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Metropolitan Pittsburgh Real Estate
Bedford Festival Makes for Good Motoring Trip Fall is a great time to take a road trip. There’s nothing like taking in some different scenery when the leaves are changing colors.That’s why my wife and I pointed our car east toward Bedford, Pa. and Bedford’s Fall Foliage Festival. Most people know Bedford as Exit 146, or old Exit 11 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, halfway between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, with Altoona to the north and Cumberland, Md. to the south. Bedford is really a quaint little town with a history that dates back to the mid 18th Century. We found it to be friendly _ perfect strangers we passed on the street offering us hellos _ and unpretentious. Bedford’s history goes back to when the British established a garrison and named it Fort Bedford after a nobleman. We found many homes bearing plaques with the years they were built and the names of the original owners. During a previous visit, we saw a Revolutionary War recreation at Old Bedford Village on the outskirts of town. Medicinal springs were found near Bedford in the 19th Century, leading to the establishment of the Bedford Springs Hotel, which recently underwent a huge renovation. At least seven U.S. presidents have visited that hotel. Bedford today is about a square mile and has more than 3,000 residents. Streets in the downtown area are closed for the Fall Foliage Festival for the first two weekends in October. More that 400 vendors have booths where visitors could buy crafts, watch artisans at work, take in some live entertainment, or enjoy festival food. Many of the local shops, such as the Founders Crossing artisans and antique coop house, keep their doors open, too. There was a car cruise and a murder mystery theater going on during the day we went. It tends to get a bid crowded. The festival has had 75,000 visitors over its four days in the past. When we went, we had no reason to believe there wouldn’t be that many this year. Among our choices, we came away with some locally produced sauerkraut salad and red cabbage, enjoyed cinnamon crusted cashews, and bought Somerset County maple syrup in a designer bottle. It was fun watching kids learn how to make homemade scarecrows with a jazz band playing in the bandbox nearby. When it was time to head west, we made a point of visiting the Bedford County Historical Society Quilt Show and Sale at the society’s headquarters on U.S. Route 30, four miles west of town. We were there looking to buy, but to our disappointment the best quilts were either sold or not for sale. No trip to Bedford would be complete without a meal at either Ed’s Steakhouse, near the turnpike, or at the Jean Bonnet Tavern, a 1762 structure five miles west of Bedford. It’s right between the fork where U.S. 30 meets state Route 31. This building had always fascinated me when I passed it on the turnpike. My wife and I stopped there once, and found out it’s also a bed and breakfast, subsequently spending a couple of nights there on another trip. The Jean Bonnet had been a site of meetings during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. The stone walls in the dining room look to be a good 18 inches thick, and the surroundings are reminiscent of taverns depicted in frontier movies. The main floor, which was open when we stopped in for lunch, is a modern bar serving microbrews and a restaurant with a decent menu. The weather was warm and sunny and some people chose to dine on the deck, enjoying the view of multicolored leaves on the mountain to the south. After an enjoyable meal _ I had a crab-cake sandwich and my wife a salmon salad _ we had a decision to make. Which fork in the road? Take Route 30 to the right and enjoy the sights of the Lincoln Highway toward Ligonier and Latrobe? Or Route 31 to the left? We chose Route 31, the less-traveled road, with an eye toward a stop at the Glades Pike Winery, west of Somerset. After passing through the village of Mann’s Choice, we passed many small farms offering new potatoes or good-size pumpkins for $1 (compared to $4 at a chain store here). Then it was up and over Allegheny Mountain instead of going through it on the turnpike. Farther down the road we would traverse Laurel Hill, which until 1962 also had a turnpike tunnel. Taking Route 31, there are crossroads towns such as Shanksville and Donegal, and some bigger ones like Somerset and Mount Pleasant. This route parallels the turnpike, so if you decide you’ve had enough of the road less traveled, you can get on the turnpike at Somerset or Donegal and eventually New Stanton. |
