Tips for Pitt trip?
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 10-19-2005
Posts: 20,687
From: Miami
Tips for Pitt trip?
I am set for a 2 week trip to Pittsburgh in the middle of June. Will be taking the auto train from Sanford, Fl to Lorton Va. So far the only plans set in stone are for visiting the folks for one weekend.
Other than the obvious (D.C.), what else is there to do/see in the southwestern/southern half of Pennsyltucky (as my wife calls it)
and the route back to the train. I'll have about 7 days to get back to the auto train.
Other than the obvious (D.C.), what else is there to do/see in the southwestern/southern half of Pennsyltucky (as my wife calls it)
and the route back to the train. I'll have about 7 days to get back to the auto train.
Senior Member
Joined: 02-23-2006
Posts: 2,529
From: Mesa Arizona
I am set for a 2 week trip to Pittsburgh in the middle of June. Will be taking the auto train from Sanford, Fl to Lorton Va. So far the only plans set in stone are for visiting the folks for one weekend.
Other than the obvious (D.C.), what else is there to do/see in the southwestern/southern half of Pennsyltucky (as my wife calls it) and the route back to the train. I'll have about 7 days to get back to the auto train.
Other than the obvious (D.C.), what else is there to do/see in the southwestern/southern half of Pennsyltucky (as my wife calls it)
and the route back to the train. I'll have about 7 days to get back to the auto train.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 10-19-2005
Posts: 20,687
From: Miami
Trip will be from 6-13 to 6-26. The train will arrive in Lorton on the 14th, will be spending time with the family till the 17th, in Washington, Pa. Still gathering info/ideas so I can make a plan. We may just cross paths!!
Senior Member
Joined: 04-30-2006
Posts: 9,149
From: Maryland Heights, MO
One of my all-time favorite tourist attractions!! went ther for the first time when I was 5!! I don't know how close it is to where you'll be, but if you plan on going to the Pennsylvania Dutch area, this is a MUST!!
In newspapers and magazines, ROADSIDE AMERICA has been acclaimed as the greatest known miniature village—the most unique and detailed masterpiece of its kind in the world. Actually, it is not one village, but many—really the American countryside as it might be seen by a giant so huge that he could see from coast to coast.
At the turn of the century, near Reading, Pennsylvania, Laurence Gieringer, age 5, often looked out of his bedroom window at night, gazing toward nearby Neversink Mountain. Crowning the mountain was the Highland Hotel with lights that twinkled and beckoned. To little Laurence, the glittering white building looked like something from a fairy tale, small enough to pick up and carry home. One day, the boy decided to do just that. Leaving the safety of his backyard, he set off through the woods to find the mountain top and the "toy" building. The inevitable happened. Laurence became bewildered, then completely lost. After a frightening night alone in the woods, he was found by anxious searchers the next morning. Despite this experience, the boy was to retain his interest in "toy" houses for the rest of his life.
Going to work at age 16, Laurence, after a start in the printing trade, became a carpenter and painter, work which he felt gave more scope to his particular talents. Always he continued to work on his hobby of making model buildings. Skillfully, he whittled at blocks of wood, fashioning them to his dream of a miniature village … a church … bridges … a horse-drawn carriage … stables … farmhouses. He knew nothing of drawing to scale, yet arbitrarily established a size of 3/8" to the foot, which he adhered to in all his modeling.So the years went by. Laurence had pursued his hobby for some 60 years, continually enhancing his skill and artistry. The miniature "village" had grown steadily in size and scope, and news of it began spreading through the countryside. At Christmas, 1935, Gieringer as usual set up a part of his miniature display for his children. Hearing of the splendor of the exhibit, the Reading Eagle newspaper published a feature story on it. Now interest mounted still more rapidly.
Every day through all 12 months of the year, throngs of visitors come to ROADSIDE AMERICA. The exhibit fascinates not only because of its authentic, beautifully crafted miniatures, but because of the excitement of continual movement. Swift trains glide through tunnels and over bridges … a tiny fountain bubbles in the miniature Zoo … a mountain trolley hustles through the woodland … an old-time grist mill slowly grinds grain for flour. This is only a small part of the action at ROADSIDE AMERICA.Boys are known to have active imaginations, but never in his most optimistic dreams, could the 10-year-old Laurence Gieringer have suspected that his beloved hobby would one day become a giant exhibit of museum calibre … an exhibit that annually delights hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. ROADSIDE AMERICA is a truly exciting treat for your children and for you.
ROADSIDE AMERICA is an unforgettable panorama of life in rural United States. The exhibit spans more than two hundred years in time and lets you see, in exquisite miniature, how people lived and worked in pioneer days … through the years since then … right up to the present.
In newspapers and magazines, ROADSIDE AMERICA has been acclaimed as the greatest known miniature village—the most unique and detailed masterpiece of its kind in the world. Actually, it is not one village, but many—really the American countryside as it might be seen by a giant so huge that he could see from coast to coast.
hoo
At the turn of the century, near Reading, Pennsylvania, Laurence Gieringer, age 5, often looked out of his bedroom window at night, gazing toward nearby Neversink Mountain. Crowning the mountain was the Highland Hotel with lights that twinkled and beckoned. To little Laurence, the glittering white building looked like something from a fairy tale, small enough to pick up and carry home. One day, the boy decided to do just that. Leaving the safety of his backyard, he set off through the woods to find the mountain top and the "toy" building. The inevitable happened. Laurence became bewildered, then completely lost. After a frightening night alone in the woods, he was found by anxious searchers the next morning. Despite this experience, the boy was to retain his interest in "toy" houses for the rest of his life.
Going to work at age 16, Laurence, after a start in the printing trade, became a carpenter and painter, work which he felt gave more scope to his particular talents. Always he continued to work on his hobby of making model buildings. Skillfully, he whittled at blocks of wood, fashioning them to his dream of a miniature village … a church … bridges … a horse-drawn carriage … stables … farmhouses. He knew nothing of drawing to scale, yet arbitrarily established a size of 3/8" to the foot, which he adhered to in all his modeling.So the years went by. Laurence had pursued his hobby for some 60 years, continually enhancing his skill and artistry. The miniature "village" had grown steadily in size and scope, and news of it began spreading through the countryside. At Christmas, 1935, Gieringer as usual set up a part of his miniature display for his children. Hearing of the splendor of the exhibit, the Reading Eagle newspaper published a feature story on it. Now interest mounted still more rapidly.
Every day through all 12 months of the year, throngs of visitors come to ROADSIDE AMERICA. The exhibit fascinates not only because of its authentic, beautifully crafted miniatures, but because of the excitement of continual movement. Swift trains glide through tunnels and over bridges … a tiny fountain bubbles in the miniature Zoo … a mountain trolley hustles through the woodland … an old-time grist mill slowly grinds grain for flour. This is only a small part of the action at ROADSIDE AMERICA.Boys are known to have active imaginations, but never in his most optimistic dreams, could the 10-year-old Laurence Gieringer have suspected that his beloved hobby would one day become a giant exhibit of museum calibre … an exhibit that annually delights hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. ROADSIDE AMERICA is a truly exciting treat for your children and for you.
Platinum Member
Joined: 05-09-2006
Posts: 6,805
From: "Upland" Mesa, Arizona
jx3....
A slight sidetrack for the trip to Pitts. I understand there is a great Italian Restaurant, on the south side. I'm told you can't miss it because of its constantly changing political signs, out front. I'm looking for the name, now.
A slight sidetrack for the trip to Pitts. I understand there is a great Italian Restaurant, on the south side. I'm told you can't miss it because of its constantly changing political signs, out front. I'm looking for the name, now.
New Member
Joined: 02-23-2007
Posts: 15
From: Hanover, PA
I'd have to ask...what are your interests?...Do you like historical sites, nature, points of whimsical interest?...because we have all of this in Southern PA/Northern MD areas...
For history...there's the Gettysburg & Antietam National Military Parks & Fort McHenry in Baltimore...as well as the Amish country of Lancaster & Berks Counties
Naturewise...there's the Deep Creek Lake in Md, & Raystown Lake in PA recreation areas...in Harrisburg...they offer riverboat rides on the Susquehanna River every evening...in Pittsburgh...they have a Rubber Ducky Tour, where you ride around in a World War II amphibious vehicle viewing the city sites & then they take you for a swim in the three rivers...(I still want to do that when we go to Pitt. for the Steelers home opener in Sept...woohoo!!!)
Other points of interest...in my town alone...you can take tours of potato chip & pretzel plants...see how they make handcrafted furniture, tour the world's largest standardbred horse farm...another place is the Inner Harbor in Baltimore...lots of neat things to do in that general area...great eateries (the little italy area is awesome!), quaint shops, & several museums are all in the area...& over 2 blocks is Camden Yards, where you could catch an Orioles game...& of course there's all the Amish towns in Lancaster Co....Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Blue Ball...
http://www.padutchcountry.com/
and...there's also the GM Nationals in Carlisle June 22-24...LOL
That's just a few things off the top of my head at the moment...if you want some other details...let me know...
Steve
For history...there's the Gettysburg & Antietam National Military Parks & Fort McHenry in Baltimore...as well as the Amish country of Lancaster & Berks Counties
Naturewise...there's the Deep Creek Lake in Md, & Raystown Lake in PA recreation areas...in Harrisburg...they offer riverboat rides on the Susquehanna River every evening...in Pittsburgh...they have a Rubber Ducky Tour, where you ride around in a World War II amphibious vehicle viewing the city sites & then they take you for a swim in the three rivers...(I still want to do that when we go to Pitt. for the Steelers home opener in Sept...woohoo!!!)
Other points of interest...in my town alone...you can take tours of potato chip & pretzel plants...see how they make handcrafted furniture, tour the world's largest standardbred horse farm...another place is the Inner Harbor in Baltimore...lots of neat things to do in that general area...great eateries (the little italy area is awesome!), quaint shops, & several museums are all in the area...& over 2 blocks is Camden Yards, where you could catch an Orioles game...& of course there's all the Amish towns in Lancaster Co....Bird-in-Hand, Intercourse, Blue Ball...
http://www.padutchcountry.com/
and...there's also the GM Nationals in Carlisle June 22-24...LOL
That's just a few things off the top of my head at the moment...if you want some other details...let me know...
Steve
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 10-19-2005
Posts: 20,687
From: Miami
I think my wife and the rest of the family are leaning towards the DC area and Williamsburg.
Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that's where I grew up, and would maybe like to see other things (guess I could maybe see what's new at Busch Gardens).
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
halfpanel08
The Lounge
19
Dec 7, 2008 10:07 AM