Saturday, September 20, 2025

The Saturday Morning Post - 50 states in 52 weeks - Pennsylvania

 

The Pennsylvania State Capital

City Hall in Philadelphia 

Pennsylvania is about halfway between Washington DC and New York City. From east to west Pennsylvania is nearly 300 miles wide, when you are driving across the state, it seems like it goes on forever. Philadelphia is the major city in the east, just across the river from New Jersey. Pittsburgh is near the western end of the state and far north. I have driven around Pittsburgh many times, and never been into the city. I should stop one trip.   

Philadelphia, or Philly as it is known, was where the colonial congress met, where the treasonist Declaration of Independence was written and signed 250 years ago next summer. The founding fathers were a nonconformist lot, a tradition that was carried on by the much missed, dearly departed blogger Ann Marie. We met her and Todd for lunch a couple of years before their untimely deaths. 

There is a lot of Pennsylvania in between, miles and miles and miles of rolling farmland and forests. Kind of smack dab in the middle, is Harrisburg, the state capital, and home to Mistress Maddie a brilliant and somewhat uninhibited young blogger (at my age most of you are young.) 

It is a pretty state, and one that really deserves more attention than I have given it. One big suggestion, get off of the turnpike and expressways, and mosey your way around the back roads of Pennsylvania.  I have done that a couple of times, and it is a really fun place to explore.  

22 comments:

  1. Brandywine Valley is a hidden gem.

    Will Jay

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    1. Another place to explore.

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    2. Your right Will, the Brandywine Valley and Kennth Square is a stunning area. I have shopped there and been to Longwood Gardens to many times to count.

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  2. I've always thought of Pennsylvania as nice and quiet state, with a fairly high living standard. But it is so far north, the winters must be hard, and I know it can be very hot too. Is there no where in the US that has a Mediterranean climate? That is warm but not humid summers and cold but not snow and ice cold winters?

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    1. Coastal southern California. Really close to the water.

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    2. We have had relatively very mild winters the last few years here...at least central PA to southeast PA has. Next to no snow.

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  3. I was in the Poconos several times as a child, and drove through Pennsylvania many times. And never visited Philly or New Hope. What a shame.

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    1. Philly is an eAsy side trip from NYC some year.

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  4. Another state I've been "through" but never visited and yet it offers so much .... Philly and Maddie for starters!

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  5. My dad's parents lived in New Jersey so growing up every year we drove the PA Turnpike to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Going through the tunnels and stopping at the service plazas broke the boredom of the drive. My sister lives in Philadephia and it is a fun place to visit. We visited the Flight 93 Memorial in Shankstown, PA. It's a beautiful National Park.

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    1. The infamous turnpike is efficient, but boring.

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  6. I haven't been in the state in many years. I should correct that.

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    1. Philly is fun, and there is a great art museum there. There is a train from the airport into downtown.

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  7. I was there years ago and saw the historical stuff. That's all I remember about it.

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    1. There is a lot of history in the state.

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  8. While I'm from and enjoy Harrisburg, I know I'll return to the Philly, Buckingham and New Hope area again. I miss it so. And as Mitchell has brought up the mountainous terrain in the state is downright beautiful. The Pocono are stunning and the views into Jim Thrope, OR as is nicknamed "the Swiss Alps of PA" are breathtaking. It is really a very varied state that offers just about every type of locale and nothing to complain about the weather...no fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados. Cold in the winter but not unbearable or any blizzards, and warm in the summer....with, in betweens like now, the weather is a dream.

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    1. I was hoping you would be here to add to the fun. I need to spend more time exploring.

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    2. You definitely need to put New Hope, Doylestown, and Jim Thrope on your list and the Frank Lloyd House, Fallingwater, outside Pittsburg, on it too. It'd be fun to see your posts on them.

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  9. We encountered Amish people in western Pennsylvania. They seemed to have arrived from a different century.

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    1. They chose to live very differently.

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