6 Awesome Things to do in Pocono

It was kind of by accident that I ended up holidaying in Pocono, Pennsylvania with my family. I had no idea what we would do there for nearly a week. As it turned out, we found plenty of things to do in Pocono.

A family holiday to New York and Boston to celebrate my mum’s 60^th birthday, turned in to a family holiday to New York and Pocono. How that happened is another story for another day. But I’m glad it did.

We stayed in Scotrun in the Pocono Mountains region of Pennsylvania. As we drove into Pocono through luscious green pine forests, I was in no doubt that Pocono is beautiful.  But I had no idea how we would fill our week.

Things to do in Pocono

I soon discovered Pocono is awesome.  This is what we got up to.

1. Pocono Mountains / Big Pocono State Park

Just as its name suggests, Big Pocono State Park is a big, big national park.  We drove to the top of Camelback Mountain (which isn’t really a mountain, more of a plateau), and spent a couple of hours walking the mild hiking trails and marvelling at the stunning views.

2. Pocono Rodeo, Memorytown

Memorytown, a town 20 minute drive from our hotel in Scotrun, was hosting Pocono Rodeo (followed by an-after rodeo BBQ and party). I’d never been to a rodeo before. So, kitted out in cowboy hats, boots and denim shorts, off we trotted to Memorytown.

What a brilliant day. A day that lasted well into night, and involved bulls, horses, cowboys, cowgirls, beer, burgers, ribs, dancing, singing and fantastic American patriotism.

3. Sunset Shooting Range, Henryville

I’m not sure how I feel about American gun laws, but my brother really wanted to go to a shooting range and I was happy to give it a go. I will admit to being more than a little apprehensive as we approached Sunset Shooting Range in the heart of the Poconos. And I was full-on scared when I heard gun shots from behind the concrete wall that separated us from the Range itself. I’d never seen a real gun before never mind handled one. I couldn’t help but worry about the possibility of coming face to face with a gun wielding psychopath hell bent on shooting us all.

My worries eased a little when I discovered that:

• we would be accompanied at all times by a Ranger (who knew how to handle guns, and presumably also knew how to handle gun wielding psychopaths),
• as novices, we would be sectioned off – away from those that actually knew what they were doing and therefore had a bit of free reign with their guns (I’m not entirely sure if this was for our safety or for theirs), and
• there were a number of armed guards patrolling the area, seemingly ready to pounce at the first hint of foul play.

It did seem to be a very controlled environment and I was relieved that it did feel very safe.  That allowed me to have some fun, enjoy the experience, and shoot the hell out of my target.

I didn’t take any photos. I do think camera’s are allowed but I was too scared to put one foot out of line. Reaching into my bag for a camera felt, to me, like it might be stepping out of line (did I mention the armed guards patrolling the area just to our rear?)

4. Golf Range

What to do on Fathers Day in the Poconos? Visit one of the many Golf Driving Ranges and hit little white balls with big metal sticks as far as the eye can see. Or not, if you’re me. I spent an afternoon ruining the incredibly well manicured grass by repeatedly whacking it with a golf club.

But my dad was in his element, and the rest of us had fun in the sun.

5. Play on a Big Chair at The Haunted Candle Factory

We drove past The Haunted Candle Factory almost every day as it was located half a mile from our hotel. Each time we passed we peered in, wondering what we might find inside a Haunted Candle Factory. The outside looked like a haunted house, with random massive chairs leading the path to the main entrance. There was one advertising bill-board that proudly boasted that inside the Haunted Candle Factory, there was a “real live monkey cage”.  WTF?

Eventually our intrigue became too much, and we parked up and made our way inside. It turned out to be a candle shop, nothing more and nothing less. Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice candle shop with lots of lovely, sweet smelling hand-made candles, but haunted?

We spent longer playing outside on the gigantic chairs, than we did inside the shop.

And the real live monkey cage? It was… well it was a cage. Just a cage. I’m not sure what I expected but I know it wasn’t that. Maybe this was American humour, or maybe it was a weird marketing ploy. Either way I didn’t get it, but it did intrigue us enough to go in and buy a candle so whatever it was, it worked

6. Day Trip to Washington D.C.

Ok, so Washington D.C. isn’t in Pocono, but it’s a journey of less than four hours by car. We were going on a mini road trip to America’s Capital City!

With only a few hours in Washington we spent most of our time between the National Mall and The Whitehouse.

Starting at the Capitol Building we strolled through the National Mall, stopping briefly to play in the Air and Space Museum, and satisfy our inner astronaut.

We meandered through the gardens surrounding the Smithsonian Castle and gawped at the variety of modern buildings that housed some of America’s finest museums before arriving at the Lincoln Memorial.

From the Lincoln Memorial we swung left around the Thomas Jefferson Memorial eventually coming face to face with the iconic Washington Monument.

Last stop in Washington was The White House.  Unfortunately for us, you can’t just rock up, knock on the door and expect a guided tour. You can’t even rock up, wait in a long line and hope for entry. To get inside The White House, you have to request to visit well in advance through your embassy (or through congress for American citizens). Our road-trip to Washington D.C. was pretty spontaneous so it never occurred to us that we might want to actually venture inside – to be honest I don’t think I even knew it was an option. We stood outside in the blistering sun, took photos, checked-in on Facebook, and then left.

It’s still pretty cool being able to say I’ve been to The White House though.