Cheap Trips: Theater, History, Nature and a Zoo

Looking to save money?

Try one of these four trips that you can enjoy on just one tank of gas -- Harriton House in Bryn Mawr, Lehigh Valley Zoo in Schnecksville, People’s Light & Theater Company in Malvern and Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust in Huntingdon Valley.

1. Harriton House

Address: 500 Harriton Road, Bryn Mawr, PA
How Far From Nazareth Patch? About one hour and 20 minutes

Hours: Tours are held Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Advanced notice of your arrival is recommended.

Admission Fee:

• Adults: $5
• Students: Free

Summary: Harriton House is one of the 19 institutions in Bryn Mawr that is more than 100 years old. In 1704, a Welsh Quaker named Rowland Ellis built a house on some of the 700 acres he received from William Penn. He called his estate "Bryn Mawr," which means "high hill" in Welsh. The estate's most famous occupant, however, was Charles Thomson, the first and only secretary of the Continental Congress. Harriton House was bought by Lower Merion Township in 1969 and restored to the time when Thomson lived there. It opened to the public in 1975, and the historical site offers daily tours and numerous programs throughout the year, including beekeeping, blacksmithing and a plantation fair coming up on Sept. 24.

Links:

• Other Patch stories
• harritonhouse.org
  
  

2. Lehigh Valley Zoo

Address: 5150 Game Preserve Road, Schnecksville, PA
How Far From Nazareth Patch? About 40 minutes

Admission Fee:

• Adults (12 to 64): $9.75
• Seniors (65+): $8.75
• Children (2 to 11): $7.75

Hours:

• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily -- weather permitting -- April 1 to Oct. 31
• 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily -- weather permitting -- Nov. 1 to March 31 (off season)

Summary: The Lehigh Valley Zoo is located within the scenic 1,100-acre Trexler Nature Preserve in Lehigh County. It's home to more than 250 animals, including African Black-Footed Penguins, Mexican Gray Wolves, Mongoose Lemur, Red Kangaroo, Plains Zebra, Laughing Kookaburra and Tammar Wallaby. The zoo recently welcomed two new female bison brought in to help the herd produce offspring.

Links:

• lvzoo.org

3. People’s Light & Theatre Company

Address: 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA
How Far From Nazareth Patch? About one hour and 30 minutes

Admission: Individual tickets range from about $25 to $45. Season and groups tickets are also available.

Hours: Showtimes vary

Summary: For fans of the theater, a trip to New York or downtown Philadelphia can be avoided thanks to places like the People’s Light & Theatre Company. Now in its 35th year of operation, the local playhouse has put on performances of various genres, including everything from musicals and comedies to dramas and tragedies. Up next at the People’s Light & Theatre Company is "Don Quixote," which will run from Sept. 21 through Oct. 16.

Links:

• peopleslight.org

4. Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust

Address: 2955 Edgehill Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA
How Far From Nazareth Patch? About one hour and 20 minutes

Hours:

• Nature trails are open daily from 8 a.m. to dusk
• The main office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The Visitors’ Center is open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., as well as Sunday afternoons.

Admission Fee:

• Admission to the nature trails is free.
• Some nature and educational programs charge a nominal fee for participation.

Summary: The Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust serves as an 800-plus-acre preservation for what was once Eastern Montgomery County’s prevalent landscape: fields and fields of pristine prairie lands.
The Trust’s efforts of conservation led its limited staff and hundreds of volunteers on a year-round mission to protect indigenous fauna and flora from invasive plant species -- and especially deer.

Visitors may stroll or hike along trails or ride their horses. Some trails reveal once powerful paper mills -- now stone remnants -- along the Pennypack Creek that pre-date the founding of the United States.

Also to further the trust’s mission of conservation, several interactive programs are available to both members and the public.

Recently, the trust has held firefly walking tours, beekeeping lessons and native plant sales. The Trust will hold its next event, “March of the Monarchs,” on Sept. 17.

Link:

www.pennypacktrust.org