Ice Fest in Chambersburg, PA

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I read about Chambersburg's Ice Fest in Bethesda Magazine. I had never heard of the town nor the event, but since it's less than two hours north of the DC area, I was curious to check it out. So my friend and I headed up that Friday, and we had such a blast!

We didn't arrive until Friday evening, so we quickly checked into the Travelodge, had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Montezuma, and then got dressed up for the Snowfall Ball at a local church. I liked that a lot of different music was played, so we danced several different styles (luckily my friend is a great dancer and gave me quick lessons): waltz, swing, rumba, foxtrot, even line dancing! The crowd was a bit sparse, and was composed mostly of high schoolers (I thought it would be all old people, so this was actually a pleasant surprise). It was $12 to get in, which I think is a little steep for a dance in a church gym with a DJ, but we were happy to support the local community.

Saturday was our first full day in town. The continental breakfast at the hotel was quite disappointing, but luckily there was a town pancake breakfast! We had our fill of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausages before heading to the main square. Chambersburg is really cute, and it was fun walking down the main street looking at the different ice sculptures. There were so many, but I took pictures of a few of them:

This one was my favorite. It's two wolves next to a tree howling at the moon.

Obviously I had to get a photo with this one!

We liked stopping by the local shops, too. There were consignment shops, toy stores (we saw a llama/unicorn/Pegasus stuffed animal), and the most perfect place to hold a legitimate tea party called Kristtany Tea Room. Here are some photos:

After walking around town, we went to the Old Jail to see an Art Fest display and to get a tour of the jail itself. The art featured a "Secret Garden" theme, and it was interesting to see the interpretations of this theme through the work of several local artists. And the jail was pretty neat! We saw the older part, which was built in the 1800's. The sheriff back then actually lived there, so we saw the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms. We could also peek into the cells (some of which were right across the hall from the sheriff's bedroom), and we saw a fake fireplace that could have hidden run-away slaves as part of the underground railroad (no one knows if the fireplace was actually ever needed for that purpose). An addition was later added to the jail to increase capacity, and those cells were more modern and added more space for female inmates, too (beforehand only one or two cells were dedicated to women). The tour was a history lesson both on the jail but also of the town itself, including the times when Chambersburg burned down and how Chambersburg was impacted during the Civil War. The tour lasted about an hour, and we found it really interesting. I would highly recommend it!

These are the newer cells at the Old Jail. Image found here

Then we headed back to the main street for some food. We enjoyed lunch from some food trucks (I had chicken tenders and fries; my friend had a cheese steak made with elk) before going to the Capitol Theatre to see a performance by some local students from the Chambersburg Ballet Theatre School. The pieces performed were a mix of classical ballet, modern dance, and Irish dance. These were only students (high school age), so that dancing wasn't spectacular. But again, it was all about supporting the local community and sharing in these students' dreams.

We sat at the bar at the Copper Kettle. Image found here

After a quick nap, we made our way to the Copper Kettle for dinner. It's probably the only upscale restaurant in town, so we couldn't get a reservation for a Saturday night, but we were able to grab seats at the bar. I was very happy with my $10 crab cake special, and my friend enjoyed the lobster bisque and sea scallops. And while the kitchen was out of the chocolate mousse by the time we were ready for dessert, we did partake in a baklava dessert that was delicious.

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Then we headed to the Chambersburg Mall to see a movie. We both wanted to see The Upside, and I really enjoyed the film. Plus, the theater had a random seat that was like a love seat, so we were able to sit right next to each other without the arm rest in between. It was a good movie night!

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Sunday was our last day in town. We had crepes for breakfast at Brussel's Cafe, and they were so good! And the owner/manager was there telling us all about the different crepes, so that was fun. Most of the shops were still closed by the time we were finished with breakfast, so we got in the car and took a quick drive to Greene Township. I had read online that they flood the baseball diamond in the park to turn it into an outdoor skating rink. The rink was indeed there, but the gates were locked. But that wouldn't deter us. We climbed over the fence, and with our skates in hand enjoyed a private rink. My friend had never ice skated outside before, so I was doubly glad for this adventure. It was so much fun, and we even saw another park-goer filming us on the ice (seeing two adults skating on their own on a tiny rink must have looked kind of funny haha). We had so much for that we were out there for nearly two hours! But the weather was warming up and we could feel the ice melting under us, so we headed to our next stop.

This may be a photo of the winery before it expanded. Now it has a huge space! Image found here

We had tried a few wines from Jan Zell Wines before the ballet, but we wanted to check out the whole winery. So we drove over and did a tasting (I tasted several white wines, while my friend tasted their ciders). My souvenir from the trip was a wine glass, so that was fun!

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Then we walked just next door to GearHouse Brewing Co., a brewpub that also had a kitchen. We had yummy breakfast food at the bar, and my friend bought a metal growler to take home. Once we were satisfied, it was time to go home. We listened to 80's and 90's country music all the way back.

This was such a fun trip! I would highly recommend it. There are lots of different weekend events like this, so maybe I'll try checking out a different town next time, but this was a really fun get-away!