Visitors who travel to Happy Valley know that hotels and lodging fill up quickly during football season and special event weekends. It’s important to plan ahead, but it also helps to know all of the options that are available in State College and the surrounding areas. Centre County offers plenty of traditional hotels, bed and breakfasts, and lodges. Some of the lesser-known establishments offer breathtaking views and serene farm or forest settings.
Philipsburg is distinctive in many ways: the town’s forefather, Hardman Philips, was exiled to “the wilderness town” after taking part in a duel in England. Before that, Hardman’s brothers, Henry and James, both of whom died young, “lured” settlers to the unimproved lands by good old-fashioned false advertising.
Fall is my favorite season in Centre County, and I make no apologies for it. Football’s back, with all that comes with it: tailgating, grilling, seismic cheering at Beaver Stadium. Apples and pears and a beautiful array of root vegetables flood our farm markets in a final burst of harvest abundance. Sweaters and vests come out of storage as sweaty Summer slides into frosty Fall.