a trip to PA
in celebration of tony's birthday, we took an an overnight trip to pennsylvania. the border is just 45 minutes away, and pittsburgh is about two hours, so it's easy to get there. we left early monday morning and stopped for breakfast at eat'npark in youngstown, ohio. then it was back on the road to our hotel. i booked us a room at the radisson. it was on the top floor with a great view of the gently rolling hills in the distance...very swanky. after checking in and dumping our stuff, it was off to kennywood! thisplace bills itself as america's finest traditional amusement park, and that is the best way i can describe it as well. most of the attractions are older (such as wooden rollercoasters and a traditional train) and there is very little in the way of commercial sponsorship. it's been privately owned since it opened in 1898 and it has alot of structures dating back many decades. things are maintained beautifully, with lots of attention to detail and many historical plaques describing some of the older features. it was very clean, not overly crowded and reasonably priced. it was a welcome antidote for someone who has become jaded by too many trips to disneyland and six flags, where everything seems to have a corporate sponsor. we ate french fries drowned in cheese sauce and bacon, hot fudge sundaes and italian sausage...YUM! tony likes the coasters (which i can't do anymore) and i like the round&round rides, so we split up for part of the day and rode a few things separately. other than that, we just walked and rode and ate from 11am to 8.30 pm! we were wiped out when we got back to the hotel.
the next morning, fortified with many cups of coffee, we were off to the grove city outlets. tony likes nothing more than a good bargain and if there were ever a place to find one, this is it. with more than 140 stores, there is something for everyone. we walked the whole mall. of course, tony restrained himself, buying nothing, while i came away with a bunch of bags! actually, i got a couple of nice cotton sweaters for 4.99 each and a shirt for work fo 9.99. as a bonus, there's no sales tax on clothes in PA, so you feel like you are getting an additional discount! we took a time out for lunch and ate at hoss's steak and sea house. my only question...isn't a "sea house" an aquarium?
the drive back was uneventful. the countryside in this part of the world is just beautiful. the stretches we drove were largely unspoiled and very lush this time of year. we had dinner last night at the clifton diner. on our way home from there, we ran into patrick on the street. he is at cedar point today and, as promised, he is blogging from the park all day. he is gutsier than me, going on all those big coasters!
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the next morning, fortified with many cups of coffee, we were off to the grove city outlets. tony likes nothing more than a good bargain and if there were ever a place to find one, this is it. with more than 140 stores, there is something for everyone. we walked the whole mall. of course, tony restrained himself, buying nothing, while i came away with a bunch of bags! actually, i got a couple of nice cotton sweaters for 4.99 each and a shirt for work fo 9.99. as a bonus, there's no sales tax on clothes in PA, so you feel like you are getting an additional discount! we took a time out for lunch and ate at hoss's steak and sea house. my only question...isn't a "sea house" an aquarium?
the drive back was uneventful. the countryside in this part of the world is just beautiful. the stretches we drove were largely unspoiled and very lush this time of year. we had dinner last night at the clifton diner. on our way home from there, we ran into patrick on the street. he is at cedar point today and, as promised, he is blogging from the park all day. he is gutsier than me, going on all those big coasters!
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