Anna Dubrovsky - Moon Pennsylvania

ANNA DUBROVSKY

If theres one thing Pennsylvanias founder insisted on, its that everyone feel welcome. Centuries before New Yorks Greenwich Village and San Franciscos Haight-Ashbury district gained fame as centers of counterculture, William Penns colony was the place where people could let their freak flags fly. Its thanks to Billy that Pennsylvania is home to the oldest Amish community in the world. Its thanks to him that todays visitor can, in less than 90 minutes, go from one of the largest cities in the country to a place where horse-drawn buggies share the road. Something for everyone may be the most tired phrase in destination marketing, but Pennsylvania really means it.

The state that goes by PA is a magnet for history buffs, art enthusiasts, and nature lovers. Its where the nations founders came up with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Its where four score and seven years later, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the timeless speech that began: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation. Pennsylvania is where Andy Warhol first touched a drawing pencil and where Andrew Wyeth painted his whole life. Its where youll find the only U.S. museum dedicated to hiking and the largest herd of free-roaming elk east of the Rockies.

Pennsylvania is a wide expanse of mostly wilderness and farmlands flanked by two cosmopolitan cities. In the southeast corner: Philadelphia, the nations birthplace. In the southwest corner: Pittsburgh, the manufacturing powerhouse turned cultural hub. The places in between jockey for distinction: The Sweetest Place on Earth (Hershey), the Factory Tour Capital of the World (York County), Antiques Capital USA (Adamstown), and a borough made famous by a groundhog (Punxsutawney), to name a few.

Pennsylvania is a study in the art of the comeback. Pittsburgh, described by one 19th-century writer as hell with the lid off, topped Forbes.coms list of Americas most livable cities in 2010. In the Lehigh Valley, a cultural center and casino resort have risen on the site of a shuttered steel works. Forests depleted by logging have regrown. Abandoned railroad lines have morphed into multiuse trails. For visitors, too, Pennsylvania is a place of renewal.

Its safe to say that William Penn would be pleased at the shape his land has taken. Welcome.

The states largest city is rich in historic and cultural attractions. A thorough exploration of Independence National Historical Park is a better primer on the founding of this nation than any textbook, and the citys art museums are too numerous to see in a day. Known for cheesesteaks and rabid sports fans, the City of Brotherly Love has reached new heights of hipness in recent years, with galleries and eateries sprouting in the unlikeliest places. Idyllic towns such as Kennett Square and New Hope lure Philadelphians past the city limits.

With its Germanic heritage, fabled cuisine (pass the shoofly pie), and unmatched concentration of Amish, this region ranks as Pennsylvanias most unique. Gettysburg, site of the Civil Wars bloodiest battle, reels in school groups and history buffs, while Hershey defends its title as The Sweetest Place on Earth.

Pennsylvanias winter sports capital holds as much appeal during the warmer months, thanks to its rivers, lakes, waterfalls, and trails. Lets not forget its many resorts, where theres never a dull moment. Though most are geared toward families, the champagne glass whirlpool is alive and well in the Poconos.

Once known as the Smoky City, the Burgh has risen from the ashes to become a cultural hotbed. It boasts the worlds largest single-artist museum and the states largest history museum, not to mention the NFLs winningest football team. Fallingwater, the world-renowned work of architecture, is one of many reasons to explore its surrounds.

Rail fans flock to this mountainous region to drink in the famous Horseshoe Curve, walk through the nations first railroad tunnel, and tour a 19th-century roundhouse. Motorcyclists flood the so-called Flood City in June, and football fever strikes State College in the fall.

Pennsylvanias northwest corner shines in the summer months, when Eries natural harbor teems with pleasure boats and the sandy beaches of Presque Isle are open for business. Families pack swim gear and stale bread for their pilgrimage to Pymatuning Lake, where fish and waterfowl compete for crumbs. As the birthplace of the modern oil industry, this region also attracts history buffs.