Going to Punxsatawney for Groundhog's Day (Pittsburgh, Indiana: university, shops, beach)

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

I lived in Indiana for three years and regularly drove through Punxsutawney to get home to Jamestown, NY, and at no point did I ever consider stopping longer than I had to at a red light in that miserable little town, large rodent celebration day or not.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Hopes

That's what I meant. I was surprised there were so many Amish. I knew we had some Amish close to Pittsburgh, but I had no idea there were so many. We passed 7 buggies on the way there. Many of the farms we passed were Amish farms. We could see them plowing the fields. They're probably loving the warm weather. The ground is usually frozen in February.

I was surprised the first time I drove through there too how many there were. With the Amish and PA everyone thinks of Lancaster mainly (there's also Volant near Grove City but I don't think that's really known outside of the area). Maybe some are moving up there for a more rural area.

[Caladium]

So Hopes, now that you've gone to the Groundhog Festival, how similar was it to the movie version? That movie makes Punxatawney look like one adorable little town with tons of things going on Feb 2nd.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

If you're a fan of insufferable, self-important people you'll love the groundhog committee.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Caladium

That movie makes Punxatawney look like one adorable little town with tons of things going on Feb 2nd.

I haven't been to the festival, but I have driven through the town, and it doesn't look anything like the movie town (which is Woodstock, Illinois, incidentally).

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Caladium

So Hopes, now that you've gone to the Groundhog Festival, how similar was it to the movie version? That movie makes Punxatawney look like one adorable little town with tons of things going on Feb 2nd.

It's not adorable. The houses in town are all run down. But there are tons of things going on, food venders, music, etc. There are events from the weekend before, the week of, through the weekend after. There was a comedy night on the schedule for one of the nights this week.

We only thought about doing this at the last minute. When I looked at the schedule of events before we left, I would have preferred to be there other days instead of on actual ground hogs day. The events are better other days.

One thing different from the movie is that Knob Hill, where the ground hog comes out to look for his shaddow, isn't in the town itself. It's two miles outside of town. In the movie, they walked out of the hotel and a few blocks through town to the event.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I haven't been to the festival, but I have driven through the town, and it doesn't look anything like the movie town (which is Woodstock, Illinois, incidentally).

What's notable is few of the storefronts are vacant. Somehow Punxsatawney is thriving in that respect. Big difference compared to Main Street in Butler where almost half the storefronts are empty.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Hopes

What's notable is few of the storefronts are vacant. Somehow Punxsatawney is thriving in that respect. Big difference compared to Main Street in Butler where almost half the storefronts are empty.

That's interesting--I wonder if this festival is enough to keep more stores in the black.

I might note I didn't think it was horrible or anything--just kind of a normal Central PA town. But of course the movie town was presented to be extremely charming.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Originally Posted by Hopes

What's notable is few of the storefronts are vacant. Somehow Punxsatawney is thriving in that respect. Big difference compared to Main Street in Butler where almost half the storefronts are empty.

It's not that notable - There really isn't much right around Punxy for people to just hop over to like Butler has with Pittsburgh right next door.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I haven't been to the festival, but I have driven through the town, and it doesn't look anything like the movie town (which is Woodstock, Illinois, incidentally).

That's why.

The groundhog day thing was probably more fun 35 years or so ago when it was mainly just a bunch of us Jefferson County good old boys (invitation only) and a few cases of Jack Daniels, took the chill off.

Unless it changed the 21st Century celebration banned alcohol several years ago.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

It's not that notable - There really isn't much right around Punxy for people to just hop over to like Butler has with Pittsburgh right next door.

There are other towns nearby that can serve the surrounding area's needs. Kittanning, DuBois and Indiana are all similar distance from Punxsutawney as Pittsburgh is to Butler. With so many dying rural towns, it's notable when one doesn't have vacant storefronts.