A Couple Sights Found While Crossing the State

 When Ann Marie and I head east to visit my daughter and her family, we take rt.22 rather than spending money on Turnpike tolls. We take our time, enjoy the scenery and often, find things we’ve never seen before. We don’t rush, we stop when we see something interesting. We also aren’t afraid to try new routes because we never know what we might find!

    Here are a few of the things we ran across on our latest trip across the state.

    Just outside of McVeytown, we stopped at an old log cabin. There are no signs on it; it is just sitting alongside the road. Someone keeps hanging wreaths on it so somebody cares for it. It is in pretty sad shape, I wonder how much longer it will remain standing.

    We stopped at a diner called Red’s in Lewistown. This has been here for quite awhile, not real fancy but it was just what we were looking for. As you walk in the door there is a griddle right in front of you with seats at the counter if you want to watch your meal get cooked.  The diner is completely Coke themed. Best of all, they served good food!!

    Sitting beside the Clark Creek in Stony Valley, north of Harrisburg, is the Victoria Furnace. Built back in 1836, one hundred and eighty-six years ago, it only operated 9 years before it went out of blast. Maybe that is why it is in such good shape. It is huge! The inside lining of the chimney is collapsing a bit but the outside is holding up well. There are some trees growing on it and they will eventually be its downfall. A high stone wall surrounds two sides of the furnace. It is amazingly graffiti free. It took a short 15-minute walk though fields and woods to get to it.

    Not far from Chelsey and Jaime’s house we came across this truck. Perhaps the Clampetts left it behind.

    Near the “town” of Geigertown, we rounded a bend only to see numerous railroad cars, cabooses and small railroad engines. There was also steam driven construction equipment in the field, just sitting beside the road. Of course, we pulled over to explore a bit.

    Five minutes down the road we came to the Joanna Furnace. This furnace had been used for over 107 years before it shut down. Originally built in 1791, it finally went out of blast in 1898. The place has been turned into a park and special events are often held there. Some of the buildings have been preserved and rebuilt. It is quite orderly and neat compared to the Victoria Furnace!

    Our next stop was a butcher shop located in Krumsburg. Dietrich’s Meats has been a regular stop on our visits out east. They have a lot of the meats my father used to bring home such as Scrapple! While we were there, we got a sales pitch from Verna Dietrich, now in her 90’s, a visit without it just wouldn’t seem right!

    In Lenhartsville, we happened across another iron furnace. We saw it as we were driving down Old Rt.22. I couldn’t find much information about it other than it was called The Maiden Creek Furnace and it was built in 1854. It was in blast for 27 years before shutting down in 1881. Not far from this stream is Furnace Creek, we will have to return and see what we can find along it!

    Rejoining the new rt.22 we continued west, passing the Rockville Bridge a bit north of Harrisburg. A train was crossing it but we didn’t stop for a picture…believe it or not. A few miles further and we sighted the Statue of Liberty, or at least a copy of it, sitting on an old bridge pier in the middle of the Susquehanna River.

    We pulled into Lewistown again, this time to take a short walk around the center of town. While we were there, we met a guy from Texas who had to tell us a story about a dramatic kitten rescue in a derelict building. “Right there in that window!” He would have gone on forever if we gave him the chance! The temperatures were once again near 90 so we got an iced beverage and Ann Marie took the wheel for the rest of the ride home.

     This was another fun trip, but of course, they all are. Our travel plans are 1) After you make your plans, feel free to deviate from them and, 2) Time is NOT of the essence! Look and see what you can see, you never know what might pop up! Keep on searchin’ cause the world is full of wonders! You just have to look for them!