48 Hours in the Poconos: Day 1

For the long weekend, we decided we wanted to spend a few days hiking with George Michael so we packed our overnighters and drove just a couple hours west to Pennsylvania. We loved the waterfall hikes we did last year so we looked for some more waterfall hikes for this year's trip.

The weather was a bit cloudy, but we didn't mind it because it wasn't blazing hot (which is something we struggled with last year).

Here's what I packed:

BUSHKILL FALLS
It was just about an hour's drive to Bushkill. We arrived just after 9AM, which is when they opened and there was plenty of parking. I recommend coming early on busier days because it gets insane; as we were leaving, people were fighting over parking spots and there was a nasty line of cars waiting to pull into the park entrance.

The main falls are easily accessible and gorgeous. I recommend doing the main falls first thing and then heading out to do the other hikes. They aren't that challenging but the best part is that it's not as crowded. The main falls area gets really packed, especially later in the day, so hit them up while it's still quiet.

The park is really picturesque and the wooden walkways are really cute.

After a short morning hike, we headed over to one of the picnic areas to make lunch.

We packed Korean barbecue and it was delicious. I marinated kalbi a few days before, made some cucumber kimchi and bok choy kimchi, packed rice, lettuce for ssam, and we had a feast.

After lunch, we hit the trails again and opted to do the longest hike.

After our hike, we hopped in the car and headed to our hotel. George Michael passed out pretty hard for the duration of the drive.

RESIDENCE INN HAZLETON

We stayed in a one-bedroom suite at the Residence Inn in Hazleton. It was in a good location, pet-friendly, and had a kitchen which met the criteria we set. It's a well-maintained hotel and we saw several other furry guests, which was fun.

Yelp told us that there wasn't much option for dining unless we wanted pizza so we ended up driving to Weis to do some grocery shopping. On our first evening, we enjoyed the rest of our Korean feast leftovers with some grilled snapper and a jjigae.

Because we'd hiked over six miles (with loads of stairs and climbs) we were pretty pooped. I think we all fell asleep around 9PM.

Here's my map: