Even Quicker Trip

When I planned the Pittsburgh trip, I took a longer view of our summer and decided we had to take a quick trip a couple weeks later. It made sense at the time. Still does.

We went to Jim Thorpe, PA. Jim Thorpe, you may have heard, was a Native American athlete who competed in the Olympics (but had made like $5 playing baseball so they took away his medals, but then reinstated them after he died). He also played football. Oklahoma wasn't going to make a big enough deal of him in death for his wife, so she basically sold the body to the highest bidder. Mauch Chunk, PA made a monument to him and changed the name of the town to honor him. Pretty big deal.

They were a down-on-their-luck coal mining town looking for an attraction so they could make money. So now they have Jim, Asa Packer's mansion*, and some little shops. If you go further afield there's some hiking too.

The highlight of our trip was The Parsonage, the B&B where we stayed. The food was fantastic! The couple who runs it met in culinary school. The breakfast
s were so unusual--and had courses! On Saturday morning we had baked yogurt with candied ginger and fruit (pitted cherries, nectarines, plums) followed by a frittata with a spicy sauce, little scoops of guacamole and salsa, a rosettes of home cured maple and bourbon bacon. We didn't even think about lunch until three o'clock after we had done a hike! On Sunday, three courses: an apricot rugelach; regular old yogurt with homemade granola and another spectacular fruit salad; and cauliflower bread pudding made with eggs from heritage breed chickens that were freshly delivered by one of the other guests, and a side of ham. There was also a blueberry mimosa. And for dessert, or something, we got a glass of chocolate milk from a local dairy. People, I don't even like bread pudding.

There are four rooms, and if you rent the whole joint they will do dinner for you.

You do not know how much I want to rent the whole joint!

And that description leaves out the art! I think there were 31 paintings in our room alone. And pottery. They are collectors of the highest order.

* Another thing about being really poor? When they were given the mansion, they couldn't afford to do anything with it, so they closed it down for like 40 years, and when they finally found someone to help them run it, it was in pristine old-timey condition.