Pennsylvania Holiday - Part I

Okay--it's taken waaaaay too long to get our August vacation photos organized--and sit down for a few quiet moments to write some posts about our Pennsylvania vacation. Sorry 'bout that! So here goes!
One unexpected parentheses on our trip was weather.  I think I jinxed it; I'd been talking for weeks about finally getting somewhere with summer heat (which we've sorely lacked this year...) Although it was pleasantly warm, the locals were talking about this 'break' in the heat & enjoying some cooler days with accompanying showers. Those thundershowers accompanied us into Philadelphia--planes getting in, but none allowed out. We were two of many hundreds of travelers getting to stay the night unexpectedly in the terminal, while scrambling for other arrangements.

No point in being in a hurry when you're on the road!

We were luckier than most because we could take an early train out the next morning & not have to wait for a flight to open up.  That turned out to be a much better arrangement anyway, as we enjoyed a lovely scenic tour of points west as we aimed at the Lancaster train station & then on to our final destination of Mt Gretna--our magical home port for the week with Julie & Bill.

Mt Gretna is tucked into the woods with a wonderful, colorful past as a long-standing Chautauqua community that thrives today with many of the values & activities and true sense of community intact.  What a great place for Julie & Bill--it's perfect! (For more about Chautauqua history & locations go to this site).  I remember my dad getting very animated when he described the Chautauqua coming to their little rural Washington community when he was a boy--much later I'm now learning there have been many year-round settings for the same wonderful culture all along! We arrived just in time for the annual Mt Gretna Art Show--a well known, juried show attracting artists from near & far.

Hall of Philosophy, then...

Gretna is charming, refreshing & impossible to describe in a brief post--except maybe to ask: when was the last time you visited a place that has a Hall of Philosophy as one of it's central buildings?!

...and now

With a fairy garden nearby?
Kids (& adults too!) can play, arrange & imagine to their heart's content....

Isn't this the coolest gate? So inviting!

Very old despite the new roof;
holds hundreds of viewers...

With the outdoor tabernacle that is not only wonderful to see but also to experience the variety of events that take place there?! (the New Christy Minstrels performed there while we were in town...)

night time view of the inside, looking up...

So I'm sharing a few photos of this wonderful getaway place--but my meager skills will never do it justice.  For a great photo tour through Mt. Gretna by a local artist take a minute to go this site--it's worth it!
Gretna served as a launch spot for many great tourist outings--that in many ways felt like a trip 'home', after having lived nearby long ago.

Julie & Bill were the greatest, most gracious hosts we could have wished for--thanks you guys!  I'll be doing more posts about places we went in the next few days.

When I said the weather was a major bracket on our trip, it was no joke.  We were there for the earthquake, which caused quite the excitement.  Turns out something that can be 'business as usual' in our part of the country is a scary novelty there.
Lucky for us--our return was perfectly timed to avoid the wrath of Irene plus all of the grounded flights she caused.  As we headed west we saw many weary travelers that were stranded until the worst was over. Although there was plenty of clean-up, Gretna seems to have come through it okay--although there will be stories to tell for some time to come, I think!
Stay tuned for some additional Pennsylvania posts...