Bedford, PA

We went 'camping' again last weekend. This time we met up with my parents in Bedford, PA and stayed with them in their mansion on wheels. Bedford is the town where my dad grew up and my grandparents and great-grandparents lived there the majority of their lives, so we went there A LOT when I was growing up. I was going to say that it's evolved a lot over the years, but really, it hasn't. It's like driving into 1950 when you turn onto Pitt Street. Sure, some of the shops have changed or turned into antique dealers, but the buildings are all the same.

One of the most amazing buildings in Bedford is the historic Bedford Springs Hotel. It seems that every trip to Bedford involved a drive out past the Springs. It's a beautiful building that was, sadly, mostly empty during my childhood. It was finally bought in the late 90s restored in 2007. Yes, I wanted to get married there and yes, of course my sensible husband said it was too expensive. Pfft! Fortunately, the re-opening of the Springs has brought a lot of interesting little businesses to town, particularly restaurants. There is the Green Harvest Company and Bad Boyz Bistro (which was featured on the Food Network). We had lunch there and we all thought it was delicious (well, except my mom who wimped out with a tiny cup of soup and a side salad). The sandwiches were served with home made potato chips. Yum! We stopped and got some treats at the new Hot Buns Bakery on Pitt Street. We got there kind of late in the day, but they still had a great selection of goodies for us to choose from. I can confirm the chocolate chip cookies are tasty.

It wasn't all about eating though. We looked around at the various antique shops, in particular our favorite one that used to be the big Murphy's store in the center of town. My great-grandma used to work at the candy counter there! :) Mom and I popped into a fair trade shop that had some lovely things. Wes and I got a bottle of wine from the Briar Valley Winery shop. The winery is about 6 miles outside of Bedford, but we haven't had the chance to go just yet. On Sunday morning Wes went for a run around Shawnee State Park. We didn't camp there on this trip, but we used to camp there all the time when I was little. My parents play golf when they go as there are a couple of nice courses in the area. Of course there is Old Bedford Village and the Fort Bedford Museum. You can take a stroll past the square and old courthouse, past all the beautiful, old houses on South Juliana Street. Oh, and of course George Washington slept here. This stops getting exciting the more time you spend in western Pennsylvania. That guy was everywhere!

If you'd like the 'History of Kim' tour, email me and AT NO COST I'll send you a map of the playground of the elementary school where we played 'spaceship', the church where I was baptized, the 'gingerbread house' my parents lived in just before I was born, my grandparent's house with the barrel stools we would sit on in the carport eating ham and cheese sandwiches, my great-grandparent's house where we would do beads or play Uno while drinking from aluminum cups, the amazing house with the wrap around porch where my cousin's lived, and I'll include a picture of me, my sister, and our cousins in our matching shiny rollerskate jackets. Hot.

If you're looking for a weekend getaway, I highly recommend Bedford, PA. It's about 2 hours from Harrisburg, just on the PA turnpike and it's a straight shot up I-70 from Baltimore and Washington, DC (only 150 miles). If your budget doesn't include the Bedford Springs, there are more reasonable chain hotels and some B&Bs.