Altoona, Pa

Truly enjoy sharing my experiences in Altoona, Pennsylvania since I have many childhood memories from there.  I have family roots from this area on my father's side and some still live there today.  My father and sisters were born there and my grandparents lived there until they passed away.   Many businesses we enjoy today were started in Blair County like Sheetz, The Meadows, and the Slinky is made just down the road in Hollidaysburg to name a few. 

Altoona is full of history, shopping and much more and is a great trip for couples, families, and groups like scouting and youth.  If I was a first time visitor, I would begin my visit by checking out the railroad since Altoona owes much of its growth from the Pennsylvania Railroad and its history.  They have the Railroaders Memorial Museum and Horseshoe Curve to check out.  Local lure is that the Circus animals that escaped the train wreck many years ago can still be spotted from time to time in the woods.  You can drive by the many rail yards where locomotives were built and you used to be able to tour the Baker Mansion and discover the history of the iron furnace in Altoona. 

This is a perfect time of year to make a drive to Altoona with the leaves changing colors.  Altoona is nestled among the Allegheny mountains and is a perfect afternoon drive in the mountains to enjoy the local wildlife.  They also have some great biking trails and places to hike, but I do not have much experience in those areas to mention the best around. 

Now shopping is another story, Altoona has some great shops starting with the two story Logan Valley Mall that has something for everyone.  As you pull out of the mall onto business 220 or Pleasant Valley Blvd it has many strip malls on both sides with shops and some favorites of mine are the thrift shops, and Trader Joes since we do not have one locally.  If you want a smaller experience with cute shops you need to go downtown Altoona and see places like McIntyre's Candies.  If you turn at the right location you can pass an old-time favorite candy that you can only get along the east coast area from Boyer's Candy factory and home of the famous Mallo Cup.   Candy is something we check out everywhere we go and another local favorite is Gardner's Candy just north in Tyrone, Pa known for Peanut Butter Meltaways.  If we are near by Altoona on Sundays we like to stop by Leighty's near Hollidaysburg to check out the flea market and all the shops that are open daily.  As for food during this shopping experience there are places around every turn that serve wonderful meals.  The economy has hit many of the local companies that I am familiar with but we always find good home cooked food.  My family always end with Meadow's ice cream which we now have one close by in our hometown since they franchised but the original still stands in Hollidaysburg and many others in Altoona area.  Calling the wine drinkers, Altoona has its own winery called Oak Springs and they have a few shops in Blair County area.  One of my favorites is the chocolate covered cherry wine if you like sweet wines you may enjoy. 

You can always find fun things to do like checking out the Altoona Curve and watch a baseball game.  We enjoy watching the Harrisburg Senators and it is always a treat to watch them play the Altoona Curve at our home field.  Right beside the ball park is Lakemont Park.  Lakemont is an amusement park that holds a true treasure since it is the home of the ride "Leap The Dips" which is the oldest operational roller coaster in the world.  Top speed is only 10 miles per hour and you pay extra to ride much like the haunted house in Knoebels but it is well worth the experience to say you rode the oldest roller coaster and it helps with maintenance costs.  I am very glad they restored it in 1999.  Lakemont is smaller park but it a great way to spend the day and not go broke doing it.  They offer great specials and include rides and water park for one reasonable fee.  Lunch at the park is reasonable to and good.  As I mentioned above there are many Meadows Ice Cream parlors in Altoona are and one has mini golf to play while you eat.  Altoona is not only home to one smaller amusement park but just up the road on business 220 is another small park called DelGrosso's Amusements formerly Bland's Park.  This was a regular stop for me when we visited during the summer months.  My kids have come to enjoy it the same as me and we all finally call it by its proper name.  This has become a vacation spot for us and we love to catch the fireworks called Summer Thunder on the 4th of July, notably the busiest day of the year but well worth it. The antique Carouselle is one of the parks pride and joys with hand carved horses and can make anyone feel like a kid again.  Most of the food is made from recipes from the DelGrosso Family so it is all great comfort food.  DelGrosso's is an awesome home town park with same all day ride and water park deal, prices may very from Lakemont but both safe places for families and scouting groups at a great value.

Harpers Ferry, WV

I have been struggling on which place to begin this blog with since I have so many favorite trips.  I decided to start with the last one, which my husband and I just enjoyed together for our anniversary in Harpers Ferry, WV.  I have family roots in West Virginia and it is just like the song Country Roads because I always feel like home and that I belong.  Beautiful country side that has shopping, gambling, nature, and lots of history.

This is the view of both the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers meeting at the tip of Harpers Ferry, WV

A great stop for scouting groups, youth groups, couples, and families since it has something for everyone.

This is a stop along the Appalachian Trail and makes a great hike for the day.  Harpers Ferry is considered by some to be a halfway point between GA and ME.  You get to see all the beauty nature has to offer with rivers, views from peaks, wildlife, and more.  This is not a hike for beginners since it has many climbs and it is considered strenuous. You get to see the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers as well as the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.  There is an Appalachian Trail Conference center directly in Harpers Ferry to check out.  If you want to hike but not the Appalachian Trail, there are several smaller trails in the Historic National Park like the hike up to Jefferson Rock.

If you like little hometown shops that have unique items, this is a place for you to go.  They have cute commercial area that is restaurants and shops up the hill, along the river.  Specializing in décor and items from times long ago to current art and novelty items,  The one jewelry shop has all handmade items from many local artists.  The one candy store specializes in candy from the 1700's to today and has some things you may have remembered eating as a kid but can not find anywhere else today.  I love how the shops are stacked together.  If you come out of one restaurant and climb the stairs beside it goes to next shop, or take the stairs down to another shop.  They have a great pottery, wine, and gift shop to name a few.  As for restaurants we did not have time to try them all but many had decks outside to view the town and water below and the food looked great at all of them and they were busy.  Menus had things as simple as ice cream to full course meals.  I enjoyed a special of fish and chips and it was all homemade and delicious. 

Something I will not miss on my return trip to Harpers Ferry will be tubing down the river.  They have a launch area and commercial tubes.  You float in large groups then as we were leaving a big bus with a cage on the back meets you down river to drive you and the tubes back.  Great way to spend a warm afternoon just floating down the river.

The Historical National Park is a definite stop and a great place to park for the day.  You pay to enter much like other National Parks and the pass is good for couple days.  It was only 10.00 and that included free rides on shuttle bus directly to the town (saving me the 5 mile walk).  The historic park offers tours from the rangers, the old buildings, (maintained to appear as the would have around the civil war), actual items to view, and videos and timelines of events in history.  They have a dry goods store, tavern, and even a mill to show the process of gun making back then.  It reminds me of a smaller and much closer Williamsburg.  They do have a commercial book store inside the park that has books and more. 

Trains still runs through and is a beautiful site to see as it comes through the tunnel in the mountain and across the Potomac River.  We really enjoyed strolling along both the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers and seeing the remains of things in the past.  It is awesome where the two rivers meet right on the point of Harpers Ferry.  Great place for photos and easy to get in the water to cool off or soak your feet. 

Other great stops are the two large flea markets just outside of historic city limits.  One is Saturday and Sundays and all outdoors.  The vendors can change weekly.  They also set up on Memorial and Labor Day Monday.  The other one is just down the street on the other side and it is indoor and open daily.  It has 3 large buildings full with different vendors and a wide verity of items from new to used and in-between. 

We ended our day just 7 miles away in Charles Town at the Racetrack and Casino for those who like to gamble.

So pack your bags and begin your own travel adventure.

I know they offer many events during the year, but I am not currently familiar with any so please share and thing you know is going on in the comments section. 

Purpose of this blog.

I wanted to start with my purpose of this blog as my first post.  Each year my husband and I go away at least for the day to celebrate of Anniversary.  This year we had a large weekend trip planned but some things came up in our life that made us change direction and cancel our trip.  We still wanted to do something fun together and not spend to much money.  I am extremely thankful we live in an area that many awesome things are just a day trip away like Washington D.C. Manhattan, Gettysburg, Skyline Drive, and much much more.  We have big cities, small towns, lots of history, great hiking spots, and some unusual spots along the way.  But each year it gets harder to find somewhere we have not been or seen before since both of us have been born and raised here our whole life.  So I was searching for a website with local lore and the results are just overwhelming.  It would take hours to just sort through websites that offer one thing or have so many links for hotel stays and so on.  If you look up a particular location you can find stuff but what if you are still in the planning stages and do not have particular location so I am hoping to share my knowledge of the area and encourage you to share yours as well so that maybe you can find something new to do in your own backyard and maybe I can find somewhere new to me too! 

If you would like a chance to guest post to my blog, please email me your day trip with name and location (can be just state if you want to keep privacy) to ssjb33.sl@gmail.com and I will select some to share.

Also if you are looking for lodging, rentals, or any package deals check out the link on the bottom of this page.  My cousin is a travel agent and would love to help you make the most of your vacation.

 

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart" Confucius