Sometimes, you have to embrace the strange and quirky in your life. This Fun Friday, we decided to do just that and check out some of the oddities along the roadsides of Berks County. A great place to find such places is Roadside America (roadsideamerica.org), a self-professed “online guide to offbeat tourist attractions.” Search by category, enter a location or (my favorite!) use the map view. A search of Hamburg resulted in lots of “pins” for quirky options; a few clicks reveal details like addresses, photos, reviews and tips.
We honed in on Reading but bypassed things seen on previous family adventures (the giant ant sculptures at the Reading Museum and the brightly colored Der Distelfink bird at Berks Heritage Center). We settled on an ambitious list of five items, entered addresses into our GPS and set off for an afternoon filled with the unusual. (Hint: this kind of outing is easy on the wallet. With the exception of a small donation at one site and a bag of pretzels at another, our only cost was the gas in our vehicle.)
First was the “Literal Fork in the Road,” found at the intersection of Main Street and Centerport Road in Centerport. Despite the lack of formal address, this was an easy spot to find: a nine-foot tall, metallic fork in the – well – fork in the road. We pulled into a gravel lot across the street and snapped a quick picture or two; a few friendly drivers honked and waved as they passed.
Our next stop was the “FDR fireplace” in West Wyomissing. The origins of this sculptural oddity are unclear. Some date it to Franklin Roosevelt’s radio “fireside chats” in the 1930s and ’40s, others believe it was a support for a now vanished railroad bridge. Despite an exact address (1 Morewood Ave.) we were unable to find our target. After the third pass of the address and surrounding blocks, we decided to move on to our next location, Shillington.
The Giant Pretzel outside Tom Sturgis Pretzels on 2267 Lancaster Pike is very easy to find. We pulled into the parking lot and studied the sculpture. Both children commented on the placement of the pretzel, wondering why it was upside-down.
Tours of this working pretzel factory are not an option (Hint: for a pretzel tour, head to Lititz and the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery), so we explored the visitor-friendly outlet store instead. We enjoyed samples of spicy and sweet preztels and bought some treats to share later with family. As we checked out, the clerk explained why the Giant Pretzel was “upside down.” Folklore says pretzels were created as a treat for good children and, she said, the shape was meant to resemble arms crossed in prayer.
We headed back through Reading and, checking the time, decided to save our next planned stop (an anchor from the historically-sunk USS Main in Reading’s City Park) for another day. Instead, we went directly to our final destination: the Pagoda perched on the hills at the east end of town.
This Asian-inspired structure is easily spotted from Reading’s highways and main roads, but this was our first time seeing it up close. The building is open to visitors Friday through Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.; visitors who arrive outside those hours can still explore the structure’s outer porches or take different pathways in the surrounding mountain-top park from dawn to dusk.
We arrived half an hour before closing and, for a suggested dollar donation per person, climbed flight after flight of stairs to the top. Here, cinematic views of the city lay at our feet. Large windows line all the walls and several viewfinders are on hand to enhance the vistas.
After soaking in the scenery, we took a quick tour of the fifth-floor museum. We learned the structure was built by William Witman in 1908. His plans to turn the site into a luxury resort failed; the building and surrounding acreage were eventually sold to the city for one dollar. For more on the history of the Reading Pagoda, visit readingpagoda.com. Visitors can also check it out in person at 98 Duryea Drive, Reading.
