Calling all Penn State/State College experts

Hey, the SO just talked me into another Springsteen show Friday at Bryce Jordan and we got good lower seats but alas, apparently, State College ain't ready for prime time. All hotels are booked on Orbitz and Travelocity. Does anyone have any suggestions for where we can stay? We could start driving back toward Detroit but judging by how I felt after the Greensboro show Saturday, I'm not going to want to drive too far. Help???

 

Lamar, PA is my typical stay on football weekends. It's about 25 minutes or so from the BJC.

Hampton Inn and Comfort Inn there. Hampton Inn is only like two years old and pretty nice...already looked and rooms available at like $129.

That's my advice.

 

Thanks very much. Will check it out.

 

I stayed in Milroy on my last trip there in the fall. its about 20-25 minutes from downtown. Getting to the game was a bitch because of the back roads, but don't think you will have that problem.

If the travel websites are booked, you still might want to try calling the hotels themselves and see if they have openings (last minute cancellations).

 

Since you are going back to Detroit, I would presume that would mean you will go North from State college to Route 80 - if you can drive for about 75 minutes, looki into Dubois -- it is on your way and all kinds of hotels.

 

Yes, if I-80 is your route, you should be OK finding a place within a hour or so of State College.

 

Thanks all! Yes, we will be taking 80 back across Ohio. Still don't know if we want to drive an hour after the show but I'll look into the other suggestions too. Bruce is certainly a one-man stimulus package! He sold out all the hotels within an hour of Greensboro, too, but luckily I had booked at the Doubletree right by the arena early on.

 

Keep calling the hotels directly looking for a last minute cancellation.

Years ago I got a room at the Nittany Lion Inn the day before the Penn State vs. Michigan game. Couldn't scalp 2 tix to save our souls, so we ended up watching the game at the local watering hole.

But it was a nice hotel room!

 

Clearfield's closer, and has a fairly new Holiday Inn Express: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g52375-Clearfield_Pennsylvania-Hotels.html

 

Thanks again. I just booked a room at the Hampton Inn in Lamar. But I'm going to continue to look for in-town lodging until tomorrow when I'll have to cancel Lamar.

 

Stayed there after the Notre Dame game in '07. Nice place, up on a hill if I recall. Took forever to get there however...at least 45 minutes on the road and that was at least an hour after waiting to get out of one of the yellow lots (not a worry for a concert). Good news was there was a 24-hour McDonalds there, so I could get something to eat late at night...something I haven't been able to do when arriving at Pennsylvania hotels after other late night games.

 

Thanks again for all the advice. That Hampton Inn in Lamar was really nice. We splurged and got the king room suite and it was fab, had a wet bar, fridge, microwave, et al. Highly recommend for sportswriters covering Penn State games. I'm glad we didn't have to drive much farther afterward. We were spent and it was really foggy and rainy and it's damn dark around there. Apparently, Pennnsylvania not much of a believer in highway lighting, even around exits. There were some rumors that Bruce and the band spent the night in the area and we thought there was some possibility they were at our hotel because of the tour bus in the parking lot but it wasn't confirmed. The show was amazing though. Our sets were great, about eight rows up from the floor just to the left of the stage. No Patti so Bruce was really rocking out and he did a seven-song encore including Jungleland, Detroit Medley and Woolly Bully. Even if you're a casual fan, I would advise trying to see him on this tour. They sound better than ever!