THIS IS DEDICATED TO THE VICTIMS OF 09-11-01Since my mother died 8 months ago, I have been channeling my anxious energy – in part – by writing a travel blog. A lawyer by training and practice, traveling for pleasure and exploration is what I would do all the time if finances permitted. Alas, a travel blog seems a decent way to at least partially scratch that itch. But, as I write this blog entry on September 11, 2010, it seems untoward and selfish to write of such regular discoveries as shopping and museums and restaurants and hotels. Still, on this anniversary of one of the darkest days in our nation’s history, it occurs to me that travel – and all that comes with it – is perhaps the single best defense against the kind of blind hatred that gives rise to such acts of terror. Familiarity with different places and cultures and people does not, in fact, breed contempt. It breeds acceptance and comfort and understanding. Today, I am writing about Pennsylvania, a place with which I have become familiar, and which I love very much. In addition to New York and Washington, the events of September 11th played out here, so I mark the day, in part, by praising this land and its people who responded to this tragedy, and to other tragedies in the past.
A SOMETIMES TRAGIC, BUT ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL LAND: I am not from Pennsylvania and I have never lived there. I have made many trips to Pennsylvania over the years and, as fate would have it, some of my very closest friends hail from the Keystone State. There’s gotta be something in the water there. Regardless, my affection for this one of the four commonwealth states is immense (the others being Kentucky, Massachusetts and Virginia, by the way). From the historic and entertaining and newly resurgent big cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh that bookend the state in the east and west, respectively, to the smaller cities and towns and fields that fill the countryside in between, Pennsylvania always surprises me with its beauty. Perhaps, it’s because I grew up in Florida and had images of smoking Industrial-age industries that surely must mean Pennsylvania was a gray and grim place. To be sure, there are struggling and blighted industrial centers where poverty is too high. But, Pennsylvania overall is anything but gray and grim. It is verdant and pleasing.
Case in point, earlier today, during ceremonies marking the 9th anniversary of September 11th, I listened to the remarks of our two most recent and gracious First ladies, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush, at the Flight 93 Memorial service. In addition to being impressed by how eloquently both women spoke to the families of Flight 93, I also was struck by the backdrop; the rolling, beautiful land of Shanksville in Somerset County. Located about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, Somerset County sits in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a scenic, recreational and historical region that includes, among other things, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous buildings, Fallingwater.
To the north of Somerset County lies Johnstown, scene of one of the nation’s worst natural disasters of the 19th Century, the Great Flood of 1889. Johnstown sits in a forested valley of the Allegheny Mountains that slice north-to-south through Central Pennsylvania. It developed rapidly in the 1800s with the expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad as a key point of transport for the commonwealth’s wealth of coal and iron deposits. On May 31, 1889, following a period of heavy rain, an earthen dam built above Johnstown broke and unleashed a torrent of water downstream that ravaged the city and killed more than 2,000 people. Today, visitors can learn the story of the flood at the Johnstown Flood Museum, including the disaster relief efforts that were led by American Red Cross founder Clara Barton.
If you head east from Johnstown, you will cross the Appalachian Mountains and into the rolling countryside that is bisected by the beautiful Susquehanna River Valley. A key stop is Gettysburg. Today, Gettysburg is a charming and historical college town not far from the Maryland border. Of course, it is most famous as the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. When you walk the battlefield set among the rolling hills and look at the many monuments, it’s peaceful and beautiful, and hard to imagine what it must have looked and felt like during those 3 days in July 1863 when more than 51,000 people died.
Continuing east across the Susquehanna, one of my favorite drives comes into view, the Pennsylvania Dutch countryside centered in Lancaster County. I love getting off the busy highways and winding along these back roads surrounded by fields of tobacco and corn and soybean. The pace is slower here, in part because you frequently slow when approaching the horse and buggy traffic of the Amish residents who have lived in and farmed this region for centuries.
There are lots of other small towns and cities in Pennsylvania set in beautiful surroundings. Doylestown is a great getaway just north of Center City Philadelphia in Bucks County. Nearby is New Hope, a charming, antique-heavy town on the Delaware River, just across from its New Jersey sibling, Lambertville. To the north, Williamsport sits on the West Branch of the Susquehanna and is famous as the annual site of the Little League Baseball World Series. To the west, State College is home to Pennsylvania State University and not called Happy Valley (well, technically, it’s the football stadium) for no reason.
As I said before, all across Pennsylvania I am always struck by how beautiful the land is. On the anniversary of the latest tragic event to occur in this beautiful place, I honor the people who have died there and the people who live there. Pennsylvania and its people are an essential part of what makes America America.
