Visiting PA

This post was written by me through an activation with HireInfluence on behalf of Visit PA. Although I received compensation for participating in the campaign, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Some of you saw the other day (on the blog) that Jack, Beau and I went to Pennsylvania for the weekend. We went to explore PA, driving across the state, for a blog partnership with VisitPA. We did an “Amazing Race” type of thing… only it’s online instead of on TV. 🙂

We started off in my hometown (Pittsburgh… well, Washington, but pretty close to Pittsburgh) and then together we explored the rest of the state… something I’ve never done.  Turns out there are a lot of things to do in PA that I’ve never done! 

We spent the first night visiting with Mickey’s parents, went out for ice cream with my Aunt, cousin & sweet baby cousin, Lucas, and saw my grandparents.

Then we were off with our Pennsylvania map in hand!  We had a lot of Places to visit in PA.  

Our first stop was the incline.  I love the inclines in Pittsburgh. 🙂 There are so many inclines in PA!  We went on one during our prom with friends… and I’ve gone on them with my family, too.  They are always fun.  The Duquesne Incline is one example:  Take a step back in time on a century-old cable car and see the best views of downtown Pittsburgh while riding one of the few remaining inclines in the country. Opened on May 20, 1877, the Duquesne Incline was rescued and restored by a group of local residents in 1963 and still delights residents and visitors with its original, elegant, wooden cable cars.

Our second stop was the Flight 93 Memorial.  I was in college when the planes crashed so close.  A scary time.  This memorial had us speechless…   Flight 93 National Memorial is a place to learn about the forty passengers and crew of Flight 93 whose actions thwarted the hijackers’ plan to fly this plane to a target in Washington, DC. Walk beside their final resting place and honor their extraordinary courage in fighting back against the terrorists.

The third stop for us was at Laurel Caverns.  It is a large natural calcareous sandstone cave located 50 miles south of Pittsburgh.    The kids had a blast.  They said that this was their favorite part.  I agree.  I remember going there with my Aunt when I was younger and I still had fun this time around (although this time I was a lot older and had to hold onto rocks so I wouldn’t slip!)

Most of the passage ceilings in its three mile labyrinth are between ten and twenty feet high (many as high as 50 feet) with an average width of over twelve feet.  This makes it the largest cave in Pennsylvania.  The kids loved learning about the fault lines & about why the cave can be made of so much sand, but still not fall.  We learned a ton from the tour guide!   The cave itself is situated beneath a 435 acre privately owned geological preserve.  Because this property is at the top of Chestnut Ridge, all of the water that enters the cave is pristine.  It was very cold (50 degrees) & wet (water dripping on us a lot) in there, but we didn’t mind!  We had so much fun.

We also stopped by the  Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania – The Wolf Sanctuary of Pennsylvania cares for and protects over 20 wolves on acres of beautiful woodland.

We then drove several hours to get to Hershey Park.  Hershey park is home to more than 65 rides and attractions, including eleven roller coasters.  We also went to Chocolate World & the museum while we were there.   (the kids clearly wanted her cake) 

Of course, we couldn’t leave without getting this picture with a giant bar of chocolate…  lol!

Our last stop was in Philidelphia, where I took the opportunity to teach the kids all that the city had to offer.  We took a tour of Betsy Ross’s house (we learned a LOT about her & about the times that she lived in!)  Did you know that she was a widow three times?   Or that they used to bleach their clothes with urine?  Interesting, right?   The kids thought so!

We also saw the Liberty Bell and the kids learned a lot about freedom & liberty in the museum.

All in all, we had a blast!
PS- the winner for our Pennsylvania goodie bag is Jess from Unprocessed Jess.