Pennsylvania Beach Scene: Greenwood Furnace

It was a beautiful summer day, after several days of rain. The sky was full of interesting clouds that cleared out as the day went on. My husband and I hopped in the car for a little road trip: a nice, hot lunch at Couch's in McAlevy's Fort, followed by a cool afternoon swim at Greenwood Furnace.

I usually order the hot turkey sandwich at Couch's, but I decided to have something different this time. So I had the hot roast beef sandwich, and it was wonderful, quite possibly the best one I've ever had in my life!  Words like "tender" and "delectable" come to mind. A milestone like that is well worth a picture, so you may see that hot sandwich, with curly fries, gravy, a roll, and cole slaw in the extras.

Pennsylvania's state parks are its crown jewels, and we visit them as often as possible. Several of our favorites are Bald Eagle, Greenwood Furnace, and Whipple Dam. We arrived at Greenwood Furnace in early afternoon and set our chairs up along the beach in the shade; then I strolled around taking pictures as I waited for my food to settle.

I walked down along the spillway, carefully crossing the (busier than you might expect) road to visit the pretty little Civil War-era cemetery on the other side. I spotted a squashed snake along the road that could have been a rattler, so I was mindful, and watched my step as I entered the woods.

This was a view of the beach area around the time I got back to our chairs, as I was just getting ready for my swim. The last time we were there, there was a wedding party in a pavilion nearby, and the place was pretty packed. This time, it was much more peaceful and quiet.

So we had a lovely cool swim (air temp 78 degrees F, water temp 68 degrees - not for the faint of heart), then walked back to the car, stowed a few things, and walked over to the remnants of the furnace stacks, which I blipped for my anniversary milestone a few weeks ago, a favorite photo op in any light.

Along the walkway near the main buildings, I watched (and photographed) a huge, gorgeous tiger swallowtail butterfly feasting on a sunny patch of milkweed. And then my husband and I sat in a shady spot near the Standing Stone trail and enjoyed a few more minutes of quiet before heading home.

The photo above depicts a typical central Pennsylvania beach scene. So for the soundtrack song, I have chosen a favorite beach song: Go-Go's, with Beatnik Beach.