September 15, 2023, Marion, VA- Denim Coffee has a nondescript sign, and takes up a small storefront, across the street from the Pennsylvania State Capitol-and Strawberry Square. It also produces what, to me, is eastern Pennsylvania’s finest cup of coffee-and I know a thing or two about good java. The perky barista who greeted me this morning is another plus for the shop.

The coffee stop, and a walk through Strawberry Square-the delightful indoor mall that abuts the Capitol, on its southwest corner, are definite rewards for the visitor to Harrisburg, who will find a dignified, solidly-constructed complex, bordered to the north by Historic State Street, with its magnificent St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Grace Church. The Susquehanna River and its bridges add further luster to the community.

Harrisburg will see me again, but in the meantime, here are a few scenes of another part of the historical core of Keystone- which spreads from Gettysburg to Philadelphia’s Old City.

I have, in a few cases, entered a state capitol building and enjoyed its interior. I hope to do so in this Capitol, next Spring, as well as to focus on the Susquehanna, and its role in Harrisburg’s, and the state’s, growth.

The barista at Denim reminded me, strikingly, of my late cousin, Linda, who spent her final years in York, to the south of Harrisburg. It was in Linda’s memory that I went to York, the subject of the next post.