While its legality is “questionable,” almost anyone who’s grown up within the city limits has taken a dip in these refreshing waters at least once or twice. My aunt used to take me, my brother, and cousin there when we were kids and let us run wild. It was a place where, before frivolous lawsuits over too-hot coffee and people slipping on icy pavements, kids could be kids and people could relax and let their hair down, and if you got yourself hurt, it was your own damn fault for being stupid. These days it’s still in high use and demand as a place to cool off on hot days. On my walk there in August, I saw two guys hiking a slippery, rocky trail carrying a full-sized barbeque, followed by a girl with a huge bag of charcoal. The last guy in the train carried two coolers: one was probably full of meats. Talk about dedication.

The map below shows a loop walk I took with a friend recently, starting at the stone bridge on the Forbidden Drive side of the Wissahickon Creek, crossing the bridge over to the low creekside trail, walking past the Fingerspan, the Falls at Livezey Lane, Devil’s Pool, Valley Green, and around back to the bridge. This trail is pretty rugged, with some potentially slippery spots. Along the blue route are different landmarks, mapped out for your point of reference and access point… the actual location of the swimming hole is approximated – guessed by the bridge which runs over the Cresheim Creek. The actual map coordinates may be a bit different. You need to be on the Mount Airy/Germantown/Chestnut Hill side of the Wissahickon to access Devil’s Pool. Easy access locations are Valley Green (approximately 15 minute walk), Livezey Lane (approx. 15 minute walk), or paths down alongside the Cresheim Creek in Chestnut Hill.

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Devil’s Pool is formed where the Creshiem Creek runs down and spills into the Wissahickon, a pool of water about 4-5 feet deep on most good days collects. Some folks take their chances and jump off rocks into the pool, but it’s really a stupid place to try to do any fancy diving or high trick jumps - the water never gets more than 5 feet deep anymore, not even after storms.

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Northeast Philadelphia, or “The Great Northeast,” as some like to call it, is a wondrous place for a visit. It’s got Russian supermarkets with aisles devoted to pickles, trails that go for miles back in Pennypack Park, and wacky thrift shops almost untouched by hipsters. It’s got Franklin Mills Mall and suburban sprawl.

We’ve been there in the trenches… We understand that sometimes you just need to get the f*ck out of Dodge. You keep seeing the same people at the same places and it’s worn thin. Or maybe you just need to experience another place as an observer to appreciate how great your life is (or isn’t, as it could turn out to be). Getting away to a foreign land can sometimes be prohibitively expensive, or take too long to get you back in the office on Monday morning. When you’ve got the time, you ain’t got the money, and vice versa.

Cities in Pixie Dust is a big fan of exploration of “foreign” lands. Sometimes this means other countries, or other cities nearby. But just as often – it means exploring unusual parts of your own town. You don’t always have ten days and $1500 to go on vacation when you need it. We aim to someday share with you which Port Richmond bar has the best pierogie through experienced taste tests and photo exposes, which Korean BBQ in Olney has the best karaoke, where we found $3 drinks in Manhattan, and so on.

Today’s post is the first in a short series about Northeast Philadelphia.

We bring you…

The Twistee Treat custard stand. Unfortunately it was not open for us to sample their offerings… But CPD will be heading back soon (sometime after 12 noon daily by the way!) for a taste test. Welcome to summer. We know it’s not technically official until June 20th or so, but we all know Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial first weekend of summer.

Located at Frankford and Longshore Aves. (you can see it on Google Maps satellite!)

You may wonder why we visited a custard stand which was closed. We know we are a bit quirky, but that’s just plain weird.
It was for the “roadside architecture” aesthetic appreciation. Robert Venturi would call this building a “Duck.” Sure. He’s totally wrong, because we can all see it’s not a duck, it’s a giant strawberry ice cream cone. But you can read more about “Duck architecture” or “mimetic architecture” here. Consider it your summer reading requirement. For more examples of interesting roadside architecture, check out Agility Nut’s website or flickr blog. And just for your reference, this ice cream stand isn’t too far from the Grey Lodge Pub.