Fox Den Acres RV Park, New Stanton, PA – June 10-17, 2022

Friday, 10 June

Three State Drive

We took off at about 9:30 am from Columbus, OH, and headed toward Fox Den Acres RV Park outside Pittsburgh, PA. The sky was blue, the wind was mild, and the high temperature was in the 70s, making it a beautiful day. We stayed on I-70 most of the way and traveled through eastern Ohio, a small cut through West Virginia, and finally into Western Pennsylvania. It got hilly as we drove into the Allegheny Mountains toward the end of our trip.

Fox Den Acres RV Park

Fox Den Acres RV Park is a big RV park in the hills just south of Pittsburgh. Despite the very hilly terrain, the campground was divided into flat areas. All sites were gravel and mostly level, though we had to use some leveling blocks. It was organized like a mobile home park, but everything looked nice and well-maintained.

I checked in at the main office, which doubled as a museum and a store.

We got set up quickly. We got a full hookup site but the sewage connection was in the back near the other utilities and just out of reach of my 20-foot sewage hose.

We then drove around the park before going to the main office to explore their museum. The walls were covered with taxidermy, old farm implements, wood carvings, western paraphernalia, funny signs, and other odds and ends. Outside were some large totem poles.

One of the empty camping sites outside the office was decorated with flags and a sign that said, “This campsite ‘reserved’ in memory of all the military that have served and made the ultimate sacrifice. You may be gone but not forgotten.” The site was further decorated with flowers, a fire pit full of wood, and some metal cutouts silhouettes of the “empty boots, rifle, and helmet.” It was a nice tribute.

All Saints Brewing Company

Around 3:00 pm we took off to find a brewery and just drive around the area. It was still early afternoon and a lot of breweries were still closed, but I found an open brewery about a half-hour away called All Saints Brewing Company in Greensburg, PA. The road to the brewery was very hilly, steep, and full of narrow streets. It also did not follow a grid system like those in the Midwest and seemed to go everywhere and nowhere.

The brewery was in a large warehouse and was mostly empty when we arrived. A nice outdoor area was near a creek below the building with a stage and picnic tables. Most of the inside area was caged off except for the taproom. The bar stools in the taproom were full of blue-collar workers, which we do not usually see in breweries since they seem to be the domain of the upper-middle class. We got a booth and ordered a flight: Davida (Premium Blonde), Crimson Halo (Amber Ale), Dark Angel (Dunkelweizen), and San Juan Diego (Baja Red Mexican Lager). None of the beers impressed us. Most were too malty, and one had a strong clove taste. Are we turning into beer snobs?

Freeman Falls and Rodney Corner

We then decided to see Freeman Falls, which was about a half hour away. After driving down more narrow and curvy roads, we arrived at the falls which were located near a narrow one-lane bridge. Unfortunately, they were very small and we could not find a path down them to take a closer look that did not cross private land. We were forced to be content looking at them from the bridge.

We then went up the street to a restaurant called Rodney’s Corner, which looked like a fun, local place to eat. We sat in their outdoor patio area and drank a couple of draft Yuenglings. I ordered the “Big Fish Dinner” (fried cod, mac and cheese, sweet potato fries); and Lisa had the special which was a Korean Corn Dog with a side of Hush Puppies. Lisa’s corn dog was covered with flavored bread crumbs, deep-fried, and then dusted with sugar. It tasted like something you would get from a state fair.

Evening

We got back to the campsite around 6:15 pm.

Saturday, June 11

Pittsburgh

We headed out around 8:40 to see some Pittsburgh attractions while trying to avoid highways and tollways. As expected, we drove some very rural and hilly roads until we connected with US-33. As we got closer to Pittsburgh, we again took a lot of back roads while driving through the city.

Pittsburg is an old city in a deep river valley with steep hills or cliffs on either side. The result is that the roads were awful. Parked cars caused two-way traffic to have to wait on each other. The roads intersected at all angles, and the stop signs were placed in odd places. Because the buildings were often close to the road, you often had to turn sharply into hidden streets against oncoming traffic. The stop lines at traffic lights were generally set far back from the intersection so that crossing traffic, especially trucks, had room to turn. At the stop signs, you often had just to creep forward and pray that no one was turning into your road. Later that day, we drove on brick, cobblestone, cement, asphalt, gravel, and even wood. The city had many steep streets, tunnels, and bridges. Though everyone drove about 10-20 mph above the speed limit, they seemed to be the most courteous drivers we had encountered on our trip thus far. It almost seemed like an environment of mutual survival.

Fort Pitt

Our first stop was Point State Park and Fort Pitt. As we approached the park, we found a parking lot charging $20 for event parking. I have no idea what the event or regular rate was happening. A pathway from the parking lot to the park took us under a highway into Point State Park.

As soon as we entered the park, we visited the Fort Pitt Museum. The museum was built on the footprint of the original Fort Pitt’s Monongahela Bastion. The museum’s facade allows visitors to sense the enormous size of what was, at that time, the second-largest fort in North America.

The museum did a great job explaining the global implications of the conflict between the French, English, and Native Indians in the mid-1700s. It also detailed the attitudes and motivations of the various major players during the conflicts. One display, for example, detailed some of the awful actions performed by Europeans towards the Indigenous people, such as giving them blankets infected with smallpox, needless massacres of innocent women and children, and the treaties that were made and broken.

Block House

Right outside the museum, we explored the Fort Pitt Block House, which was said to be the oldest building in Pittsburgh and the only part of Fort Pitt that still exists. It was saved because it was converted into a residence in 1785 after the fort was deactivated and used continuously until it was acquired in 1894 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, who still own it today.

Point State Park

We then walked through Point State Park which sits at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers forming the Ohio River. A large fountain sits at the point shooting a 150-foot stream of water into the air. Across from the park, we could see large sports stadiums and museums. In the Acrisure Stadium, the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, a band was doing sound checks for the Kenny Chesney concert that evening.

Fort Pitt Reenactors

After walking around the park, we stopped and talked with some reenactors outside Fort Pitt before leaving. They had two areas set up: one where they were cooking lunch in a kettle, and another where two people were dressed up as a soldier and a local indigenous native were sitting answering questions from passers-by. They were fun.

Flag Bastion

As we left the park, I found a plaque stating that the ruins near the parking lot were the flag bastion of Fort Pitt. “From this bastion of Fort Pitt (Built 1759) flew the Union Jack of Great Britain proclaiming victory over forces of New France and establishing ownership of the Ohio Valley and the land west of the mountains.”

Duquesne Incline

We then decided to drive across the river and ride the Duquesne Incline up the facing cliff.  Unfortunately, we turned wrong and drove up the cliff to the top.  We then drove along the top of the cliff on Grandview Drive until we found the tram station at the top. We then parked in the first available parking spot several blocks away and deep into a residential neighborhood. We walked back along Grandview Drive to the tram station, which gave us great city views.

When we arrived at the terminal, we walked around the small station and paid $5 for round-trip tickets. Instead of taking the tram up and then down, we were going down and then up.    

The tram descended 400 feet at a 30-degree angle, giving us great views of the city and Point State Park.   It was built in 1877 to transport working-class people up and down Mt. Washington to the industries down in the valley.  When we reached the bottom, we immediately reboarded to take the tram back up to the top.

After our ride, we went under the station where you could watch the cable pulley.  Afterward, we bought some postcards from the small gift shop and then returned to the truck.

Roslyn Place

When we returned to the truck, we drove to the only remaining wooden street in Pennsylvania and one of the few in the United States. Even though wood streets were not as durable as cobblestone, paving with wooden blocks was popular in the early 1800s due to the abundance of wood and because they were quieter to drive on. Eventually, they were replaced with easier-to-maintain materials.

Roslyn Place is a short cul-de-sac in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh that has a wooden street that was created in 1914. While the street is less than 250 feet long, it required 26,000 oak blocks to pave.

When we pulled into the cul-de-sac off of a busy street, we discovered it was too narrow to drive down because of cars parked on both sides of the street so we just had to quickly jump and take some pictures before moving on.

St Anthony Chapel and 5,000 Relics

It was now 2:30 pm, and we had to rush over to St Anthony Chapel which Google said was about to close in 30 minutes. After missing a couple of turns and being rerouted, we got there with about 15 minutes to spare which we hoped would be enough time to take a quick look. Along the way, we passed Canton Avenue which is the steepest officially recorded public street in the United States. Luckily Google did not take us that route.

St Anthony’s Chapel has the largest collection of relics outside the Vatican. Rev. Suitbert Godfrey Mollinger over 5,000 relics in the late 1800s, including 22 splinters of the True Cross, a scrap from the Virgin Mary’s veil, wood pieces from the Last Supper table, and bones from all 12 of Jesus’s apostles. There is even a golden sarcophagus with the full skeleton of St. Demetrius. His most prized relic was a molar from St. Anthony, which he often used to help heal others.

The items were acquired when when Europe was nation-building and leaders such as Italy’s Giuseppe Garibaldi and German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck were leading anti-Catholic campaigns. Relics were being confiscated, desecrated, and even destroyed with many being sold on the open market, on street corners, or even in pawn shops.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside, which I guess was to help preserve its sacredness. We did see some nuns sneaking and snapping pictures, though. The church was smaller and less grand than we expected, considering its contents. The inside paint was very faded, and it had a dusty feel, though I could not find dirt. The relics were hung on the walls and placed in cabinets along the side walls. Most of the relics had faded paper labels that were hard to read. They also were very small, so they had to be incorporated into a medallion or larger golden reliquaries. Some of the relics looked like they had mold on them.

We found it all very interesting, even if we are skeptical about the authenticity of the relics.

Randyland

Our next stop was Randyland. We had to drive around the neighborhood a few times before we found a parking place, but we ended up parking only a block away.

Randy Gilson bought an abandoned three-story building and lot in the run-down northern section of the city in 1996 and turned it into a colorful playground of folk art. Bright-colored murals adorned the entire building, and the lot around the building is filled with folk art and old signs. It looked junky and maybe a little dangerous in some places, but most of the art put a smile on your face. Cutouts of Randy greeted you everywhere, and uplifting life quotes were posted on signs and murals. It was quite the place.

As we were finishing up our walk around Randyland, we found Randy himself pushing an elaborately painted large concrete planter toward the street corner. An assistant was busily unchaining the newspaper boxes from the telephone pole there. Randy had long hair, which made him look different than his cutouts, but he was easy to recognize. When he saw us, he started explaining his plans to create a public message board by adding 2x4s and other materials to the planter. His energy and enthusiasm were contagious. He went on to brag non-stop about the neighborhood and the buildings and restaurants in the area. He was as colorful as his art.

Allegheny City Brewing Company

The day was getting pretty warm, so we visited a brewery. The closest brewery we could find open was the Allegheny City Brewing Company. This was a small neighborhood brewery located in the Deutschtown neighborhood. We found some parking a few blocks away, ordered a flight of five beers, and sat at a picnic table outside. Four of the beers were hazy (Huddy Polish Lager, Singletrack New England IPA, Oceanic American IPA, Epiphyte Double IPA), three had too much citrus (Huddy, Oceanic, Epiphyte), and one had too much clove (Singletrack). The Lite Brite Helles Lager was a light but not very tasty beer. None of the beers were cold.

Disappointed with the beers and hungry, we decided to look for another brewery.

Dancing Gnome Brewery

Located on the north side of Pittsburgh, we picked the Dancing Gnome Brewery more for its name than anything else but it was also supposed to have a food truck. Just as we pulled up to the brewery, we watched the food truck leave. Their small parking lot was full, so we had to park a couple of blocks away on the street.

This brewery was a little different from the others we had visited. First, it was in a newer building with an industrial look and lots of shiny aluminum. We did not see any gnomes; instead, the wall behind the bar had potted plants on it. We later learned that they prided themselves on not having images of gnomes.

“It’s more about the idea and the mindset than the gnome itself and is certainly open to your interpretation. We never have and never will visualize Gnomes in our branding or throughout our spaces.”

It also did not allow dogs (probably because there was no grass), and though it had a large outdoor patio, we did not see any lawn games. Though we saw plenty of families, there wasn’t anything for the children to do. They also did not offer flights or half pours as they insisted it did not give you enough beer to make a good assessment of the beers.

We were not interested in flights anyway and just wanted to drink some good tasting beers. We ordered a pint of Kolsch for Lisa and I got a Golden Ale. They were cold and refreshing.

Though the food truck had left, it looked like it got replaced by a tent selling BBQ. We ordered a 1/3 rack of ribs for me and a pulled pork sandwich for Lisa. Our sides of cole slaw, smashed red potatoes, and mac & cheese were huge. The ribs were very tender, but had a spicy rub I would not order again.

Evening

After we left the brewery, we took the most direct way back and got home around 7:45 pm.

Sunday, 12 June

Heinz History Center

In the morning, around 9 am, we headed back to Pittsburgh to see the Senator John Heinz History Center. since we expected it to rain throughout the day. Google Maps took us on another adventure through small streets and numerous turns. Though stressful at times, it was an enjoyable drive.

It cost us $5 to park across the street from the museum. We got a 50% discount on the $18 tickets by presenting our receipt from the Fort Pitt Museum the previous day. The museum had five floors of exhibits.

• Floor 1
  • Pittsburgh’s John Kane: The Life and Art of an American Workman – an art exhibit by a steel worker who was a self-taught artist.
  • Senator Heinz Memorial – a small area with some information about the life of Senator Heinz and his tragic plane accident.
  • Some random displays include an old trolly car, a Heinz wagon, and a Conestoga wagon.

• Floor 2
  • Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation – an exhibit on various inventions made in Western Pennsylvania, such as the cure for polio and the contributions of Westinghouse and Carnegie.
  • Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum – A large exhibit on the various sports teams in Western Pennsylvania that covered everything from football to frisbee. There was a lot of sports memorabilia.

• Floor 3
  • Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum – a continuation from the 2nd floor with an emphasis on the negro league.
  • Lewis and Clark – A rather small exhibit about this famous expedition that started in Pittsburgh. A lot of the section was devoted to a project where the Rooney family recreated the trip and created a documentary. The Rooney family were fifth-generation Pittsburghers with strong ties to the local sports teams.

• Floor 4
  • Special Collections – Various ethnic exhibits showcasing the many cultures in Western Pennsylvania.
  • Mr. Rogers Neighborhood – a display of various props from Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, which was produced in Pittsburgh, and some of his personal history.
  • Heinz – The history of the Heinz company has an emphasis on innovation.
  • From Slavery to Freedom – A large exhibit about Pittsburgh’s history with slavery.
  • Glass – Shattering Notions – A large exhibit about glass and Western Pennsylvania’s glass industry. The most fascinating thing we learned was the history of producing glass sheets.
  • They also had a side exhibit about the items they still have in storage and a peek into their restoration workshops.

• Floor 5 –
  • Clash of Empires – Displays the conflict between the French, English, and Indians in the eighteenth century and its global implications.
  • We Can Do It WWII – A rather small display about the contributions the Western Pennsylvania industry made during WWII, such as the jeep and munitions.

After about two hours, we found that we had only explored two floors, so we decided to take a break and eat lunch at the truck before coming back to the museum and exploring the remaining floors. The museum was impressive and did a great job at highlighting the history and accomplishments of the people of western Pennsylvania.

Klavon Ice Cream

We were mentally and physically exhausted when we left the museum, so we decided to treat ourselves to some ice cream at Klavons, which was an old-time soda fountain in the downtown area.

James and Mary Klavon first opened Klavon’s in 1923 as a neighborhood apothecary and ice cream shop. After years of serving the community, the shop closed in 1979 and sat dormant for two decades. The soda fountain was reopened in 1999 by their grandchildren.

I got a scoop of triple chocolate and strawberry shortcake, and Lisa got a sundae with chocolate and vanilla ice cream, Heath crumbles, hot fudge, and cool whip topping with a cherry. They were both excellent.

Downtown Pittsburgh

We then decided to drive around the downtown area.

I was especially fascinated by the Cathedral of Learning. The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story gothic skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh’s main campus. To grow the university, they were forced to expand upwards because it could no longer expand outward. Construction started in 1926, and it took a decade to build. It now functions as a primary classroom and administrative center of the University and is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere. Unfortunately, tours of the inside were stopped because of COVID, so all we were able to do was drive around it and admire the architecture of the building. It had the look of a cathedral.

Big Mac Museum

We then returned to the camper and stopped at a Walmart along the way to get a sewer hose connection. We then visited the Big Mac Museum which was only a mile further down the road.

Located inside a functioning McDonald’s, the museum consists of a couple of cabinets containing various Big Mac-related items and a timeline of the history of the Big Mac. The burger was born about 40 miles away in Uniontown when the franchisee Michael Delligatti introduced it as a menu item in August 1967. Delligatti’s family now owns 18 McDonald’s. They decided to open their museum on the Big Mac’s 40th anniversary in North Huntingdon, rather than at the birthplace because this store gets more traffic.

We had to, of course, eat a Big Mac while we were there.

Evening

We were back at the camper around 7:15 pm.

Monday, 13 June

We took off around 9:30 and headed east along the Lincoln Highway.

Flight 93 Memorial

We planned to see the Lincoln Highway Experience, but when we arrived there was a sign on the door saying they were closed for the morning for “maintenance problems.” So we continued onward to the Flight 93 Memorial.

We took PA-30, which was part of the Lincoln Highway most of the way, which wound up and down through the Allegheny Mountains. It was a very beautiful road, except that it had several steep stretches, including one that had a 14% grade for three miles.

When we arrived at the Flight 93 Memorial, we stopped at the Tower of Voices. This monument had forty wind chimes inside to represent the forty passengers on Flight 93. The chimes only worked if the wind was over 12-15 mph, and since today the wind was calm, we could not hear them.

We then drove to the visitor center. Set on a hill about a mile from the crash site, the visitor center focused on the Flight 93 story in the context of the larger terrorist attack. A tall concrete wall blocks your view of the crash site until you wall down a black sidewalk through a break in the wall to an overlook. The sidewalk represents the flight path of the plane coming over this hill. The visitor center had artifacts, films, recorded phone calls, and walls of information about the tragedy. Lisa and I were emotionally impacted and even had to wipe away some tears when we remembered that day. I was especially touched by the answering machine messages left by various passengers when they knew they were about to die.

We then visited the impact site where the Flight 93 Memorial stands. A sidewalk takes you from a parking lot, past the impact area, which is fenced off, to a wall with the names of the passengers on it. A giant boulder was visible in the impact area, marking the first impact’s location. On our right was the area where the various emergency units set up operations. In the distance, you could see the visitor center and the black sidewalk representing the flight path. There were several NPS rangers and volunteers on duty who eagerly shared information about the event. Overall, I thought it was a very fitting memorial.

Johnstown Flood Museum, Johnstown

After having lunch in the truck overlooking the Flight 93 Memorial, we headed to the Johnston Flood Museum.

The Johnstown Flood occurred on May 31, 1889, when a poorly maintained dam at an exclusive retreat broke during heavy rain and killed 2,209 people downstream, with the bulk in Johnstown.

The museum had a nice film, a diorama, and various information displays and artifacts that described the tragedy. They also had a model outside of an “Oklahoma Home” sitting outside which was one of the first types of temporary houses erected to shelter the people left homeless by the flood. Originally manufactured for homesteaders in the Oklahoma Territory, these buildings were a very early example of prefabricated housing.

Johnstown Flood National Memorial

We then drove to South Fork to see the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. This memorial is managed by the National Park Service and is located on the grounds where the dam failed. They had a better diorama of the flood. A large display in the visitor center featured the story of a flood survivor. From a balcony, you could look down on it and listen to the very moving taped interview of the survivor. They also played a movie about the flood in such a very dark and spine-chilling way that a Ranger warned parents that it might be too intense for children.

Evening

After we left the museum, we headed home using the highways, which took only about an hour. We were back at the camper around 6 pm.

Tuesday, 14 June

Fallingwater

We had tickets to visit Fallingwater at 10 am, so we left the camper around 8:30. It was raining as we climbed up and down through the mountains, and we ran into a lot of fog.

When we arrived, they had to check our reservation at the gate before we could enter the parking area. The tickets were sold out for the Guided Architectural tours, but I had a Grounds Pass, which gave us access to everything except the inside of the house.

Fallingwater is a house designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in the Laurel Highlands of southwest Pennsylvania. It is one of his most famous houses because it was built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill Run.

After we parked, we walked to the visitor center and checked in at the information desk. We then explored a small information gallery before walking on a path through the woods that took us to the house. We briefly stopped at an overlook that gave us a great view of the house and the waterfall. When we got to the house we could walk around the outside and climb the stairs to the terraces. Though we could not go inside, we could peek into the house.

One of the notable features besides the waterfall was that the house was positioned over the falls in a stacked grouping of cantilevered concrete “trays,” each anchored to the central sandstone chimney. There were lots of windows. It also had low ceilings, which were said to reinforce the safe, sheltering effect Wright sought to achieve. The square footage of the terraces was almost the same as that of its indoor rooms to make the natural environment part of the house.

We walked up the hill to the guest quarters, which were separated from the main house by a walkway, and then down the creek for a bit before returning to the visitor center. It was an interesting and beautiful house.

Cucumber Falls – Ohiopyle State Park

When we left Fallingwater, we went to Ohiopyle State Park just 15 minutes down the road and stopped at Cucumber Falls. A staircase with rock steps leads to an upper observation area then down to the base of the falls. Everything was wet from the rain, so we both took the steps carefully. The 30-foot falls were spectacular. They fell over a protruding cliff, so you could get behind them if you did not mind getting wet. I got as close to the sides of them as I could without getting wet.

A wet path took me about 50 yards down Cucumber Run to the Youghiogheny River. There, I saw a group of rafters going through some rapids with one stuck on some rocks. They bounced and shifted from the front and rear of the raft for five minutes before freeing themselves.

Natural Water Slides – Ohiopyle State Park

When I returned to the truck, we drove up the road to the Natural Water Slides. The water has carved channels or chutes that look and act like a water slide. Today, the flow through the channel is very fast and high because of the rains, but on hot summer days, the area is packed with people swimming and sliding through these channels.

Ohiopyle Falls – Ohiopyle State Park

We then drove the short distance to the Visitor Center. The visitor center had a small museum about the history of the area, including how this part of the Youghiogheny River has become popular for rafting. They also had an outlook where you could see the wide 15-foot-high Ohiopyle Falls, which were very beautiful. We then walked along the river for a closer look at the falls and the rapids leading up to them. Though there was still an intermittent light rain, we decided to eat lunch on one of the benches overlooking the falls.

Fort Necessity

After leaving the falls, we headed to the National Highway (US-40) and Fort Necessity. The fort was small and consisted of a small palisade around a storehouse.

Mount Washington Tavern

Mount Washington Tavern is on a hillside about a mile away from the battlefield. It was a two-story brick building considered a classic example of the many inns once lining the National Road, the United States’ first federally funded highway. It was built around 1830 by Nathaniel Ewing of Uniontown and became one of the finest establishments on the road.

Today, the house is maintained by the National Park Service, and it is furnished as it would have been when it was operating as a tavern. Access to each room was blocked by glass covering the entry door.

Evening

As we continued on US-40, we drove down some steep grades around Uniontown before heading north on US-119. The speed limit for trucks was only 10 MPH! We attempted to find the Great Passage Falls, but access to them was blocked by private land.

We got home around 4:20 pm that afternoon.

Wednesday, 15 June

Meadowcroft Historic Village

We left around 0850 and headed west toward Meadowcroft. It took us almost two hours through rolling hills and river valleys. Meadowcroft consisted of two sections: historic villages and the rock shelter. After buying tickets, we started with the historic villages.

We first explored the recreated 16th-century Monogahela Indian Village. There was a rough palisade with a couple of dome houses made with simulated grass mats. A ranger was on hand to lecture us briefly about the layout of the village and the daily lives of the Indians that lived there. The highlight, though, was when she showed us how to use the Atlatl Spear Thrower and then gave us opportunities to use it to try to hit a full-size elk target. Lisa was very accurate in her attempts. I shot the darts much harder, and they were very erratic in flight.

Then, we walked to an area that was supposed to represent a recreated 18th-century frontier trading post. There, they had a small log cabin, a lean-to, and a fenced-off area representing an animal pen. A different ranger was on hand to describe the structures and answer questions. The highlight of this section was ax throwing. They had a suspended stump, and we were able to hit it by throwing an ax. Though I could hit the stump, I could not get the right rotation to stick it in the log.

Our next stop was an air-conditioned metal warehouse in the middle of these historical displays. Since it was getting very muggy and hot, the promise of air conditioning made us very happy. The warehouse had three different entrances. One had a room talking about barns and corn, and a second room had several old horse-drawn carriages such as an old Conestoga wagon and a funeral hearse. The next entrance had some weather-worn old farm implements, though it looked more like a storage shed. The last entrance had a room about the Monongahela culture, and another room was filled with sulkies and information about the benefactor of the building, who was a famous harness racer. It was a strange mixture of collections.

From there, we crossed a historic covered bridge to a recreated historic village demonstrating 19th-century rural life. There was a two-story log home, the Wilson house (the benefactor of the land the museum was on), a house up on stilts, a schoolhouse, a church, and a blacksmith shop. We were able to go into most of the buildings. A ranger dressed as a schoolteacher was in the schoolhouse to tell us about the buildings and answer any questions. Outside the two-story log house were some period games like hoop toss and ball and cup, which Lisa and I had fun playing.

Meadowcroft Rockshelter

We drove over to the Rockshelter, about a mile away, and ate lunch in the air-conditioned truck before walking over to the site. Meadowcroft Rockshelter is an archaeological site consisting of a rock shelter in a bluff overlooking Cross Creek (a tributary of the Ohio River) where evidence has been found that the area may have been continually inhabited for over 19,000 years. If accurately dated, it would be one of the earliest known sites with evidence of a human presence and continuous human occupation in the New World.

Just outside the shelter was an archaeologist sifting through the dirt dug up from the site. He was busy bagging and labeling the contents for further analysis. We had to climb some steps to get up the building covering the Rockshelter. Inside, was a guide that told us about the site and pointed out the various layers of the dig found at each layer. Seeing the spot where they thought humans stood 19,000 years ago was surreal.

Pennsylvania Trolly Museum

We then drove over to the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum. Expecting just to see some old trolleys, we were excited to learn that the tour consisted of riding a trolley over to the “Trolley Display Building,” where we got a guided tour of the dozens of trolleys in various stages of restoration, and then we got a 4-mile scenic trolley ride. We caught the last tour of the day, so we were the only ones on the tour. We had to wait about 20 minutes before the trolley departed, so we played a trolly simulator, looked at some old photographs on the wall, and watched part of a short film before heading over to the trolley.

Though they mostly had trolleys from the area, they did have some from other areas, including one from Brazil. Because the trolleys were tandem parked on about four tracks in the building, we saw them in the process of pulling out several trolleys to remove a trolley near the back while we were there. Right before leaving, the guide showed us drawings of the new museum complex they were building for next year. It was very impressive.

Our nature trail ride was fun, especially when he blew his whistle while crossing a road. We felt pretty special having the trolley all to ourselves.

The Washington Brewing Company

We then drove downtown to the Washington Brewing Company. We decided to sit up at the bar, but we found it a mistake. Though there were several people at the bar, there was no bartender. The waitresses had to make their drinks while tending their tables and did not pay much attention to the bar. It took about 15 minutes to get a menu and then another 15 to order a flight of beers.

The owner stood across from us behind the bar and did nothing to help out the busy waitresses. I did engage him in a conversation, and he rather smugly bragged about owning the brewery and restaurant and a distillery that made a lot of different alcoholic products. Besides beer, they also served various cocktails using their liquor.

Their beers were good. We had their signature, Washington Lager, Washington Session Lager (a light version of their signature beer), a Bassettown Brown Ale, and a Wheat Penny (Hefeweizen).

The waitress never came around again, so we had to leave some cash on the bar when we left.

Monongahela

On our drive home, we made a brief stop at a central park in the river city of Monongahela, where we saw some historical markers. The markers just informed us that the city was founded in 1769 and claimed to be the oldest settlement in the Monongahela River Valley. There was also a picturesque gazebo with flowers and several historical buildings in sight, which gave this town a nice historical feel.

Bruster’s Ice Cream

About three miles from our camper, we stopped at a local ice cream chain called Brusters. They had excellent hand-dipped ice cream and lots of flavors. It was hot outside, so we decided to enjoy the ice cream in the comfort of our air-conditioned truck.

Evening

We made it back to the camper at around 7 pm.

Thursday, 16 June

Lincoln Highway Experience

Today was our last day of touring this area, and we were in a heat advisory, so we tried to pick out some outdoor things to see in the morning and some indoor things for the afternoon. So we decided to visit this rather impressive-looking fort we saw on our way to the Flight 93 Memorial.

Just before we got to the fort, we saw that the Lincoln Highway Experience Museum was open, so we pulled into the museum, figuring it would be a quick stop. We ended up staying over an hour.

They had some films and several displays about the Lincoln Highway, the first coast-to-coast highway in the United States. Some highlights included an authentic Packard, vintage postcards and photographs, facades of old stores and gas stations, and a section about the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy. It was a self-guided tour with audio guides we wore around our necks. At the end of the museum tour, a restored diner served us cherry pie and hot coffee as part of our admission ticket. It reminded us of our Route 66 adventures, especially when they showed us pictures of some tourist traps along the route.

Fort Ligonier

Eight miles down the road was the Fort Ligonier Museum. Just below the impressive reconstructed fort on the hill, was the museum. This museum not only had impressive artifacts and information about the fort and the conflicts between the French, British, and Indians here in the New World, but they also had informational displays and artifacts from all the conflicts that were happening throughout the world during the Seven Years War that Churchill dubbed the first world war.

After exploring the museum, we walked around the fort, the most impressive wooden fort I have visited. Everything was in great shape, considering it was all wood and more vulnerable to the elements. We saw a youth group playing a modified version of Capture the Flag, where they had to capture ammunition, food, and other supplies while protecting themselves and their flag from capture.

Lincoln Highway

It was about 1430 when we got back to the truck and ate lunch. I had planned to visit a coal mine next, but we would have not made it by their last tour. So we decided to drive down the Lincoln Highway and seek out some of the remaining road attractions. As we drove up and down the mountains, it was hard to imagine what it would have been like for the old cars from the turn of the 20th Century.

Lincoln Highway – Amish Country Store

As we were driving, we spotted an Amish Store selling fresh strawberries, so we pulled over to look.  We found that there were two stores;  one of them sold bulk foo,d and the other sold fresh produce.  We bought some imperfect strawberries that were half off at the produce stand and then walked through the bulk store. We enjoyed looking at all their fun treats.  We bought some chocolate wafers for me and some orange slices for Lisa to take with us.

Stoystown

As we continued down the highway, we saw a covered bridge sign, so we followed it. We found the covered bridge about a mile off the highway outside an American Legion, where they also had an old train depot.  They were both in good shape and looked like they had been moved there for preservation reasons.  The American Legion also had a helicopter and tank on display outside their building..

Lincoln Highway – Steep Hills, The Pied Piper, The Coffee Pot, The Igloo

We continued down the highway with a lot of steep climbs up and down.  

We stopped briefly at an 18-foot metal Pied Piper that used to mark the gate of a privately run fairy tale park that opened in the 1950s but closed in the 1980s.  Several other statues were hidden in the woods behind it, but it was on private property, and trespassers were not welcome.   

We then continued into the town of Bedford to see the 1917 18-foot Coffee Pot building.  It was originally a lunch place adjoining a gas station, and then a bar next to a hotel.  Now it is just a preserved historical attraction outside a drive-in movie theater.  

We then continued down the highway to Everett, where we found an ice cream stand called The Igloo that was shaped like a big sundae with a cherry on top.  Though touted as a Lincoln Highway attraction, this building was built in the late 1970s as a showpiece for a company that offered readymade, modular homes in bizarre circular shapes.  When the company went bankrupt, this building changed hands several times to eventually become an ice cream stand in 1994.  We stopped to get some ice cream, but it had so many flavors that it took us a while to decide.  The locals around the stand were excited because their town had just won the state baseball championship that day.       

Drive Back

Though we liked the drive on Lincoln Highway, we decided to take PA-31 back,, which followed the same path as I-76.

We first swung through McDonald’s to get food in our stomachs besides just ice cream.  We each ordered the 10-piece McNuggets that I found as a deal on my phone app.  After we left the restaurant, we discovered that they only put eight chicken pieces in one and nine in the other.   Frustrating!

We stopped when we saw some fun wood carvings in front of Supersaw Chainsaw Carvings. Though the workshop was closed, we enjoyed looking at the carvings they had displayed outside.

Evening

We got home around 7 pm.

Friday, 17 June

We packed the camper and headed toward Dillsburg in Western Pennsylvania around 10 am.