A 4-Day, 4-Night Getaway to the Beautiful Laurel Highlands
Legendary and ahead of their time, this tour focuses on the sites, stories and people who made America. Experience national park sites, registered historic sites, the origins of legends and unbelievable history that has shaped the world as we know it. From whiskey and automobiles to Westward expansion and famous architecture, the Laurel Highlands is home to incredible history ready to be shared with every visitor.
Day One
- Begin your visit at the crossroads of local, regional and national history, Nemacolin Castle. A must-stop on this tour, Nemacolin Castle is also the site of the first meeting of the Whiskey Rebellion.
- Stop by the gorgeous Friendship Hill National Historic Site, the restored country estate of Albert Gallatin, who is best remembered for his thirteen-year tenure as Secretary of the Treasury during the Jefferson and Madison administrations. In that time he reduced the national debt, purchased the Louisiana Territory and funded the Lewis and Clark exploration.
- Enjoy lunch at the charming Connellsville Canteen, which is home to a 25-by-50 foot HO Scale Model Railroad and World War II museum.
- Visit West Overton Village, the birthplace of Henry Clay Frick, and make connections with the past in the Overholt homestead, distillery museum, summer kitchen, carriage house, spring house and gardens.
- Enjoy a very special dinner at DiSalvo's Station Restaurant, an architecturally spectacular 1903-built Pennsylvania Railroad station that is a nationally registered historic landmark.
Day Two
- Explore the western campaign of the Revolutionary War at Historic Hanna's Town. On July 13, 1782, Hanna's Town was attacked and burned by Native Americans and their British allies in one of the final conflicts of the Revolutionary War. The town never recovered, but the site's subsequent conversion to farmland in the early 1800s preserved it as an archaeological time capsule of 1770 frontier colonial life.
- Lincoln Highway Experience checks all of the boxes for a retro visit. Don't miss out on discovering the history of travel, a slice of pie in the restored 1930s diner and interactive displays at this wonderful stop!
- Enjoy lunch and shopping in charming Ligonier, a stunning, historic town with more than 60 specialty shops and restaurants.
- Journey back to the 18th century and discover the wonders of Fort Ligonier. The fort's museum includes many exhibits. The French and Indian War Art Gallery features 14 original paintings, the outstanding George Washington Collection showcases the president's saddle pistols and memoirs and an extraordinary exhibit, The World Ablaze: An Introduction to the Seven Years' War has more than 200 original 18th century objects from around the world on display.
- Learn about the history of coal mining and the miraculous story of nine for nine at Quecreek Mine Rescue Site. Now an official PA State Historical site, this is where nine miners were rescued from 240 feet beneath the earth in a never-before-attempted effort in July 2002.
- Enjoy dinner in the historic Oakhurst Grille and Event Center, which offers dining options from the classic smorgasbord to the new American fare menu for fine dining.
Day Three
- Visit the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, where the traces of the first railroad crossing of the Allegheny mountains are preserved. Built between 1831 and 1834, the inclined plane railroad permitted transportation of passengers and freight over the mountains from 1834 to 1854. It also provided a critical link in the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal system and played an important role in opening the interior of the United States to trade and settle.
- Get hands on in the name of history with a make-it-and-take-it activity at Bottle Works Arts on Third Ave.
- Experience life as an immigrant at the Heritage Discovery Center. The center features several attractions including "America: Through Immigrant Eyes," which lets you experience what it was like to be an 1900s immigrant, and the Iron and Steel Gallery, which features a film about Johnstown's rich steel history. Prior to your tour, your group will enjoy a traditional lunch served onsite.
- Make a stop at the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, which includes remnants of the South Fork Dam and the restored Unger House, both important to the story of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.
- Take in fantastic views with a ride on the Johnstown Inclined Plane. Constructed after the May 31, 1889 flood, the Incline was built to develop the higher ground. When flood waters swept through the Conemaugh and Stonycreek valleys on March 17, 1936 and again on July 20, 1977, it was the Incline that carried men, women and children to safety. Today it serves as the historic focal point of our area.
- Enjoy dinner accompanied with incredible views atop the Inclined Plane at Asiago's Tuscan Italian Restaurant.
Day Four
- Experience Fallingwater, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's most widely acclaimed works. Designed in 1935 and dramatically cantilevered over a waterfall, the house exemplifies Wright's concept of organic architecture: the harmonious union of art and nature.
- Pay a visit to Pennsylvania's largest state park, Ohiopyle State Park. Begin your tour with a stop at the Laurel Highlands Falls Area Visitor Center, which offers fantastic views of Ohiopyle Falls, which was the catalyst for important historic events. Among many other things, the park also boasts Ferncliff Peninsula, which once held a fabulous resort, often used by the well-to-do from Pittsburgh to enjoy nature and a reprieve from the bustling city life.
- Dine in style at one of the last remaining grand porch hotels in the country, the Summit Inn Resort. Once a famed stop for the iconic Vagabonds, this site is loaded with history and epic views.
- Visit Fort Necessity National Battlefield, the site of young George Washington's first military engagement and only surrender and the battle that marks the beginning of the French and Indian War. The French and Indian War would lead to the first global war and set the stage for the American Revolution.
