Groundhog Day Adventures in Punxsutawney

Editor's Note:

This is our first post in over a year! We have lots saved up to share with you. The past year has been a trying one, with some chronic disease showing its face and really throwing me for a loop. I have lots of post ideas saved up, though, and I am excited to get back to sharing our travels -- and to traveling!

This one is from a road trip we took from North Dakota to New York (and back) in May.

~Crysta


We had been driving for a looooong time (seriously, it felt like forever). It had been quite a while since I started looking for something interesting to do, and I was starting to get desperate.

Something! Anything! Please!

And then it happened. I spotted a sign for Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. My inner child squealed.

"Bria, do you know who Punxsutawney Phil is?" I asked over my shoulder to my six-year-old.

Somewhere far in the back seat, her 15-year-old sister groaned. I turned on my right blinker and smiled.

Punxsutawney is the home of none other than Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who makes an appearance each February 2 and has Americans scrambling to find out if Spring will arrive early.

Though the event is nothing new, Groundhog Day rose to popularity with the 1993 Bill Murray movie of the same name, with crowds swelling to 30,000 plus in hopes of seeing the famous weather predicting rodent.

According to the Punxsutawney Historical Society website, the groundhog legend pre-dates the first white settlers in the area. The Delaware Indians passed down their own version of the story, in which the Oijik (brought down to locals as "woodchuck" came to be known as the "grandfather" to the local people.

Our first stop was the Chamber of Commerce's official souvenir shop, located on West Mahoning Street. We highly recommend this as your first stop, because not only were we able to learn more about the local area, we also scored a super fun activity - the Phantasic Phil's map and stickers.

(We also picked up a stuffed Phil, which features throughout our photos.)

This laminated 11x17-inch map is a scavenger hunt which leads visitors all around the area, on a mission to locate 31 larger-than-life groundhog statues. This outdoor public art project of the Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce was the perfect activity for a pair of kids who had been cooped up in a car for far too long.

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It was a drizzly day, but that didn't stop us from spending the next six hours on groundhog spotting duty! 

The groundhogs each have a different theme, including the Wizard of Weather, Fireman Phil, Freedom Phil, and others. It is a great way to explore the area, with statues located in all the areas of interest.

We saw Phil in his year-round home (Phil's Burrow) outside the library, and also trekked up to Gobbler's Nob, the location of the annual weather-predicting ceremony. It was pretty unbelievable to imagine thousands of people there - they must be incredibly organized!

Want to learn more?

The town's website is filled with information about Phil, the history of the legend, and groundhogs. There is even a section with lesson plans for teachers and homeschoolers! We were super excited to check this out once we reached our hotel.

By the way, there are other things to do in Punxsutawney, like the Weather Discovery Center (we missed out on this one because they are closed Wednesdays), the Shadow Vineyard, and more. Check out the local tourism website to get a feel for activities your family might take an interest in.

If you are traveling through Pennsylvania, we definitely recommend this fun pitstop along the way! And if you're really brave, check it out in February to experience the historical event for yourself.

And check out the rest of the photos from our fun day!

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Pennsylvania: Children's Museum of Pittsburgh

Bria and I had a wonderful day today at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. There was so much to do, see, and explore!

Google told me it was three bus transfers to the museum and I didn't want her to arrive already worn out, so we went to the hotel front desk to ask about options. Sure enough, they had a hotel shuttle. (It never hurts to ask!) We took the 10 am shuttle and had to wait for a couple of other people to be dropped off, but that meant we got to see more of the city, which was a blast!

On the way to the museum, we learned that it was Fred Rogers' birthday, so it was Mr. Roger's Neighborhood Day at the museum. Admission was free, and some special treats were planned in his honor. We had just finished watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, so Bria and I had a chat on the shuttle about the new feature our adventure had taken on.

We arrived and decided to start out in the Art Studio, which had several fun stations set up to check out. Bria donned an apron and did stamping with vegetables (she chose the onion and the green pepper), then moved over to do some painting on the easels. The set up was fabulous, and the volunteers were sweet and attentive.

Next we moved over to the clay table, and had a great time cutting and rolling and sculpting with the other children gathered around the table.

The other tables in the studio were fun, too, with Bria getting a chance to practice her cutting with scissors, then trying out silk screen painting before heading off for a snack in the Big Red Room Cafe. The face burger was SO fun, Bria had to pose with hers! There was a good selection of healthy meals and snacks, including baked french fries instead of fried, and the option of fruit as a side. There was also hummus, cottage cheese, and other good-for-kids offerings.

After lunch (and another potty break - bathrooms are available on every floor of the museum), we moved upstairs to try out the climbing area! It was really fun - a big maze of places to climb loomed overhead, all the way up to the next floor. But what Bria loved about it was that, being small, she could participate, too! The bottom layer when straight through, so she climbed over and under and through while staying close to the ground, came out the other end, and ran around to do it again. This provided great entertainment.

Then it was on to lots of hands-on activities in the nursery, which was the perfect place to wind down for a while and have some quiet time. There was lots to do, including a gigantic Light Bright, light/sand tables (possibly her favorite thing in the entire building, she spent an hour there), a see saw, and so much more.

Next we moved downstairs to get a drink in the cafe and then went to check out the theater, where something REALLY special was about to happen! The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra had sent a string quartet to honor Mr. Rogers' day, and Bria was absolutely enthralled. She plopped herself down in the front row on the floor and took it all in very happily. Halfway through she moved to the open space in the back of the theater where she could dance, too. There is definitely a trip to the symphony in that girl's future!

This was a very full day! And we didn't even make it to the Garage or Attic, or the Backyard (which was closed for the season). Definitely worth the time, we would highly recommend for children of a wide variety of ages -- we saw kids through about 10 having a fantastic time with developmentally appropriate activities.

To learn more, check out the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh website. Hours are 10-5 daily, and admission  fees can be found on the site.

Pittsburgh Vacations

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