The Susquehanna Photographic

One of the exciting things about running our business is that we get to travel fairly regularly to shoot various projects. Often times we'll go to nearby towns for engagement sessions, so that we can shoot the couples in places that are special to them. 

But because we're foodies, small town advocates, and just generally curious, we often make a day of it and explore local restaurants, businesses, and the like. 

A Saturday or two ago, we traveled to King's Gap State Park to shoot an engagement session for our clients Lacey and Michael, who will be getting married later this year. 

On the top of the park's mountain sits a beautiful mansion with a great view of the area. 

After a great session, we had worked up an appetite. Upon the recommendation of a friend, we decided to make a stop at King's Gap General Store, a great little place for hunters and locals to stop for anything from basic groceries, to sandwiches, to cigarettes. 

Boy, were we in for a treat. Turns out, it's the longest running general store in Cumberland County, and it shows no sign of stopping.

The store had much of its old world charm still in tact and was truly ingrained in the community.

And the food was great! We had to taste the local favorite sandwich: the Blockbuster. What's that you say? You've never heard of it? We hadn't either. Good thing Lacey and Michael filled us in. It's a hot ham and cheese sandwich, with onions, lettuce and tomato on a sesame seed bun. 

We could certainly see how THAT would get us ready for a good day of hunting. 

After a quick jaunt downstairs to browse their antiques, it was back to York for us. 

All in a day's work!

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Past "Day Trip" posts:

Ellicott City, Part 1

Ellicott City, Part 2

Gettysburg, PA

Peter's Orchards

Nomad Pizza Co.

Western PA

We love York history. We can't tell always tell you who did what where and when or the names of all of the buildings in the city, but we are constantly fascinated by what is around us. You can, quite literally, explore every stage of American history within just a few blocks of Continental Square.

In early February, workers at the Codo 28 project behind Central Market discovered a corroded metal box buried in one of the walls. When they opened it, they were surprised to find a time capsule of sorts: newspapers, photographs, a funeral booklet, a letter, and a bottle of wine.

Seemingly unrelated, the box turned out to be a collection put together by Fannie E. Altland from the years 1890-1909. She gingerly writes in a letter to the box's discoverer:

"This building was built by Fannie E. Altland as a memorial for her father Oliver Stuck who for over 50 years conducted upon this site a very successful printing business being proprietor and editor of the Democratic Press.
Oliver Stuck was a good husband and a conscious father, a man of true principle and one beloved by all who knew him."

She went on to include copies of various York newspapers, including Stuck's Democratic Press, as well as her his funeral book and obituary.

There are many things that are lost, however. The bottle's cork has since deteriorated, leaking wine over the box's contents. Several photographs have also faded in time, leaving mere representations of those that were there.

York was lucky enough to have this discovery when it did, and we were of course proud to photograph it.

For more photos of the time capsule's contents, visit our gallery. 
For coverage of the discovery back in February, click here. 

Thanks to Eric Menzer we got our hands on the early 1900's time capsule found at Codo 28.

We spent a great deal of time documenting the pieces and will be sharing them all in their high resolution glory in a few days, until then we thought we would tease you with just one.

Click for full size

Last night, a small crowd of rain-braving supporters gathered at Flair Fashions on North George Street to watch Mayor Kim Bracey award the shop her Merchant of the Month.

Flair Fashions is a ladies boutique offering a wide array of the latest fashions from New York and LA.

They offer shoes, jewelry, handbags, and other accessories for all budgets.

Flair Fashions seems to be just the type of shop that will help get downtown York off the ground. Owner Andrea Giuffrida was happy to accept the award from Mayor Bracey on behalf of the city and Downtown Inc.

Some attendees even had time to shop- including the mayor herself!

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In this post:

Mayor Kim Bracey

Flair Fashions

Downtown Inc

...but we captured these images on our way home tonight. 

The Saf-T-Tan / Making Waves Salon at 2520 N. George St. caught fire this evening at 11:42pm.

Many (seriously, lots) emergency units were at the scene.

According to YDR:

The business was reportedly closed at the time of the fire, and no firefighter injuries were reported as of about 12:45 a.m.

Whew! Thank goodness!