Slippery Rock Travel Guide

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SRU is a nice, medium-sized college that is in NCAA Division 2 for athletics.

Here are five photos taken on the campus.

CLICK THE PHOTO TO SEE THEM ALL.

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The first request we made of our innkeeper was that he recommend a restaurant for dinner. He enthusiastically suggested The North Country Brewing Company, located right along Main Street, just minutes from the B&B.

This 1805 building and barn combo. was once an inn/tavern, a furniture and cabinetmaking business and finally an undertaker's.

You might expect a micro-brewery in a university town to be heavily patronized--it was! However, we were cautioned to arrive before 5:30 pm. so we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table.

After thoroughly reading the menu, I opted for a juicy filet, which came with a baked potato (with several topping choices) and string beans with carrots. Mom chose the Tomato/Basil Linguine. Both dishes came with a salad and were absolutely wonderful! Bread was brought to the table in a terra cotta pot--so cute!

The brewery was very noisy, so if you hope to carry on a conversation it might be better to do it before or after your visit.

FYI:Besides developing their own brew, homemade cream of soda was made here, too. Hours are Mon.-Thurs. 11 am-11pm; Fri. & Sat. 11am-12 midnight; Sun. 12noon-10pm.

Glaciers found their way to Pennsylvania over two million years ago. As they melted, glacial related floods carved gorges into the terrain, tossing huge sandstone boulders along with them. As a result of this type of action, the gorge at Slippery Rock was formed and immense rocks were strewn over the hillsides.

The last glacier visited 23,000 years ago. Due to the combination of rapids, waterfalls and eddys, Slippery Rock Creek has some treacherous stream courses. Although we clamored up the hills and side streams often as children, we never ventured into the creek although it was quite tame with gentle ripples where we explored.

for more info. see www.dcnr.state.pa.us.

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Favorite thing: Before leaving Slippery Rock we dropped in on Slippery Rock University established in 1889 as a Normal School specializing in teacher education. In its early years there were two dorms housing 150 students and a main school building.

This proper old brick building (Normal Hall) commanding attention of visitors and students alike is surrounded by mature shade trees and topped by a clock tower. It's the most attractive building on this 600 acre campus.

The school is located about 50 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. The first President was James E. Morrow, grandfather of novelist Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Starting enrollment totaled 168 students.

The commonweath of Pennsylvania purchased the school in 1926 and Slippery Rock became a four year teacher's college whose focus was health and physical education.

Another early structure is West Hall (or West Gym), constructed in 1900 of yellow brick and originally utiilzed as a gym. It has been restored and renamed Carruth-Rizza Hall (pic #2).