(lighthearted music) - Hi, I'm Erik the Travel Guy.

And well, once again, we're on another wildly educational adventure, Happy Valley, Pennsylvania is next on "Beyond Your Backyard" (lighthearted music) - [Narrator] "Beyond Your Backyard" is being brought to you in part by the following.

(high intensity music) (upbeat jazz music) The Perillo Tourist Foundation for 73 years, we've been bringing travelers to Italy.

It's where our heart is.

Escorted tours and custom vacations.

Italy, the dream destination.

- My name is Erik Hastings.

Yeah, that's me, and for as long as I can remember I've always loved to travel, and I still do today.

But you know what I've learned?

There's so much more that brings us together than divides us, which is why I've made it my mission to do the very same things you can do but to take you beyond the experiences, to uncover the soul of every place we visit.

Let me introduce you to the people, the places, and the secrets that remind us how exciting it is to share with one another, to understand one another and to realize just how connected we really are.

I am Erik The Travel Guy, and this is "Beyond Your Backyard".

(lighthearted music) Thank you for watching, and welcome back.

You know, Benjamin Franklin one of this country's founding fathers once penned, "You may delay, but time will not."

And if you think about it, time is a pretty curious concept which is why we're here in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.

A unique geographic region in the center of the state consisting of five valleys.

On today's episode, we'll explore the passage of time by taking a boat ride through an unbelievable underground cave.

We'll marvel at one of a kind artifacts from Christopher Columbus and we'll get out into the countryside, we'll pick fresh ingredients and have them prepared in timeless yet classic tradition.

It's gonna be a good one.

Oh, and by the way, if you're curious to know how Louis Vuitton got his start.

Yeah, we're going to cover that too.

Let's get started.

We're wasting no time by taking a look at our handy travel map.

As you know, the Keystone State is a big state with Philadelphia over here and Pittsburgh all the way over here.

Right in the middle of the state is Centre County, home to such charming towns as Bellefonte, Millheim, and State College, just to name a few.

Yes, that state college, where football and education reign supreme at Penn State University.

But the purpose of this visit was to take you beyond the campus and discover exactly why and how this place is so darn happy, which is why I spent the morning at Penn's Cave and Wildlife Park.

Let's go.

I would think that some people, not many, but I would think some people get a little claustrophobic.

- Oh, yeah.

- But once they settle in they realize, "Okay, nothing is going to happen.

Like this is it."

Even someone who is a little fearful up front?

- [Marty] Exactly.

As they come in there's excitement and there's also a little bit of fear and then when I reach over here, and I do this.

- Uh-oh.

- [Marty] It goes from fear to wonder.

(Erik laughs) - [Erik] This is incredible.

- [Marty] There is this caver in Vancouver who's written some songs, but in one song it says, "I remember the time when first I went caving, the fear and excitement that go hand in hand.

And they asked me the question, why do you do it?

I tried to find words to help them understand."

- [Erik] But if you want to see Penn's Cave, is it safe to say the only way to see it is by boat?

- [Marty] Yes, the cave is so fragile, the rock crystals, the soda straw stalactites, it bump your head against something and 500 years worth of growth is gone, so.

- [Erik] Is gone.

- [Marty] Human skin produces a natural oil that it's not good for them to be touched.

Because if you touch it a little bit of that residue of the skin oil leaves a coating on the rock and it isn't much but it's enough that it stops the rock crystals from bonding or growing, essentially stops the growth of the formations.

- I hear you.

I respect this.

I will follow the rules.

But I just wanna go on record in saying, "I still wanna touch it."

- [Marty] Oh, I know.

Everybody that comes through says that.

- [Erik] I mean seriously, if you just.

- [Marty] Just to feel the texture of it.

- [Erik] Yeah.

- [Marty] You see this little brown spot in the ceiling, way up here?

- [Erik] Yeah.

- [Marty] That's a bat.

- [Erik] He's sleeping, right?

They're sleeping - [Marty] He is.

Not hibernation but something called torpor.

- [Erik] Are there other animals in here?

- [Marty] There are, with the stream, we get muskrats, in the dry room, raccoons, possums, owls, red squirrels.

One legend says that early visitors found the bones or skeletons of two mountain lions.

We've had beavers living in here on and off for the last 40 years.

- [Erik] Hold up, did you say beaver?

- [Marty] Beaver.

- Oh, wait, wound down.

The all of these and there's a beaver.

- The kind with the teeth that chews down trees- - Yes, yes.

- And eat the bark and all that.

And he's got like four places in here.

He sleeps and we couldn't always find them.

And hence the name, Waldo.

- Where is he?

Oh, my God!

This is the greatest thing ever earned.

- He sleeps in here all day.

Outside at night, he goes to the lake, and that's all junkies dragged in here.

- [Erik] There he is.

Hi, buddy.

This is awesome.

Did they say, "Do we know how long the Native Americans knew about this cave?"

- They didn't tell people about it.

James Martin- - James Martin.

- When he came down here.

He started to tell everybody about this cave that he had found and he started bringing people here.

- [Erik] And then what happened?

- Well, the Europeans came and the settlers, and finally, the Native Americans were driven away.

- [Erik] Yep.

- [Marty] The story goes that the Native Americans would hide in caves in this valley.

And they'd pop out up out of the caves and attack the settlers and then disappear back into the cave again.

And nobody knew where they came from or where they went.

- [Erik] Where they went.

How deep is this water?

- [Marty] At the entrance 15 to 18 feet.

Most of it, three or four feet.

It's always 52.

- [Erik] Wait a second.

Did you say it's always 52?

- [Marty] Always 52.

- [Erik] The air temperature is 52.

- Air temperature.

- What's the water temperature?

- Water is 38.

Water is a little cooler.

At the end of the kids TV show called "Fraggle Rock."

- [Erik] Jim Henson.

- The oracle says, "You cannot leave the magic."

Meaning the cave and the rock and the tunnels, it was all magic.

And the man moves clear out to Arizona and there's a tunnel in there.

Fraggle's come out of his new home in Arizona.

(Erik laughs) So the magic goes with him.

- [Marty] Goes with him.

- That's the cave.

You know, you leave here, you go home.

But the cave is always with you, in your mind, in your heart- - That is so cool.

- You cannot leave the magic.

- You cannot leave the magic.

This experience was absolutely fascinating, which is why I also hopped on a really cool vehicle for a 90 minute guided tour of the Wildlife Park.

(lighthearted music) I have to think about this for just a second.

I don't think we've actually talked with anybody on this program that's actually been a member of a wolf pack that I'm aware of, but you legitimately are.

(Bryan howling) Spending most of the day getting close to nature reminded me oftentimes these enriching experiences can be found in just about every nook and cranny here.

Through the periods of geologic time and the indigenous people, to the colonists and even through dog years, time marches on.

And so does the progress of either man or mother nature.

And all of this has unfolded on this rich fertile farmland, which is why I dropped in for lunch at Re Farm Cafe and was shocked at how well they were doing legit farm to table farming and dining.

- One of the goals with organic regenerative agriculture is to be building the soil.

And one big way to do that is we never wanna leave the soil exposed.

Erosion, and just degradation occurs when there's no plants in the ground.

And with cover cropping, we're actually just kind of broadcast seeding beneficial plants that will build the soil.

They'll add organic matter back in.

- We are talking science here, but we are talking art aren't we?

- It really is all about walking the fields, holding the plants, looking up close, and noticing, not is part of, I think the art of it as well as, is it can't all be done from books that really is so much observation.

And there's also the science of the chemistry in the soil in using- - [Erik] Yep.

- [Christina] One the technology that we have available to get as much information as possible.

- It's very fashionable these days to be inorganic farm.

What is that mean?

- So it really is a promise to the consumer that at the bare minimum, we're going to be following these required practices.

Building soil, focusing on the long-term plan for the farm and not just the short term kind of payoff that you get with the crop.

There's a whole list of products that were, you know, not permitted to use, many of the conventional herbicides, pesticides that really have kind of dubious safety.

- Yep, does that make the job more difficult?

- It would be so much easier just to spray- - Yep - Poison and kill all the weeds or kill the pests.

One thing that we're now discovering and learning more about is that the soil is actually alive and there is bacteria and fungi and all of these tiny species that are serving a purpose that we didn't previously recognize.

And when you introduce those foreign substances, you're disrupting that ecosystem and it's gonna have so many unintended consequences.

And now that we've stopped putting these poisons onto the soil, that diversity can come back- - [Erik] Come back.

- And we can actually grow produce easier and better than what we were doing with conventional methods.

Because it's like antibiotics, you keep putting the same chemicals in, the species get resistant, they stop working eventually, and that's what's happened.

- Can we pick something while we're out here?

- We have turnips in here.

- Oh, I love turnips.

- That are pretty nice.

- Yeah.

Are they actually ready to go?

Oh, there they are.

- Yeah.

This is kind of- - Are they called that shouldering or is it?

- Yeah, they're popping up.

- Oh, wow.

- Yeah, once you see the white tops emerging, they're kind of ready to go and they will start to crack if they get too large.

I'd say these probably have another week or two that they could sit there.

These are really great for fresh eating.

These are a salad turnips.

So they have an extremely thin skin and very mild and creamy.

- Well, let's put up in our salad.

- [Christina] Yeah.

- Take them up to the top of the hill.

Duke, I'm already salivating.

The smell in here.

I mean, we were out there walking around and I felt at one with the Earth.

- So it's connecting the land to people, the people to food and to each other.

And when people have a greater understanding and respect for the food that's being grown, they appreciate it a lot more on a plate.

We are a net zero energy project.

It means that we produce through our solar panels, all the energy we need to operate the cafe.

The one thing I know about restaurants no matter where they built were terrible abuses of water and energy.

So this is a net zero energy project, also net zero water, which means that whatever falls on the property stays on the property.

In a way we're being sort of a laboratory for regenerating what restaurants used to be and that's a responsible part of the community.

- That being said, what are we going to make today?

- Now we're use a little bit of the turnip greens.

It's all going to be part of a little bit of a salad, take a little bit of the root of and then you're gonna slice it in quarters this way.

So part of that salad, which we'll be making is some Napa cabbage, which is from the farm.

- Look at that cabbage.

Come on.

- We have a delicious pork tenderloin from right here on the farm.

So our pigs are very happy.

- [Erik] Yep.

- They're all pasture raised.

- Not anymore.

- They're all pasture raised.

Purple chili peppers.

So we're gonna use a little bit of our pork cut.

- [Erik] Pork cut, yep.

- We're gonna slice up this beautiful tenderloins.

- Oh wow.

- Which were already smoked.

- [Erik] Okay.

- So we're gonna start those.

There are hot smoke, but only to about 140.

- [Erik] Okay.

- [Duke] So now we're finishing them off.

- [Erik] Got it.

Oh, those look amazing.

- Crunch that up a little bit.

We super wash everything, but it's so nice when you don't have to worry about taking chemicals out of food.

We're gonna use this a little bit of lemon juice today.

- [Erik] Lemon, yep.

I've never seen anybody cook a salad.

- We will put a little bit of walnuts in there and some of this blue cheese.

- Oh, my word.

- [Duke] I diced up some apples previously.

- [Erik] Okay, apple.

- [Duke] Put a little bit of- - [Erik] Basil.

- [Duke] That basil.

Maybe a little fresh pepper.

So a poached egg is gonna go right on top.

This is a surprise element.

- I love surprises.

You guys in Pennsylvania love to put eggs on everything.

- We do.

We're ready to plate, and that's very simple.

- [Erik] You literally did that in five minutes.

(cheerful music) I think you've done that a couple of times before.

- [Duke] Yeah.

- Well, let's go sit and enjoy.

- We make around drinks this week because it is seasonal.

We have a little bit of pumpkin tumeric juice.

- [Erik] Thank you very much.

- [Duke] Your welcome.

We've add the turnips that you harvested out in the field.

Our windswept pork.

Their Mangalitsa is absolutely delicious.

Simplicity.

- That's incredible though.

I can feel the heat on that.

- Again, we're telling our guests, showing our guests, loving our guests by giving them food that's very simply made, but also very simply delicious and also maybe sneaky good for their health, so.

- It really is amazing.

Thank you for this, my friend.

- [Duke] Oh, you're welcome.

My absolute pleasure.

- [Erik] I never checked my watch once the entire time I was here because the tour was insightful, and the food, delicious.

While we're on the subject, I ate well here in Happy Valley.

The locals take their culinary seriously.

After all, Happy Valley is synonymous with rich farmland.

A lot of fresh water bubbling up from the natural springs and culinary artists and owners dedicating to representing their little slice of the world with pride.

From elegant meals to casual lunches, come hungry, and don't be shy about asking for the recipe.

Speaking of which, the chemistry over at Big Spring Spirits results in delicious craft cocktails, which is why I just had to pay them a visit and learn more about the Central PA Tasting Trail.

- Currently we have 11 venues that you can visit that are part of that trail.

- Really?

11.

- Yes.

- In such a small area.

- We have four wineries.

We have three breweries.

We have two cideries and two distilleries.

And we actually sell passports, if you purchase a passport, you get something free at each location.

- [Erik] Which one should I try a little bit of?

- [Lucy] I'm gonna say the wheat.

- All right, I'll try it.

Okay.

- So wheat is known to bring texture to it.

- Okay.

- It was very soft, right?

There's a nice softness to it.

- [Erik] Yeah.

- [Lucy] But you know, then there's the kind of brings the spiciness corn, brings the sweet note to bourbon.

So the wheat is nice because you just have all that smooth texture.

- What is this thing?

- That's coconut rum.

- Yeah.

- We've got a peach whiskey.

We have white rum, spiced rum, coconut rum, vodka, gin, wheat, rye, American, and then this is a cinnamon whiskey.

- [Erik] Lucy, I like this.

- Are you a vodka drinker?

- Well, I am.

But yes, I do like it.

- Having this big spring on the water, it really makes a big difference.

It's mineral rich.

It's really soft, but not too soft.

It's hard enough, but not too hard.

It's a sweet spot.

- [Erik] It's just the right spot.

It all comes down to the water, okay.

- Absolutely.

- We're wrapping it up with this.

I don't know why I want this.

I'm not really a sweet kind of guy.

- But a coconut rum is interesting.

You'll taste it and it's not that syrupy.

- Oh!

I just went to the Caribbean right there.

It's still happening.

- Congratulations.

You do like it here in Happy Valley.

- Oh, my gosh.

Thank you for this, by the way.

- Yeah, you're welcome.

- It's really nice of you.

You do have a cool gig.

A theme I heard most from local business owners was "I went to at Penn State and never left."

You know, that says a lot about the region.

The locals in Happy Valley love their valley.

And they spend time hiking or biking here because no matter where you are here, you're never far from a trail.

Residents stay connected to their communities because they care about their neighbors.

They attend annual events with the visitors, cheer on the Nittany Lions.

They have fun and so much more.

But I had heard about a really cool mansion tucked away in plain sight, filled with priceless artifacts from marquee history makers.

Well, I just, I couldn't help myself.

Well, Bob, the more time I spend here, it just keeps getting better and better and better and better, and this is an example of that.

Wouldn't you say?

- Yes, it is.

And if we had a time machine to go back over 200 years, this is part of the King's highway system.

The colonies and then the subsequent nation's first interstate highway systems.

A little Boalsburg is sitting a strategic location and as result, so much of the Happy Valley's history then Springs from this.

- Why is it named Boalsburg?

- So and that comes in 1820 when the post office comes prior to that, the name of Boalsburg is Springfield, and Boalsburg like our neighboring town of Bellefonte are named for the beautiful springs- - [Erik] Yeah.

- That bubble up 365 days of year, but subsequently the prominence of the Boals on the local state and international stages, the town is renamed for the Boals.

- While we're on the subject 200 years ago, what were people doing while they were here?

- So this is the frontier.

So people would come into the premier city for most of America's history.

No, not New York.

Philadelphia.

- Right.

- And then from Philadelphia to the stopping off point for the frontier, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

- [Erik] Got it.

- [Robert] And then they would make their wait to here.

Well, what's here?

There's no Penn State University at that point.

- [Erik] Right.

- [Robert] Forced industry, the early tanning of furs and also metals, iron ore. - I wanna talk about this mansion.

First of all, where are we?

- The Boal Mansion represents eight generations of the Boals who lived here from the turn of the 1700s for then 200 years.

They were descended from the Kings and Queens of Europe.

They were through marriage related to Napoleon, Christopher Columbus.

- I noticed there was some name dropping.

The one that stuck out is Christopher Columbus.

- [Robert] Yes.

- Now, if I have this correct, there are actual artifacts here.

Why are they here?

- Despite the fact that Christopher Columbus never made it to North America, let alone Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

- Listen, it was kind of the pink elephant in the room.

- Yeah.

(laughs) - I didn't wanna bring that to up, but I don't think he sailed here.

- That's correct.

Colonel Boal, as a young man goes to Paris for his higher education, and there he meets this beautiful Parisian aristocrat.

Now Mathilde's aunt, Victoria Montalvo, who is the lady in waiting for Queen Isabella II has met a court, the descendant of Christopher Columbus, Diego Colon.

And so towards the end of Aunt Victoria's life she bequeathed to Colonel Boal.

All the contents of the Columbus family castle in the north of Spain.

People come from all over the world.

People will make a pilgrimage here to Boalsburg, Pennsylvania to see what is inside.

- This is run by volunteers.

- That's correct.

Nearly 70 years, this has been a museum drawing people from all over the world.

- Can we go take a look?

Would you mind?

- Let's go take a look.

This was the culmination of the mansion, which has more rooms than Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.

So that is Napoleon's gaming box, when he's a prisoner, when he's recaptured in place on Elba where he perishes and then there's a little locket of his hair.

- That's his actual hair?

- That's his actual hair.

That's incredible.

- That piano was purchased by Dolley Madison after the British burned the White House.

- Burned everything down.

- These four artifacts are from King Tut's grandparents tomb.

These are actual weapons from 14, 1500 from chain mail to Spanish armor.

And then from here to the Napoleonic colonial days, let me show you something that no one has seen yet.

These are all original maps, original posters, original photos, newspapers from World War II, wealth bequest more wealth.

- [Erik] Yes.

- [Robert] So Napoleon III's wife was Princess Eugenie of the Spanish Empire, and she was very into fashion.

And so she hires this budding interior decorator who makes boxes, to make boxes for her fashions.

And then her husband, Napoleon III, he decides, "Oh, I could use these for hauling my military things as I invade Italy, et cetera."

So that's how Louis Vuitton gets his start.

I think it deserves to be saved for future generations.

- [Erik] I agree with you.

- Once I opened these protective doors, the door inside and everything hence, the windows, the doors, the balustrades, the altar are all brought from Spain.

Dating back over 500 years, the castle was built in 1450 to commemorate a great victory over the Moors.

So you're looking at Renaissance art.

St. Jerome on the right, St. Francis of Assisi on the left.

In that ornate frame is the letter from the Bishop detailing how the two pieces of the left arm of the cross come out of Jerusalem and arrive in the hands of the Colons.

And here, in this solid silver reliquary forming the cross here, are two pieces of the left arm of the cross.

So ours may be the most substantiated pieces of the true cross in the world.

- Do people come here, they're just speechless?

- [Robert] Yes.

- There's a lot of it.

- Yes.

- You see this face a lot?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- [Robert] And we love it.

- [Erik] By the way, did you check out the pattern on that trunk from fame designer Louis Vuitton?

Talk about a timeless design.

Old Ben was right.

My time here in the center of the state just slipped away, which is why we'll pick up where we left off in another episode from these five valleys, so check it out.

And then make your way here to feel it for yourself.

Come from nature, the food and drink, or the fascinating history, because in my humble estimation, my visit was time well spent.

So I was thinking in some Asian, you know what?

On second thought, I'm gonna let this view speak for itself.

- Oh, that's great.

- The turnip not my hair.

(Christina laughs) Come on, Christina.

- I missed everything you said, it will come by the cheese.

I don't know how my mom got your number.

For heaven's sake, she won't leave us alone.

Mom.

- All right, get back on the Candy Crush and stop.

What time does "Wheel" come on?

(laughs) - You're Dellaguard Boal, - That was my stage name in college, but that's another show.

- [Robert] I never thought that.

- Don't go into that.

(laughs) ♪ Yat dat dat da ♪ Yat dat dat da ♪ Yat dat dat da ♪ Yat dat dat da I'm not getting off the boat.

Somebody can you going bring me some lunch and a pillow.

How about five grand?

Would you take one of these things home with up?

- Seven?

- Seven will do it.

Gladys, you get the pen ready.

Is it true that your rock band that you were in was called Invasive Species in college?

(Christina laughs) - Somewhere.

- So it seems to me everything that I plant dies.

Is it personality, I mean?

- You know, I didn't taste the vodka.

- Well, I did.

I did it in the men's room in the back.

Does that count?

I always bring a flask just in case.

(Lucy laughs).

What?

You're still here.

You was supposed to be at luncheon.

Come on.

It's your turn.

For more information on this episode, Visit ErikTheTravelGuy.com.

And while you're there, you'll discover other fascinating destinations just beyond your backyard and links to follow me on social media.

That's ErikTheTravelGuy.com.

(high intensity music) (upbeat jazz music) The Perillo Tourist Foundation for 73 years, we've been bringing travelers to Italy.

It's where our heart is.

Escorted tours and custom vacations, Italy, the dream destination.

- Hi, I'm Erik, the travel guy.

You know, I've been exploring the world professionally for more than a decade.

And you know what I've learned?

It's the fantastic experiences await you in every corner of the globe, but you don't always have to travel that far to uncover them.

So join me each week as we go on and off the beaten path, learn something new and sample delicious culinary.

We're exploring Beyond Your Backyard.

(upbeat music)