I get just as excited to visit the smaller cities as I do the more popular ones and that was no different on this trip to Central Pennsylvania. The journey began in Altoona and while I’ve been here before to see a Curve baseball game in 2008, it was an in-and-out visit on the way home from Pittsburgh. This time around, I did more research and spent time touring the “Railroad City”. Quickly it’s apparent how it got that nickname as there are plenty of rail tracks right through the heart of Downtown Altoona. That is where the Railroaders Memorial Museum is and it features a great depiction of the city’s rail history including being the center of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR or Pennsy). It was a very good museum. I then drove around seeing the various interesting architecture like the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament and the Jaffa Shrine before making a stop at Boyer Candies to pick up some goodies, including their famed Mallo Cup. That would make for a nice treat at the football game later. Altoona is also the corporate home for Sheetz, so I stuck with all things unique to the area by getting gas there and then moving on to 29th-Street Pizza and Subs for a crack at the infamous Altoona-Style Pizza. It’s easy to be skeptical and though this pizza aficionado loved it, I had differing thoughts. Regardless, this family shop is a great place to stop for lunch with plenty of other items and they are very friendly. This city really has a lot and getting here at 10:30 AM wasn’t quite enough to squeeze it all in. I missed a tour of the Baker Mansion, but did get to the engineering marvel: the Horseshoe Curve. It’s 10 minutes from the heart of the city and it has to be gorgeous in the Fall. I was a few weeks late as all the leaves were gone. There’s no distanced view of this longstanding way for trains to get through the Allegheny Mountains, but the top lookout near a portion of the curve still is something to behold. There was no wind and I was the only person there, so the serenity of the place was a unique experience. While taking that in, I started to hear the faint rumble of an approaching train. That noise grew and going from that calm to the impressive machine traversing the Curve really was awesome. If you’re ever in Pittsburgh or going to Penn State games in State College (30 minutes away), take a side trip to Altoona as well.
The main reason I was here was to see Mansion Park Stadium. They’ve been playing football for nearly 100 years at this site and both the stadium and adjoining sports fields/courts are open for recreation. Stadiums for High School teams aren’t on The List to visit, however Mansion Park is an exception because it is home to Pennsylvania’s District 6, Class 1A and Class 2A football championships each year. With a 10,200-seat capacity, it’s big enough to qualify and I stopped by during the afternoon so that my pictures of the stadium would come out better given daylight. It’s open if there’s no games and several people were taking walking laps around the track. It’s a basic stadium as you would expect, straight metal bleachers, 30 rows of them all down the home sideline. The scoreboard was pretty nice though and there’s a good open area in the corner for concessions and hanging out before the game. At night, we had Bishop Guilfoyle (from Altoona) going for their 9th District title in 14 years (also the PIAA 1A State Champs last year) taking on Juniata Valley from Alexandria, PA about 30 minutes away. Parking wasn’t as bad as I feared. The two lots filled up only 15 minutes before kickoff and I opted for the gravel area behind the baseball field for an easy out to Baker Blvd after the game. It was a chilly night, but quite tolerable for November given that there was not a breath of wind. It’s High School football, so I wasn’t expecting the level I’m used to when I travel to see football games and with BG’s recent dominance, expectations were low for what I would get entertainment wise (yes, I know I’m likely the only neutral at this game and most definitely the only person to travel 4 hours for it). That indeed was the case as Bishop Guilfoyle went up 49-0…at halftime. It was then a running clock for the 2nd half as BG took home another title. On the other sideline, I took away what a great group Juniata Valley had. Their fans, friends and family clapped their team off at halftime and cheered every little thing they did. With my daughter being a cheerleader, I’ve been to plenty of youth football games where parents act like idiots, living vicariously through their kids. Here, it was refreshing to hear a parent yell out “Just have fun, it is what it is, enjoy your last game”. After it was over, the coach hugged every one of his players and staff. Oh sports.
The next day, it was on to another place with a ton of character: Johnstown, PA. It’s about a 50-minute drive from where I was staying and some of the history that defines this town are the catastrophic floods of 1889, 1936 and 1977. That first one is the worst and most deadliest in the history of the United States as the story of the upstream dam breaking, how it happened and what occurred thereafter is equally fascinating and heartbreaking. There’s a few places that get into that history and I started near the location of the dam at the National Memorial. Downtown, there is the Johnstown Flood Museum, which does well to explain, honor the victims and articulate the recovery. The city’s layout is unique (hence why it is prone to flood) and while I didn’t appreciate the terrible road quality and significant slopes, I loved the aerial view. That is seen atop the Inclined Plane, a 72% grade hill that features two cars on the tracks going from downtown below to Westmont on top the hill. It was created as a result of the 1889 flood. The trolley cars aren’t running (undergoing an endless renovation), but the spectacular overlook is open. So much to take in and it was appropriately hazy on this day, not that dissimilar from the past as this steel town was defined by the Cambria Iron Works. That descriptive history is well displayed at the Heritage Discovery Center, where they also have an exhibit on the immigration experience in Johnstown. With constant sights and sounds, you really get a feel of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in this area.
Johnstown is still an old-school place and this is a town that loves their hockey. The movie “Slap Shot” was filmed here and the Charlestown Chiefs were loosely based on Johnstown. Special thanks to London Graham for showing me around the building as I took in a few pieces of Hollywood lore. For dinner, there are a couple places right down Market Street and the best is Scott’s. It’s small in there, but this is a true local bar to visit before or after a game. The owner Scott is great, the conversations are lively and the tacos are big and filling. I got such a true sense of community in Johnstown and was eager to see the Christmas Tree and the dancing lights/songs, but missed it by a week. When I woke up the next morning, the hotel had an edition of The Tribune-Democrat and I took the opportunity to treasure this dying breed and see what was going on around town. Another piece of the old-school vibe here. The population may be down to just 18,000 (from 60,000) and yes there are empty storefronts and lost businesses, but there is still community pride in Johnstown and it is also a place that has interest to visitors and tourism dollars.
Oh yeah, the main purpose of the visit was to see the Cambria County War Memorial (now 1st Summit Arena). Despite the corporate moniker, they still do everything and anything to make it a true War Memorial with so many poignant honors and exhibits for local veterans. I attended a game where they further honored those heroes and it was well done. The building is what you’d expect for it being built in 1950. Tight concourses and a small bowl with 3,517 seats. It’s up to today’s standards though as winning Kraft Hockeyville in 2015 helped a lot. Seats are comfortable and it’s still capable of hosting a minor-league team, even though it is the Junior NAHL Johnstown Tomahawks that have been here since 2012. There’s the fun quirks I love in old buildings and a lot of it has to do with the very small surface area that the arena covers. Dressing rooms are right outside the concourse wall and players go through the fans to get to the rink. The Zamboni has to look both ways as it goes in / out of the corner so as to not run over somebody walking by. The press box gondola overhanging the seating bowl, with stairs to get up there right next to seats. Love it! The game itself had a lot of old vibes as Elmira and Johnstown do not seem to like each other. There was constant chirping and scrums after each whistle with a few Elmira players having no problem taking on the role of wrestler heel. At the end of the 2nd period, randomly the goalies decided they were going to go! My first time seeing a goalie fight and it was equally entertaining and dumb. Both goalies got misconducts in a 3-2 game, meaning the backups would play the 3rd. It really was a fantastic hockey game from both a physical and skill perspective. Play was up and down the ice and there 69 total shots on goal. The game went to overtime and Nick Jarmain finished a sweet 2-on-1 which led to a fantastic celebratory pile-up along the boards as Johnstown sent the crowd home happy.
The detailed reviews for both Mansion Park Stadium and 1st Summit Arena have been posted, along with updated videos at my YouTube channel.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
