First Friday

Eager to get out of the house, breathe some fresh air, and think about something new, I dragged my reluctant son to First Friday tonight. We've been before and he's enjoyed it, but it's always a tough sell -- walking around downtown and looking at grown-up stuff like art and gift-shop goodies isn't his first choice of entertainment, even when tempered with bribery in the form of tasty treats.

Tonight we started with a quick walk-thru of the Pennsylvania Academy of Music because I thought my son, a musician and music lover, would enjoy the beautiful building. He dutifully admired the bird's nest chandeliers and nodded agreeably when someone let us peek into the recital hall, but overall he was less than impressed. I needed to up my game.

(Note to the Academy: Instead of hosting formal recitals on First Fridays, haul out some instruments, unlock the doors, and show us what you do there. A less determined person would have found the locked doors and request for tickets off-putting and, as it was, my musician found your lovely building irrelevant. Just a thought.)

I thought J would enjoy a few of the convention center's amenities, so we headed in that direction. We passed the unfortunately closed and dark Fulton Theater on the way. (Note to the Fulton: We would have loved to  tour the theater, see some costumes, meet a few actors, hear about upcoming productions, maybe get a demonstration of stage makeup or effects, etc. I'm a season ticket holder, but my son's never been and I'm sure many other First Friday wanderers have wondered about the Grand Old Lady of Prince Street. I'm just sayin'.)

As we walked past Fig Central, I thought to stop and pick up a copy of the latest Fig, just released today. We were met by the warm and welcoming staff, who provided the magazine and a "Love Lancaster" sticker to go with it, as well as answering a burning question: Why "fig"? We get the reason for the magazine, but why is it named for a semi-obscure Middle Eastern fruit? Moxie House maven Deb Brandt was on hand to explain: from biblical times to the present day, the fig has been considered a symbol of unity and prosperity, as well as love -- Cleopatra and Mark Antony are said to have exchanged figs. Deb and her business partner, Tracy Cutler, thought it was the perfect emblem for Lancaster. Now that we know, we agree!

That mystery thoroughly and gratifyingly solved, J and I headed upstairs to the Print Shop at the Heritage Center Museum. There we hit pay dirt: four members of The .918 Club explaining the history of the printing press and demonstrating typesetting and printing. We learned that, contrary to popular belief, Gutenberg did not invent printing during the 1450s; the Chinese had been printing for more than 1,000 years at that point. Gutenberg's genius lay in designing movable type -- individual letters and characters that could be rearranged to spell any message. He also found the most reliable metal alloy for casting the type and introduced durable oil-based inks. Thus Gutenberg's system was easier to use and more dependable than the wood-block process and became more popular than earlier movable type methods.

I won't steal the club's thunder by giving away any of their other secrets, but I can honestly say that their demonstration was interesting and engaging, and we both learned several new facts to dazzle our friends. J helped operate a press that was once displayed in the Smithsonian Institute and was given the resulting print, which solidified his thumbs-up vote for the Print Shop.

After that success, we continued our walk up to the convention center. I was a vocal opponent of the center and still don't see how it's going to pay for itself, but I love taking people there to visit two unique sites: the utterly improbable house encased within the center and the Smith-Stevens archeological dig displayed in the lower lobby. I don't know who decided to include the sites -- and sights -- within the center, but kudos for creativity!

J got a kick out of the convention center, but after nearly two hours of First Friday fun, was starting to flag. We had time for one more stop before calling it a night: Bonbonniere, on North Queen Street, home of yummy-licious chocolates. It's a rare chocolate that's too rich or delicious for me to eat by the handful, but Bonbonniere specializes in just that kind -- really wonderful (and correspondingly expensive) treats meant to be nibbled, not inhaled. I tasted a peanut butter egg and chocolate studded with bacon (!) before settling on what is becoming my store standard, the caramels covered in milk chocolate and dusted with smoked sea salt. They are to die for, and I will ration them out over the weekend ... and then start planning my next trip downtown.

First Friday happens the first Friday of every month, no matter the season or weather. Visit LancasterArts.com for monthly listings of events and a map of galleries, stores, restaurants, and other super sites downtown. See ya there!