Catching Up With Some Phone Pictures

Howdy and happy MLK Day! I'm taking advantage of the day off to catch up on some phone pictures that haven't made it to the blog yet (or maybe a factor of that and not wanting to finish that Mexico post). In the past few regular posts I forgot to put in the pictures off my phone, they were just from my camera.

 Schuylkill Canal, Phoenixville, PA
Alongside the Schuylkill River, there used to be a canal to move freight spanning from Philadelphia to Pottsville which operated from 1825 until it was rendered obsolete by the Reading Railroad in 1931. The majority of it was filled in during the following decades as the river was cleared of silt; other sections dried up due to lack of maintenance. There are about 3.5 of the original 60 miles still filled; this section and the Manayunk portion in Philly.

 The concrete walls and railings are remnants of the lock that used to be here. Of the former locks, this is the most intact. It is still maintained so the canal can be used for recreation.

 The Reading Viaduct passes over the canal. You could say the railroad overshadowed it in more ways than one.

 The canal is separated from the actual river by a narrow strip of land. This is looking across the Schuylkill itself.

 This building on the edge of the canal has been under construction for almost as long as I can remember, very slowly progressing. Before they started work, it was a long-abandoned bar. It currently has signs out advertising it as being for lease, indicating they might be just about done work finally.

 Foreshadowing
The Pharmacy at the Phoenixville Kmart was axed in early 2017. The store followed during their bankruptcy the following year. Their temporary solution was taping over the Pharmacy roadside sign. Later they painted it red. Also of not is that the Sears Outlet here closed without notice about a month after this picture was taken.

 Decapitated
Lionville's Hampton Inn had its roof pulled off in their remodel and replaced it with a cornice (which, unpopular opinion here, I like better). Here, demolition work was just about complete and they had yet to start rebuilding.

 Fritz Lumber, Berwyn, PA
They had started to demolish the 153-year-old Fritz Lumber complex the summer after they closed to make way for a new high-density apartment complex. When the township rejected those plans, work stopped. The site sits ore or less like this now, though new plans for the site are currently going through approval.

 Fortunately, the wood from the old lumber shed was being salvaged, and better yet, to rebuild a local historic barn that had burned down a few years before.

 The less historic part of the complex will likely just fall to the wrecking ball. It's been vacant a little over 3 years and is already starting to fall apart, so I don't really feel too bad about it, at least compared to the 1860's part.

 Penn Fruit/Food Fare/Old Navy, Wynnewood, PA
Penn Fruit opened this store in the early 50's and closed with the chain in 1978. Shortly afterwards, it became Food Fare (Not to be confused with Food Fair, which by that point had been rebranded to Pantry Pride). That closed around the same time Genuardi's opened elsewhere in the center and was replaced by an Old Navy. Miraculously, the arched roof remains exposed on the inside. This store, being one of Penn Fruit's earliest arch models, actually has a wooden ceiling. I have it photographed, one day in the hopefully not-too-distant future I'll get to posting it.

 Aramark Building Construction
New floors are being framed out on top of the old Marketplace Design Center to make room for Aramark's new headquarters, which moved here from the other end of Center City in 2018.
This picture, along with the last few were all shot from the train. Sorry about the quality.

 A preview of what's to come...
Although my Mexico post is still in the works, I'm bundling my phone pictures from there in with this post. That one's going to be long enough as it is.
This picture, along with the next few, were shot around the resort we were staying at. My grandparents used to have a timeshare here, and they didn't use it this year so we went in their place. They sold it the next year so I probably won't be going back anytime soon. :P

 I thought this was supposed to be some sort of Lazy River thing at first, but it turns out it was just a really long, twisty pool.

That pool ultimately led to the larger main pool It had just rained when I took these pictures, which is why nobody was in there. Usually it was packed.

 The resort also had its own stretch of beach. I thought the palm trees on it looked cool.

 Starbucks, Playa Del Carmen, MX
This store opened in 2015 as an outparcel to the existing shopping mall. I thought it was interesting how they used the exact same store design in other countries.

 Centro Maya Shopping Mall, Playa Del Carmen, MX
Centro Maya opened in the early 2000's. It's a one-story single hallway mall stretching between City Club (which seems like an off-brand Sam's Club) and a theater.
If you're wondering about the interior, I sadly didn't get to check it out; but it looks like that one in Guatemala I covered a while back, crossed with a more modern American mall.

 Liverpool, Playa Del Carmen, MX
Liverpool is Mexico's largest department store chain. Despite the name, it's a Mexican company. This is a freestanding store, which was built in 2014.

Mexican Outlet, Tulum, MX
While I didn't get to check out that first mall we saw, I did get to this place. This building used to be a full-on mall, but at this point it's mainly carved up into exterior-access stores such as this. I believe this used to primarily be a small anchor spot, although it now occupies about half the former mall. I've got pictures of the remaining interior coming up in my main Mexico post.
There's still some chain retailers here- Subway, Starbucks, Haagen-Dasz (yeah, I was surprised too); but mainly it's a lot of local craftsmen taking advantage of the flocks of tourists coming through.

 In the pictures, it's hard to tell where the former mall begins and the original store ends. It's easier to see in person.

 I'm fairly certain this picture was taken from the original part of the store.

...on the topic of phones, here's today's song!