Laurel Highlands Tourism: Four Seasons of Adventure, History, and Scenic Beauty in Pennsylvania

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Hello everyone, this is Howard Fox and welcome back for another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series, a podcast that celebrates individuals and families, businesses, and organizations that seek out and promote the exploration, stewardship, conservation, access and enjoyment of the outdoors. Eric Knopskider is our guest today. Eric is the Director of Public Relations and Community Outreach at Laurel Highlands Tourism. The Laurel Highlands appeals to travelers who enjoy outdoor adventure and scenic beauty, as well as those drawn to the region's arts, culture, and architectural attractions. Eric, it's good to see you again. How are you doing? And welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

I am doing great, Howard. Thank you so much for having me on. I know we've been talking about this for a while, about doing this, and I'm just glad to be able to finally sit down and chat with you.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Oh, most definitely. And for our listeners, I've had the pleasure of breaking bread with Eric. He has been representing Morrill Highlands at the annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. I think we were in it, saw met each other in El Paso, perhaps. And and most recently, we were in Madison, Wisconsin. And how is your now? You were a part of a panel when you were in Madison. So tell us how'd you get roped into being part of this panel discussion?

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Well, uh, I I like to think that it was good some good fortune and some some good results. I was first of all, let me point out to the to the your viewers and listeners that the Laura Highlands is in Pennsylvania. We've just rebranded to make sure people get that. So we want to hammer home that message where we are right away. But uh going back to your your question, so a few years ago, yeah, I was in El Paso and I met a couple of the outdoor riders there, Ashley Stimson and Jessica Baltzerson, and kept persistently telling them they needed to come and ride the Great Allegheny Passage in the Laurel Highlands. And eventually they did that, and it it turned into the best press trip that I've ever hosted, and they felt like they got a lot out of it too. So whenever they were doing some things this year on on how to host a press trip, they they reached out to me and said, Hey, would you be interested in serving on the panel? So Jessica and I served on the panel, and we got to talk about that experience and other experiences as well. But that was really kind of a feather in my cap. And I'd like to think of of our regions as well, that we were able to to speak to the Outdoor Writers Association of America and and share what we have and and how we do things here.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Excellent, excellent. Now, you you rightly jumped in to clarify where Laurel Highlands is and it's in Pennsylvania. And I know this time of the season, the fall season, Pennsylvania just lights up with all those wonderful colors and lots of great outdoor activities. But what was some of and I also know that with this rebranding, it used to be go Laurel Highlands, now Laurel Highlands Tourism. I I'm curious for two questions. One, what what communities comprise Laurel Highlands? And also, what is the significance of this rebranding? Because it seems like you do a great job already, but there's obviously when you rebrand, there's some there's some vision involved here.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Absolutely. So the the Laurel Highlands, we're in southwestern Pennsylvania, where depending on where you're coming in the region, an hour or so outside of Pittsburgh, and it's comprised of three different counties. So that is Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland counties in in southwestern Pennsylvania. Somerset borders on Maryland, Fayette borders on West Virginia. So that gives you a little bit of an idea in the scope of things where we are. And the reason for the rebrand is actually a really positive thing. It's because our reputation is growing and our markets are expanding and we're we're getting more of a name for ourselves, but we want it to be instantly recognizable because, like going to El Paso or Chattanooga or Madison for the Outdoor Writers Association, when I meet someone for the first time, they don't know automatically where the Laurel Highlands region is. So I like to have that. I will often tell them for the past couple of years, when I'd go to a national conference, I'd say, I'm from Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands. And that was to immediately draw them in and let them know. So they're not guessing, is Laurel in Mississippi? Is it the one in North Carolina? What Laurel are we talking about? And the Laurel Highlands, kind of like our counterparts, the Poconos in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, we're a region. We don't have one big city in it to identify with it. So we have a lot of small towns, a lot of smaller cities. And so that's kind of all grouped together under that Laurel Highland banner. So to let people know, to let out of state people know where we are and just hit them with that immediately so they're not questioning what the Laurel Highlands is and where we are. We wanted to go to that. It's Laurel Highlands tourism is the brand name. Sure. But when you see the logo, it's Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania. So it's automatically letting people know, hey, I I know where this is now. I've got an idea geographically of where we are in the U.S.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Okay. What is it about the Laurel Highlands? Where what is the significance of that name and where did where did it originate from?

SPEAKER_02 5:50

So it it starts. First of all, we've got nine state parks in the Laurel Highlands, and I think six of them have the word laurel in their domain. Okay. So it it all relates back to the mountain laurel, which is predominant throughout the region. And so, yeah, many of the things that we have are from that mountain laurel, that's where they get their name. And the newest state park that we have is Laurel Caverns. It's Pennsylvania's 125th state park and the first one underground. And it's actually kind of tied into that. The the group who was was running the Laurel Caverns back in the 1950s, one of the gentlemen there said, Hey, we need to have an organization representing this area and letting people know about the tourism assets here. And they came up with the idea for the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau. And so that's when that launched in 1958. So this organization, although Laurel Highlands Tourism and Laurel Highlands Pennsylvania are kind of new brands, there's a long legacy of supporting tourism within our area and with good reason with all the assets that we have that bring people in. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

And I want to acknowledge, I appreciate it, is a lot of regions, and some of the ones even out east in Tennessee and Virginia, West Virginia, pursued tourism as other industries started to falter. Okay. Yeah. And what you just shared, I thought was very interesting. You've been acknowledging the importance of tourism for quite a while.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

We have been, and and that was really forward thinking on their part back then because we're similar to some of those areas that we're talking about. I mean, this was historically a coal mining region, like it was it was feeding into Pittsburgh. We were we were digging out the coal, we were making the coke that was used in making the the steelmaking process. So there was a lot of heavy industry in this area, but at the same time, back that long ago in 1958, they were smart enough to realize hey, we've got some things here that could really draw people in from around the state and around the country. So we really need to focus on that. And that's played a really big role in keeping the region moving forward in the the past decades, whenever those other industries started to decline.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Now, with the Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania, and and and the tourism in this area, uh, question I will always ask many destinations, and I and I did this as I was doing my podcast series with the state of uh Wisconsin and Destination Madison. I'm gonna it is the this Laurel Highlands area comprising these communities, is this a a four-season destination?

SPEAKER_02 8:54

Absolutely. I I think we're it the very definition of the four-season destination because I tend to start out thinking about summer and the warmer weather activities, and so much of it relates back to outdoors. I mean, we do have the other things as well, the pillars as we were like to refer to them of our tourism, but really it's almost first and foremost the outdoors that the Laurel Highland is built around. And so whether you're into hiking, cycling, whitewater rafting, all of those are tremendous assets in the summer, into the fall. You mentioned the the colors that we get here in Pennsylvania. The Laurel Highland has been recognized for seven years in a row as one of the top 10 destinations in the country for fall foliage by USA Today readers. So that is a huge time for us. We've got some great festivals that are going on this time of year, and we've got people coming in to see those colors. So that's a really important part of it. And then you shift into winter, and this is where I think some of those areas kind of struggle with tourism as things kind of shut down. Winter may be our best season for visitation because we have three ski resorts. We have Seven Springs Mountain Resort, which is the largest ski resort in Pennsylvania, bigger than the Poconos, not Poconos, but we've got the biggest resort there. We've also got the highest point in the state here in Mount Davis. So we have for Pennsylvania, we have great skiing and snowboarding, those types of activities. Then Seven Springs is owned by Vale, as is its sister company or sister resort, Hidden Valley, which is not too far away. And then Laurel Mountain is a really interesting one. It's actually owned by the state, but Vale runs it. So we've got those three resorts here within the Laurel Highlands that really makes this a getaway destination for Pittsburgh and Washington, DC, is a huge market for us in the winter. The people there love to get up here to go skiing and snowboarding, getting into Philadelphia a little bit more. So some of those big cities, which is another great thing for us in terms of tourism, is we're within uh a day's drive of about a third of the U.S. population. So we have a lot of markets that we can draw from the people that want to get out of those big city markets, those metropolitan areas, they love to come here and see us. And then if you want to roll over into spring, that's when we really get into the fishing season where you get the trout going and the cold mountain streams that we have. So, yeah, absolutely four seasons of incredible outdoor recreation here in the Laurel Highlands. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

And you actually answered just about all of the question I was going to ask you is where are your visitors coming from? So you've got Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh. Where are folks coming from? Perhaps there's no family in the region, but they just heard about it and just had to make the track. Where are you finding that it's really surprised you that they're coming from?

SPEAKER_02 12:05

Well, it gets interesting because we have Falling Water, the Frank Lloyd Wright house that was that he designed, built over top of a waterfall for the Kaufman family out of Pittsburgh. And that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So we really do get international travelers who are coming and they're like, hey, if I'm going to the US and I'm going to be anywhere on that eastern seaboard, I want to get to the Laurel Highlands so that I can see falling water because this is a world-renowned building. It's been voted the best all-time work of American architecture by the American Architects Institute. So, I mean, this is really a bucket list item for a lot of places. So we do we target London's Heathrow Airport. We have that fenced so that people there are getting ads for the Laurel Highlands because there's a direct flight from Heathrow to Pittsburgh. And so we're we're taking advantage of that. We want those people to know what we have here in the Laurel Highlands. So London is a little bit more extreme, but we get visitors all the time from New York City, from the Ohio area, from Cleveland and Columbus and down into Richmond, Virginia. So it is it is a pretty easy drive for a lot of that that big circle within six hours of us, you can hit a lot of major metropolitan areas.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Okay. I love that. You used the word uh a few minutes ago, pillars of tourism. And when you mentioned the the falling waters, the Frank Lloyd Wright home, Frank Lloyd Wright. And I grew up with some of those back in Chicago where I was from. What are the the these pillars of tourism that you're also attracting people in addition to the the outdoor space, which outdoor adventure series, but also you know, the culture, the history. What are these other pillars?

SPEAKER_02 13:58

So, yeah, architecture is is one of those. Not only do we have falling water, but about seven miles from it is another Frank Lloyd Wright home, Kentuck Knob, which was is now owned by a lord from England and has one of the best views of the Laurel Highlands from out the backyard of it. Incredible place there called Kentuck Knob. And then a little bit farther away is a place called Polymath Park, which originally had two homes designed by one of Wright's proteges, Peter Burnson, and built there. And then two other Frank Lloyd Wright designs were relocated from the Midwest. One was in Illinois, and it could no longer be cared for as a Frank Lloyd Wright home has to be. They went out, took it down piece by piece, labeled everyone, brought it back, and then painstakingly rebuilt it. And then that worked so well. A few years later, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation said, Hey, we've got another place in Minnesota if you guys are interested in doing this. So they've actually rebuilt two Frank Lloyd Wright designs in the Laurel Highlands, and you can spend the night there in Polymath Park in a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. So great, great opportunities there. And then one of them is family fun. We have Ida Wild and Soak Zone. Ida Wild is, I believe, the third oldest amusement park in the United States and has been voted multiple times the best children's park in the world. It's it's really geared towards the the younger kids, but because it has that soak zone, the the big water park, it it does the families that have the the two-year-old and the 14-year-old can find something for for everyone where they the the teenagers may want to get away from mom and dad for a little bit and go to the water park. But uh yeah, family fun is a big part of that. And so those are are some of the pillars there. And then the the fifth one that we kind of look at is called the Pour Tour. We do the Laurel Highlands Pour Tour, is our craft beverage scene. So that's breweries, wineries, and spirits, as the the Laurel Highlands. I like to refer to it as the birthplace of American whiskey. Before it was Tennessee or Kentucky, before America's whiskey was bourbon, it was rye. And more specifically, Monongahela rye, which was born right here in the Laurel Highlands. And the oldest continuously distilled whiskey in America, Old Overhold, was born right here in the Laurel Highlands.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

I love it. I I as I was looking at the website earlier and I saw whiskey and I saw rye, it actually brought back a memory for me growing up in Detroit suburbs. We used to go to a lot of weddings. And the the popular thing of teenagers like me, 13-year-olds, we'd go find the old guy who would go up to the bar and he'd get us, he'd get us a whiskey sour and some rye. And it's it immediately brought back that memory. And I like a good I love a good whiskey. And it it's you know, I was having a conversation with Cecil Cherry. He and his wife live in North Carolina. He was at the OWAA conference, and it's very much into like the hunting, whether it's fishing, upland bird hunting, but then coming back and cooking a meal, and that meal is accompanied by a nice glass of uh whiskey or just hanging out at the campfire. And there's just something about enjoying that, say, that bottle of whiskey or that rye after a day out, just whatever it is you're gonna do outdoors.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

I think it's we have we we have one that has kind of tapped into that legacy of the the rye whiskey here in western Pennsylvania, but also into exactly what you're talking about, that kind of cabin feel, the hunting camp. And it's called Pond Fey, and it's in Somerset County, and it it just won award an award recently for, I believe it was the best rye whiskey in America, the a spirit award there. And so it is one of the really it just opened a few years ago, but it's quickly developing a reputation, is one of the best rye whiskies in America, and they have that feel to them of hey, this is that kind of outdoor woodsy drink for for the outdoors person to to go out and enjoy it and then come in and and have that rye experience. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

I would love if we could take a visit to the website because now that we're talking about rye, the next thing on my mind is food. Food is always on my mind, okay. And it it all dawns on me that the Lural Highlands area, this whole these communities, these counties, there's got to be so much good food out there. And I will not put you on the spot of where you should go for a good cup of coffee or a dinner, but I don't want you to do, I don't want to put you on the spot.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

Well, we've got a whole section of the website uh that you can find on the the coffee club. So that the more than a few answers on where to get a good cup of coffee, but I can still direct you to some of the places too of of where we need to showcase for the the great meals within the Laurel Highlands.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Sounds like a plan. All right. So I if if my technology worked, we should be looking at your website.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

Yes, absolutely. The near Laurel Highlands. That is the homepage there. You can kind of navigate around it. But this is Ohio Pile, which is our incredible outdoor adventure town. It was ranked as the the best small town in the northeast by USA Today Rangers a few years ago. Interesting thing about Ohio Pile, it has 37 years, it has 37 residents according to the census and gets about a million visitors a year.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Oh boy. So they're they're probably loving the bed taxes and the uh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:37

So it is the the outdoor adventure hub because it's got the what America Whitewater calls one of the best whitewater runs on on the eastern part of the U.S. So it is a huge adventure town there for the water. It's got great cycling, it's got a 70-mile Laurel Highlands hiking trail that begins and ends there. So a lot going on there in Ohio Pile. Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Love it. And there's Steelers.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

We are a preferred vacation destination of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And more than that, the Laurel Highlands have been the preseason home of the Steelers since the 1950s. Uh every year they come here to La Trobe, to St. Vincent College, and that's where they hold their training camp. So, yeah, huge connection to the Steelers here in the Laurel Highlands.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

And here's our bonfires, barrels, and brews. Uh, as we talked about that pour tour scene, great craft beverage scene here from the breweries, the wineries, the distilleries, all of that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Okay. And you've got upcoming events. Yeah, and there's there's literally something for everybody.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

There is. I I used to, it's funny, Howard. I grew up here in the Laurel Highlands. And when I was a kid, I was like, oh, there's nothing to do here. I can't wait to move away. And now I've I've grown up, I've been to every state in the U.S., I've been to a dozen countries, and I come here and I can't do everything that I want to do. My wife says to me, Eric, we've got to stay home and do laundry sometimes. We can't go out and do the fun things every day.

SPEAKER_01 21:14

But honey, yes, we can.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

How about that photo? Is that not a cool photo of the the the fall foliage there? That's the I believe that's the Ohio Pile High Bridge, which the Great Allegheny Passage bike trail runs across and just gives you uh some of the idea of the colors that you get here in the Laurel Highlands.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

No, that's cool. In fact, I was gonna ask you about the bike trail because I you know I'd love to be uh I did the e-bike when I was in Madison, I was up in northwest Washington for a conference. I went e-biking, and I'm thinking at my age, I think I would love to do an e-bikes.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

It's a great option. And I told you how before uh we had Jessica and Ashley come in and ride it, and they were willing to do the the traditional bikes. And I said, Hey, look, I Got a lot planned for you. I want you to ride in the morning and then go to another story idea in the afternoon. So I don't want you to be too tired out to do this. So let's just do the e-bikes or do 25 or 30 miles a day, and then we can have a little bit of time in the afternoon to do some things as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

All right. So hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna put this out there. Hey, you know, you need some podcasting along those trails. You let me know. All right. I I like that idea. I love it. What it amazes me is that there's a little there's something for everybody here, and the low, and I would imagine there's a lot of locals like yourself when you were growing up. Oh, there's nothing to do, but it you cannot help but risk understand there's things going on every weekend, almost every day, somewhere within a short drive. I would imagine.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Absolutely. So many things going on here, and like I said, it really we haven't even gotten into the arts and culture end of it, those types of things. There are so many things going on between that. That the outdoor wreck, and I mean, that's one of the great things about it is the majority of the outdoor stuff is free. You can go hiking here. Our state parks in Pennsylvania. There's no admission fee, there's no parking fee for for most of them. So you can go to these places once you get here, and and you can go from lodging, sleeping in a tent in a state park to all the way up to one of what I believe is is one of the best luxury hotels anywhere in the U.S. in Nemicolen. So you can really run that gamut, but you can do a lot of things here really cheaply once you get here.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

I love it. By the way, this view is like perfect for me because I love my morning coffee or or afternoon adult beverage, and I think I couldn't imagine a better view than just taking that site in.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Yeah, and and there are quite a few of those overlooks here. One of the great things is we are called the Laurel Highlands for a reason. We have a lot of kind of ups and downs, we have a lot of ridgetops, a lot of great overlooks that you can check out views like that. So, yeah, absolutely a lot of spectacular scenery here in the Laurel Highlands.

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Well, this is cool. You also have uh some dark sky, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Yeah, again, we don't have many big cities here, so it's not hard to get out on a back road and find a view like that just uh a few miles from from civilization. So I know that's one of the things my my wife loves about where we live is on a clear night you can see so much in the night sky.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

Are you either through the the destination? And I know chambers of commerce oftentimes will pursue this is sky communities or dark sky designations.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

We have not looked at that. I'm not sure what the status is of that, but we do have some some really good viewing depending on where you are. It's it's a great opportunity to get out and and see the the celestial skies.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

I love a good view. I mean, just you cannot beat it.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Okay, and we've been named. I know good housekeeping named us the the top scenic drive in the northeast a couple years ago. So I mean, it really does speak to all that we have here and the beauty that you can experience. But even if you're not an outdoors person, if you just want to go for a drive, you're gonna have some jaw-dropping experiences here in the Laurel Highlands.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

Okay, this is cool. I we we my business partner and I do this at for Boulder City when we produce the Chamber of Commerces podcast, and I love these maps because you can kind of you know key dial into a particular area, you click on a link, and you just get notified of all the cool things that are going on about that particular location.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

Yeah, and in this one, yeah, you get uh a great view. So, like, yeah, that's the Ohio Pile High Bridge there, you get kind of a a view of what it looks like. I'm trying to see if you go back to the the view map section there. Yeah, I see Cucumber Falls there, number four.

SPEAKER_00 26:01

Yes. Okay, very nice.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

So yeah, it's uh a 30-foot bridal waterfall. And and the great thing about Ohio Pile, it's almost like Instagram for not maybe not for dummies, but for for people who aren't ready to do a big hike or a big experience to get to the view. This Cucumber Falls, I've heard many people say it's probably the most photographed waterfall in Pennsylvania because it's just steps from a parking lot. You don't have to put a lot of time and effort into it. You can go there and see this. You can see Bachman Rock, which was that overlook you were talking about earlier. Same thing. It's about five miles away from this. You get out of your car, you walk a hundred yards, go up a rock, little rock face there, and you've got that view in front of you. So you've got these views that are really easily accessible in terms of effort and in terms of time. So there's a lot to see and do in that Ohio pile area in in a day or two. But of course, you want to spend some more time. We want you to spend the the weekend or really take it all in, but you can do a lot in a short period of time.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

You know, and that brings up a question. When visitors are coming to the this region and not for, say, like a golf tournament, a biking or a marathon, but when they're coming here just for vacation, a holiday getaway, are they coming for a long weekend? Are they spending a week, couple weeks? What do you what are you generally seeing for the that visitor that's this has to come to this area and experience it?

SPEAKER_02 27:37

I I think we we get between that long weekend and the full length, full weekend, full week stay of whenever you're looking at people to come in. And again, it depends on what they're doing. Sometimes in the wintertime when they're coming for skiing, it tends to be more the long weekend. Whereas in the summer, where you want to bring the family, they kind of have that lazy mountain week-long experience where you can kind of relax in the hammock and look at those stars at night and have the campfire, those things. I think you get more of the week-long stays there. But yeah, it kind of runs the gamut depending on what it is you're actually looking for. If you're you're coming to to spend the night in a Frank Lloyd Wright House, maybe you're you're spending one night in each of those and then moving on to something else. So, depending on what you want to do, there are a lot of great options for how long the the visit should be.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

And I also see you've got well, you got Frank Lloyd right here. You've got a lot of galleries and museums. Also, I just I didn't want to pass this over because that was the other pillar that I forgot to mention was history.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

So, I mean, we we haven't even talked about the fact that the French and Indian War began here in the Laurel Highlands. That's where it first started at Fort Necessity in Jamonville, and then it our history runs all the way up to one of the most significant events in in our lifetimes with 9-11, right? Because Flight 93 crashed into a field outside of Shanksville in the Laurel Highlands. So, yeah, the the history really does run the gamut from George Washington and the French and Indian War all the way up to present day, basically.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Okay, very cool. Very nice.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Have you ever you you've never been to to Flight 93, have you, Howard?

SPEAKER_01 29:20

No, I haven't.

SPEAKER_02 29:22

It's it's an incredibly moving experience. I I say I think every American should should go there at least once. It can be really powerful depending on how much of it you do. It can be overwhelming for for some people, but I do think that that people should at least get there and recognize what that day was about, what happened, and what those people aboard that plane did to prevent further tragedy, how they they stood up against terror and really gave their lives to to prevent the the loss of other lives.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

No, it's it I think if I if I was coming to the area, that would definitely be a must visit just to to take it in and just feel the the emotion and the history right there. When I was doing my journey from Chicago to Las Vegas, uh I have good friends that are in Oklahoma City. So we went to where the bombing was there, and I know that was powerful, so I could only imagine.

SPEAKER_02 30:17

What's amazing about this is the the passengers on board the plane, because that flight took off later than it was supposed to, they actually knew about the the planes that had hit the towers. They knew this was part of a coordinated effort, and they knew that they were headed to Washington, DC on a plane that was going to crash into something in Washington, D.C. We believe it was the Capitol building. And so they made calls to their loved ones from aboard the plane, and some of those are recorded on at that time answering machines. So you can actually listen to what the passengers were telling their family members that, hey, I'm not going to make it home. And I mean, I get chills and start to tear up anytime I think about it. Because it's just so powerful that the bravery that they showed to be able to call a loved one and say, hey, I'm not going to be able to make it home, but I want to do something to fight back and I want to prevent more tragedy if I can, and I'm willing to do what it takes to make that happen.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

Sure. Sure. No, it's that's pretty powerful. So I see your you've got your celebrations for the America's 250th. And the well just before we hit kind of close down our tour here, is there any other place you you'd like to draw attention to while we're here? I know we can get our destination guide if we sign up for it.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Yes, which we're actually working on our 2027 one now that should be be out soon. But yeah, I would just tell people the the outdoor section is is obviously uh a big one for for your audience for the the outdoors crowd. Check that out, see all the things to do there. And yeah, you can you can reach out to any of us if you have any questions, follow us on socials. So yeah, just check out that laurelhighlandspa.com.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Excellent, excellent. Well, listen, I am going to head us back to just you and I chatting. Thank you again for the the tour. I I know we only scratched the surface, but I appreciate the by the way, that is a gorgeous photo. Those colors, the water.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

We're blessed to not only have incredible resources here in the Laurel Highlands, but also an incredible photographer on staff named Alex Byers, who just continues to give us incredible images. He's been out the past couple of weeks again the fall foliage. This has been a really good year after a couple of so-so years in in fall foliage because of the way the the weather developed. But this has been a really good one. And he's got some more great images sending to us as he's out and about with all the things that he's seeing in the here in the Laurel Highlands. So really fortunate to have someone like him to be able to capture those images.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

I love it. And by the way, I want to make my ask right now for our for our banner for the uh the episode. I'd love to get your headshot, plus uh sampling of some photos we can include in the banners. Absolutely in our show notes. Yeah, I love that. All right, I'm gonna stop sharing, and we should be going back to just you and I. So I'm curious before we head out here, is as you you know, get you grew up in this area, you now know there are so many exciting things to see and do, and it it it annoys your wife to know it. And honey, we just we've got to do this chore, paint the paint the bedroom, do the fix the lawn. Hey, honey, I just want to go out. But as you look back and this role that you have and the difference you're making when it comes to tourism, and also I want to give a shout out to your team that's a part of you know this this effort. What are what are your aha moments when it comes to tourism in the Laurel Highlands area? And while you get you guys get to do this great work.

SPEAKER_02 34:14

So it started for me probably my first couple weeks on the job. I went to a conference that's called MATPRA. It's the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance. So it's a lot of people in roles similar to mine. They represent a destination, they're in PR, and I would go there, and but these are Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, so states throughout the Mid-Atlantic. And I'm talking to these people, and I'm they they start telling me, Oh, well, our top destination is we have a cave. And then I say, Oh, yeah, we have Laurel Cavern. It's the largest one on the in the northeast. And they say, Well, somebody else will say, Well, we've got this this great architectural. And I'm like, Oh, yeah, we've got falling water on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. And then somebody else will say, Well, we've got hiking or we've got biking. And then I'd start responding. And after a while, I'm like, I probably better just shut up because I just sound like I'm trying to top them with everything. Yeah, but it really was an aha moment that wow, wait a minute, we've got almost a collection of the greatest hits of some of these other destinations throughout the US or throughout the mid-Atlantic. And that's not knocking them in any way. We're just so fortunate. And since then, as I've gotten to know these other people, I get that from time to time. They're like, oh man, you're so lucky to be representing the Laurel Highlands and have everything that you have there. And then I don't know if there was one single moment with journalists, but it was the same thing. Is I started bringing in journalists. My job as PR is to bring in these journalists and content creators and help them tell our story to their audiences. And so I started talking with them, and I would get these journalists whose job is to travel the world. They get paid to travel and write about it. And they would come here and they would be amazed by what all we had.

unknown 36:02

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

And then they and again at the conferences, I talk to people and they say, How do I not know about this area? And they say, Well, that's why I'm here. That's my job, is because this is a truly incredible region, and you need to know about it, and you need to be able to tell others about it. So, again, coming full circle, that's really part of that rebranding process, is to let people know across the US. And our goal is to be a global destination. We want people flying in to go to falling water and to experience that and to ride on the Great Allegheny Passage and to paddle on the Yakagheny River. We want these things. So those are the goals is to show these people what we have here and let them understand why it's such a special place.

SPEAKER_01 36:49

I love it. I love it. Before we head out, is there a quote, a book, or perhaps a philosophy, Eric's philosophy of tourism and just taking in this duty, slowing down? I mean, it I mean, if you had a to your friends and their families, kids, and don't do what Eric did, which is oh, there's nothing to do, what do you say to the folks when it comes to visiting this area and just slowing down and and really taking in everything that it has to offer? What would you share with folks?

SPEAKER_02 37:25

I I think if you're bored most of the time, it's on you, wherever you are. You know, there are there are things to do. If you're bored, that's a choice. You need to get out and experience things. Look for if you're at home and you just explore your backyard, find your local tourism bureau, and start looking at their website and seeing what there is to do. Because I'm sure there are a lot of things going on in your area that you don't even know about. But when you come to the Lower Highlands, absolutely go to Laurel Highlands PA. Look at the calendar of events, look at the the outdoors activities, look at the places to eat, learn where you can get that that special meal that you're not going to get elsewhere. So it's really incumbent on you. If you want to find the good in life, you can find it. It's out there. And I know what's here in the Laurel Highlands. So check it out, the website, LaurelHighlandsPA.com, and come visit us.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

I love it. Well, you have me sold, and I hope someday to come and join you and experience the best that Laurel Highlands PA has to offer. Now we're going to provide backlinks to the website as well as your social sites on Facebook and on Instagram. And really just it's it's just a wonderful area. And I'm so glad you and I met at the conference and had a chance to finally catch up doing this podcast and learning more about Laurel Highlands PA and everything that it has to offer. So thanks for uh spending some time with us today.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

Thank you, Howard. I really appreciate what you do, and I appreciate you you sharing the word with your audience and helping get the message out there about all the wonderful things that there are to do in the outdoors realm.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Most definitely. Listen, stay in the line. We're going to do a quick close, and you and I can have a final chat, okay? All right. All right, folks. We have just been chatting with Eric Knop Snyder. He is the the director of public relations and community outreach at Laurel Highlands Tourism, Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania. A really this community that's made up of a number of counties in Southeast Pennsylvania. You've got Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland. And I'm telling you, there's so much to offer here. So get your 2027 plans together and make sure there's a very long weekend or a week just to explore this beautiful area and really any any time of the year. It's a four-season destination, and we really appreciate really a lot of the highlights that Eric was able to share with us. Now, again, we're going to provide all the backlinks to the website and social sites on our website. But the website is goloralhighlands.com. And we've got the Facebook and Instagram, Laurel Highlands PA, and Instagram, Laurel Highlands, Laurel Highlands PA as well. We'll have again all those links and we'll have some photos of uh some of the great destinations, some of which Eric has shared with us. Now, as for this episode, you can find us on our website, outdooradventureseries.com. We're also on LinkedIn and Facebook on our Outdoor Adventure Series pages. The video of this whole episode will be up on our YouTube channel, and that will include the tour of the website. And of course, you can listen to this episode wherever you get your podcast from. So if you're on that wonderful bike trail, if you're just hiking one of the wonderful trails around the parks, just make sure you download a couple podcast episodes, including this one, and just enjoy yourself. And by the way, I did want to give a good shout out as Eric and I were planning this episode. He graciously introduced me to Robert Hensley. And Robert and I spoke a couple weeks ago. That episode is up, and we'll provide a backlink to it. But I can't think of a better area just to disconnect from all the tech and the big business and concrete and just go out there and breathe and take in nature because it's all around you here in this wonderful area. All right, folks, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, go out there, have a fantastic day. And we look forward to having you join us on a future episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series Podcast. Take care, y'all.