Weekend Adventures: Thanksgiving in Pennsylvania

uncle johns Last week, I was able to take a few days off for Thanksgiving and travel to Pennsylvania with my family. My parents grew up in a small town up there and even though the drive can be terribly long, it's always a fun trip. We've been going there for Thanksgiving ever since I can remember. I always look forward to this trip because we've built so many traditions over the years. Wednesday we shop the local downtown area; Wednesday night is dinner for my aunt's birthday; Thursday is Thanksgiving!; and Friday we shop the local mall.

And this year it snowed! It's so beautiful there when it snows.

We arrived really late Tuesday night, so that we could wake up on Wednesday and do our downtown shopping. There aren't a whole lot of shops, but they are quaint, and fun to go to. One of the newest shops is a new coffee shop, and the inside is absolutely gorgeous. It has an amazing, cozy feel and the coffee was fantastic.


Wednesday day evening we took my Aunt for a nice dinner at the Gateway Lodge which is in Cook's Forest, Pennsylvania for her birthday. I had an amazing steak with a cab sauv, and it was delicious. Can't forget about the Banana's Foster I had for dessert.


There's also a really cool wine cellar and bar in the lodge. So many wines to choose from! Not a bad problem to have. IMG_7504

Thanksgiving morning I had to run for my training. It was super icy, but felt good to get my legs moving up and down those mountains before sitting down to a large meal. IMG_7548

We had Thanksgiving dinner  at my Uncle's house that's tucked back in the woods. It's such a gorgeous house on some amazing land. You could call him some what of a Mountain Man as he grows lots of his own plants and vegetables in his green house, has a chicken coop, and does a ton of canning. Most of my uncles do some sort of canning and/or hunting so when we visit, we always get tons of stuff to take home like sauerkraut, salsa, pickles, and more. It's wonderful. My pantry it set for a little while.

I wish I had taken a photo of the meal, it was absolutely incredible. But I'll be honest, I was too busy eating and enjoying time with my family that I barely took any photos.


And to end our Thanksgiving day, we took a walk through the woods. It was FREEZING, but absolutely beautiful. IMG_7547

What did you do for Thanksgiving? Do you keep certain traditions?