Tuesday Thrifty Travel Trip and Mini Road Trip

Thrifty Travel Tip of the Week: Your Own Backyard

Sometimes we read and learn about and get excited about all these great places that are in other states or even other countries and we forget about the great things in our own neighborhood. There is so much history everywhere you look.

I drive by this great big gigantic Shoe House all the time that's not that far from my home. I have never been there. So we stopped and it was really cool. Maybe your local pet store has an interesting feeding show. These are just examples of what I am talking about. Sometimes you should check out the road MORE travelled. Just look at it with new eyes. There is something else really cool in your town. Seriously, there is. Go and find it! And tell me about it! :)

Trip Recap: York County, Pennsylvania

We didn't have our usual abundance of time for our typical trip this weekend, so we stayed close to home. (Actually, I was off last week, so I do have another day trip to tell you about another time that was a little further....another day)

We were really interested in seeing the sting rays get fed at our local pet store. This pet store has a "touch tank" with creatures that you can touch. Among these creatures are sting rays and little tiny sharks. Well, they feed them a few times a week and have a little show. This show is free and quite entertaining! I will try to upload a couple little videos I took during the show on my flickr photostream.

I am actually from Lancaster, PA, but my significant other is from York so it is our backyard, too. And it's just the next county over.

In the Weird Pennsylvania book that I refer to quite often they mention the Shoe House. I also have seen the Shoe House from the highway all the time and have wanted to stop by before, but just never did. Until Saturday, that is.

The Shoe House is exactly what it sounds like. It is a house that is in the shape of a shoe. This shoe maker had this shoe build as an advertisement. He was quite generous, though, too and would have newlyweds and senior citizens stay in the house and provide them with a maid and a driver and even give them free shoes. Everything was on him.

You can take a tour of the house, which is pretty fascinating, really, to see how everything fits into the house. They also serve ice cream and have a little shop.

If you haven't been there and are in the area, it's definitely worth your time to at least stop in for some ice cream and check it out. The tour cost $4 for adults. I am glad I took the tour, but I wouldn't need to do it again. I think it is interesting if you haven't seen the inside previously.

Next we went to this gorgeous park in York County. Apparently it is the highest point and there is this gorgeous view. It is called the Sam - Something-or-Other (I can't remember!!!) park. It's along Route 462. The photo above shows a view of the Susquehanna River and it was all misty at the time.

I would really recommend this spot for a scenic picnic and definitely bring your kites because it is the perfect spot for it. You can put a quarter in one of those machines to get a closer view. It was beautiful.

We then went for a little bit of spookiness and went on our way to find the Rehmeyer Hollow Hex House.

According to the legend, Rehmeyer was killed because his assassins believed that he put a hex on them.

This site shows a picture of the house back when the murder happened and some information. You cannot tour it right now, but I think that the family is trying to make it into a museum of sorts. I hope so because I would love to check it out.

We then did some driving around, otherwise known as a "Goose Hunt," a/k/a wild goose chase, and ran across some other cool things that I didn't know where around.

For example, the railroad station where Lincoln stopped to give a speech - Hanover Junction - is preserved as a museum now. The railroad is actually a walking trail (also extremely cool). The museum was closed when we got there, but we did take a look around.

This cool sculpture was there, too:

Also in our travels we found this old abandoned tower, the remnants of a building and what looked like a barn that was falling down. After we got home Jim did some research and found out it was the Foust Distillery. Very cool looking.

So, as you can see, you can find some very cool sites right near your own home. Sometimes you can plan them, but other times you just happen to come across them and uncover treasures you never knew you would find. For more photos, check out my flickr photostream, I am uploading them now.

Now get out there and discover your own backyard!