Pennsylvania

On the way to Pennsylvania, we stopped for lunch at a diner along the Interstate, the Blue Colony Diner in CT. This huge building is a newer diner. I tried the spinach pie here, but it was no match for the Quay Street Brewing Company. I also had a cup of lemon chicken soup with orzo. This was different, and very lemony.

We were shocked by the beauty of Pennsylvania. The hills, mountains and trees are just stunning along the Interstate.
We stopped in Scranton and thought we might see the welcome sign from the beginning of The Office TV show, but no go. We went to the mall, and it was pretty heavy with teenagers.
We were hungry and thought we wouldn't be able to wait to get to Williamsport, where we would spend the night, so we hit a place called Blackbeard's Cove in Bloomgsburg, a slightly nautical themed restaurant. I guess they're known for seafood in the area. I had the flounder dipped in egg and prepared with lemon and white wine. It was quite good. The sides were OK.
StfRon chose the prime rib. The place was pretty desolate on a Saturday night at 6 p.m., and this may be normal, as we later found out that on Saturdays the prime rib is cooked ahead and cooled, then warmed when someone orders it. StfRon had ordered it medium rare, and the steak came out with no pink visible. He asked if there was a more rare piece, and the cook came out and explained the situation. He said he would do his best, and did send out a piece that had a hint of pink, but it was not as tender as most prime ribs are served.
They obviously don't have a lot of call for prime rib Saturdays, so they are trying to keep food costs down.
Our waitress was friendly and prompt. And the cook did check back to make sure we were doing OK.

After checking into our hotel at Williamsport, we were given a recommendation to visit Franco's Lounge for cocktails. This small restaurant/lounge was retro and fun. And they also said they allow smoking after 9:30 p.m., something missing from our trip thus far. No one had allowed smoking anywhere else we had been, and StfRon likes to smoke a cigar now and then.
Franco's had a decent selection of wines, and at 9:30 they broke out several hookahs, strange smoking contraptions filled with sweet smelling tobacco. A few people tried them, but no one was going to town. The smoke did smell nice.
We also talked to a gent sitting at the bar who told us a bit about the area. The lumber trade in the area in the early 1900s made a large number of people in Williamsport millionaires. There is a five block stretch of beautiful millionaire homes downtown. Actually, the whole downtown is quite neat, having preserved many old buildings for new uses. There's even a nightclub in an old stone prison, appropriately dubbed the Cell Block.
Williamsport is also apparently the founding area of the Little League, and they host the world championship each year.