Stop in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, located 67 mi/107 km east of Pittsburgh, to see just how good a small, regional museum can be.
The Johnstown Flood Museum documents the tragic chain of events that led to one of the country's worst natural disasters—the flood of 1889 that killed more than 2,200 people. A lighted three-dimensional map shows the path of the flood, and once an hour the museum screens a 30-minute film about the deluge, The Johnstown Flood, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The museum also hosts touring exhibits, but it is the haunting photos and displays of the flood that make this a worthwhile attraction.
Just 12 mi/19 km north of Johnstown, in the historic district of St. Michael, you can visit the Johnstown Flood National Memorial. This is the site of the South Fork Dam that, when it failed, caused the Johnstown flood. There's an interpretive center at the dam that's maintained by the National Park Service.
You should also plan to take a ride on the Johnstown Inclined Plane (touted as the world's steepest funicular, with a 70.9% grade). It was built in 1891 to help prevent casualties in the event of future flooding (and it was used for just that purpose during floods that struck the area in 1936 and 1977).
If you're in Johnstown during the second week in August, stick around for some good baseball at the All American Amateur Baseball competition. In the winter months, take advantage of Johnstown's proximity to several ski areas. The largest of these, in terms of vertical drop and number of slopes, is Blue Knob.
The town of Indiana, 33 mi/53 km northwest of Johnstown, was the hometown of actor Jimmy Stewart. The surprisingly comprehensive Jimmy Stewart Museum, which is located on the third floor of the Indiana Free Library Building, details his life and career. There's also a statue of him outside the county courthouse, and the It's a Wonderful Life Festival and Parade is held in Indiana every November.
You might also consider a drive southwest of Johnstown to Shanksville to see the memorial site for Flight 93, one of the planes that crashed on 11 September 2001.
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