I too live in Maine. If you enjoy Maine life you will feel right at home in Central Pennsylvania. However you will not find a lobster roll anywhere......

Keith

Middleswarth? Beaver County is the land of my people and I don't recall seeing those being that far west. But, I'm a Snyder's of Berlin kinda guy. Teaberry ice cream, yup. Scrapple, meh. Definitely worth trying when you're in the area, though.

A former Pittsburgher, with paternal history in Philadelphia, I had a relative explain central PA to me as Pittsburgh is on the West, Philly on the East, and essentially Alabama in between. Different accent, though.......

A place you may want to stay: The Iron Rail Bed & Breakfast

I've often heard it called "Pennsyltucky".

^^ ^^ ^^ ^^

And, above you will see two excellent examples of that exact elitist attitude taken by "urbanites" towards rural America that I just described.

Anyone else wanna chime in? And then wonder why rural folk don't tend to welcome them with "open arms"????

The dividing line between Phillies and Pirates territory--or for that matter between Penn State and Pitt football--tends to be the summit of the Allegheny Ridge.

Thanks for the info, folks. Sounds like my wife and I would like central Pennsylvania just fine.

You know I've always wondered if this isn't at least partly why Lancaster County and Strasburg have been so successful. It's "rural" but to us urbanites it seems like it's "safe rural". I know plenty of my friends who have indeed referred to central PA as "Pennsyltucky" (although not always as a way to disparage it).

However, when it is talked about disparagingly Lancaster County is never included in that disparagement. I've heard the phrase "it's country, but it's not 'are those banjos?' country".

I do not know what contributes to that, but I feel like it's a somewhat widespread notion in my cohort.

I'll tell you what contributes to that, or indeed is the major factor in my long-time experience.

In Lancaster County, a mere couple miles away along US 30, you have all manner of chain hotels/motels/"conference centers," pretty much every chain restaurant you can think of on the Eastern Seaboard, at least one amusement park, a cluster[BLEEP] of outlet stores, a shopping mall, brewpubs, and even--if you're really feeling "homesick" for the city--the "bad part" of Lancaster City where your car can be broken into, you'll see minorities, etc. If you so choose, your exposure to "rural" Lancaster County is like looking at caged animals in a zoo, then visiting the gift shop. Which is about the extent that too many people feel comfortable with.
And the ride at the Strasburg RR? You can be in and out in an hour if you're in a hurry. Perfect for those brats and/or weary spouse.

Going to Cass, EBT, Cumbres & Toltec, Verde Canyon, and other places in truly "rural" America takes a commitment. A long drive there, not-first-class accommodations (unless you drive up to Snowshoe at Cass), a bit of a long day at best in some cases, and no choice except to interact firsthand with those folks that probably shop at WalMart 50 miles away twice a month and--horrors!--might own a gun at home, maybe even actually go hunting!

Okay, I HOPE I'm exaggerating. But you get the idea. Using the zoo analogy, it's the drive-through safari park where you get to look at them close-up, and llamas spit on your windows if you don't feed them and giraffes stick their two-foot-long tongues into the car windows begging for food if you're stupid about rolling down your windows.

I've told the story several times of how, when topping up at an old-fashioned country-store gas station not that far from from Cass some 20 years ago, a car with NJ plates pulled up, and an elderly matron got out and asked me, "Excuse me, but can you tell me how to get back to civilization??"

And that was BEFORE cell phones, smartphones, GPS, and divisive political movements pitting "us vs. them."

Yup . . . Cable "News" and Entertainment Chanel of the Fair and Balanced variety. Breitbart, Info Wars, Drudge Report . . . need I keep adding to that list? I didn't start on the Radio Talk show extravaganza.

I worked "downstate" in one of these "Democratic Controlled Hellholes" for years and commuted every weekend to God's Country. It was sad to hear how different my experience was compared to what folks at the barber shop KNEW was the real deal.

Brian

You’re not exaggerating. About ten years ago during EBT’s fall party, when my back was at its worst, a stampeding tour bus mob knocked me out of their way at the Horseshoe Curve gift shop counter. I quite literally had to crawl out the door while an elderly man whacked at me with his cane, bitterly complaining that “they shouldn’t let THEM in here.” They went to the top via funicular, watched one train and stampeded back to the bus. Unfortunately, they were at the Super8 where we were, so they yelled and ran in the hallways all night and usual limp to the breakfast corner in the morning turned into a shoving, screaming, elbow-throwing mass determined not to let anyone else even look at the food. We guessed, correctly, that they’d never go near EBT, and had a good time in spite of my bruises.

The point is that people like that don’t even think of others as real. The glass wall effect—the assumption that we can’t understand them and most of us are robots or mannequins—is astonishing. I bet everybody here has heard at least one parent “explaining” what’s going on while ignoring the docent, reenactors or other person who actually knew.

Ya'll need to get OFF the political BS and focus on what we can do for the EBT!!!
I lived 18 and a half years in New Mexico and the people who live there are fed up with the constant propaganda. People are people no matter what! I've said it before here and I will be in Obisonia for the work week in May. Otherwise lay off!! I'm putting my effort where it counts. What can you do other than create drama?

I got it, I got it, I got it.

If they can move before it becomes passé.........

Someone's gotta introduce "glamping" to the Orbisonia area........

It’s not a political problem. I didn’t ask anybody’s party affiliation (and they’d act as if they didn’t hear if I did speak to them.) Since you asked what I’m doing...

Selective word of mouth, or key, does more now than a lot of ads used to. Even wearing a railroad or museum T-shirt can invite conversations and “whoa, you mean they’re running again?” If we only talk to other railfans, we miss people who are interested, but wouldn’t necessarily look at RR magazines or pages and might miss events, like DOWT, that their kids would enjoy. We used to carry brochures in the car; now I have websites bookmarked so they’re easy to pop up and show. Any of us can do that.

There are likely to be more older people, at least in the first few weeks, just because we who have been waiting do not have time machines. That means not all of us are as mentally sharp as we used to be and most of us are beginning to have some hearing issues, and a lot of us will argue tooth and nail that it isn’t happening. Learning how to handle someone with dementia or other mental conditions who gets confused and/or lost isn’t just nice; it prevents accidents.

We keep running into young adults with autism who have been brought to events and essentially dumped. There’s a big national push right now to educate police officers and others in authority about how to deal with both conditions. There are also short training videos aimed at civilians. I can help with that if anyone is interested (digging up good URLs or picking up a handful of pamphlets doesn’t take much back or balance.) Any of us can learn how to intercept an overenthusiastic or overwhelmed person in a kind and effective way.

We may have more medical emergencies as the population ages, because a lot of us won’t admit we’re in need of a 1472. All of us can learn basic first and and CPR. All of us can carry a packet of (not Tylenol, not Advil) aspirin and learn to follow the instructions on an AED. That way, if event/facility staff can’t get there right away, there’s no time lost.

Even if the viruses stall things for a bit, wheels are gonna roll and we’re going to want to be there. It makes sense to get ready and that’s what I’m doing, not only for EBT but for anything else that might be on the move this summer. Now if only somebody had a training video for dealing with a bus load of bad actors...(oh, dear, I just saw ADM’s post about glamping. Noooooooo. The Wilds has yurt glamping now.)

Surely I can't be the only person here who feels this thread is beginning to wade some dangerous waters? I really don't want to see such a wonderful topic like the rebirth of a beloved operation be locked due to folks feeling the need to inject politics.

Even if the very nature of Orbisonia and how it relates to bringing tourists in to the area is called into question, can't its supposed remoteness and rural culture be discussed in a constructive, non-biased manner?