Friends, it has been a long winter. Last weekend, we went on a very special excursion to celebrate my birthday. It also marked our first overnight away from our son who was left happily knee deep in a grandparent wonderland of ice cream and toys.
So off we went to Bloomsburg along beautiful route 192 which parallels route 45 (and I-80), but is even less populated. Giant farms are evenly paced until the ridges converge at the lush Bald Eagle State Forest. If you want to see four straw hatted little Amish boys walking with fishing poles and their leaping sheep dog running alongside, try this road.
We stayed at College Hill Bed and Breakfast located perfectly just above the short main street and below Bloomsburg University. The owners are lovely and gave us lots of privacy. Beautiful house, big room, butler's pantry stocked with drinks & snacks, nice breakfast. There was a giant bag of chocolates in our room, and they sent us home with a bag of freshly baked cookies. So pampered, yes. Also a big perk - you can book just one night.
The biggest surprise on the downtown strip was the Fog and Flame Craft Coffee and Espresso Bar. Just seeing the word "craft" made me do a little eye rub double take. Brooklyn? Pictured above are the glass cones for pour over coffees. They also have do Chemex and several other nerdy preparations. Very mellow place to hang out and ask geeky questions about coffee.
We had dinner at Seasons on Main. The owner is a lovely guy and eager to make additional vegetarian food although there was plenty to sample from the menu (thumbs up wild mushroom saute!). The restaurant seating has a sweet domestic intimacy under the grander canopy of a molded ceiling and - for my amusement - nested inside a 1960 retail strip (see the quilted metal facade above).
After completing our number one priority (sleeping in), we strolled through the campus. 10,000 students! Much bigger than expected; very idyllic with great views of the valley and some thoughtful mid-century brick buildings. We took a trail following the Fishing Creek that looped around to the base of downtown. A mysterious series of twenty deteriorated columns along the shore (see first photo) kept us busy with hypotheses. A phone call or two led to the Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society so I can tell you that these columns used to carry an oil line to the old forgery and ran alongside railroad tracks (now removed for the walking path).
We peered in some tempting vintage furniture places, local wine shop, and bookstore but all were shuttered on Sunday. With a slice of pizza (it is a college town) and another delicious coffee, off we went.
