The GRAACA Fall Tour 2016, hosted by Jim Yemzow and Pat Shaffer, took us from Mechanicsburg to Bedford, PA and was a great opportunity for even natives of the area to explore some uncover some wondrous gems!
The tour began bright and early at 8 a.m. on the 13th at the Rolls Royce Museum. Mike was a wonderful tour guide and informed us that the museum now houses all the records for tracking previous owners by the serial numbers of each car. For more information, you can visit their website: www.rollsroycefoundation.org. We also recommend checking out www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk.
The next stop for the day was the Train Museum in Everett, PA. We traveled on the Lincoln hwy Route 30 to get there. The town of Everett was previously known as Bloody Run. In 1852, the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain Railroad was chartered and built to bring coal, timber and other commodities as well as passengers to Bloody Run. The caboose was refurbished about two years ago. You can read more about the history of the railway here: www.bloodyrunhistory.org.
Our third stop was at the Fort Bedford Museum (www.fortbedfordmuseum.org). In the photo you will notice a flag. It’s the one and only Fort Bedford flag from the French and Indian War, 1758. The museum also houses a Conestoga wagon, civil war cannon, 19th century women’s clothing, documents signed by the Penn family, a cooper disc shot out of the air by Annie Oakely, and a Bedford Springs ledger signed by President Buchannon.
The fourth stop, in the evening, was the Omni Hotel Bedford Springs Resort, a fabulous resort that seems to go on forever with 4 stories and multiple corridors. It is completely refurbished and refinished to the 1920’s style, from the woodwork to the furniture. Even the indoor pool has been restored to it’s original decor. Visitors can also enjoy photos located everywhere of previous guests that stayed there. In addition, some of us took note of the window pane glass in the lounge areas: ladies etched their initials and names by using their diamond rings! Our stay finished with a ghost tour. A few people said they could smell cigar in the men’s only smoking room (spooky!).
Day 2 was just as packed full of exciting stops and kicked off with a stop at Ron’s Antique Radio Museum. There were radios of all kinds, everywhere!
Next, we stopped at the American Legion for a quick stay which included a covered bridge. Other stops for the day included a visit to Bison Corral Store, Juniata Trading, the Coverlet Museum, and of course, the Flight 93 Museum.
The tour covered approximately 250 miles, and was well worth the trip! Many thanks are due to Jim and Pat, the Bedford Quality Inn where we stayed, and to everyone else at the various stops who helped make this possible.
This article was written with the help of Dan and Annette Yost. More photos can be found on our Facebook page.
