April 2008
Matchbook Traveler by Jeffrey Williams
April 2008 found my wife and me traveling across Pennsylvania from the Philadelphia area to Erie to visit our son. After getting a late start on Wednesday April 2nd, we arrived in Harrisburg at rush hour. Our only touristy thing was a quick stop at the John Harris Mansion on Front Street. Front Street was jammed. We finally were able to approach the mansion on a side street coming from Second Street. Then on to our hotel -- the Towne House Suites Hotel -- close to downtown Harrisburg. We had a comfortable suite for the price of a hotel room. And, the hotel had matchbooks with its name. We had dinner at Scotts’ Grille, which had run out of matches with its name. We stopped for a drink at Gilligan’s where matchbooks were out for the taking. Dessert at a nearby diner found no matches.
Thursday found us stopping at Ft. Hunter where there is the Centennial Barn, a covered bridge, a few additional buildings plus the Ft. Hunter Mansion across the road. Then, on to the local casino -- no matches with its name -- for a few plays at the slots plus lunch. Continuing our drive across the state, we arrived in Huntingdon for the night. Neither our motel nor our restaurant for dinner had matches but what turned out to be the most popular bar in town as well as the finest restaurant, Mimi’s, did have matchbooks with its name. Excellent martinis. Next time we are in Huntingdon, we will plan to to have dinner here.
Friday breakfast also brought no matches. Heading west, we stopped at Indian Caverns in Spring Creek. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and gave an excellent trip through the caverns. It turns out we were the first tour of the 2008 season other than scheduled school tours.
No matches at our lunch in Hollidaysburg. The Wye Motor Lodge in Duncansville had matches with its name. It used to be listed on
www.matchbookreview.com but the information was no longer considered current. Glad to see it still has matches with its name as this is one of our favorite motels across Pennsylvania. Its sign says, “Squeaky Clean” and they mean it. Plus the rooms are comfortable and large. No matches at dinner. For a drink we stopped at the U.S. Hotel in Hollidaysburg, which also used to be listed on the Web site. It used have dining in its historic building but as we approached we saw a huge barn-like addition with plenty of glass to see those still having dinner. The new dining room was a disappointment and so was the lack of matches with its name. Saturday was basically a driving day with only a snap-and-go at the Stone House in Slippery Rock. No matches at breakfast in Hollidaysburg or lunch in Butler. We arrived in Edinboro outside Erie. It had been several years since we stayed here. The driveway and parking lot used to have some pot holes but now some were definitely craters. The sign in the lobby said “under renovation” -- the same sign that was there when we first stayed here seven years ago. On a Saturday night, I counted only four cars belonging to folks passing through. A request for matches brought generic Ramada matches from the days when this place was a Ramada. Dinner in Erie with our son and his wife found no matchbooks either. Not a particularly good day for someone seeking matchbooks.
Sunday was certainly better, matchbookwise. Our first stop was the Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie. It is a nice casino and race track. It also had matches with its name. For lunch, we stopped at Conneaut Lake. The Silver Shores offered very good lakefront dining and matchbooks with its name. Though it was only early April, there were a couple of water skiers (in wet suits, of course) out on the lake. Sunday night found us in Punxsutawney. The Pantall Hotel, famous from the movie, no longer had matches with its name. Dinner also found no matches.
The big disappointment was that our Sunday matchbooks would be the last two on the trip. None in Clearfield, State College (The Tavern used to be listed on the site but no longer has matches with its name) and Mifflinburg. Pottsville lead to greater disappointment. The Greystone, one of the better restaurants in Pennsylvania (and definitely expensive for the area), and Goodfellas, a local bar and night spot, were listed on matchbookreview.com as having matches with their names from our previous stops in Pottsville. Neither has them anymore. Our final day was Wednesday April 9th. No matches in Hamburg or Lenhartsville. While we always enjoy traveling across Pennsylvania, we hope future trips bring more matchbooks.
