that's right woodchuck-chuckers, it's groundhog day!

Okay, so I missed it by a few days.  Well, I missed posting about it anyway.  My normal writing time has been taken up by work, so please don't hold it against me.

I have had a terrible case of cabin fever this winter.  We've had no money to do anything fun and it's been really freaking cold, so I've been stuck in my apartment playing cards, glancing at Facebook, feeling my butt get bigger day by day.  I finally had enough last week and was determined to do something fun over the weekend. 

Then I remembered that Saturday was Groundhog Day.  Sure, that doesn't sound like anything fun to celebrate...and normally it's not....but located only half an hour away from me is the town where most of the classic Bill Murray movie was filmed.  You know...Groundhog Day.  The town has embraced the movie with affection and has an annual festival showcasing the movie and the places where it was filmed and to top it off - most of it is completely free of charge!  I'm there!

I consulted the Almighty Interwebs, consulted their website, and found that there was going to be a guided tour of the filming locations (again..free) on Saturday afternoon.  I thought that would be just the right mix of cheese, fun, trivia and IT GOT ME OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!  Okay, sure, so the high temp for the day was only supposed to be 16 degrees with a wind chill hovering right around 0, but I'm a Wisconsin chick - I come from the Frozen Tundra (so they say) - I could handle it.

Saturday morning, I got up, exercised, showered, had my one precious cup of coffee, threw on 3 layers of clothing - of course including my Groundhog Day t-shirt:

Okay, so nobody would probably even see the shirt because it was going to be constantly covered by more layers, but I knew I was celebrating in fine style.  On went the scarf, the long winter coat, gloves and hat, and I was on my way!

Now, even though I only live 30 minutes away from this town and have been through it on my way to other places more times than I can count, I've never actually stopped there.  The downtown area is built around a town square and this is where the bulk of the movie takes place. 

 

The focal point of the Square is the Opera House.  In the movie, this served as the hotel that Andie MacDowell's character stayed at and was also where Phil jumped out of the tower and met his demise.  Well, his demise until the day started over anyway.

 

The Opera House = totally haunted

I went to the building and noticed this little sign in front of it, noting that in the movie, this was the Pennsylvanian Hotel:



And then as I looked around, I noticed that these little signs were dotting the square.  It was time to investigate and give myself a little tour.  Thanks to the signs and the handy-dandy map that I printed out which showed all of the locations that I could visit, I made my way around the square reliving scenes, and remembering classic lines thanks to the help of the other people who were visiting and reciting them to their friends.

I went to Gobbler's Knob...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I saw the Tip Top Cafe

(which used to be an empty building and is now a taqueria)

 

 

 

 

 

 





 



And then I saw the famous corner where Phil meets Ned.  See...they even have a plaque there!

Bing!

Do you not remember what I'm talking about?  Let me refresh your memory.



So if this is the corner, then that must mean that right over here is......

That first step!  The doooooozy spot!  The Holy Land!

I hear angels.

I could have gone home right then completely satisfied, but I knew that the guided tour was coming up shortly, so I had a quick bite to eat at a nice friendly family restaurant on the square (the one place where I was able to take off my coat so that people could see my awesome shirt) and headed to the meeting spot for the tour.

And then the location manager for the movie, Bob Hudgins, showed up and we began the tour.  Well, kind of.  We stood at that spot and discussed how the movie came to be filmed there, he gave details and stories of filming and the weather and the snow...and we got colder and colder.  When you're standing in one spot in the wind, there's nothing moving to keep you warm.

We stood there for about half an hour listening to him and then after questions were taken from the tour members, we moved on to the next spot.  Another half hour passed at that spot before we moved on to the third.  By the time we were an hour and a half into the tour and only midway through the third stop of the tour of twelve stops, I could no longer feel my feet...even with my two pairs of socks on.  And that was when I decided to take my leave.  I had seen what I wanted to see.  Even though I would have loved to have heard more stories about the filming, because they were incredibly humorous and interesting, hypothermia is not worth entertainment.

Listening, learning about the puddle scene, and freeeezing.

I drive home, finally beginning to feel my toes once again around the halfway point, turned on our fireplace, bundled up under the world's most comfortable blanket, hot chocolate in hand, and switched on AMC for their Groundhog Day marathon.  As it went from scene to scene, I completely annoyed educated my husband with all of the interesting facts I learned while I was there. I have a feeling he's thankful I didn't make it all of the way through the tour.

I think I might make this an annual thing!  Well...when it's not so flipping cold.  Anyone want to join me?