Punxsutawney or bust. We did it! The Inaugural BEN FM Ground Hog Day Bus Trip happened on February 2nd, and it was a big success (if we do say so ourselves).
A bus trip full of BEN FM listeners out to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for Ground Hog Day has been a dream of ours for a few years now, and this year it happened!
Making a Plan
We’d attempted the trip on our own last year, just to see how the logistics would work (photos HERE). It was FREEZING. 14 degrees without factoring in the windchill. We froze our faces off and Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter that year, but we still had a really great time. We were onto something. Looking ahead to 2024, we saw that Ground Hog Day fell on a Friday. Perfect. We partnered with Boscov’s Travel to coordinate the bus and hotel stays, and in late November we advertised the trip on BEN FM. Here’s where we started to doubt the plan. Would ANYONE want to go? Boy, did they.
2024 BEN FM Ground Hog Day Bus Trip Participants
The 2024 BEN to Punxsutawney bus trip sold out in less than 3 weeks, with a waiting list. We were officially headed to the Weather Capital of the World to see Punxsutawney Phil give his prognostication live. The bus left on Thursday, February 1st at 10am from the station parking lot here in Bala Cynwyd with 52 other ‘weather enthusiasts’. The group was great too. Easy going, kind (one couple even brought wine for everyone), and all were ready for an adventure.
The Bus Ride
For the ride to and from Punxsutawney we watched the Bill Murray movie Ground Hog Day over and over and over. We added in a bunch of trivia for prizes throughout, and as you might have guessed, the more we watched the movie, the harder the trivia became. We’re all experts now. We drove most of the way out to Punxsutawney on Thursday, but stopped about 50 minutes out in Clearfield, PA. This is where we grabbed some dinner and stayed overnight. We’re using the word ‘overnight’ lightly. After what seemed like a few hours sleep, we climbed back onto the bus at 2:30am and headed to Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to be there for Phil’s big moment.
Ground Hog Day at ‘The Knob’
The weather at Gobbler’s Knob was perfect this year for Ground Hog Day. No snow or rain or even wind. The temperature was in the upper 30’s, which was WAY more comfortable than last year’s 14 degrees. The word got out about the weather this year too. The crowd was so much bigger, with some 40,000 people up there “on the Knob” dancing and singing and holding signs while waiting to see Phil. After fireworks, a live band, dancers and about 4 hours of entertainment, Phil did emerge from his burrow, right around sunrise. He spoke Groundhogese to members of the Ground Hog Club Inner Circle, and he let us know his prognostication, our fate for the next 6 weeks… an EARLY SPRING!!! Now the trip was truly perfect.
We celebrated at the town’s Barclay Square with food and a festival, and began our drive back toward Bala Cynwyd by 3pm. Again, watching Ground Hog Day over and over on the bus ride home.
Mark your calendars for next year. We’re doing it again. Join us Saturday, February 1st into Sunday, February 2nd for the 2nd Annual BEN FM Ground Hog Day Bus Trip, 2025. A weekend too! BEN FM will be there. Will you?
~ Kristen
