Top 3 things to do in Indiana, PA (Pennsylvania): Hometown of Jimmy Stewart
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| Downtown Indiana, PA For the month of July 2021, our slow travels took us to Indiana, Pennsylvania. Indiana is perhaps best known as the hometown of Jimmy Stewart, the famous movie star, war veteran, a noted nice guy, and as the home of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Before planning our trip to Indiana, our knowledge about Indiana was admittedly very limited, but we were excited to be exploring a new town. We arrived at our AirBnB on Philadelphia Street, which is the main thoroughfare. We parked in front of our Airbnb rental to get the keys to our rental from our host. After getting our instructions on the best way to start unloading our belongings (via the back entrance/stairs), we proceeded into our apartment. We were pleasantly surprised at how spacious the apartment was. We had two bedrooms with 4 huge windows in each room, with views of the downtown area. I preferred to open all 4 of the blinds on the windows, while my wife preferred to keep them closed for privacy. We loved that our rental felt like we were living in a city, like downtown Brooklyn or lower east side Manhattan, with constant hum of the traffic (loud at times), with buildings right across the street from us, and with people walking around the Main Street. It felt at home to be living in a city again. We spent many nights looking out the large windows and enjoying the views of the Indiana County Court House, mountains in the distance, and restaurants/shops/apartment buildings across the street from our vantage point. When it rained for several continuous days during our stay, we settled in with our cup of drinks watching the rain falling. We loved hearing how the streets seemed quieter during those times. We also loved how the tires hitting the pavement made loud slushing/hissing noise. We loved how the smell also changed with the coming of the rain. It smelled earthy, fresh like the morning dew, and clean, like our dog after a bath… Our rental had bunch of dining options right in front of us. There is a Chinese restaurant, Jimmy John’s, an Italian restaurant, and a cafe downstairs. Indiana is a college town, which means there are more dining/shopping options within a 5 mile radius. We didn’t need to drive 10 miles to get to a supermarket like we had to in Claysburg, Pennsylvania. We enjoyed an excellent panini from the cafe downstairs with a fresh cup of americano. We enjoyed some delicious Chinese food (fried rice, shrimp in Szechuan sauce, egg rolls) from across the street. We also enjoyed a crusty on the outside, chewy on the inside baguette and a buttery croissant from the Six Hand Bakery across the street. All of these things made for an enjoyable stay during the month of July. We did plenty of people watching, car watching, rainfall watching, and walking! The day after we arrived we went grocery shopping as usual. After that, we settled into our exploration mode and started to explore the downtown area as well as beautiful parks nearby. And with that introduction, here are our top 3 things to do in Indiana, PA: 1. Jimmy Stewart Museum James Maitland Stewart (1908-1997) was known for his drawl and everyman screen persona. His film career lasted from 1935 to 1991, spanning upwards of 80 films. He won his Oscar (best actor) for his role in the comedy, “The Philadelphia Story.” ‘Jimmy’ Stewart, as he’s affectionately called, was born in western Pennsylvania in the town of Indiana. His father’s hardware store on Philadelphia Street is where he spent much time as a child growing up. He would visit the store even after he became a big movie star, and also while he served in the military. (See below)  A licensed amateur pilot, he enlisted in the Army Air Force during the Second World War soon after United States entered the war in 1941. He would rise to the rank of brigadier general. My limited knowledge about Jimmy Stewart as a kid growing up was through films like “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and “Vertigo.” We’re excited to learn about the man, and his acting career. We walked one block(!) from our Airbnb rental to the museum. The museum is located on Philadelphia Street next to the Indiana County Court House, and is housed within the county library on the 3rd floor.  We went in as the museum was opening up at 10 a.m. We paid our admission fee of $10 then started our self guided tour by watching a short biography of Jimmy Stewart. The narrator was none other than his daughter. We finished the biography and were surprised by the fact that he served in the military. We were even more surprised that he rose to the rank of a general! We walked around and took in everything about Jimmy Stewart. We saw exhibits about his childhood, schools, acting career, military career, and his family. We were watching history unfold before our eyes!    There are film props used in movies I watched as a kid, and there are hundreds of movie posters. We really enjoyed two particular exhibits: One was his family’s hardware store where it had old receipts of sales, old cash register, old telephone, and old wood burning furnace. It was like we were transported back to the early 20th century…  Second exhibit of note was his flight missions during the Second World War. We were totally impressed by his love of this country. He could have chosen an easier way to serve during the war as a famous movie star, but he chose to fly actual missions across the Pacific to fight for his country. Wow… After completing our tour, we stopped at the entrance to the museum to chat with one of the employees. She was a sweetheart who told us about her meeting with Jimmy Stewart when he would visit his hometown, and what others thought about the man. It was an enlightening experience told by someone who really enjoyed what she did. 2. Buttermilk Falls (New Florence) While I was reading through a must visit places near Indiana, I came across this fall. What I found out was that there are actually more than one falls with the same name. There are actually six! This one is unique in that the falls (and its surrounding property) were originally owned by Fred McFeely, who was grandfather of Fred Rogers of ‘Mr. Rogers Neighborhood’ fame. We had to check it out. We arrived early (around 9 a.m.) thinking we would be the only ones at the falls. We were wrong. We saw total of 5 people already heading back to the parking lot after viewing the falls. We immediately noticed how clean and fragrant the woods were. We felt like our lungs were meant to take in all the clean air early in the mornings.   Excited to be there, we walked towards the trail to the falls viewing area. It was a beautiful Saturday morning in July, and we were glad we arrived there early before the heat of July afternoons arrive. Toby was super excited to be exploring again. He happily kept up right next to us smelling the air and looking out for animals. Every little crunching noise in the woods would perk him up, wondering what that noise could’ve been… We gently nudged him to continue and we made our way to the falls area after a quick 15 minute walk from the parking lot. We viewed the falls from an observation deck and were impressed by the beauty of the falls.    We crossed a bridge to make our way down to get a closer look at the falls and go underneath the falls. Toby kept up really well. He would descend the stairs getting closer to the sound of the falls, then he froze. He didn’t like the loud water noise so much… I went all the way down to the mouth of the entrance to the falls to experience the falls from behind it. It was awesome!   After getting bit wet from my experience, we headed back towards the parking lot. It was an awesome morning, and a quick trip, but a memorable one. 3. Yellow Creek State Park Yellow Creek State Park is located in the town of Penn Run and it’s about 12 miles away from downtown Indiana. Encompassing over 2,900 acres, park offers swimming, water sports, hiking, biking, wildlife education and bird watching. We picked what felt like one of the hottest and muggiest days in July to visit the park! As soon as we arrived there, we felt the heat and the humidity. Toby wasn’t happy about it either, and we were also not too happy about the humidity that early in the morning (9 a.m.). We nonetheless made our way near the Yellow Creek Lake and walked towards the lake/marina area. We loved the serene beauty of the lake in the morning. There was just one other person around, an employee at the marina. We spent several minutes enjoying the beautiful scenery unfolding before our eyes. There were water fowl floating on the lake taking its time going from one place to another place, there were water lilies looking all beautiful with its white flowers looking for some sun, and there were awesome hills in the distance, beckoning us to explore them some day…     We loved the park already despite the heat and the humidity… We made our way over to the beach area and saw plenty of people already enjoying the lake. It was a beautiful scenery there as well.   We took deep breaths simply enjoying the summer air surrounding us, and listened to birds chirping away nearby. We saw little children giddily playing in the sand and the beach. Yup, these were sounds and smells of summer… We headed home after several minutes at the beach area filled with gratification of nature and how wonderful it is… Honorable Mention: Indiana County Farmer’s Market. We saw a banner on Philadelphia Street as soon as we arrived at our rental, and we had to check it out. Although not big, it has enough vendors selling everything from meats, fruits/vegetables, cookies/breads, honey, and jams to keep everyone happy. We stopped by at around 11 a.m. on a Saturday and slowly browsed all the vendors. We bought a loaf of delicious honey bread, dozen corn, huge zucchini, and some other vegetables. We met a friendly family of three at the market and we chatted for some time about the food sample we were all waiting to try, as well as about vegan food in general. The sample was sponsored by the county of Indiana and it featured a vegan appetizer made from roots of vegetables sautéed with olive oil, garlic, onions, etc. Our travels wouldn’t be the same were it not for these friendly encounters along the way. We are grateful to meet wonderful people like those we met at the farmer’s market…  In conclusion: Despite not knowing much about Indiana (PA) prior to us booking the month long rental, we really enjoyed our time there. We loved the small city feel with a large city amenities of downtown Indiana. We loved that the Jimmy Stewart Museum is one block away from our rental! We enjoyed the farmer’s market right behind our rental on Saturdays during our stay. We had a great time at the Buttermilk Falls Park and Yellow Creek State Park. We have newfound appreciation for Indiana as a viable tourist destination and wish to come back in our future travels! Thank you all for reading and happy trails to you! Jake Wandering Money Pig Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Ocean City, Maryland’. Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 things to do in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina’. Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Bushkill Falls and Grey Towers.’ Please click here if you missed our ‘Top 3 natural attractions in Las Vegas’. Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Zion National Park’. Please click here if you missed our ‘Review of Vdara Hotel’. 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