First, anyone who has ever been on route 322 heading towards Penn State has seen the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the Susquehanna River. This replica statue is 25 feet tall & she is the second version of the statue to stand there (the first one was carried away by the river in the 1990's).
From there we crossed the river & headed north on 11/15. We went past the purple dragon & the Moccasin Trading Post. Perhaps the best part of our trip to Selinsgrove was being along the Susquehanna River while squeezed between mountains for an hour. The views were nice & the river was calm. The vegetation was green & the water was clean. There are many boat ramps & wildlife management areas along the river to promote environmental awareness & outdoor recreation.
Upon arriving in Selinsgrove we did a quick drive through of Susquehanna University. The old style buildings & trees on campus were a nice touch in what would otherwise be an urban cement prison in many other places (at least in the minds of college students). Heading still farther north we were surprised to see so many chain stores & restaurants along the highway after seeing none for over an hour.
We stopped for lunch at a place called Skeeter's Pit BBQ. It was the best BBQ food I have ever eaten in my life. In fact, I would make a special 2.5 hour trip out there just to eat the food again. I got the pulled chicken sandwich & it was absolutely delicious. The atmosphere of the restaurant was pretty mellow for a BBQ place. It had calming country music (not played so loudly you can't enjoy your company). It also provided both indoor & outdoor views of the Susquehanna River from atop the hill. The place also has strange but interesting looking bathrooms. Good strange, not bad.
After lunch we headed out to Shikellamy State Park. There are 2 portions to the park, the overlook & the island (Packer's Island). We went to the overlook first. The overlook part of the park has 3 overlooks at different elevations, ranging from about 700-800 ft, or approximately 100-200 ft above the local road & river. We started at the lowest one & worked our way up to the highest one. Although each overlook provided essentially the same view, each overlook provided it from a different perspective. It is probably important to note that the overlook area of the park is closed from late-October to early-May.
After spending some time with the overlooks, we went down to Packer's Island, which is between the towns of Northumberland & Sunbury. Being in the middle of the river, the island had a nice breeze. The island also has a marina, several boat launch ramps, a butterfly garden, picnic areas, & walking/jogging paths. We stopped at a cement platform called The Pinnacle to take pictures & enjoy the nice breeze. (Did I mention the nice breeze? On a day where the heat index was in the high 90's, the breeze was very welcoming).
For the ride home we decided to avoid the Harrisburg rush hour traffic & go through the coal region.
Overall we had a nice peaceful day along the river with a delicious lunch.
More information on the places we stopped at:
* Skeeter's Pit BBQ
* Shikellamy State Park
The view of the overlooks from Packer's Island.
The view of Packer's Island from the overlooks.
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