Friends Bring Sunshine to Cloudy Pennsylvania Day

We arrived at Western Village RV Park in Carlisle Pennsylvania on Thursday 16 May 2024. Our friends from Easton, Bob and Susan joined us on Friday. They rented a cabin at the campground where we're staying. We enjoyed catching up with Bob and Susan and hearing about the latest in Maryland. We had a nice campfire after dinner Friday and then spent the day in Harrisburg Saturday.

The weather forecast showed rain all day Saturday, so Anita suggested the Broad Street Market in Harrisburg thinking it would be an open air market with fresh vegetables and maybe crafts. It turned out to be all indoors and mostly just vendors selling fried foods. We got the picture above before going inside, but we still had lots of laughs.

After exiting the "market", Steve saw the dome of the capitol building a few blocks away. We decided to walk to it to see if we could go inside. It turned out that there was another dome close to the capitol building and that was St. Patrick's Cathedral, dating back to 1827. We went inside but a wedding was being held that day, so we didn't walk around.

St. Patrick's Cathedral Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

St. Patrick's Cathedral Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

St. Patrick's Cathedral Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

St. Patrick's Cathedral Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

St. Patrick's Cathedral Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

St. Patrick's Cathedral Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

We went inside the capitol building, but there appeared to be another wedding about to happen there too! Tours would be open again at 3pm and it was 1:30 when we were there. Outside, there was also preparation for a bible reading marathon beginning that day in front of the capitol. We saw a few prom dresses that day, so the weather didn't hamper anyone's plans for that set date. Bob bought lunch at Hoss's Steak & Sea House in Carlisle on the way home. It was a great day!

Grace United Methodist Church Harrisburg Pennsylvania 18 May 2024

In 1897, when the Pennsylvania Capitol Building burned to the ground, state authorities used this church to keep legislative operations in the city.

Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg 18 May 2024

Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg 18 May 2024

Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg 18 May 2024

Thumbs up of encouragement and get well wishes texted to another friend in MD in the hospital

Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg 18 May 2024

Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg 18 May 2024

Besides several murals on buildings in downtown Harrisburg, this light post caught my eye

Bob and Susan drove back to Maryland on Sunday the 19th and we just hung around the campsite and rested. Today (Monday) we drove to Boiling Springs PA and walked around Children's Lake at Veterans Memorial Park. It is a beautiful and peaceful place. We also noticed that the Appalachian Trail passes through Boiling Springs. There is an AT hikers' stop at the park and we took a peek at the notebook hikers sign when they pass through to find that a few hikers passed through just yesterday! Pretty cool to see that AT through-hikers were right where we were today.