Remember when I told you about the National Museum of the American Coverlet and how it’s in an old school in Bedford? Well, they have done a fantastic job of preserving that old school and some of its unique features.
The front hallway features a folk art mural of the town as well as this mural of the Big Bad Wolf spying on the pigs. Isn’t it fun?
Here’s a bigger picture view of the history mural and the pigs.
These odd and random things we run into out in the world are more or less what I live for. The coverlets in this museum are amazing but I found myself sometimes distracted by features of this old building. How fortunate were to get a peak inside!
Tucked away in Greensburg, Pennsylvania is an art museum that exists because a woman nearing the end of her life decided her city needed one.
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art opened in 1959 thanks to a gift from Mary Marchand Woods that established the Woods Marchand Foundation ten years before.
We spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon there admiring artwork but also contemplating the thought and ingenuity that went into using space to tell a story.
They have a permanent collection as well as space that rotates. There is a Chihuly installation in a random stairwell and a permanent collection them at celebrated the industrial and working class origins of Pittsburgh.
Some favorites include this piece of gorgeous stained glass from Tiffany Glass around 1905.
Pieces that celebrate the blue color workers who built Pittsburgh are incredibly moving.
Artwork on baseballs was a fun surprise that I liked. I don’t care about baseball at all but thought these pieces of art created by minor league umpire George Sosnak were pretty great.
That’s the thing about museums. if you go with an open mind, you never know what amazing new favorite thing you will find.
Next up I’ll tell you about a special exhibit that, unfortunately, has ended but that I think you might enjoy hearing about!
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.
