We like Owego. But for some reason (usually involving hospital visits) we haven’t been in quite a while, apart from zipping off I-86 and into a fast-food place.

*So as summer was a-comin’ in we made a commitment to ourselves that we would definitely and deliberately schedule a trip, and then we set July 23, and then we went, and then we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

*Many towns are either visitor-oriented, or else resident-oriented. Owego manages both, with much of Front Street offering things that seize the visitor’s attention.

*After parking downtown and strolling down the street, we started our visit at Tioga County Historical Society, as we discussed in this space back on July 26. They currently have an exhibition on the MANY things that were manufactured in Tioga County, and on the advertising items that went along with them.

*The society goes back to 1914, but they built themselves a lovely brick home on Front Street in 1952. It fits in with the surrounding historic architecture, but being just a few steps out of the downtown area it’s in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood.

*Unfortunately the Susquehanna River flows right along the edge of Front Street, and overflows badly from time to time. There were catastrophic floods in 1935, 1972, and 2011. In that latest year (among others) the historical society itself was flooded.

*By the time we finished our visit we were getting hungry, so we stopped for a muffin at The Goat Boy on Front before stepping into Riverow Booksop, where there are 50,000 books (mostly used) crammed into three floors. Besides just wandering, I found (and bought!) (and soon re-read!) “Stand by for Mars!,” the first book in the 1950s Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series. And it was still good.

*Although we don’t have young children any more, we’ve spent much of our personal and professional lives among kids, so we took our time in The Laughing Place on Lake Street. The good folks there do a good job at building a selection of toys and games that are interesting and worthwhile. That sounds like the kiss of death when it comes to toys, but we’ve never found that to be the case. We’re very positive on this “place.”

*We also had a ball at Early Owego Antique Center, in the old J. J. Newberry store on Lake Street. We would have bought an antique cabinet had the problem of shipping to Bath not seemed insurmountable. But it was fun looking at 1950s radios in their glorious brightly-colored plastic, leafing through curious old comic books (Fatima, anyone?), and finding things we’d never known existed, such as small pails specifically dedicated to storing lambs’ livers. Live and learn!

*We enjoyed ourselves taking in lunch at Original Italian Pizza & Restaurant before heading home, leaving much of the downtown yet untouched. There were many other shops that we’ve visited in the past, and numerous other places to eat (including the Calaboose Grille, in the old county jail).

*Owego is the Tioga County seat, and the courthouse is a prominent downtown feature, lying straight ahead as you cross the bridge from the south to enter town. Near the courthouse are a Civil War monument and a fountain with statue of an old-time fireman. Owego was elected as America’s coolest small town in 2009. Decorated and lighted at Christmas, Front Street and the bridge form a lovely sight.

*It’s intriguing to us that although we’ve been dropping in on Owego for twenty years now, a great many of the businesses that we found on our first visit were still going strong on our latest, even through the Great Recession of 2009 and the terrible flooding of 2011. Change and decay in all around I see, but Owego still endures. And keeps on beckoning us back.