Lunch and Learn

The Berks County Heritage Center hosts a variety of educational programming, from history day camps, to paddle board lessons, to their lunch and learn series on various topics. The children and I attended June's Lunch and Learn program about covered bridges. This was our first time visiting the heritage center property and we had a lovely time.
The heritage center is a cluster of buildings located just north of Reading in a secluded spot bordered on one side by Tulpehocken creek and otherwise surrounded by farmland. Wert's Red Bridge spans the creek and is the longest single span covered bridge in Pennsylvania and the second longest in the country. The presenter for this program spoke about the history of covered bridges in PA, how covered bridges are constructed, and included in her slideshow pictures of covered bridges around the county of Berks. Her presentation also included interesting anecdote and information about animals that use the bridge as a shelter and home. The program appealed to all ages. It was historical, and current. The presenter used a slide show with lots of pictures and she had a please touch table with bridge models for the children (or anyone) to learn hands-on about the bridge design.
After the presentation (and lunch), we enjoyed walking across the bridge. It is closed to traffic. We walked around the property a little. There are so many buildings to see: the Gruber wagon works, the canal museum, the visitor center and the grist mill. They all look interesting, but we only had the attention span and energy for the bridge.