I’m a lighthouse lover and have seen at least 20 different lighthouses during my lifetime. I enjoy visiting them, touring them, and learning more about them. While I enjoy visiting them, I can’t imagine living in like lightkeepers of past or working in one 24 hours a day. What a hard and important job that was back in the good old days.

One of my favorite lighthouses in the northeast is located in southern New Jersey in Cape May Point State Park. It’s the world-famous Cape May Lighthous which has been in operation since 1859. The light can be seen for 24 nautical miles and helps guide mariners who are in the area or passing through.

We visit Cape May a few times every year and it had been awhile since we had visited the lighthouse. We drive by it and see it on every trip (from a distance) while down at the shore…but on our last trip we took the time to go into the park and see it up close. I’m afraid of heights, so I didn’t climb the steps to the top, but my husband did.

Do you enjoy touring lighthouses? If so, do you have a favorite one that you like to visit?

How many of you enjoy looking at old churches? We love looking at them and always seek them out when we’re traveling. We’ve seen some that were built in the late 1700’s still standing and still holding services. We’ve seen some that have been sold and converted into office space or other things. Some of the buildings are small and may hold 50 people while other’s have been expanded over the years to hold a few thousand.

It’s amazing the different styles that you see. One room (one level), some with multiple levels, with or without steeples, some with parsonages attached or on the property, some with or without their own graveyards, etc. One thing they all have in common is HISTORY!

We like to photograph the interesting ones that we come across. Some will have historical information plaques located nearby, while others we have to look-up online to gather historical information. The older the church, the better. We really love the ones with beauitiful stained glass windows and tall steeples. They’re amazing pieces of our nation’s architecture and history.

In my post today I thought I would show you 3 churches located in central Pennsylvania. The Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hummelstown was built with brownstone that was mined in the state. It’s been serving local residents in the hummelstown area for over 200+ years! The one in the second photo is an old stone church that is still in operation that is located along Walnut Street in Harrisburg. That stained glass window is huge and absolutely stunning to see in person.

The church in the photograph above is an old one called Paxton Church and it’s located in a Harrisburg suburb. What I love about this one is the very tall door and windows! They’re HUGE in length but slender in width.  The old Paxton Church has a graveyard on the property and you’ll find some very important people from the local area buried there. You can learn a lot by visiting old churches and their graveyards!

Anyone else enjoy visiting these old buildings? The majority of the time they allow public visitors, so if you ever feel the need to visit inside…don’t be afraid to ask!