Susquehanna River visit.

Traveling home through Pennsylvania, we were to stop for breakfast. We pulled off the road where there was an assortment of restaurants. We wondered if there were more up the road, so we ventured on. What I've found on our travels is that there are gems everywhere. A couple of times, we've ignored our Garmin, checked out some road, and found something worth seeing.

This road we took, led across a bridge and up a hillside on a narrow two-lane road. Suddenly we saw a river through the trees. Then we passed a power plant. We stopped where we could, I got out and snapped some pictures. At this time, I usually look up on the map and then Google what we've seen and fall into stories of history and folklore. Here's what we found.

This from Wikipedia:
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At 464 miles (747 km) long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United States without commercial boat traffic today—for what navigations had been used to improve the waterway for barge shipping of bulk goods by water transport of the Pennsylvania Canal in the Canal Era were let go under the domination of the more flexible and much faster shipping measures under the railroad industry.

The nation's sixteenth largest river by volume, the Susquehanna flows through New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland into the Chesapeake Bay.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susquehanna_River)

There on the river is the Shawville Power Plant. The plant is set to shut down in 2014. This is an old coal-fired plant that provides 600 megawatts of electricity for the people of Pennsylvania. The plant has been condemned as one of the most inefficient and dirty plants in the nation. The owners would like to upgrade the plant, but with all the newer and stricter eco regulations, they are now just planning to shut it down. I don't know the entire history of the plant, but I wonder how they are going to replace all the power and wonder how much politics and greed plays into it all. Still, the plant was interesting to see, and made for some great pictures.

Heading back to the highway, we were still in need of breakfast. We stopped at the Dutch Pantry. What a great little shoppe. Once they had over 100 units across the north east. Now, there are only three. Laurie remembers them from her childhood. Inside, the walls are covered with antique boxes, jars, canisters, and utensils. Laurie had phenomenal country fried steak, and I had a skillet. We also shared some great apple fritters.

This was a great break from our travels.