Pudge's!? Seriously??

NOTHING about yesterday's grannie client jaunt turned out as planned.  And it all went beyond expectations!

A glorious Monday, the plan was to make an extended outing to Lancaster County, traveling my beloved Route 23, which is from Phoenixville to New Holland is basically all ridge road - what glorious views of hills & sky beckoned us!  

I'd expected to do lunch at my g.c.'s senior community residence - until just one peek at the day's selections.  Sorry, but bor-ing!  My g.c. was definitely deflated by the offerings.  So, off we went to the car & on our way!

Lunch - an incredibly low $12! - was at the always epic Feast & Fancy, in Springhouse.  My g.c. had generous scoops of three utterly yum salads - fruit, cucumber & potato over a bed of lovely lettuce - while i tucked into seasoned beans, carrot/raisin & cucumber.  Oh, and lemonade & V& plus decadent chocolate chip cookies!  Picked up a just-right, dirt cheap anniversary present from John to me (hey, it was on sale) & found the perfect "from his heart" gift for him to give me - that one, he will have to go up & get (a Liztech tack of a hand forming "I love you" in sign language).  

My ego was greatly fluffed by our lunch - the ladies oooed & ahhhhed over how I look.  Felt great!

Ego & tummies both filled, we headed westward.  Little did I know what lay ahead.

Shopping centers.  Cookie cutter shopping centers, littering the road sides of Route 13.  Was so disappointed.

For my grannie client, it was even worse, if that was possible.  She was bored. B O R E D.  She wanted nothing more than to turn around & head home from such a dull slog.  We nipped into a restaurant with a good reputation for excellent ice cream (it was), then turned tail homeward.  Down Rt. 10.

Now, I rarely take Route 10.  And never south.  I prefer a tiny country road that winds down & is bordered with jaw-dropping farm gardens.  Had no idea what lay ahead of us.

Beauty.  Beauty stretched out before us.  And prosperous farms.  And horse-drawn buggies.  And looong clotheslines, wash fluttering in the breeze.  And trees - lots & lots of trees.

My grannie client just could not get over the abundance of trees.  They totally wowed her.  She loved the narrow road, loved the up & down, up & down of the only slightly homeward bound lanes.  I just followed my nose - and a very wise nose it was.

We were in an area that probably 99% of my friends & acquaintances don't know very well.  Because of my sister, I am happily familiar with this lovely stretch of Pennsylvania.  

How old was I when Mim was nanny to Mary Alice Malone's step daughters?  In my late 20s?  Early 30s?  Will have to ask her.  In any case, it was after the demise of the van, so Mim often needed me to be her delighted wheels.  Which is how I came to know Iron Spring Farm, as well as its surrounding environs.  All of which stood me in excellent stead yesterday, dropping down down down Rt. 10.  

It felt in my bones like a route would pop up after Parkesburg to head me back east & sure enough - there was Rt. 926 & the spark of an ancient memory that this was it.  What a lovely meander it was, through more lush farms & cozy little villages.  What memories sparked as we headed up Rt. 52 - so many drives with various combinations of Dad & Mom & Mim!  All of them were with us as we headed toward West Chester.  

West Chester has long been dear to my heart, so it was great fun to drive through the heart of that charming town, then heading over (ghastly commercial) Rt. 3 to be-calm-my-beating-heart Strasburg Road.

Dad introduced me to Strasburg Road (which becomes Goshen Road), one of my favorite stretches of road on the planet.  Right up there with the Lincoln & Kelly Drives.  By this time, my g.c. was beyond amazed - "Do you know EVERY road around here?" - and totally entranced.  Why do people take the big roads when such a total charmer gets them to where they're going with less stress & more smiles?  Unlike Rt. 23, this beloved road seemed unchanged through the 40+ years I've loved it.

Until we came up to Rt. 252.  Breaks my heart to see the gosh awful development that has destroyed what had been John DuPont's massive estate.  Nauseating.

Headed up Rt. 252 to Paoli, with Nudy's in Devon our intended dinner destination.  My grannie client's opinion of my knowledge of the Main Line grew even deeper, stronger as we turned down itty bitty, oddly skewed E. Conestoga Rd to Nudy's - which was closed!  Never realized it only serves breakfast & lunch!  Not even slight twinges of regret as we headed under the railroad overpass, toward ridge-ish Upper Gulph Road.

Dipped down Arden Road, left onto Rt. 320, then almost immediately right & right again onto Balligomingo Road, which looks the way it sounds - marvelous - which took us to Front Street (parallel to the Schuylkill River) & Conshohocken.

My g.c. loved saying the name, over & over - Conshohocken. 

By the time we headed left up Butler Pike, was running through our dining choices.  Brittingham's was out - not open on Mondays.  Scoogi's in Flourtown would be okay, but we went there recently.  Figured where to go would present itself.

Did it ever!  As we were driving past a diner notorious over the past couple decades for frequent change of owners, I spotted yet another new name - PUDGE'S.  Pudge's?  Seriously??  O be joyful!

Have been a fan of Pudge's ever since my US Healthcare days, going on thirty years ago.  Surely a place that boasted perhaps the best cheesesteak in the area would have terrific burgers, beloved by this particular g.c.  What a great experience!  She actually had a blt, while I tucked into a grilled veggie sandwich that was every bit as fabulous as I remembered the meat version.  

If anyone had told me this morning that supper would be a vegetarian-style Pudge's cheesesteak, would have thought them nuts.  Yet there we were, two happy campers chomping away on our mega tasty supper!

The rest of the drive was capped with more loveliness - through Erdenheim, past Chestnut Hill College, through the village of Chestnut Hill, then on to my grannie client's hearth & home.

As I said, nothing turned out yesterday the way I'd expected, and it all turned out fabulous.  Pudge's for dinner?  Seriously?  YES!!!