way” to the Airport before the blue route was finally built… it’s still a good way to get north and south in Delaware County… Lansdowne Ave is the other way but during the school-bus-rush it’s totally clogged where West Chester Pike and Route One converge & again by Delaware County Hospital & the high schools by Garrett Road & the Trolley Line… clogged again by Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital and Baltimore Pike.

TRICKS TO GETTING WEST FROM THE CITY BY WAY OF SOFT UNDERBELLYWalnut Street west to 63rd Street or Cobbs Creek Pkwy south a half a block to Marshall Rd west and then north to Lansdowne Ave (if it’s early or late) or west to Shadeland and then jigger-jogger your way north to Route One.

PLACES TO AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE:69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby… If you’re on the Trolley you’re minutes from here and the Main Line… if you’re in a car it’ll take you 20-minutes to crawl through this part of Route 3… we have a ditty we sing to the tune of “Toreadore”… “We’re aaaaaaaaaaaaat the longest light in Upper Darby. We’re growing old. We’re growing old.”

PLACES TO EAT

Here in the Philadelphia area everybody has their own list of “Best of Philly”… this town is a real eating man’s town full of little spots and out of the way eateries. Here are some of our favorites… promise not to tell too many people though, these are OUR spots!

Food City in Garrett Hill (Rosemont), Conestoga Road in Garrett Hill… 1-61. Chris’Grill, Chris Boikedis has owned a slew of great little restaurants… MainLine Grill in Bryn Mawr was the one before Chris’Grill… he’ll start them up, make them successful, and sell them off… apparently he’s more into making them successful… after that he gets bored and within a year he’s got a new restaurant… so eat here before Chris and Bessie get bored with all the success.

2. Antonella’s Italian Take-Out, Conestoga and Garrett

3. Conestoga Pizza


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4. Garrett Hill Pizza

5. Flip & Bailey, AKA Horace P Jerkey’s the old original Garrett Hill Post Office when Garrett Hill was the housing area for all the help that worked on the Converse Estate (where the Radnor House Condos are now [across from McDonalds])

6. Brothers, best burgers in the universe according to the menu… pretty darned good

7. Guard House in Gladwyne, 953 Youngsford Rd Gladwyne 19035…610-649-9708…

chef-owner Albert Breuers hails from near Dusseldorf… wonderful restaurant… used to be the Hessian Guard House during the occupation by the Red Coats.

8. Joe’s Place in Wayne in front of Lyon’s Detailing shop… the original greasy spoon in Wayne… not for the squeamish… fabulous scrapple (if you can hold it down… and please don’t look up how they make it until AFTER breakfast)… all the construction workers and lawn guys come here for their breakfast sandwiches… the coffee is horrible but wet. Very little to recommend this place… Joe died years ago… Marty and his son run the place now… you’ll see Joe’s Place T-shirts all over the world as the acolytes spread the word… again, once is plenty just to say you’ve been. Eat At Joe’s!

9. Nudy’s Café in Berwyn, Old Lancaster Ave around the corner from the Fresh Fields… eggs benedict… Lacas Coffee… go early… there will be a line.


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10. McNally’s in Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia across from Borders Books…

parking is a bit of a beast, but usually a spot down by the train station… the Schmitters is un-real… half the fun is waiting for a table… kibitz with the locals… in summertime folks from Oreland and Erdenheim will hike in for lunch… been there forever… don’t blink though you’ll miss it… there’s a tiny brass plate on the old door that says McNally’s… other than that you’d never know it was there.

12. Delesandro’s in Roxborough section of Philadelphia… fabulous steak shop… Ginos and Pat’s have all the notoriety, but D’Allisandros has the real thing … Columbus ate here.

13. Sampan, Havertown @ Brookline and Eagle… Winston owns this an a dozen other places … great Chinese and Japanese too… the service is spotty and the food is fabulous.


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14. Nais Cuisine, next to the Havertown Fire House on Bennett… … so niiiiice… bring your own bottle what’s his name has been there for years… never advertises …

… wonderful and reasonable… the décor is basically Thrift Store Chic, the food is fabulous.

15. LaColina, Belmont Hills, Ginny’s cousin Teddy (Theo) is the chef there… wonderful view of Manayunk at night… seafood risotto appetizer is fabulous… a meal in itself. Wonderful dark history behind this restaurant complete with gangsters and fratricide… last time we were there Democrat Senator Arlen Spector was having dinner there too (lots of famous regulars) … he was mumbling something about Scottish Law…. Turns out his JFK Single Bullet Theory was right on the money after they did all the computer generated graphic analysis… remember JFK’s seat was nearly a foot higher than Governor’s … but truth be told I suspect they didn’t get the entire booger out of his brain the last time he was in for the Neuor-fix… but it’ll be fun to see him giving the Democrats kinipshins for a while… at least until he becomes a Republican again!


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16. Victor’s Café, 1303 Dickenson… in south Philly (pronounced “Sow-filly”), go for dessert, dinner’s not so hot, but you cannot beat the opera-singing waiters & waitresses.


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THINGS TO DO

Wharton Escherick Museum, Diamond Rock Rd PhoenixvillePaoli … furniture

designer extra-ordinairre … tour his home and workshop… you’ll not see many locals there, lots of folks from France and Germany and Britain… wonderful tour. With any luck you’ll be guided by Wharton’s mistress (now 1,000-yrs old).


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Wayne Lancaster County Farmers Market, Lancaster Ave where Conestoga Rd turns

into Eagle Road… Wednesday, Friday Saturday… great fun to people watch… go early and get a seat at the little diner in the back; they have a breakfast sandwich on a Portuguese Roll that is out of this world… the coffee sucks here though… order your breakfast and walk around the corner to BucksCounty Coffee stand next-door (second cup is a quarter) … fresh fish, produce, eggs & meats all brought in by the mostly Amish…


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Chanticleer Church Rd Wayne… see what $20-million 1976-dollars can buy you in the

way of a garden… Rosengarten was one of the founders of what is now SmithKlineBeecham… the water table is a real hoot… Longwood in miniature.


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Brandywine River Museum, Chards Ford… my personal favorites are the paintings by

NC Wyeth… visit the home and the studio … the tragic death by locomotive… German neighbor women… this place has it all… and the kids will love the gigantic Pig Portrait.


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Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities… well, this is one of a kind… not something

you’ll see anywhere else … the Lewis and Clark Medical display is very interesting… my friend Harry and I applied once to be exhibits there, but they didn’t get it.

Trolley Line Bike bath from Sugar town Rd to Radnor Chester Rd… spy on your neighbors’ back yards… nice little path.

Betzwood Bike Path… from here north to Collegeville; or down river to Filter Square in Philadelphia… for the serious tourist biker it’s basically all down hill following the river to Filter Square with a rough batch at Shawmont. Gunn’s Bar-B-Bar-B-Que is right off the bike trail at Wissahickon Creek by the bus depot… if you’re a fan of ribs, this is the place… plus they’ll hose you down in the back for nothing.

ABOUT THE RADIO AROUND THESE PARTS

1060 AM KYW is the ALL NEWS station… Traffic on the “Twos”

990 AM is WNTP Philly is the new talk station.Mike Gallagher then Bill Bennett then Laura Ingraham then Dennis Prager then Michael Medvid then Hugh Hewitt then Dennis Miller then Michael Savage. Weekends you have the Dirt Doctor out of Texas…


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1210 AM is the “big talker”: Smerconish then Glen Beck then Rush then Hannity then local hosts in evening…

710 AM WOR-NewYork comes in loud and clear… not so much at night… Joey Reynolds for all the Broadway News; Joe Bartlett and Donna Hanover (that’s right, Rudy’s ex); Joan Hamberg; Michael Colameco; Bill O’Reilly; Dennis Miller; Steve Malzberg; Michael Savage; Dr Joy Browne; Dr Ronald Hoffman

770 AM WABC (NewYork) the 50,000 watt flamethrower comes in loud and clear all the time… so when Phillies are on and you need a Rush Fix, this is where you turn… or if the local hosts on the Philly stations grate you, then it’s WABC. Weekends you have Money Talk with Bob Brinker if you need to know just how badly you’ve botched your finances, Bob’s the one to listen to… Coast to Coast; Curtis Sliwa; Imus; Paul Harvey; Limbaugh; Hannity; Mark Levin; Bob Grant; Laura Ingraham. Saturdays are great on WABC: Mark Simone; Larry Kudlow; Monica Crowley; Bob Brinker; Saturday Night Oldies (from the WABC archives, complete with ancient commercials); Bill Cunningham.

950 AM WALZ … the station that remembers, when you can’t.(Sundays 10a – Noon is the real estate show with Jay Lamont)

Well, if you actually read this far then you probably guessed that this is a work in progress… you’re welcome to send in your submissions of course. It’s a great area if you know the roads… or as Ginny’s mother used to say: “It’s a great life, if you don’t weaken.”

This is a work in progress anyway… when you run into a neat spot… let us know about it!

Sincerely,

John and Bubba Cheese


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chris’ grill, conestoga road in garrett...

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