The Christmas City

On Thursday, Douglas and I decided to go to Bethlehem for the weekend. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that is. It was a last minute decision to get a romantic night away from home.

We stayed at the Sayre Mansion, which was stunning. We hope to own a Bed and Breakfast one day, so we will call this visit research. Obviously, I did not take the picture below; it came from their website. Things were slightly whiter this weekend.

Bethlehem was one of Pennsylvania’s renowned steel producers. When you drive into town it is hard to miss the old mills. Douglas made several negative comments upon our arrival. He was disappointed by his first impression of the city.

However, Bethlehem has been doing a lot to transform what was once an industrial area. The old mills and stacks remain, but some of the buildings have been transformed into an entertainment district.

The Bethlehem Visitor Center is down there, as well as the National Museum of Industrial History.  Just to the east of the stacks there is a casino. That is not our things, so we skipped that. I would have liked to visit the museum, but it was already closed when we got there.

We spent the evening at the SteelStacks, an art and entertainment center. We went to see a movie, but we arrived an hour early in order to walk around and take in the sights.

I loved these chairs. They were bizarrely comfortable for plastic chairs designed more for their look than their function.  I am hoping to find one at a second hand shop someday. What do you think the odds are that I will own one eventually?

While we were there we ate a couple of flatbread pizzas. They were delicious. Douglas also appreciated that we were able to purchase beer and bring it into the theater with us. We saw Birdman. That was the most disappointing part of the evening.

When we came out of the movie, there was a free concert going on by the band Kagero. They bill themselves as a Japanese gypsy band. I was reminded of Pink Martini while listening to them, which is a good thing since that is one of my favorite bands.

As ugly as the decaying mills are from the highway, I must admit that they possess a certain kind of beauty when studied up close. I took a lot of pictures, but I did not have my good camera on me.

My mother’s family comes from Pittsburgh, and several of my family members worked in the mills. Maybe that is why they fascinate me so. Pittsburgh has torn down most of the mills that lined its rivers, and it saddens me to know that history is gone forever.

I also found myself wondering what these stacks must have looked while they were functioning. I can only imagine the awesome and terrifying sight of the molten steel flowing along. My grandfather was an artist who worked very briefly in a steel mill and had nothing favorable to say about the experience.

I really liked how they were lit up at night. The red on the shoots gives the impression that the steel is flowing once again.

In conclusion, no work was done on my chair this weekend. Once we got back I had a lot of grading to finish. The good news is that I got it all done, and now that I am not coaching, I will be able to do more in the afternoons. Of course, I have said that before in the past couple of months and very little has happened. Let’s hope this time will be different!

Happy Homemaking!