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Our Day to Explore
May. 17th, 2023 07:31 pm Today was not a day for putting miles behind us, as it were, but a day to take in some sights. I fell in love with Pennsylvania the first time we drove through it on the way to drop Mason off at college. The stretch we drove along I-80 is full of rolling hills that remind me strongly of the bluffs and coulees of my hometown in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and the surrounding Driftless Zone, as it's called.
As I mentioned before, growing up, my family used to send out Groundhog's Day cards, and so I've always kind of "celebrated" Groundhog's Day in some fashion. So, it seemed only fitting that since we were passing right past Punxsutawney, we should stop.
I found this whole town to be rather delightful.
First of all, there were statues of "Phil" all over town, much like there are statues of Snoopy all over St. Paul. The first one we saw was actually outside a Wendy's.
Image: a statue of a groundhog dressed as Wendy's....
If this horrifies you in any way, Punxsutawney is not for you. The whole town has gone ALL IN on the cheesy goodness of their beloved rodent, Punxsutawney Phil. You can see the actual groundhog at the local library, where he has a den he shares with Punxsutawney Phyllis. Here is a picture of me and the statute right outside of his "burrow."
Image: Me and Phil outside his library burrow.
I did not get a great picture of the rodent himself, because the glass he was behind had been scratched and smudged by a thousand faces all pressed in to see him. But, you can view him either from outside or from the inside of the library, in the children's section.
Here is the terrible picture of this world famous rodent:
Image: A smudgy view of the furry butt of the world famous weather predicting rodent.
He looks like he's hiding here, but he was actually busy digging up wood chips. They were both every active and adorable to watch. I can see how they'd be a big hit with the kids. We drove around the town a bit, found the official gift shop on Main Street, and then decided to brave having food at a diner called Punxsy Phil's. All I can say about that experience is that the food was very perfectly greasy spoon and the waitress really wanted these two ladies to want separate checks, even though Shawn very pointedly said she was waiting for her wife, while I was off in the bathroom. Le sigh. This, unfortunately, jives with all of the "Trump 2024" bumper stickers and lawn signs we saw as we drove through some of the backroads.
Le sigh.
We then drove around a bit through the Elk Scenic Highway. We did not see any elk, alas. All of the tourism guides say that if you have any real chance of seeing elk, it's in the fall. So, of course, we're here in the spring.
Even so, the scenery was amazing, though I swear to god, every semi truck on the planet was careening down these tiny, winding roads right on the back of my bumper. Insane!
The last sight we really wanted to be sure not to miss was the Kinzua Sky Bridge. This used to be a railway bridge, but a tornado destroyed it and now it's a walk way.
Image: a very tall bridge.
The Interpretive Center told us that this bridge is taller than the Statue of Liberty. I would believe it. There were hawk soaring BENEATH us at points. The view is spectacular. They also have a glass panel in the floor of the thing where you can look down (or, you know, if you're INSANE, stand on the one inch thick glass.) Shawn, generally, was uncertain.
Image: Crawling seemed safest, honestly.
Then, after enjoying the sky walk and the amazing giftshop, we hit the road. We had not actually booked a hotel anywhere because we wanted to remain flexible in our plans. Shawn started searching for interesting places and stumbled across the Kane Manor Inn. The inn itself was booked solid, but they have an overflow guest house and so we snapped up a room there. It's actually in a house across the street from the manor, but the room is lovely. The manor itself is amazing and we'll be have having breakfast there in the morning.
Image: The breakfast room.
Anyway, today was a wonderful day. The temperatures never crested 70 F/21 C. I think, actually, it stayed in the mid-60s (around 18 C) all day.
Tomorrow may be mostly driving? We'll see if we stumble across anything interesting.
As I mentioned before, growing up, my family used to send out Groundhog's Day cards, and so I've always kind of "celebrated" Groundhog's Day in some fashion. So, it seemed only fitting that since we were passing right past Punxsutawney, we should stop.
I found this whole town to be rather delightful.
First of all, there were statues of "Phil" all over town, much like there are statues of Snoopy all over St. Paul. The first one we saw was actually outside a Wendy's.
Image: a statue of a groundhog dressed as Wendy's....
If this horrifies you in any way, Punxsutawney is not for you. The whole town has gone ALL IN on the cheesy goodness of their beloved rodent, Punxsutawney Phil. You can see the actual groundhog at the local library, where he has a den he shares with Punxsutawney Phyllis. Here is a picture of me and the statute right outside of his "burrow."
Image: Me and Phil outside his library burrow.
I did not get a great picture of the rodent himself, because the glass he was behind had been scratched and smudged by a thousand faces all pressed in to see him. But, you can view him either from outside or from the inside of the library, in the children's section.
Here is the terrible picture of this world famous rodent:
Image: A smudgy view of the furry butt of the world famous weather predicting rodent.
He looks like he's hiding here, but he was actually busy digging up wood chips. They were both every active and adorable to watch. I can see how they'd be a big hit with the kids. We drove around the town a bit, found the official gift shop on Main Street, and then decided to brave having food at a diner called Punxsy Phil's. All I can say about that experience is that the food was very perfectly greasy spoon and the waitress really wanted these two ladies to want separate checks, even though Shawn very pointedly said she was waiting for her wife, while I was off in the bathroom. Le sigh. This, unfortunately, jives with all of the "Trump 2024" bumper stickers and lawn signs we saw as we drove through some of the backroads.
Le sigh.
We then drove around a bit through the Elk Scenic Highway. We did not see any elk, alas. All of the tourism guides say that if you have any real chance of seeing elk, it's in the fall. So, of course, we're here in the spring.
Even so, the scenery was amazing, though I swear to god, every semi truck on the planet was careening down these tiny, winding roads right on the back of my bumper. Insane!
The last sight we really wanted to be sure not to miss was the Kinzua Sky Bridge. This used to be a railway bridge, but a tornado destroyed it and now it's a walk way.
Image: a very tall bridge.
The Interpretive Center told us that this bridge is taller than the Statue of Liberty. I would believe it. There were hawk soaring BENEATH us at points. The view is spectacular. They also have a glass panel in the floor of the thing where you can look down (or, you know, if you're INSANE, stand on the one inch thick glass.) Shawn, generally, was uncertain.
Image: Crawling seemed safest, honestly.
Then, after enjoying the sky walk and the amazing giftshop, we hit the road. We had not actually booked a hotel anywhere because we wanted to remain flexible in our plans. Shawn started searching for interesting places and stumbled across the Kane Manor Inn. The inn itself was booked solid, but they have an overflow guest house and so we snapped up a room there. It's actually in a house across the street from the manor, but the room is lovely. The manor itself is amazing and we'll be have having breakfast there in the morning.
Image: The breakfast room.
Anyway, today was a wonderful day. The temperatures never crested 70 F/21 C. I think, actually, it stayed in the mid-60s (around 18 C) all day.
Tomorrow may be mostly driving? We'll see if we stumble across anything interesting.