Bedford, Pennsylvania has over a dozen covered bridges. We were there for just a day so we only saw one and it’s a nice one.
Claycomb Covered Bridge stands at the entrance to Old Bedford Village. The village was still closed for the season but we were still able to park and look around the bridge.
According to their tourism bureau, the bridge was built in 1880 in another location and later moved to its present location on 1975.
The Burr Truss design was reinforced with steel to accommodate the larger vehicles that pass through here on their way to the village.
Despite being so close to the main highway into Bedford and the Turnpike which sits high above this spot, it’s surprisingly peaceful.
If you’re in the area, plan to see this and all the others via a driving tour created by the visitors center. Get information here!
Doesn’t this look like a nice spot to sit and read a book or just watch the clouds roll by? My pal and I spotted it on our way out of the National Museum of the Coverlet and we agreed that it looked peaceful.
And yet, it never occurred to me that we could stop to sit there.
Sitting idle is difficult for me. I often admire those people in cafes who are peacefully reading a book or the folks who are just sitting on a park bench as though there’s no place they would rather be.
There’s just so much to see and do in this world, I want to go see it all. And yet, I want to be a person who sits on benches too.
Author Richard Kadrey famously said “Being able to embrace contradictions is a sign of intelligence. Or insanity.”
Maybe we shouldn’t discuss how his theory applies to me!
Do you stop to smell the roses and sit on benches or do you prefer to be on the go?
Twenty years ago, I sat in the passenger seat of a car and pointed to a fantastic old stone tavern visible from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. My statement that it looked like a neat place to stop fell on deaf ears as my now ex-husband barreled on toward our destination.
Fast forward to my most recent trip to see my Pittsburgh friend. We were headed to historic Bedford for a day and she wondered if I would be interested in a meal at the historic Jean Bonnet Tavern?
Yes, it was the tavern I had seen so many years ago!
Oh, the value of spending this life with the right people.
So, after a day of wandering around Bedford, sampling candy and perusing antiques, we headed straight to the Jean Bonnet Tavern for an absolute feast.
This place was built in 1762 and is located on what we now call the Lincoln Highway. Back then, it was called Forbes Road and was the only east-west road from eastern Pennsylvania to the Ohio Country. Countless settlers and travelers passed through here. The tavern and inn was built as a safe haven for those weary folks who needed a place to lay their heads and have a good meal before continuing on their treacherous journey.
It was also believed to be a gathering place for the farmers involved in the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion.
This building is large and stone with big white porches and moody lighting inside.
You enter the restaurant through a wooden door into a room with a large stone fireplace. When you are seated, a hostess will set the mood by lighting a taper candle in a pewter candlestick. Those approximate two foot thick stone walls are decorated with coverlets. The food is good and the portions large.
There were other people in our dining room but for a few short minutes, there was no one in my field of vision. I could hear the clink of glasses and silverware but could see no one else. Flickering candlelight and simple decor harkened to Colonial days in a way that excited my imagination.
For a brief and shining moment, I was a time traveler. Was it 2026 or was it 1776? Who knew? Maybe George Washington’s Army was encamped right outside. Maybe a lengthy journey on horseback laid ahead of me the next day. Time had no meaning here.
This is not just a place to eat. It’s a place of experience. You can stay there too and I’m kind of hoping I get to do that someday because it looks nice.
Friends, this is why we travel. We go places for these glimmering, golden moments when we experience something so special we know the moment was all our own.
This locally owned shoe store is packed with all kinds of quality and interesting shoes. While I wasn’t in the market for shoes, I was smitten with the outside of their building. The colors! The sign! Oh my!
Plus, if you look closely, you’ll notice dust flying in the distance. A crew was mixing cement for a sidewalk repair and causing all kinds of mess on this tree-lined street.
It’s basically the best depiction of a Pittsburgh neighborhood I can give you!
I am truly fortunate to have a couple of great friends to travel with to interesting places. My Pittsburgh friend is a born planner and has a knack for knowing exactly the kind of places I will like.
So when she said we would start our day in Bedford, Pennsylvania at the National Museum Of The American Coverlet, my knee jerk reaction was “hmm…. Ok.” And then my brain immediately reminded me that she has never taken me any place I didn’t like.
I’m so glad we went.
The National Museum of the American Coverlet is the first independent, year-round institution devoted to historic American woven coverlets. It is located in the former Common School which dates to 1859. The museum is located in the downstairs of this fantastic old building and they have done an exceptional job of working around some of the unique qualities of this building while still having gallery space for their rotating collection of historic coverlets.
What is a coverlet?
According to their website “Coverlets are woven bedcovers, used as the topmost covering on a bed. The weaver worked on a loom to construct the textile itself one row at a time, and the pattern was woven in as part of the process.”
This museum focuses on antique American woven coverlets and the collection ranges from 1771 to 1889. The coverlets come from all over the country and are in incredible condition especially given their age.
The current exhibit celebrates America’s 250th and I’m so glad we got to see it!
For all that my pal and I have in common, I’m always interested in the different ways we tend to view the world. We seem to take turns being detail people and being big picture people, depending on our moods and where we are.
In this museum, I was fascinated by the overall impact of the coverlets in this space. My friend sews, quilts, and does needlepoint. and was drawn in by the beauty of the smallest details on these coverlets. And the details are magnificent.
Want to learn more? Visit their website Admission is just $10 for adults. It’s a great place to start on your trip to Bedford!
We spent a day wandering around historic Bedford, Pennsylvania, ambling down the street and browsing little shops.
They have found a nice, balanced way of living so that their history is ever present but so that it doesn’t feel stuffy or outdated. Downtown shops are packed with interesting merchandise and there’s a lovely park that honors their veterans of 20th century wars. Ample parking, plenty of street signage, and locals who seem to appreciate their visitors make this town more enjoyable to navigate than most.
We shopped for antiques, gourmet food, books and more. We admired ghost murals and sampled candy. We chatted with one particular shop owner whose store was so welcoming I hated to leave.
And we began to imagine how beautiful it would be to visit during the holiday season. It came as no surprise to either of us when we started planning a return trip.
A nearby covered bridge and church spires that soar to the heavens are pretty as a postcard. A meal at the nearby Jean Bonnet Tavern will make you wonder if you aren’t a well fed time traveler.
Bedford is ready for visitors and welcomes you. I’m so very grateful for the opportunity to experience it first hand and look forward to the day I return.
