Summertime in Jim Thorpe

 

This July Dad and I visited the historic town of Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Renamed for 1912 Olympian, the town dates back to 1818. When the local railroad’s inventive new switchback railroad made the town both prosperous and famous it became quite the tourist attraction.

          Walking along the streets, you can still see the town’s Victorian roots.  Many of the surviving mansions are still sanding as Bed and Breakfasts, other businesses or private homes.

          While Dad and I had some specific places we wanted to visit, me moslty meandered through the town.  We were both surprised how busy the town was for a Monday and were glad we found a space in the parking lot by the train station. We paid $8 for the whole day and it made the trip much less stressful than if we would have had to hunt for street parking.  The town is awesome but be warned, parking is scarce if you can’t get into the lot, so get into town as early as you can.

          After looking around a bit, one of the first places we visited was The Muggles Mug, a Harry Potter themed coffee shop. It was decorated amazingly well; there was no question about the theming. I ordered a Deathly Hallows iced latte, it was chocolate and orange flavored, so a bit like the choclate oranges you find around Christmas. Later on in the day, we returned and I got a homemade pumpkin pop tart and Mandrake Maple iced latte. It was all very good.     

     Along with the coffee shop we explored a candy shop, a natural bath and beauty shop, a Christmas shop, a record store, yes actaul vinyl records, a gem store, and many more shops, including a custom t-shirt store. 

After getting Chinese take out to enjoy while people watching, we visited the book store, Seller’s Books, next door. The store sells new and used books of all types. I even found an Agatha Christie book I haven’t read, which was pretty exciting,

          We also visited the Old Jail and took the tour. I don’t want to say the tour was fun since it was a functioning jail where hangings were carried out, but it still was a fun and educational tour. The stone building was also nice and cool on that hot July day.

          While the jail offers ghost tours the usual tour is strictly historical, but still features a mysterious handprint that will not dissipate no matter what has been attempted.  To be honest, I’m not sure if I compelty belive the whole story, which I won’t spoil here, but it’s a great story and it prompted me to buy a handprint shirt from the gift shop.

          We refueled with more coffee and visited the Packer mansions. We couldn’t get inside either one, as the Asa Packer Mansion was closed for the day, and the Harry Packer is a Bed and Breakfast, but we did get to see the amazing exteriors. The Harry Packer Mansion was my favorite due to its having inspired the outside of Walt Disney World’s Haunted Mansion, which is my favorite ride there.

          We spent almost the entire day in town but could have done one more day to visit since we went on a Monday and some shops were closed.  I’d love to retunr in the fall and ride the train and walk some of the trails by the river.  If you’re looking for fun, relaxed day or two day trip, I highly recommend Jim Thorpe.