Traditional tours get silly with fake stories and ridiculous real tales

In honor of April Fools Day, Pennsbury Manor will offer April Fools Tours at noon and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6.

In the April Fools spirit, a guide will tell three outlandish stories during a tour of William Penn’s reconstructed estate on the Delaware River in Bucks County. Two of the tales will be real and one will be fake.

Here are the headlines:

• An English noble named Lord Cornbury dressed in drag as he traveled from colony to colony to announce the ascendency to the throne of Queen Anne. He stayed overnight at Pennsbury Manor.
• Two Pennsbury Manor servants, John Sotcher and Mary Lofty, fell in love and got married. As a wedding gift, William and Hannah Penn gave the Stochers a pewter serving plate that was passed down to generations of Sotchers and was used as a sled by one of their descendants.
• Pennsbury guests liked to relax on a blue velvet sack of dried beans that the Lenape gifted William Penn in appreciation of their great working relationship.

At the end of the tour, guests will make their guesses at which is real and which is made up.

Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for seniors, and $5 for kids under 12. Visitors can reserve their tour slots at 215-946-0400 or info@pennsburymanor.org.

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