Day 6 – Fallingwater

Today’s Blog Entry

We had an early start today as we needed to be in the Visitor’s Center at Fallingwater by 8:30 for our Guided Architectural Tour. This tour was just Cindy, myself, and our guide wandering the interior and grounds of this stellar example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s artistry.

We started with a rather uncommon view of the house from the bridge crossing Bear Run as our guide explained the history and context of the home. We then entered into the rather well-hidden front door and moved into the main living and dining space. We enjoyed a rare opportunity to experience these inspiring spaces with nobody else around.

A visit to the surprisingly austere kitchen preceded a walk upstairs to the master bedroom terrace before going back outside and up the driveway to the guest house and servant’s quarters. We both found the living area and bedroom in the guest house to be our favorite parts of the tour.

Once we completed the interior tour we walked the pathway downstream to the iconic overlook. We both marveled at how well everything fits into the landscape.

After our time at Fallingwater we drove a short distance down Rt 381 to the Bear Run Nature Reserve. We had hoped to walk some of the trails in the Reserve, but an unexpected rain storm suddenly moved into the area and we needed to figure out a Plan B. Cindy had already packed lunch for us, so we went ahead and ate before hitting the road for the half-hour drive up to Seven Springs Ski Resort.

We’ve visited literally dozens of ski resorts over the years so we couldn’t be this close without at least taking a look at one of the largest in Pennsylvania. The resort was basically a ghost town as we were deep into the shoulder season (what we called the ‘muddy season’ when we lived in Park City) but there were actually still a few pockets of snow left near what looked like their terrain park.

Fortunately one of the restaurants overlooking the ski slopes was open (most everything was closed) so we grabbed a table by the window for coffee and ordered a little something sweet, in this case a massive piece of chocolate cake.

After our chilly (39 degree) visit to Seven Springs we hustled back to the campground so that we could get ready for our evening trip into Pittsburgh where we met our friends George and Obbie McClintock for dinner. George was my high school French teacher, musical coach, and tour guide extraordinaire (along with Obbie) for our school’s month-long trip to Europe in the summer of 1977. It was great to catch up with them!

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