Laurel Hill Cemetery Tour and BYOB Dinner at “Fig”
Sunday, October 1st
1:00 p.m. - 2:45 p.m.
Philadelphia
On Sunday, October 1, Philip Harvey will be hosting a tour of the marvelous Laurel Hill Cemetery to be followed by an excellent BYOB dinner at “Fig” restaurant.
Laurel Hill is the second oldest “rural cemetery” in the United States (Boston has the oldest). It has extensive acreage overlooking the Schuylkill River and Fairmount Park and is one of the most beautiful locations in the City of Philadelphia. It is a burial who’s who of prominent Philadelphians in banking, politics, industry, military (31 Civil War general officers), athletics and the arts. It is also an instructive museum of different burial practices and monument types as they evolved over the years. It is located about three miles north of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the East River (Kelly) Drive. For an overview Google www.thelaurelhillcemetery.org.
The “tour du jour” for October 1 is “Pints and Plots” which will feature the “resting places” of Philadelphia’s legendary “maltsters” who earned Philadelphia the reputation in earlier times of a major beer and ale producing center. Commentary will also be made by the tour guide about the different memorials used to mark the individual graves. The tour starts at 1:00PM and runs to about 3:00PM. It will be followed by a beer tasting.
Philip suggests arriving around 12:30PM as it takes a while to make payment and get signed up for the tour. The cost (including the tasting) is $18 for seniors (65 plus) and $20 for others. “Fig” is cash only and BYOB and will not give individual checks. Please bring enough cash and diverse bills (including lots of ones) to simplify settling the Laurel Hill charges and “Fig” dinners. If you join us for dinner you should be done by 6:00PM at the latest. If you are interested in joining this event please contact Philip Harvey at harvey1933@verizon.net or 610-357-9655 (e-mail strongly preferred). Hearing from you early would be very much appreciated. MLSC members have a history of responding “late in the game” but replying early increases our chances of getting an alternate private tour if desired. Directions to both Laurel Hill and “Fig” are furnished below.
Directions to Laurel Hill Cemetery: Proceed up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway (connects City Hall the Art Museum of Philadelphia) and pass to the right of the Art Museum. You will shortly see a gold statue of Joann of Arc on your right side. Hit your trip odometer at this point. Proceed 3.9 miles on the East River Drive (also called the Kelly Drive) and take a right turn on Midvale Avenue. There is a Sunoco station at this turn. In about thirty yards turn right on Ridge Avenue and proceed 0.5 miles until you see large white columns on your right. This marks the entrance to Laurel Hill Cemetery. You can park in the free lot across Ridge Avenue from the columns. Directions to Fig Restaurant:
Turn right out of the parking lot and proceed 0.5 miles. Turn left on Midvale Avenue. Turn left at the dead end on East River Drive (also called Kelly Drive) and proceed 3.9 miles to the Joan of Arc statue. Turn left so that the Joan of Arc statue will be only a few feet on your left. Proceed two blocks up 25Th. Street and Fig will be on the far left hand corner. Find a place to park and join the rest of our group at this fine BYOB restaurant.