Pennsylvania and West Virginia - Week 1

Week 1 - Pittsburgh

and Punxsutawney

We flew into Pittsburgh on Sat 22nd January, the weekend the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the NY Jets and were catapulted into the 2011 Superbowl. Needless to say, Pittsburgh was draped in yellow and black, dancing to the music "We are the Champions" and its streets were filled with Steeler's fans. We definitely got caught up in the excitement - so much so that I bought a Steeler's scarf and next week we will be barracking for them in the Superbowl - go you Steelers!!!!

Pittsburgh is such a beautiful city - it's in a triangular shape created by 3 rivers - the Allegheny and the Monongahela merging into the Ohio River. There are 446 bridges in the city! Pittsburgh is actually known as 'The City of Bridges' and 'The Steel City'. It was covered in snow and absolutely picture perfect. We rode on the cable-powered Incline (also known as a funicular) which runs from the river valley to the top of the overlooking bluffs - just spectacular.

We drove onto Punxsutawney about 1.5 hrs north east of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh was alive with Steeler excitement and Punxsutawney was alive with Groundhog Day and Groundhog Phil excitement!

On February 2 every year, Groundhog Phil comes out of his burrow on Gobbler's Knob - in front of thousands of followers from all over the world - to predict the weather for the rest of winter. According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter weather.

If he does not see his shadow, there will be an early spring. The first official trek to Gobbler's Knob was made on February 2, 1887!

Unfortunately we had to leave Punxy before Groundhog Day so will have to watch the outcome on tv! We did however enjoy the build up in the town - and did visit Phil in his burrow a couple of times to say hi. He lives in the centre of town with his wife Phyllis!

Our week in Punxsutawney was very white - it snowed everyday - so beautiful. We stayed in the Jackson Run B & B run by Donna & George. The property had a large house and also a cottage. We stayed in the 2 bedroom cottage - John, myself and Martha (who is working with John over the next few weeks). The property also had a large barn which housed several horses. I had a very relaxing week - knitting, reading and watching the snow fall - who could ask for more!

On Wednesday when John and Martha had the afternoon free, we drove to the nearby Amish town of Smicksburg. Unfortunately most of the stores there were closed due to the heavy snow falling that day but we did see some Amish people driving their horse-drawn buggies - they must have been sooooo cold!

The countryside was absolutely spectacular - the tiny towns, the snow covered trees, the frozen rivers - we definitely enjoyed our time in this area.