Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Pennsylvania

I am not a native to Pennsylvania, having been born and raised in California.  My husband was born on the western side of this beautiful state, and my first experience with Pennsylvania was for our missions training, which took place near Williamsport.  I have now lived here for 15 years and consider myself a Pennsylvanian.

I quickly fell in love with PA, as we Pennsylvanians fondly refer to our state.  It has such natural beauty year round and amazing history, and being a history lover, it is still a thrill to be able to visit many historic sites.  Sometimes though the historic site is simply near to where I live - like yesterday I drove past the site, on my way to buy groceries,  where the Pennsylvania Rifle had been designed and made.  It later became known as the Kentucky rifle when Daniel Boone settled there.  He is a native Pennsylvanian and we have visited the Boone Homestead.

I went to Allposters.com and found all these great pictures of Pennsylvania and chose the ones that I have seen personally!
This is truly the most beautiful State Capitol!  Amazing artwork inside!
The mighty Susquehanna.
This is Washington's Headquarters in Valley Forge.  The rooms are small and they housed his officers as well as where they worked and made all their plans...
This is the US Mint in Philadelphia - it is right down the street from Independence Hall.
We drive through these tunnels every time we go to visit family in the Pittsburgh area.

We see this every time we go to Reading.

We have walked in this National Cemetery.  It is amazing to see.

This is Little Round Top at Gettysburg, a very strategic site during the 3 day battle.  

We used to drive past the Little League World Series site when we lived near Williamsport.

This is a site we see on a daily basis now!

We have seen the Liberty Bell a few times.

And Independence Hall...

Here is a hut showing the soldiers living quarters at Valley Forge.  They were small.

Herr House is near to where we live.

You can't tour the actual factory anymore, but even the air in Hershey smells like chocolate!

This is where the early patriots met to plan our break from England!

A beautiful bridge over the Susquehanna in Harrisburg.
This is a pretty site at night!

Kind of weird to drive by TMI, day or night.

This is such an amazing state, and we love living here.  Now if our state government can get it together.....

Where do you live and where are your favorite spots to visit in your state?

8 comments:

Donna said...

What a beautiful pictorial of your state! I agree that Pennsylvania is amazing, and we have spent many vacations in your area! Ah, the Herr House brough back memories! I remember that we sought it out and saw it about 9 years ago. We've explored the Amish countryside many, many times. And would you believe that I have been IN Three Mile Island, the containment building of the unit that had the accident?! Yes, I toured it as part of a conference that I attended back in the early 70s, before it went operational.

We live in beautiful Tennessee, and particularly love those areas that have hills and mountains. At one time of another, either on a pleasant trip or a businss trip, I've seen every part of this grand state!

JD/ Jill said...

Since, as you know, I live in Pennsylvania, I have seen many of the places that you mention in your post. I've seen the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall, because our daughter went to College in Philiadelphia. I've seen the pagota (spelling?) in Reading (and have been in it several times) Been to Gettysburg, and have visited Valley Forge many times. It's sad to think of the soldiers having to stay there in the cold, but in the spring it's a beautiful place. Hershey is a pleasant memory, I got to tour the factory before they closed it for tours. Thank you for helping me to go down Memory Lane.
Before I forget...One of my favorite places to visit is LONGWOOD Gardens!

Melissa G said...

Wow, what an interesting post! I loved seeing the places you have visited!
PA is a beautiful and interesting place!

Becky K. said...

We do live in a rich historical state. That was a fun post!

~~Deby said...

I was born in Michigan but lived MOST of my life in California too...but my husband went into the Air Force...
We lived in South Dakota, back to California, Turkey, England, Italy and now Washington State...Close to me is Seattle, Mount St.Helen's,
the FIRST Starbucks and many left wing Democrats....and tree huggers LOL..is that okay to say....but truly it is a beautiful state on this side, the Puget Sound area...
My grandmother was from PA...have always wanted to visit..
deby

Kelly said...

You did a great job presenting our state. Nice post.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh, TMI, LOL! When I went to school at Penn State in Middletown (the Harrisburg campus) I had a horrible nightmare about TMI exploding. I'm sure it was thanks to the iodine pills (I think that's what they were?) the school gave out to us in the event of "an accident". Eek! I love PA, too. I've contemplated whether or not I'd like to live in other states, and while I have an affinity for the South, I really adore Pennsylvania. We have a great climate, wonderful rural and urban places and just lots of great stuff. My favorite places to visit in Pennsylvania are probably all of our State Parks (love naturea and the outdoors), Lancaster (shopping, the Amish, great food...what's better?) and Philadelphia, my hometown area. Gotta love the Riverfront!

valerie said...

Those are some great historical places. It's been years since I've been to PA and surrounding area. I enjoyed the reminder of that trip years ago.

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