To think I spent most of my life living only about an hour and a half away from it and just hadn't bothered to get up there to see it before -- can't wait now to go back for a closer look (but definitely in warmer weather!)  A charming little town, with spectacular mountain scenery.

My husband's bagpipe band was scheduled to march in the locally famous Jim Thorpe St Patrick's Day parade and I actually wasn't planning to go, but at the last minute (hours after hubby & the band had already hit the road), I decided to fire up the GPS and drive myself up there to try and shoot some photos for their website.

Well it was a windy and bitterly cold day but that didn't faze this party crowd in the least, and while they were all gathering in the streets sporting their green gear, leprechaun hats & green mardi gras beads, gulping Guinness, Harp & other assorted St Paddy's day staples - there was me, huddled against a building with my camera frozen fast to my fingers, wearing 3 layers of clothing and a heavy winter coat and still not even close to being warm, thinking they're all completely insane and wishing I'd thought to bring hubby's flask along to help keep me warm ;) but of course I still had the long drive back home to look forward to so that was out of the question anyway.

Before the parade got started I had a little time to wander away from the crowds to a side street for some pictures of the really cool houses & buildings, especially the lovely old church built into the side of the mountain.  It's the Episcopal Parish of St. Mark & St. John, which was built in 1848 according to their website, and it's a gorgeous old stone structure complete with gothic arches and towers, crosses, gargoyles and stone spire-like things and a huge pair of arched doors painted bright red that I couldn't seem to take enough pictures of, hehe... but the big surprise came when I got home and uploaded the pix to my computer...  opened up the first shot of the awesome red door when suddenly, as Moe Sizlac would say, wha-a-a-a-a???  Who was that man standing looking out the church window?!  There was no one standing there when I took the picture!

See if you can spot it too -- but make sure you click on it to open the enlarged version first.  I even cropped the window away from the rest of the photo and blew it up and enhanced the shadows & highlights to make it easier for you!  And if you do spot the man and examine him very closely -- isn't that an episcopalian minister's white collar showing at his neck???   =8^o 

While visiting my aunt she took us around Jim Thrope. I've been to Jim Thorpe millions of times before but this was my husbands first time there. Plus, I've actually never done anything touristy there. It was a lot of fun and I actually got to see all the building I've been driving by for years up close and personal. It was really a lot of fun.