Brandywine Springs Tour and/or Next Gathering

OK, time for me to 'fess up (and for those of you of a certain age, no, this has nothing to do with Davey Crockett). Back when we all met up in February (where has the year gone?), we seemed to decide that we'd like to do some sort of gathering again sometime. A meeting at Brandywine Springs park in the spring was suggested, an idea I liked. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to seeing if I could reserve a pavilion they were all booked for the entire summer. With the demographic range we'd be likely to have present, I felt a reserved pavilion was necessary to ensure that everyone had a comfortable, shaded place to sit. Once the spring sprinted by me, I figured that trying to get a reasonable quorum together during the summer would be tricky. And considering the weather, probably also sticky.

Now that the summer of '13 has been laid to rest (again, wasn't it February like a few weeks ago?), I thought it was a good time to start thinking about group activities again. When the idea of a Brandywine Springs meeting was bandied about, there was a suggestion of walking down the hill and taking a tour of the old amusement park site. I was wondering if anyone was still interested in that? I've given tours of the site before (in conjunction with the Wilmington & Western RR), and it takes about an hour or so. It's all on trails, but there is a decent hill on the way down and back up. The other caveat is that it, of course, would be dependant upon the weather. (I.E., I ain't walkin' around no park in no rain.)


So, would anyone be interested in taking a tour of the park? My (very) preliminary thought would be to shoot for sometime Saturday afternoon, September 14. Probably around 2:00, depending on what you all say. If the weather gods don't cooperate, we could try to reschedule for Sunday or the following weekend. If you think you might be interested and able to make it, let me know in the comments. I might also put a poll up to the right, depending on whether or not I can remember how to do that again.

I will say that my lower threshold for doing this is lower than it would be for an all-out gathering. We don't necessarily need 15 or 20 people to have a tour. If even only a few people are interested, I'd be more than happy to spend part of an afternoon walking through the park, talking history. I'll point out where all the major (and many minor) attractions were in the amusement park, and probably tell a few stories to go along with them. I'll also give you an idea of what archaeological work the Friends of Brandywine Springs have done over the past two decades. All in all, it should be a fun, enlightening, pleasant walk through the park.

On the other hand, anyone who doesn't want to take the tour is welcome to come out, too. I won't have a pavilion reserved, but if one is unoccupied we could still use it. If not, there are a fair number of picnic tables around. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up hanging around and talking for a bit after the tour was done.

Now, tour aside, I also want to start thinking about having another general (indoor) gathering. If anyone is interested in that, and/or has any suggestions for date or location, feel free to chime in. I was thinking that sometime late September or early October might be good. Let me know what you think.