Pennsylvania

Likes & Dislikes

Likes

Pennsylvania - Philadelphia - National Airborne Day - Elter photo

FYI: We have separate contents about Philadelphia and Pittsburgh

1. The dominant smell of chocolate in Hershey, a quasi chocolate city

2. Fallingwater (a famous work of Frank Lloyd Wright), in Mill Run

3. These small towns: Jim Thorpe (Carbon County), Ligonier (Westmoreland County), and Ephrata (Lancaster County)

Dislikes

1. Too many roadworks in too many places (it is a fact that the roads are damaged by the frosts of the winter months), a lot of potholes

2. We love deers, but they run dangerously across public roads and need to be very careful in Pennsylvania.

3. The weather is very treacherous, even on the same day.

Opinions

Pennsylvania - Amish horse-drawn buggy - Elter photo

Route 6 belongs to America's TOP 10 "scenic drives" according to National Geographic.

Practicals

Transport

Pennsylvania - special parking place for the Amish horse-drawn buggies - j.k. photo

Pennsylvania - Philadelphia - Benjamin Franklin Bridge - Elter photo

Food

Pennsylvania - Philly Cheesesteak - l.e. photo

Pennsylvania - Reading - j.k. photo

Pennsylvania - Shoe fly pie (a molasses crumb cake baked in a pie crust) - A Pennsylvania Dutch delicacy - w.g. photo

Shopping

Tourists and locals benefit from a Pennsylvania law that forbids levying taxes on clothing and shoes. Was this why the idea of “outlet malls” was born in this US state? The fact is: In 1971, the clothing manufacturer VF sold goods from overproduction at reduced prices for the first time in the town of Reading. The idea was well received! Today the place has more than 300 outlet stores. The centers for shopping enthusiasts are the VF Outlet Village and the Reading Outlet Center.

Pennsylvania has some of the strictest liquor laws in the US. Liquor stores are closed on Sundays and there are severe restrictions on what types and amounts of alcohol you can buy in convenience stores or grocery stores.

Pennsylvania - Wyomissing - VF Outlet Center - j.k. photo

Public safety

Pennsylvania is the 11th safest US state (Maine is number one).

Background

Destination in brief

Pennsylvania is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region, in the northeast of the US. Neighbors: Lake Erie (north), New York State, Lake Erie (north, northeast), New Jersey (east), Delaware (southeast), Maryland and West Virginia (south), Ohio (west)

Locals call it PA. Don't bother with the long name.

Population (in 2020): 12.7 million - 81% White, 12% Black (African American), 3,5% Asian

Capital city: Harrisburg

Pennsylvania has at least five different dialects. For instance, in the Pittsburgh area, workers traditionally spoke (speak) "Yinzer" (or "Yunzer").

Heinz Ketchup, Harley Davidson came from this state.

Harrisburg - Pennsylvania State Capitol Building - z.g. photo

Pennsylvania - State of Independence - j.k. photo

Geography

Pennsylvania - White-tailed deer is Pennsylvania's state animal

Climate

Pennsylvania has distinct seasons. The optimal travel times are spring and autumn. There are sometimes severe winters and hot summers.

History

Pennsylvania was founded in 1861 by the English Quaker William Penn, who gave the state the name "Penns Woodlands".

Pennsylvania - Fayette County - Fort Necessity National Battlefield (1754) - Colonist Englishman and a French soldier - f.d. photo

Pennsylvania - Gettysburg National Military Park - a memorial that commemorates the Pennsylvania soldiers who have fallen in the Battle of Gettysburg (1863) during the American Civil War - Elter photo

Pennsylvania - near Hazleton - Eckley Miner' Village Museum - a historic loo - f.d. photo

Nowadays

Pennsylvania is a swing state, and that means in each election, the state can fall to be either a blue or a red state. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are more Democrata, and Pennsylvania's central and northern parts are more for the Republicans.

Pennsylvania's land is 14% urban or developed, compared to the US average of 5%,