Tag: roadside attraction

Local Treasures

Recently we stayed close to home and visited a few local spots. The first was the Harlansburg Station Museum of Transportationhttps://harlansburg-station.business.site.

The owner, Don Barnes, is a retired US air pilot who loves history…specifically transportation related.

The vision was to recreate a small town train station that would also house his collection. So in 1989 tracks were laid and 4 train car were brought into the small village of Harlansburg The Barnes family spend the next 3 years renovating the train cars, building the train station and setting up the museum. In the fall of 1991 the museum open followed by the gift shop in Spring of 1992.

The train station and rail cars contain transportation related artifacts and memorabilia that include trains, Air Force, nautical, motorcycle and more.

One train car is filled with a H.O. Scale train layout highlights coal mine, steel mills and old small town living.

The gift shop has a large selection of transportation related items for every age group.

Take your time going through the gift shop and you’ll notice that it also contains many historical items.

The museum is located at the intersection of route 19 and route 108 just minutes from Volant, new Wilmington, McConnells Mills and the Grove City Prime Outlet. Please remember when you visit this is a cash only stop.

After the museum we headed south to Frew Mill Road. The road crosses a bridge spanning the Slippery Rock Creek and an old mill dam waterfall.

The view is beautiful but be careful the bridge is on a curve and there isn’t much room to pull off.

The property around the bridge and creek is private so the visit is limited to the bridge but the view is worth even the short stop.

After a little riding we headed to Racheal’s Roadhouse. If there’s a wait for the dining room you can head out to the patio and grab appetizers and drinks while you wait, or in our case that’s all I was wanting, so no wait at all.

Check out my Instagram for videos, and Facebook for more pictures.

Cowboy Sam and Witty Wine

We were finally able to get the bike out for the first time this season, and it was a beautiful ride. It was a short little trip, between 130-150 miles, to see some local places that I hadn’t been to as well as some that I have.

First stop was a little shop with some unique finds, that also sells wine with even more unique labels and names. The wine, is actually what caught grabbed my attention and landed this location on my list of places to check out.

The Rustique Log Cabin is located south of Kittanning, and as the name applies carries rustic home decor. The store is small, but don’t let that fool you because they pack in a lot of merchandise into this small space. Even though there is a lot in this small store they layout and displays nice, and they have a wide array of themes

Now for what first drew me to this store…the wine. The store sell Black Dog Wine, and what makes it stand out from the crowd are it’s unique labels and names. I wanted to buy every bottle just because I loved the labels. I did resist the urge and only bought a few items, after all we were on the bike. Next time we may have to tack our luggage bag with us haha.

The lady at the store was very friendly and helpful. She even made suggestions mixing some of the wines to get whole new flavor option. As we talked I found out that the actual Black Dog Winery is located in Oakdale, PA…looks like I’ll be planning another ride to check out their wine a little more.

Next we headed back north on US-422 to stop at a The Cadet Restaurant who has a unique mascot, “Sam”. Sam is the reason this restaurant was added to my list. He is a 30-foot-tall cowboy statue holding a giant hamburger. This iconic statue was even featured in book “Roadside Giants“. According to the restaurants website this larger than life cowboy got his name from an officer that used to patrol the parking lot to keep an eye out for trouble. For more about the restaurant, and Sam’s history check out the Cadet Restaurant website.

The restaurant itself has an old time diner feel, and serves comfort style food. When we stopped we indulged in dessert. I had the coconut pie and coffee, and the BF had the peanut butter cheesecake and a chocolate milkshake. I would like to stop back when we have more of an appetite and try their “Famous Poor Boy”…I mean if that’s what their famous for how could I not go back and try it.

After leaving the restaurant we headed into Kittanning and stopped at the Riverfront Park so I could get a couple shots of the bridge. On the day we were there the fence at the top of the outdoor amphitheater was lined with American flags and the names of veterans. I’m not sure if this was for Memorial Day or if this display is there all the time but it was a beautiful and is a reminder of how thankful we should be to those who have served and are currently serve for life we get to enjoy.

We decided to go off the beaten path and take a different way back into Butler. If you don’t mind some bumps along the way this is a nice option because it travels along the river and winds amongst the railroad tracks…hence the bumps haha. You can find a Roadtrippers trip I made for this excursion here.

Last stop of the day was at Rock Ann Haven Bar and Grille located in Butler, PA. This is somewhere we often stop when we are in the area on the bike, and the staff is always friendly and attentive. On this day we only stopped for a quick drink, then we were on our way. The next time we stop in for a bite to eat I’ll include more about this this location.

It was a beautiful day and we got some much needed wind therapy, plus seen some new sites along the way.