Fayette County Fun

Fayette County, Pennsylvania often fails to get credit where it is due. It typically hangs out at the bottom of a lot of the lists it is better to be near the top of, sometimes gets referred to as the “West Virginia” of Pennsylvania, has the mystifying “Fayette-Cong” nickname that I would love for someone to explain the etiology of to me, and in general is considered to be pure hillbilly country. But that’s enough of the disparaging stuff because Fayette County actually rocks in a lot of ways. So much so, that when my mother visited from western Canada, of course we visited!

I actually really struggled to decide what to show off. I had actually wanted to make two trips (sadly, due to medical reasons, the second trip did not happen). Ohiopyle is always a top choice, and this is a great time of year to check out the Yough because there are so many rafters and kayakers. But I am also really partial to Laurel Caverns, Fallingwater, Kentuck Knob, the Summit Inn, and basically the entire National Road (U. S. Route 40) Corridor. Uniontown also has some neat shops, including an awesome hobby shop, Get a Hobby. I’ve also been meaning to explore more of where the Great Allegheny Passage Trail travels through the county, what little I have seen has been wonderful.

We settled on finding a very popular geocache on the eastern face of the mountain that both the Summit Inn and Laurel Caverns call home, picnic under the pines. This geocache had, at the time of our finding, 19 favorite points. It is a nano container hidden in an area rich with hiding places: a roadside park with multiple picnic tables, trees, and rocks. This cache, while miniscule, is housed by a much larger host, and when I laid down on part of it and turned my head just the right way, the itty-bitty cache could have bit me. After nearly 30 minutes of searching, high-fives were in order, as was lunch!

We sought the geocache in the shadow of this very, very comforting sign

Given the uncertainty of the weather, outdoor dining at Ohiopyle seemed like a questionable choice. However, Fox’s Pizza Den in Chalkhill seemed like a wonderful choice. My BLT wedgie was phenomenal. It was also great to talk to the franchise owner, especially with my mom there so she could meet a true Fayette County native. The franchise owner is not only one heck of a pizza-maker, but a sheriff’s deputy who takes great pride in the place he calls home—as he should! Indeed, Pennsylvanian and British Columbian rural folk do have a lot in common.

With full bellies, we took the scenic drive over to Ohiopyle. On the way, the weather cleared up, enabling a wonderfully pleasant walk around the developed area by the falls that has also very recently seen some great upgrading. From here, we could also see piles of people beginning their journey on the Youghiogheny River on rafting adventures. Surprisingly, mom had more trouble with “Ohiopyle” than she did with “Youghiogheny” in terms of pronunciation.

What we had wanted to on the second trip was visit Uniontown and Laurel Caverns, but there will be a next time for her in the next few months. For me, I give it less than a month until I’m at least in Point Marion again!