12/30/2009
A friend of mine from high school was originally from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – that’s all I knew about it before our visit. The self-proclaimed “Christmas City, USA” was founded by a group of Moravians in the early 19th-century, and is part of the “folksy towns” category that Schultz is good at picking out.
Our first stop was the Moravian Book Shop, which Patricia Schultz told us is the oldest bookstore in North America. How could we resist that? Have I mentioned that I have catalogued our books in a database and assigned them all Library of Congress call numbers? Yeah. I like books. Anyway, the outside has that old town look, but the inside is very modern. Not that that’s a bad thing in and of itself, but I guess I had hoped there would be something distinctive about the store. However, it was like every modern bookstore I’ve ever been to. I’m sure that’s how it’s stayed in business so long, I guess. Got to keep up with the times.
After the bookstore, we strolled up and down the streets a little bit, peeking in store windows. We did stop by the visitor’s center which had a little museum attached to it, celebrating the history of the town and its beer-brewing history. Wow. Apparently, Pennsylvania loves its beer.
For dinner we decided to go to a locally-owned restaurant. Usually, the book suggests a place to eat, but there isn’t a suggestion for Bethlehem, so it was up to us. At this point, I should provide some free advertising for a website Laura and I love called restaurant.com. Just type in your zip code and you will be provided with various local restaurants and options to buy gift certificates at significant discounts. Before we went on our trip I used the site to buy a $25 gift certificate for only $2 for a place called the Belmont Inne. It was a really nice meal in a converted 19th-century hotel, and thanks to using the certificate from restaurant.com, not very expensive at all. It’s always fun eating in a place with some history. Laura says it reminded her of the Story Inn, except the food was good!
We didn’t spend the night in Bethlehem, but in a Super 8 in nearby Allentown. This Super 8 was miles above the one in Etters. The man at reception was very nice and seemed quite proud of his establishment, informing us he had booked us his best room. It wasn’t the Hilton, of course, but the pride the proprietors took in running this place was apparent.
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