#centreradius

HARRISBURG, PA

Back again care of a rerouted flight (go University Park Airport!).

PHILIPSBURG, PA

We took our canoe on its inaugural voyage at Black Moshannon State Park. It was a beautiful slightly overcast day, and our son loved it. The lake has a lot of diversity, but, most importantly, he didn't jump out of the boat.

ALTOONA, PA

After many drives past Altoona, we finally took a day to putter around and break up the winter monotony. We still have not hit the major site - Horseshoe Curve.

But, not unrelated, our son is getting way into trains so our first stop was the Model Train Museum (great photos on website). We were a little thrown off when we walked into the giant, dark antique vendor depot where it is housed, but eventually found it. They have ten or so tables of super intricate model train setups, all scales, all terrains. The two coolest things to me were a working amusement park from the 1950s and several tables in various states of construction so we could see the structure for sculpting the landscape and electronics for the tracks.

LANCASTER, PA

Another fall excursion - we visited the Landis Valley Museum for their Harvest Days. There were lots of great things to taste like interesting apple varieties and traditional baked goods. You could participate in making apple butter or grinding peanuts. Lots of other hand crafts, pumpkin patch pick your own, and beautiful clydesdale carriage rides. We spent most of our time with our son in a corn box. Is this the third time I'm mentioning a corn box? Weird.

The other reason (excuse) for our visit was to check out my friend's shop / studio / event space: It's Modern Art. I had been watching all of their cool stuff online - art bikes, gallery shows, graphic design, etc. - and was psyched to check it out in person. Our son got an awesome Grrrr... Bunny t-shirt.

SELINSGROVE, PA

I surprised my husband on Father's Day 2013 with a day trip to the Selin's Grove Brewing Co. First we took a long walk along the river - our first time getting a sense of the scale of the Susquehanna. There are some kayak outfitters and some small islands to play around, but we didn't have enough time. Instead we walked the residential road that parallels the river. Man, what a nice place to have a home. Why didn't they build PSU near the river?

PINE GROVE MILLS, PA

My colleagues and I went hunting for artifacts for our incoming architecture students to draw. We visited an antique store in McAlevy's Fort owned by another member of our faculty. After looking at some of the exquisite things inside the store, the owner helped us paw through the affordable toasters and record players in the beautiful barn out back until we accumulated enough for all of the freshman.

On our way back to town we stopped for a coffee at the then brand new Naked Egg Cafe. A nice moment to chat with my new colleagues.

PORT MATILDA, PA

File this one as a bit obvious, but Way Fruit Farm is one of my favorite places near State College. They host seasonal festivals, some pick your own crops, and have a huge range of apples. The store is full of food products from all over the county (Tait Farm, Vale Wood Farms, etc.) so it's a nice spot to bring visitors. The cafe will hook you up with coffee and sweets as well as a full lunch and breakfast menu. There is plenty of space for little ones to roam including a corn box.

CLEARFIELD, PA

One lovely day last summer, we played hookey. We dropped our son off at daycare and went kayaking. We got really spectacular professional quality boats from McCracken Canoe. The owners are very knowledgeable and nice folks.

They shuttled us up the West Branch Susquehanna River to Elliot's Park, a quirky, sweet privately run public park named for the dog that helped the owner through cancer. From there, we kayaked 11 miles of incredibly private and lush river to our pick up across from a giant power plant.

...And then, it was so beautiful, we did it again. Mr. McCracken kindly shuttled us back to Elliot's Park for another run.