Review: Doylestown Historical Society Public Park

Outdoor Appeal: 6
Setting: small downtown Doylestown park, reflecting pool, slate paved terraces, Canal mule statue, chess tables, some trees and flowers and a swash of grass flanked by an old stone wall

Explorable Op's: A few. This is a small park that's meant for respite and reflection so there isn't anything there specifically geared towards kids. Although the reflecting pool, the mule and the open running space provided by the slate slabs seem to be enough for 20 minutes or so.

Difficulty: Easy. The park is terraced but most surfaces are covered in slate slabs and are flat.

Facilities: None. But downtown Doylestown is just around the corner so you are never far from food, drink and restrooms.

Review: As far as I can tell this small park doesn't get a lot of use. There are chess matches played here once a month and on Friday and Saturday nights in the summer the park can get mobbed with kids who are looking to loiter. But usually we don't see anyone else while we stroll through. It really is a nice sanctuary tucked away from the rest of the downtown area. We go to the park often and we normally stop by on the way home from town. As I mentioned above, the reflecting pool, the mule and the open area of slate slabs seems to offer enough for my kids to run off some of the extra energy they may still have left in them. The park has a clean, finished look to it. Most of the park is covered in slate. There is a large tree that stands guard in the middle of the park and gives shade to the two chess tables. Uphill from the park is a gravel parking lot and the back of the shops on Oakland Avenue. The back of the shops are brick so it doesn't take away from the ambiance of the place. The place feels down right civilized!

Recommendations: This is definitely the place to take a cup of coffee from any one of the 6 (or is it 7 now?) cafe slinging shops in town and relax for a bit. The park provides a view and a calming sense of quiet - something Europeans seem to value but Americans are still a bit uncomfortable with. Jules Thin Crust Pizza is just down the street a few doors. I recommend picking up a pizza and some drinks there and walking up to the park with the family. Jules is usually mobbed so it will be nice to eat outdoors away from rest of town where you won't be bothering anyone and no one will be bothering you. Now, in the Review above I mentioned that kids frequent the park on Friday and Saturday nights. But I'm going to go ahead and recommend both nights for a family visit. Nothing scares an adolescent more than being around family on a Friday or Saturday night. When they see you coming with a pizza and your kids they'll realize that you are planning on staying and they'll scram in a hurry. Enjoy!

Review: Doylestown Airport

Outdoor Appeal: 5

Setting: Local small craft airport, flat land, not much of a geographic view outside of airport grounds although the sky is wide open. Small picnic area

Explorable Op's: Very few. The main attraction here is the air-traffic. The area to view the planes is very small.

Difficulty: NA. This is a place to view planes take off and land. There are about 50 yards of flat ground to cover.

Facilities: Civilized. The airport has restrooms, vending machines and an indoor seating area. All are within seconds of the picnic area.

Review: We've been to the Doylestown Airport dozens of times with the kids and it is always a sure way to get some free entertainment. Like most small craft airports, the best days to visit are on the weekends. Doylestown has planes taking off and landing every few minutes on most Saturdays and Sundays. The outdoor area to view the planes is a small fenced in grassy yard so it's ideal for small children. They have a sense of freedom to roam yet they can never get too far away. The staff and pilots are friendly and often wave to the kids as they taxi down the runway. It's a great way to spend an hour or so on a Saturday or Sunday.

Recommendations: The picnic area has plenty of tables so bring a snack, lunch or even dinner if the timing is right. There is very little shade so think about sunglasses, sunblock and hats. We've noticed that a helicopter lands on Wednesday nights around 6 pm. This may actually happen every evening but we just happen to go on Wednesdays. Also, if your kids are into it, bring a toy play or helicopter with you to play with. It's a real hit with everyone.

Review: Star Garden Scavenger Hunt

The Star Garden is a very small park in the center of Doylestown. It's just across from the outdoor bar area for Puck. The main attraction of the park is the mosaic wall, although my kids are also fascinated with the water fountains: the drinking fountain and the rock sculpture fountain. After a few trips to the park with both boys, I started to wonder how many words were on the mosaic wall. That's when I had the idea for a scavenger hunt. It's not a traditional scavenger hunt in that you're not going to gather anything to take somewhere to get a prize. But I think it's a fun little addition to your visit to the park and to Doylestown in general, especially for curious kids. See if you can make the observations and find the things listed below at the Star Garden. The answers are listed below the photos.

1. The tree in the middle of the park is a sweet gum tree. What shape are the leaves? Also, what shape is the fruit of the tree?

2. How many sweet gum leaf tiles are there on the mosaic wall?

3. What are the "hidden" virtues listed on the mosaic wall?

4. What animals live in the towers?

5. How many chimneys can be seen from the Star Garden? (You may need to walk around to get a view of all of them.)

6. How many of these animals can you find on the mosaic wall? (you may find more than one)

• worm


• snail


• clam


• spider


• dog


• frog


• snake


• butterfly


• flower


• dragonfly


• turtle


• owl


• crab


• fish


• duck
  
• ladybug


• cat


• bee


• person

ANSWERS: *Note, if you find different answers than I've come up with here please feel free to post them in the comments below. Hope you have fun.

1. a star, and the fruit of the tree also kind of looks like a star

2. seven

3. peace, justice, compassion, friendship, freedom

4. a bird and a squirrel

5. 24 chimneys

Doylestown Bike Tour

Doylestown is a great place to take the family out on a bike ride. There are a lot of options and the Doylestown Bike/Hike System, which connects the community with a series of paths and street routes, continues to make the town more and more biker-friendly. There are a few things I like to keep in mind before I chose a route to cruise around town with my kids:

1. Safety - I don't want to be on roads that have too much traffic or bumpy sidewalks.

2. Scenery - One of the most attractive things about Doylestown is the town itself. So when we're going on a leisurely ride, I like to coast down the tree lined streets of the borough more than the paths that lead away from town.

3. Destinations - Don't get me wrong. Meandering through town on a bike is a lot of fun. But it's a good idea to be able to have a few destinations on your route when riding with kids. The destinations break up the tour and give everyone manageable short distance goals to make it to.

4. Loops - Kids seem to love to ride in circles ad nauseum. They find a circular route and just hammer away at it. So I like to include places on a bike ride where our oldest son can motor around without being in any danger.

5. Parking - If you are driving into town you'll want to have an easy place to unload the kids and the bikes. So a parking lot is probably a good starting point as opposed to street side parking.

6. Hills - For the most part, you'll probably want to avoid big hills on the bike ride and stay on level ground. But a bike ride that has a "big" hill to go down is always a thrill for kids. Finding a hill that is safe and manageable for everyone is a big plus.

The bike tour posted here hits on each one of the points listed above. It's a beatiful ride through town that avoids heavy traffic. There are two destinations: Font Hill and Fanny Chapman, there are two loops: Belmont Square and Fanny Chapman Park Path, and there is a nice downhill: Linden Avenue. The bike tour starts and ends at the Doylestown Public Library so there is plenty of free parking and ample space to load and unload. Enjoy the ride!




View Doylestown Bike Tour in a larger map

Start at Doylestown Library Parking Lot

• Park at Doylestown Library
• Leave parking lot and go up Pine Street
• Right into Garden Alley
• Right on Church Street and quick left onto Belmont Avenue
• Follow Belmont to Cottage Street
• Left onto Cottage Street
• Right onto Court Street
• Cross East Street
• Continue on Court Street, Left at entrance to Font Hill
• Check out the Pond behind the Castle and explore the grounds and wooded trails within Font Hill

Leaving Font Hill

• Exit Font Hill onto Court Street
• Left on Court Street
• Right onto Belmont Court
• Ride a loop (or more) around Belmont Square
• Leave Belmont Square on Rohr Drive
• Cross Maple Street
• Left at Linden Avenue (Big hill!)
• Right at bottom of the hill onto Creek Drive
• Right onto Forest Drive
• Left onto Hickory Drive
• Right onto Orchard Lane
• Right onto Bike/Hike Path on East State Street
• Cross at traffic light to Fanny Chapman Park
• Do a loop (or more) around Fanny Chapman Park, explore area

Leaving Fanny Chapman Park

• Walk bikes up Boro Mill (it’s steep)
• Left onto East State Street
• Slight left onto Ashland Street
• Cross Church Street
• Left onto Pine Street
• Arrive back at Library, get out some books, go home and read