Cheap Trips: Rock Parks, Fine Art and Maurice Sendak

Are you interested in taking a trip, but not willing to part with a stack of money?

Try one of these three trips you can enjoy on just one tank of gas: the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Haverford Township Free Library, Lock Ridge Furnace Park in Alburtis or the Gallery on High in Pottstown.

1. Lock Ridge Furnace Park

Address: 543 Franklin Street, Alburtis
How Far From Emmaus Patch: About 18 minutes / About 9 miles

Admission:

• Free

Hours:

• Open daily dawn to dusk

Summary: This unique site was named one of Lehigh County's "" by Patch readers. Once the home of an enormous anthracite iron furnace built in 1868, Lock Ridge is now much different from the dirty, smelly plant where men toiled on 12-hour shifts to fuel the Industrial Revolution. Visitors can walk among the former railroad trestles and explore dramatic stone remains of historic buildings. The 59-acre park includes trails, benches, playground, creek, pavilion, athletic fields and free parking.

Links: 

2. Gallery on High

Address: 254 E. High Street, Pottstown
How Far From Emmaus Patch: About 40 minutes / About 22.8 miles

Admission:

• Free

Hours:

• Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Summary: The Gallery on High offers a fun and exciting atmosphere for artists to showcase their creations and for the public to participate in the artistic process as well as showcase national and international art installations. It offers contrasting styles of media for the casual as well as the most discriminating collector. The current show at Gallery on High, “Re-Creative: A recycled art show," is on display until April 21.

Links:

• Patch Place Listing
• Website

3. The Haverford Township Free Library

Address: 1601 Darby Road, Havertown
How Far From Emmaus Patch: About one hour and 10 minutes / About 47.4 miles

Admission:

• Free

Hours:

• Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

About: The Haverford Township Free Library presents the exhibit, "In a Nutshell: The Worlds of Maurice Sendak," until April 20. The exhibit features many of Sendak's famous and not-so-famous works. 

"Popular children’s author Maurice Sendak’s typically American childhood in New York City inspired many of his most beloved books, such as Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen," the library states. "Illustrations in those works are populated with friends, family, and the sights, sounds and smells of New York in the 1930s."

Links:

• Website