We went to Pennsylvania this past weekend for an overnight visit. It snowed almost the whole time we were there and Saturday night felt like our first truly wintry night. Temperatures dipped down to 18 degrees! For dinner, we dined at an Austrian restaurant called Herwig’s which was very tasty.

Their portions were generous so we had leftovers the next day which was even more delicious. The decor there was very casual, they have you order at the front and then assign you a table. You grab your own drinks. The menu is written on a chalkboard at the front. They decorated the walls with random pieces of art and funny jokes, like a complaint button set on a mousetrap. Afterwards, we went to a local pub and had a local beer. At first, I was miffed about the $2/person cover charge. What is this dinky little yahoo town pub doing charging a cover? They’re lucky people even patron them. It wasn’t exactly a hopping place. Later, on our way out, we saw a musician setting up to perform, so that justified the charge. Unless there’s live music or some service or good that customer’s receive, I’m generally not cool enough to be patronizing places that charge a cover, no matter how paltry. At any rate, we didn’t stick around for the show, and instead, went to Penn State’s Berkey Creamery for some ice cream. Apparently, it’s all the rage there. Yes, even in 18 degree weather, there was a line for ice cream. It was decent ice cream but mostly it was just fun to car-tour the campus a bit and see the people. Penn State is a small town, with a pretty homogeneous population. I can’t see myself living there. Not only because of the 18 degree winters, but because their third highest rated Yelp restaurant was Five Guys. I mean, Herwig’s was good but not that good. For breakfast we went to the Waffle Shop which is their local version of IHOP. Their chocolate chip waffle was stupendous! Didn’t last but 5 minutes max, on the plate.
As for things to do there, I spent about an hour and a half at Wally World buying up face wash, laundry baskets, and cereal. I’ve noticed they’re starting to carry some non-MadeinChina items. The glass mixing bowl was made in the USA. Yay! On our way home, we took the Heritage Route and passed by James Buchanan’s birth place. There were also lots of small towns along the way with bona fide log cabins! The highway would go 65 mph, then slow to 25 mph when we went through the towns. Highway 22 was especially stunning. We drove along hugging the mountains on the left with the Juniata River on the right with more mountains beyond that and a railroad track by the river. This is my kind of traveling! Actually, if we stay in a 5 hour driving radius, there are tons of places to visit.