It’s 1:08 p.m. Do you know where your trolley is? Of course you do. It’s at State and Orange Streets in Media. On Saturday, October 4, more than 40 friendly “commuters” hopped aboard to launch the First Annual 101 Trolley Pub Crawl.
Clang, clang, clang went the trolley! Ding, ding, ding went the bell! (Good luck getting that song out of your head for the rest of the day.)
It’s officially fall. With summer vacation over we were all looking for something different and fun to do on a Saturday afternoon. Pub crawl you say? Absolutely. There are pub crawls all the time, but for this one, we took the opportunity to ride the rails.
First stop on the Trolley Crawl: J.D. McGillicuddy’s on Burmont Rd. in Drexel Hill (Aronimink Trolley Stop). Imagine you’re the bartender on an ordinary Saturday afternoon, when all at once dozens of thirsty crawlers file through the door. Luckily, we gave them a courtesy call beforehand to let them know our schedule.
The staff was ready to roll, and had the frosty bevs flowing quickly. “Cuddy’s,” as the locals call it, offers hard-to-resist, low-priced specials every day of the week. We stayed for the allotted hour, watched college football on the many big screens, played shuffleboard, then regrouped and hopped back on the 101.
“Before this event, I never rode the trolley,” said Media’s Dave Alexander. “Now I see how simple and inexpensive it is. Every place we went was close to a trolley stop, making our journey easy on, easy off. I would definitely recommend it.”
Next stop: Springfield. We took over Duke’s Tavern on Saxer Ave., typically filled with neighborhood regulars. Bartender “Moon” kept everyone’s drink full and kept a friendly smile on his face the whole time. We enjoyed more football, shot darts and laughed with friends.
The next leg of our journey took us to Nick’s Roast Beef on Woodland Ave., just two blocks away. We all spent more time paying our fares to board the trolley than we spent on the actual trolley ride. It was all a part of the official rule book. Many of our hungry crawlers were then ready for lunch, and Nick’s was ready for us too. Nick’s is tops when it comes to roast beef and roast pork. The service is excellent and the food never disappoints. By the way, when you go, order The Combo sandwich with broccoli rabe and provolone on top.
Bellies full and thirsts quenched, the crawl wasn’t done yet! We were in the home stretch to our home town, so we re-boarded the 101. Destination: State and Olive Sts. We stormed into Stephen’s on State to take advantage of the “Crawl Only” specials they had on tap just for us. We enjoyed the seasonal pumpkin brew and discounted draft beers.
Some of the hardcore crawlers even hopped down a few doors to Sligo, one of our favorites. The authentic Irish bar and restaurant is known for a variety of rotating taps, tasty pub grub and a nightly toast with good friends.
We surely had a blast, no doubt about it. But we also helped promote SEPTA’s serious message. The “I SEPTA Media” campaign urges everyone to “Let SEPTA Be Your Designated Driver.”
Fellow crawler Sandy Baggot said, “The 101 was such a fun event to promote community, public transportation and local businesses, with a designated driver built right in. I made some new friends and hung out with the old ones too.”
Those who had never taken the trolley found out firsthand that it can be affordable, convenient and fun too.
You too can design your own local crawl using SEPTA as your designated driver. All the details at SEPTA.org.
Photo credits: Lauren Avellino Turton.
