Spring Training 2026 - Day 9 (Pat)

My second day in Philadelphia was a road trip.  I wanted to see my old home in the Edgely/Levittown area about 40 minutes north of Philadelphia along the Delaware River.  My parents bought the house in 1938 for $1,000. I was born across the river in Trenton, NJ and grew up in the house, living there until I joined the Air Force in 1959.

I also wanted to see what had become of Judy's childhood home in Levittown, PA the mega affordable housing development where she lived from 1955 until we were married in 1962.  Her house is only a mile away and I made the trip many times while we were in high school.

The area where we grew up has had many changes, but the houses are still there, updated of course since then, but they brought back many memories. All the old neighbors have moved on, and I didn't stop other than to take pictures.  It was worth the visit.

Pat's House

Judy's House

I next traveled down to Bristol, a Delaware River town established in 1681 and about 2-miles south.  It was the terminus of the Delaware Canal bringing down coal in mule-drawn barges from Easton, PA to Bristol for shipment down to Philadelphia and beyond. The canal has been preserved for the most part and the canal berm is now a popular recreational trail.  I used to swim in the canal back in the day.

Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division) - Wikipedia

Bristol hasn't changed much. They have developed the wharf area into an attractive place to visit alongside a riverfront park. Due to the ongoing cold winter weather in the area, the river was almost totally frozen over, something I can't recall seeing while living along the river.  The canal terminus with its locks in Bristol have been built over but there is a memorial in the park commemorating the canal terminus.

Bristol 

Bristol's Lost Lock – National Canal Museum - National Canal Museum

A historical note:  Part of Washington' plan for crossing the Delaware was for a force to also cross the river at Bristol, however that plan was aborted when they couldn't cross the river due to ice.

My next stop was a short drive up-river to Washington Crossing Historic Park.  The park along the river is where the crossing was made.  Their website said the visitors center is open on Sunday, but it was not due to frozen water pipes.  Lots of things to do there in season.

Washington Crossing Historic Park

While there, I decided to check out the Washington Crossing National Cemetery, a potential final resting place for Judy and me.  The cemetery is about 3 miles from the crossing site in a rural setting.  It is a nice location that may be in my final estate planning.

Washington Crossing National Cemetery

It was then back to the hotel in Philadelphia to get ready for my flight tomorrow to Tampa to meet Kevin and get settled in at the RV park where we will be staying until the end of March.