If you find yourself this summer with a bunch of kids complaining that there's nothing to do, but you don't have a lot of clang in your pocket - have no fear, my No bummer summer list is here to help you make some summer memories locally.
Granted, don't forget to remind your kiddos that there is a lot of fun to be had right in your own backyard:
slip 'n slides!
water balloons!
pick up games of kickball & baseball!
riding bikes!
scooters!
finding bugs!
climbing trees!
building forts!
laying in hammocks!
blowing bubbles!
sidewalk chalk!
hosting barbecues!
flying kites!
...but when they exhaust even all that right-at-home fun, sometimes it's good to just get out there and explore. Luckily, we live in an awesome place filled with incredible things to see and do within a stone's throw. So, without further ado - here is the compiled list of a No Bummer Summer Johnstown, PA 2019 addition.
Check out books at the library. The Cambria County library offers free lunch for kids in the summer months (our kids love having Lunch at the Library once a week) and while you're at it; check out the calendar of fun events or their facebook feed that the library hosts all summer long - including Tales with Tails (read with therapy dogs!), kid book club, afternoon family movies, and weekly Storytime hours for kids from babies to school-aged.
Take in a movie. Our very own Johnstown has one of only 348 movie theaters that remain in operation in all of the United States! The Silver Drive In shows movies every weekend (Friday-Sunday) and posts their schedule earlier in the week on Facebook. Discover Downtown Johnstown Partnership has set up an Outdoor theater in Central Park for the summer with four dates scheduled for free admission movies playing at dusk including The Lego Movie 2 on July 13, Bad News Bears on August 4th, Rudy on September 14th, and Beetlejuice on October 19th.
Participate in a summer class or camp. Bottleworks has week long themed summer camps or single classes including 'Paint along with a grownup' and Kid Yoga. The Community Arts Center in Westmont offers three day session Summer Art Camps for ages 3-12 and newly added Teen classes for 13+, they even have their theater camp put on a full production after one week! You can do some self-guided learning at the Johnstown Children's Museum while you check out their rooftop garden, water room and coal mine slide (they have Free Kid Friday on June 28 for 12y or younger!). The Learning Lamp offers summer camps for pre-school aged and school-aged kids - and even a performing arts camp for ages 6-12 culminating in two live performances! As well as, many local churches hold summer Vacation Bible School.
Bike ride. Some great paths for the non-mountain bikers and kids include: the Staple Bend Tunnel (2 miles to the tunnel), the Ghost Town Trail (various lengths), The Coal & Coke Trail (6 miles one way) in Mount Pleasant or the Westmoreland Heritage Trail in Delmont (5.9 miles one way). Head on out to Ohiopyle to bike (lots of rental places available) and watch the white water rafters and kayakers float by. In the late afternoons, we sometimes just head over to our local school parking lots to give the kids wide open paved space to bike ride (scooter or roller blade) too.
Take a Hike. Explore our many local parks and trails on foot: Stackhouse Park, Jim Mayer Trail, Coy/McCombie Trail (on the other side of the Staple Bend Tunnel and part of the Path of the Flood trail). And while you're out there - consider doing a little Geocaching! If you have bigger kids and are looking for a challenge, visit the 1000 steps trail in Huntingdon; it's tough but worth it!
Hitch a ride on a horse. Oak Street Stables offers guided trail rides in Carrolltown (they also have pygmy therapy goats to snuggle!) or check out the Laurel Highlands Horseback Riding suggestions.
SWIM: take a dip in any of these local swimming pools for a small fee (or buy a season pass!): Windber Rec, Nanty Glo pool, Ebensburg Pool, and Portage Pool.
CAMP: Gallitzin State Forest, Quemahoming Dam, Shawnee State Park, Laurel Highlands (multiple parks listed!), or right in your own backyard!
Watch a race. Johnstown BMX hosts races most Thursday nights in the summer months. Check out Jennerstown Speedway if cars are more your speed. And if you prefer motorcross, head on out to Pleasure Valley Racing.
Float. A summertime must here in our city of waterways! Go Coal Tubin on the Stonycreek River, if you have a kayak or canoe check out the Benscreek Canoe Club website for places to paddle (also see their full moon paddles on the Que this summer!). Make a day of it at Quemahoming Dam (Hollsopple) or Laurel Hill State Park (Somerset) where you can rent canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards. Hinckstown Run Dam (East Taylor), , Lake Rowena (Ebensburg), or Wilmore Dam (Portage) are great spots to do some boating (and fishing!) but it is BYO Kayak/Canoe. And Raystown Lake is the place to go if you can get your hands on a motor boat to do some water skiing!
Listen to live music. There are free summer concerts at Roxbury Bandshell every Sunday night. The Community Arts Center in Westmont hosts Concert on the Greens in their lawn on Wednesday nights at 7p beginning on June 26. The Flood City Music Fest is being held on August 2-3, 2019. And every Friday in August, Penn Eben Park in Ebensburg has free concerts in the park.
Play a round or two of mini golf: there's a course at The Ranger near Forrest Hills, Jake's Mini Golf in Somerset, and when it's raining - you can do some Glo Golfing in the mall. Or if you and the kids are into real golf, there are tons of courses here in town.
Playground hop. We have lots of great playgrounds in each of the different communities of our area. The Greenhouse Park playground tends to be our favorite because it's close and also boosts the Stoneycreek River which gives our kids a chance to skip rocks and watch the kayakers and tubers float by. Sometimes it takes word of mouth to find a new playground, or ya just happen on it as you're driving through - so keep your eyes peeled! There's a great playground for all different aged kids up on Luray Ave (volleyball courts too!) and obviously Roxbury Park boasts one of the biggest playgrounds in the area. ACRP Play Center in Cambria City has both outdoor and indoor playgrounds and Hogue's Fun Factory in the mall has a ton of bounce houses for those rainy summer days...and, don't forget - now that's school's out - all the local public school playgrounds are open during daylight hours!
Grab some local produce at the Farmer's Markets:
Downtown Johnstown Farmer's Market on Friday afternoons from 2-5p in Central Park
the Francis Sharing & Caring on Thursdays from 2-6p in Hollsopple
Moxham Farmer's Market on Thursdays 3p-6p
the West End Farmer's Market in Cambria City from 3p-6p
Ebensburg Farmer's Market in Penn Eben Park from 9-noon every Saturday beginning July 6th
the Somerset's Farmer's Market at the Georgian Place on Saturday mornings from 9-noon
the Ligonier Farmer's Market on Saturdays 8a-Noon
The Green Grower Organic Produce folks pop up throughout the week locally like on Luray Ave on Tuesdays!
Early June, you can pick your own strawberries at Ben's Strawberries or Yarnick's Farms. In Late June and early July, you can pick your own Blueberries at Stutzman Farms near Indiana or Pick your own Cherries at Ridgetop Orchards in Fishertown and then in late summer, they have peaches too!
Enjoy the local festival season: Thunder in the Valley is June 20-23, 2019 and has it's own designated children's section near the library downtown with bounce houses and face painting. The 3rd Avenue Arts Fest will be held on July 12-13, 2019; it's free and family friendly showcasing local artists from 6-8p (Friday) and 10-6p (Saturday). The Ferndale Jubilee will be held July 15-20, 2019 of this year. Ebensburg Downtown Shutdown is scheduled for Friday night, July 26, 2019. Portage Summerfest is scheduled for August 9-11, 2019 and Richland Community Days are scheduled for August 16-17, 2019 this year and will feature a 5K run, live music, local food vendors, lots of kids' activities, and craft vendors. The Cambria City Ethnic festival block party is scheduled for August 30, 2019.
Visit the fairgrounds. Animals, carnival rides, special events, and all the funnel cake you can eat! The Bedford County fair will run from Saturday, July 21-27, 2019. The Somerset County Fair will run August 17-24, 2019 and The Cambria County fair is scheduled for September 1-7, 2019.
Take a ride on a train. You can visit Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, or if you have friends or family living along the Pennsylvanian Amtrak line, you can visit them the slow paced way and watch our beautiful PA scenery go by. The Pennsylvanian runs daily from Pittsburgh to NYC, NY - with a stop right downtown at our Johnstown train station.
Eat some Cracker Jacks and root for the home team. What's more of an American Summer than taking in a baseball game? Our very own city is the host of the national AAABA tournament (scheduled for August 5-12, 2019). Our next door neighbor, Altoona boasts the minor league Curve baseball team, and all summer long you can stumble upon local little league baseball tourneys around the city.
Scream for Ice Cream! So many delicious ice cream joints to visit in our community & surrounding areas. It might even be fun to make an Ice Cream Passport for the summer and check off of the spots and rate your favorite flavors. You can check out: Shaffer's Frosty Freeze, Roxberry Creamery, The Meadows, The Silver Bell, Oshea's on Scalp, Little Sprinkles, The Rambler, The Buckhorn Drive In, Krauses, The Shake Shak, The Fat Squirrel, The Cow, Ligonier Creamery, and The Ranger
Be a local tourist. You live here, I know - but do you know the rich history of our community? There are lots of local and nearby spots that have interesting historical details that you can be proud of. Take a ride on the World's (!!) steepest Incline Plane, learn in the Johnstown Flood Museum, Leave a note of hope in our Little Red Mailbox at Point Park and if you visit near dusk, you'll bask in the lights of the Stone Bridge. Hike the Path of the Flood trail, stop by the Heritage Discovery Center, visit Fort Ligonier, relive the joy of the 9 for 9 at the Quecreek Mine Rescue Site, remember the brave at the Flight 93 Memorial, or take in the beauty at Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water.
Be a local tourist. You live here, I know - but do you know the rich history of our community? There are lots of local and nearby spots that have interesting historical details that you can be proud of. Take a ride on the World's (!!) steepest Incline Plane, learn in the Johnstown Flood Museum, Leave a note of hope in our Little Red Mailbox at Point Park and if you visit near dusk, you'll bask in the lights of the Stone Bridge. Hike the Path of the Flood trail, stop by the Heritage Discovery Center, visit Fort Ligonier, relive the joy of the 9 for 9 at the Quecreek Mine Rescue Site, remember the brave at the Flight 93 Memorial, or take in the beauty at Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water.
Make a day of it. If you're willing to drive a little bit for some fun: Idlewild & SoakZone, Delgrosso's amusement park, Living Treasures wild animal park, Penn's Cave, Lincoln Caverns, Seven Springs, and Lakemont Park (re-opening this summer!) are all within an hour or so drive from Flood City.
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Did I miss anything? What are your favorite ways to make some local memories during the summer months of wild and free kiddos?
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Did I miss anything? What are your favorite ways to make some local memories during the summer months of wild and free kiddos?
Portage Summerfest in August and what about all the church picnics in the area? The Rambler in Windber for ice cream? Kayaking at Wilmore Dam or Lake Rowena? (have to provide your own kayak) Swimming at Portage pool?
ReplyDeleteMy boys love finding little streams and collecting crayfish or flipping over rocks to find snakes or any other kind of reptile they can get.
Yass! Thank you so much for all these suggestions - I added them to the list :) Yes, my kiddos are obsessed with crayfish hunting too, but they'd be a little shocked to see a snake! hhahha. The best memories are made outside!
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