Punxsutawney

 

We’ve made it to Pennsylvania! We are staying at a state park called Prince Gallitzin, named after a Catholic priest, whose father was a Russian nobleman in the late 1700’s. The Prince (turned priest) settled here in 1792 and was influential in establishing a community here.

We chose this park because of it’s close proximity to Punxsutawney, PA. Most people recognize the name Punxsutawney, because the movie Groundhog Day takes place there. It’s the hometown of world famous groundhog and weather forecaster, Punxsutawney Phil. It also happens to be the birthplace of Mark’s Dad, Jim, and an area where Mark has wonderful childhood memories.

We connected with a cousin, who still lives there, and spent the day with Vicki and Ray on a bit of a nostalgia tour. Mark remembered a restaurant where the hamburgers were loose hamburger meat in a hotdog bun covered in the fixings. The original Carlinos has been out of business for decades, but Frank’s Corner Lunch has kept the tradition going. It was the perfect spot for lunch! What a great day reliving stories from the past and reminiscing about family, dead and living. 

We were a little late for Groundhog Day this year, but Starbaby was a great sport and “filled” in for Phil when we stopped by Gobblers Knob. Looks like the six more weeks of winter he predicted this year are finally behind us!