[originally posted: 12/21/2017]
There’s a park in Cook Forest, PA, in the middle of Allegheny, called The Farmer’s Inn. I call it a park for a lack of a better term–its a cluster of shops and small attractions that’s already a little odd in and of itself, but even stranger still since it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
The Farmer’s Inn includes a restaurant, candy shop, ice cream parlor, furniture store–all the essence of country and homemade. Then there’s also a trading post gift shop with one of those ‘mine for gold’ attractions seen at fairs and an electronic shooting gallery. It’s also complete with a golf driving range and petting zoo, and not just farm animals but a very respectable amount and variety of exotic species. Best yet, you can feed them!! The black bears have chutes that apple slices can be thrown down that the bears lie in front with their mouths open.
The furniture store sells an awesome handmade swivel glider chair that I wanted to buy. After two weeks of going back and forth by email, I found out that this specific chair couldn’t me shipped to me and the park is actually closed during the winter months but the owner still has staff on premise each day to feed the animals and she would agree to meet me to pick up the chair. So, why not? I took the day off work last Wednesday to drive the 3 hours each way alone, hoping the chair would fit in the back of my car, and it was a very enjoyable experience.
I had planned on going right there and right back, six hours easy-peasy, maybe enough time after to stop at work. I loaded up on new music- listening to The Sounds and Metric- don’t think my playlist has featured so many female vocals. I did drive almost straight down on my way there as the owner was expecting me and everything went very well. On the way home, though, I took my time and detoured for anything that caught my fancy. It’s not something I need all the time, but the autonomy was quite cathartic- pulling over and popping a 3 point turn in the middle of the road when I saw a billboard I wanted to take a picture of or following signs for a local attractions just because why not? No discussion or having to explain, no conflict, just doing and enjoying what what was around me.
Some sights from the road that caught my attention:
What’s a bear check….?!?!
Sassy’s! Now that’s a store name that appeals to me!
These gorgeous gargoyles, so random yet unmistakably striking as you drive around the bend.
I need to look up the history of this sign. It’s not a good pic, but there’s definitely a story here:
I stopped at a town called Bradford, home to the Zippo headquarters and the Zippo Case Museum. I drive through some of the town because, naturally, I got lost, and it is a very historic place with much of the residential area built super close together on this horribly frighteningly steep hill. It didn’t help that I happened to be driving through at a time of year when the roads were wet and icy and a time of day when the sun was perfectly posed to reflect off the snow and wetness in a terribly blinding glare.
You can’t tell that well from this picture, but with cars parked, the streets are wide enough for only one car and when checking for vehicles at the cross streets, it was very difficult to see past the sun glare, so overall, this place sucked to drive around.
Even in the commercial area, the streets were super tight and the traffic left a lot to be desired. I didn’t take a picture of it (upsetting! Because I made a mental note that I should…), But the houses that were at the top of the hill weren’t even at street level anymore. They had a nearly vertical staircase that had to be climbed with the last ring of houses perched even higher yet and set off I to the forest. I can’t imagine what a headache it would be to get in and out of those homes, but what a magnificent view they must have.
I saw a billboard for a restaurant named “Beefeaters” and I found that so amusing that, since I was already touring Bradford, I decided I had to check this place out to.
I was expecting a Cracker Barrel type of place and was hoping they had a gift shop with novelty items playing into the Beef Eater name. Instead, the restaurant was really nice place located in what used to be the Carnegie Library. I pretty much walked in, saw the inside, and walked out again.
TBC…