A Hike Around the Lake at Shawnee State Park

It was our tenth wedding anniversary this past Wednesday, but I was working that day, so my husband and I agreed to postpone our celebration until Friday, when I would be off. It was a beautiful day and we decided to go hiking at Shawnee State Park, about an hour and a half's drive from the State College area. After that, we would enjoy a fine anniversary dinner at Rizzo's of Windber before heading home.

This is the path along the lake shore at Shawnee. You can see a bit of gold in the foliage. There was lots of dappled sunshine and while we had frost in our yard first thing in the morning, the afternoon warmed up enough that you could wear a t-shirt while hiking. It was just lovely.

We saw Canada geese, several butterflies including a buckeye, and a cormorant standing all by itself; and I found a rock that said "Be a hero to someone." A worthy sentiment indeed. It was a fine day to be alive in Pennsylvania.

And then we took a route we've never been on before, to go to Rizzo's. And let me share the only regret of my day. At an intersection, we saw a sign that said Flight 93 Memorial - 4 miles ahead. It's a place I've always wanted to see (I'm one of the founding sponsors for the memorial - I do believe in celebrating heroes) but I have not ever gotten to visit! There wasn't time on this day, but maybe next time, we'll plan to go.

And then we had a beautiful dinner at Rizzo's: antipasto to die for, spaghetti with two meatballs, bread, and dulce de leche for dessert. And we got a quart of sauce and four meatballs to go. Everything was as good as ever, and the staff came out and sang happy anniversary to us as they brought our dessert. It was a pretty awesome day.  :-)

Our soundtrack song has to be about a lake, and here's a good one: Bob Seger, with Fire Lake.

Bonus: prior visits to Shawnee
The Running Man (a love story)
Reflections of Autumn at Shawnee State Park