Don’t let a few April showers interfere with your sense of adventure! Happy Travelers can still enjoy fun and excitement on even the rainiest of days, immersing themselves in history and art, and interacting with hands-on attractions. The long wait for sunnier and warmer days will fly by with these rainy-day adventures!
Indoor Waterparks:
Your family won’t mind getting wet on a rainy-day visit to one of these Pocono Mountain waterparks! The Split Rock Resort & Golf Club in Lake Harmony offers a fun-filled, rainy-day getaway for the whole family. Get ready to get soaked at the resort’s jungle play area, complete with dumping bucket, Jungle Falls, Leapin' Lillypads play areas, wave pool, hot tubs, and three four-story-high tube slides. Afterwards, dry off and head to the 8-lane Cosmic Bowling alley with its colorful bowling balls, glowing pins, and state-of-the-art sound system, or try your hand at the arcade games in the Redemption Arcade.
It’s always 84 degrees and sunny at the Kalahari Resorts & Conventions 220,000-square-foot, African-themed indoor waterpark in Pocono Manor — the largest waterpark in the nation. Surf the perfect wave, transform into a mermaid or merman, and plunge down adrenaline pumping waterslides, then float down the Lazy River and take a break at the Swim-Up Bar or indoor and outdoor spas. Afterwards, see if you can solve the riddles of the ancients at the Wrath of Anubis escape room or grab a seat at the 7-D Theater (yes, 7-D!) for a truly one-of-a-kind adventure.
Escape your everyday hassles and the gloomy rain at Camelback Lodge & Aquatopia Indoor Waterpark in Tannersville. There are water slides galore — tube slides, body slides, mat slides, bowl slides, aqua launch capsule slides, and kiddie slides – packed with fun for every age and thrill level, including the three-to-six person, 608-foot Venus Slydetrap raft ride that fuses three exhilarating waterslide experiences into a single slide. There are also seven pools, a lazy river, swim-up bar (adults only), and family indoor/outdoor hot tub. The indoor fun doesn’t end there with bumper cars, climbing walls, arcade, bowling alley, laser tag, and a ropes course aresure to entertain.
Food & Drinks
You just might need a rainy weekend for a full appreciation of all the great-tasting craft beers you’ll find at the 15 breweries on the aptly named River Rat Brew Trail. All the breweries are located along the upper Susquehanna River and are accessible from Route 11 from Danville and Bloomsburg to Berwick and feature some creative and innovative cuisine along with the tasty brews. For a little fun before you hit the trail, get 2022 summer passport! From April-October, treat yourself to a self-guided tour of the award-winning breweries on Central Pennsylvania’s newest brew trail. Submitted passports at the end of the season will be entered to win a prize!
James Beard semi-finalist, Pittsburgh’s Wigle Whiskey is the most awarded craft distillery in the United States! Created by Meredith and Alex Grelli, Wigle Whiskey is the perfect escape on a rainy day. Wigle offers distillery tours of the facilities where they create their organic craft spirits. If a tour is not in the cards during your visit, make sure to visit the whiskey garden, or one of the three tasting rooms throughout the city of Pittsburgh. Each location offers tasting flights, cocktails, and bottle sales.
There is no better way to spend a rainy afternoon than drinking whiskey and gin at Philadelphia Distilling in Fishtown. The distillery uses hand-hammered copper stills and wooden fermentation barrels to create spirits that celebrate big, bold American flavors! While it’s gloomy and rainy outside, take a tour of the distillery, meet the team behind the spirits, learn about the history of Philadelphia Distilling, or book a reservation to visit the Cocktail Bar and Lounge to enjoy signature sips.
A rainy day is the perfect day to take a cooking class at Zest! Located in Lititz, Zest offers a variety of cooking classes that will help you make your next meal or dinner party a success. Cooking classes are open to all levels of experience, ability, and taste preferences. Vegan, Italian, and French are just some of their most popular classes! You could even use a rainy day as an excuse to squeeze in a date with your significant other and attend a Date Night cooking class!
Indoor Thrills:
Start your engines! Enjoy perfect racing conditions every day at the largest indoor go-karting facility in Pennsylvania: Autobahn Speedway in Lemoyne. Challenge your friends and reach speeds of up to 50 mph strapped into an F1-inspired European go-kart, with junior karts for the younger set zooming around the track at speeds up to 25 mph.
Don’t let a few April showers interfere with your sense of adventure! iFLY King of Prussia offers the thrill of skydiving without a concern for cloud cover, approaching weather fronts, or even turbulence (it’s all indoors — no plane or parachute needed). Safe for all but the tiniest of tykes, you’ll float on a column of air, free as a springtime bird.
Hands-on Learning Experiences:
The kids will be hoping for a rainy day with a visit to the Lewisburg Children’s Museum, Here, they can uncover their hidden artist at the Creation Station, explore nature and find some crazy critters in the “Tree House” be an entrepreneurial restaurant owner, an intrepid explorer of outer space or in charge, or a doctor at the Teddy Bear Clinic. Best of all, they won’t even realize they’re getting a great educational experience along with all the fun!
An old timey trip to the past awaits you at the Rockhill Trolley Museum in Rockhill Furnace. Ride the rails in restored antique trolleys just like your great-grandparents might have done. For a truly unique experience, learn to operate an authentic, antique electric trolley car with the “Run-A-Trolley” program. You’ll get two hours of one-on-one guidance with an experienced trainer before taking the controls!
Kids will love to play, explore, and experiment at Discovery Space in State College. With more than 45 interactive exhibits and engaging hands-on science experiences, it’s a perfect place to banish those rainy day “I’m bored” sentiments for kids of all ages.
It’s a trip to “Paris on the Parkway” when you visit The Rodin in Philadelphia, featuring one of the most comprehensive sculpture collections of renowned sculptor Auguste Rodin in the world. You’ll gain a true appreciation of the artist’s genius and legendary career as you view the collection’s nearly 150 bronzes, marbles, and plasters, most of which are housed in the beautiful 1929 Beaux-Arts style building. Braving the weather is worth it to see famous works like The Thinker and other sculptures set in the museum’s outdoor formal French garden.
Learning and rich imagery go hand-in-hand at The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, whose spectacular museum galleries and exhibits are the perfect place to spend a rainy day. With a variety of rotating exhibits and a permanent collection containing breathtaking sculptures, sketches, watercolors, and some of the best American art from the 1760s to the present, the Academy is the perfect solution to chase away those rainy-day blues.
Spend a rainy day immersed in art at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts. Meet and observe artists at work, browse quality contemporary art & craft exhibits, watch glass blowing demonstrations, or take in an art or independent film inside the restored five-story Willson Goggle Factory. You might even be inspired to sign up for an art or craft class or workshop for that next rainy day!
Doylestown offers a myriad of indoor activities worth exploring no matter what the weather. Learn about the everyday life of Americans during the 18th and 19th centuries at the Mercer Museum, then see the beautiful tiles and mosaics of famed industrialist Henry Chapman Mercer on full display in Fonthill Castle and the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works. Walk across the street to the James A. Michener Art Museum featuring the art and cultural heritage of the Bucks County region. Then, end your artsy day catching a movie at the County Theater, a 82-year-old art deco theater in the center of town featuring independent, art, and foreign films you likely won’t find at the local multiplex.
Lancaster City offers a double shot of science fun! Check out the North Museum of Nature and Science and its very cool 41-foot SciDome XD Theater, hands-on Nature Explorer Gallery, and theCoding Corner, their newest STEM exhibit. Spend the rest of the afternoon across town at the Lancaster Science Factory where the kids will learn that science really can be fun. With more than 75 interactive exhibits, workstations and mini-labs, your children will be begging you to return — even on days that aren’t rainy!
The Crayola Experience in Easton is guaranteed to transform gray, rainy days to ones chock-full of color. Get introduced to two new characters of the crayola crew — Perry and Cat when you watch the brand new “Chaos and Creativity Show”. Then, enjoy nearly 25 hands-on colorful attractions. Create a crayon with your name on it, star in your own coloring page, create a ring, critter, or other special souvenir out of crayon wax, and explore the many other color-filled activities that will brighten up your day.
See some of the world’s finest Asian artwork at The Maridon Museum in Butler. According to the Huffington Post, “It’s a knockout museum worth a drive from anywhere [rain or shine].” In a beautiful example of East meets West, the Maridon’s focus on Chinese and Japanese art and culture paired with its 300+ pieces of German Meissen porcelain help make this museum an art-lovers’ dream and perfect place to spend a rain-filled day.
Step inside the Zippo/Case Museum in Bradford and experience the story of two iconic American products made right here — Zippo Lighters and W. R. Case and Sons handcrafted knives. As you tour the museum, you’ll see interactive displays and videos and learn about Zippo’s long-time association with Hollywood and rock music. You’ll also be able to watch Zippo repair technicians fix all but the most mangled Zippo lighters, honoring the company’s unconditional lifetime guarantee, "It works, or we fix it free.”™
Find out what animatronic dinosaurs, Aldabra tortoises, Komodo dragons, and parakeets all have in common at Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood. Specializing in reptiles and amphibians from around the world in stunning naturalistic habitats, Reptiland is an educational adventure for the whole family. Spend a rainy-day having fun with loads of interactive exhibits, live shows, and hands-on animal encounters.
To learn about more fun ideas at hands-on learning attractions, check out our visitPA website. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to stay up-to-date on even more great ideas and places to visit around our state. Don’t forget to never miss an update and sign up for our monthly Happy Thoughts e-newsletter.