Oh the Places You Will Go in Mercer County Pennsylvania!

To paraphrase the rhythmically poetic Dr. Seuss, oh the places you’ll go and oh the things you’ll see in Mercer County, Penn.   When you travel to Mercer County, located about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, you will discover a bountiful variety of activities as well as delightful bed and breakfast accommodations.

Imagine shopping at the world’s largest shoe store, playing golf for free, learning how to cook with day lilies, biking a 12- mile paved trail through Goddard State Park, walking through a forest of life-sized chocolate figures or luxuriating in a spa treatment. Best of all, Mercer County attractions and lodging are all very budget-friendly!

Shopping, shopping, shopping in Sharon
Reyers, founded in 1886, is still a family run store and is designated the world’s largest shoe store. In addition, Mercer County proudly notes they also have the world’s largest candy store, Daffin’s. Best known for their hand-decorated chocolates, Daffin’s has a Chocolate Kingdom, which is a display of chocolate animals, including a 400- pound Chocolate Turtle and a 125- pound Reindeer. Of course there are samples for everyone! The Winner is the predecessor to outlet mall shopping, being the world’s largest off-price fashion store.

Once you have “shopped til you dropped”, spend some time at the Buhl Mansion in Sharon where you will be pampered with any one of their over 100 indulgent spa treatments!  This bed and breakfast, winner of Top 10 Most Romantic Inns and Innkeepers of the Year awards, provides a deluxe environment that reaches well beyond their spa offerings.  Even the men will enjoy the luxury of the guest rooms, especially the Frank Buhl Room with a round king-sized bed, velvet green chairs, original fireplace, and spacious private bathroom with a Jacuzzi tub for two.

If you are an outlet mall shopper, Grove City has quite the selection along with some unique shops, such as Slovak Folk Crafts or Wendall August, maker of metal gifts and decorative accessories. In the evening, relax at the Snow Goose Inn, the original bed and breakfast in the area. Innkeepers Dorothy & Orvil will provide a comfortable bed with private bath and a full breakfast in the morning, complete with home-made muffins to re-energize the shopper.

Free Golfing in Sharon
Golf is a popular pastime in this northwestern section of Pennsylvania with its gently sloping hills. Its many golf courses are dry and playable earlier than other areas.  But only here in Mercer County do you have the Buhl Farm Golf Course, which professes to be the only golf course in the world that lets you play free of charge, all 9 holes!   This golf course is part of the 350- acre park which Frank Buhl donated to the public to be enjoyed by Pennsylvanian citizens and visitors for generations to come.

After a day on the links, retire to the cozy Otter Creek Bed & Breakfast in Mercer.  A peaceful setting, this bed and breakfast, is framed by fields, flowers and pine trees and offers a generous deck for relaxing or playing board games. And after a homemade breakfast, you can travel a few miles down the road to test your skills at the Cool Spring Corn Maze, a walk through the outline of a steam train and coal car.

Angling & Biking, Eagles & Osprey
You can spend days exploring the Maurice K. Goddard State Park which is highlighted by  Lake Wilhelm, an 1860- acre lake,  a favorite of fishermen. There are numerous biking and hiking trails and at the end of an active day you can relax at the charming A Place in the Woods Bed & Breakfast. Within walking distance to the lake, nestled in the woods, innkeepers JoAnne & George welcome you to this comfortable, rustic retreat where nature, including eagles and ospreys, come to visit you.

Herbal Lessons at Plant’s Herb Farm
At the Plant’s Herb Farm B&B, Debbie is a master gardener who shares her knowledge of herbs, growing & cooking, with visitors. You can enroll in a cooking class to learn how to cook with day lilies; you can shop at their quaint boutique for your own baby herbs to bring home and other treasures. And of course staying at this bed and breakfast means you get to sample first hand some of the herb infused dishes from Debbie’s kitchen each morning.

The above suggestions provide only a small glimpse into all the wonderful places you can go and things you can do in Mercer County Penn. It is an area with bountiful offerings at very affordable prices. Other local bed and breakfasts include: Tara – A Country Inn in Clark a grandiose Southern inn, Seven Sisters in Fredonia where the McEwen Waterfalls grace the land, the 3-diamond Victorian Terra Nova Bed & Breakfast in Grove City, historic Casa da Costa in Mercer and Wester Farm B&B Cottages in Jamestown, a true working dairy farm.   If your travels take you in other directions, do browse through the 19,000 inns and bed and breakfasts listed at www.iloveinns.com to find the location that best fits your vacation plans.  Some of the properties listed above are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with a Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. ILoveInns also offers Bed and Breakfast Gift Certificates, a perfect solution to help celebrate any occasion.