About 2 1/2 years ago I went hiking for the first time in my life. My girlfriend—an avid hiker—got me climbing little cliffs and trekking ten miles through the Wissahickon. I'll admit to wearing long pants and sleeves. There are myths you hear about the outdoors. Bugs. Poisonous plants. More bugs. It's enough to make any

Grid contributor Julie Lorch (of “Along for the Ride” fame) is hard at work drafting a new guidebook on cycling in Philadelphia called…wait for it…Where to Bike Philadelphia. The guide is the latest installment in an international series published by an Australian company. Before publication, the Where to Bike team is hosting a photo contest:

When I think of NASCAR—and all those race cars speeding around the track—the thought, “This is environmentally friendly,” never crosses my head. But, according to this Philly.com article, I may be wrong. The Pocono Raceway (Long Pond, PA) boasts a 25-acre solar farm, and it was turned on last week for the Pennsylvania 500. The

At the beginning of summer, there was talk of closing down some of Philadelphia’s public pools to save money. Well, up in New York, an innovative solution has popped up. All it requires is a little dumpster diving. As part of that city’s third annual Summer Streets program, Park Avenue will be closed to cars

All you obsessive Griddle readers out there might have noticed that the blog took a few minutes to get humming yesterday. Well, that’s because I crashed my bike on Sunday night and was too busy icing/elevating/wallowing in self pity to get going early. Yes, falling blows—and this one was all my fault; a simple loss

CSA? More like Meat-SA. Check out this City Paper story on a new cow share program run by Jessica Moore and based out of West Philly: Moore grew up in southern Indiana, where she says her family engaged in a similar, if more informal, practice with Midwestern herd tenders. She selects farms in Philly’s surrounding

This summer, the Academy of Natural Sciences is doing its part to excite the budding scientist in all of us by bringing the work done in its labs into public view with “Science Live.” According to a press release: Starting this summer, museum visitors strolling through the Science Live station on the first floor will

September’s upcoming issue of Grid features an update on Philadelphia’s Farm to School program so I’ve had school lunch on the brain. That brings me to a disturbing experience I just had—agreeing with Bill O’Reilly. Shudder. While you wait for the new issue to hit the streets, check out last year’s cover story, “Learning to

I remember the days when I would travel through eastern North Philadelphia—on my bike to Temple University or in my mom's car to grade school—and look around, feeling sad for this devastated area of the city. Run down. Decayed. Abandoned buildings and homes. That's why I was so happy to come across this article

Griddle readers. I need your help. Please help me identify my new pet. He lives in my community garden plot, and his name is WTF?-Why-Am-I-So-Big-And-Scary.
Hopefully we have some arachnid experts in our midst. Is this guy dangerous or just intimidating?
Picture, after the jump. (Sorry the angle isn't better; I was scared.)