82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 9,1983
Getaway weekend gets applause from writer!
BY KATHLEEN KING
Hie bags are packed and loaded
in the trunk ol the car. The kids are
safely delivered to Grandma with
kisses and hugs. The gas tank is
full and the road beckons.
It’s early, early, Saturday
morning and the air is still crisp
this March day. There is a can of
soda and a bag of pretzels to
munch on and the map is carefully
marked with directions. The
camera Is in the glove com
partment and It’s time to go!
Finally, it’s here. The “Weekend
Away.”
That one special, once a year,
that you give to each other as a gift
maybe at a birthday, maybe at
an anniversary, maybe Just for the
heck of it, but it’s yours, all yours.
And if you don’t go, you deserve
to. It gives you breathing space
from the stringent farm work,
from the cows and the bills.
Ah, you might say, but who can
afford It? Maybe, just maybe, you
can spare the time away from the
house, farm, business or job, but
can you spare the dollars? Because
of course it has to be expensive.
Right?
Wrong.
This year’s trek (we do it as an
annual anniversary celebration
each March) took my husband,
Dana, and I to the perfect place for
a weekend getaway. And for the
night in the hotel, Saturday night
buffet, c unday morning brunch, it
cost us only $49.90, plus tax and
gratuities.
And this is no flea-bitten hotel.
HOW TO REACH WELLSBORO
nor a half-hearted attempt at
cooking. This is the finest that
Tioga County has to offer
Wells boro, and The Penn Wells
Hotel.
Here is a town and ac
comodations that offer you
everything you need for a quiet,
relaxing weekend away.
There’s a small town with a hotel
originally built in 1089 that offers
comfortable, modern ac
comodations. Downstairs is the
dining room with crisp white
tablecloths and softened light, that
features a Saturday evening
smorgasbord that will bust your
britches.
And outside well, there’s the
outdoors, all of it, right there
Pennsylvania scenery and outdoor
living at its finest, and something
for every season.
In the fall there’s a show of
spectacle and color that would but
the Rockettes to shame the
changing of the “guard” at the
Pennsylvania Grand Canyon with
its 40-mile view of the Pine Creek.
There’s hunting, fishing, hiking,
boating, snowmobiling, skiing, all
depending on the season and your
Inclination.
And within another hour’s drive
is the Corning Glass Works Fac
tory in Coming, NY, and a major
wine producing area with wine
testing tours if you so choose.
The trip itself is half the fun. It
takes approximately four hours
from the Lancaster area, where we
came from. Above Harrisburg, on
Routes 11/15 you travel beside the
winding Susquehanna, visualizing
the barges that traveled on the
canel Just beside your road.
Lost in the hills of Tioga County is Wellsboro, the county
seat. Here, the stately white courthouse, still in operation,
stands as a reminder of yesteryear.
Then west of Williamsport on
Route 6, you catch Route 287,
winding through the hills and
valleys of Little Pine Creek Forest.
Its a refreshing introduction to
Tioga County. The forests on either
side muffle the sound of your
engine, a tiny, bubbling creek
takes the turns and twists with you,
an occasional iron bridge sings to
you as this last hour of the four
hour drive whizzes by.
Then the countryside opens up
and stretches out and there’s
Wells boro. A tiny county seat
founded in 1806, it still maintains
Msnm
P ENNSYLV
UttßlStoUr
t'l
bewW
fIMCMTW pmnoapH/A.
VJWTIIW
"n/W),
/VtC'l
fWASM.D.C.
part of the flavor of a town of the
past. The streets are wide and
lined with trees. The houses are
stately and well kept The town
“common” Is graced by a statue of
Here the writer’s husband Dana is caught by the camera as he stands where so many
thousands have stood through the years - at the overlook of Pennsylvania’s Grand
Canyon.
new,
WOWC'
iREM*N&
k IU.
OTV
MtMinc
OCEAN
wmesiead tA/c{es
the nursery rhyme figures Winkin’
Blinkin’ and Nod.
A white courthouse flanks the
common on one side and a
dignified stone Episcopal church
sits opposite its red door an
invitation to take a peek inside.
Along the boulevard dividing the
main street are gas lights - burning
by special permission of the PUC,
long after other gas lights have
been extinguished in other small
Pennsylvania towns.
And on the street are a sur
prising number of shops and stores
offering a wide variety of goods
and merchandize for purchase or
perusal.
But one of the nicest surprises
about Wellsboro is your ac
comodations in the Penn-Wells
Hotel.
The hotel is over a hundred years
old and its lobby reflects the taste
and glory of what a hotel used to
be, in the age of elegance and
coiffured ladies. The dark wood
and red carpet invite you in and the
Victorian aura inticesyouto stay.
But in spite edits age, the hotel is
modem in every sense of the word.
The rooms are spacious and
comfortable, with closets that
make you wish you could tran
splant them in your house. The
bathrooms are dean, private, and
well supplied. There’s still one or
two down the hall though if you
want to look to see how the bid time
hotel guests had to wait their turn.
Across the street from the courthouse, this dignified, stone
Episcopal Church beckons tourists to peer through its bright
red doors.
1
The Penn Wells Hotel, host for the weekend getaway, offers ~
guests a step into the Victorian era with its red carpets and
simple elegance. 1
And then there’s the food.
One of the best things about a
getaway weekend is not having to
cook or not having your wife beg
you to take you out to dinner for a
change. And here, there’s no
dishes to wash, no potatoes to peel
and no lade of seconds.
You can cat anything you want
and as much as you want on the
buffet dinner laid out before you.
There’s salads of every inscription
and breads and vegetables and
meat You can choose scallops,
ham, chicken, or roast beef, sliced
to your specification. Then, if you
desire, go to die dessert table and
forget you ever made a promise to
loose ten pounds by your high
school reunion.
And, if by some quirk, you are
still hungry, go back for more.
The waitress will come and take
away your (date between trips so
you never feel quilty about bow
much you’re eating, because you
can’t remember.
But don’t forget, breakfast is
more of the same. An array that
would entice even your seven-year
old picky eater (if you take hixp or
her along): french toast, eggs,
creamed chipped beef, sausage,
bacon, muffins,,toast, coffee cake,
Juice, fresh font to name a few
items and coSas, lots of coffee.
And it’s all included in the bill.
The only extras are tips and tax
and beverages from the bar. If you
take your children, (if you can’t
leave them behind) they stay free
in your room if they’re under 18.
The cost for their meals is 13.95 for
Saturday dinner and $2.50 for
brunch if they’re'under 12. Over
twelve they pay adult prices -$8.96
for dinner and 84.06 for brunch.
Not every moment is spent in the
dining room, though.
Right in Wdlsboro and the
surround area, there’s plenty to do
to work off the inches gained at the
table.
The major feature is the Penn
sylvania Grand Canyon. Pine
Creek has cut .a 1,000-foot deep
<TumtoPageß4)
; 11
y*
Hjpjs-
5