Getaway: America’s Only Italy-inspired Water Park Is Just a Two-Hour Drive From Pittsburgh
Owned by America’s oldest family saucemaker, DelGrosso’s Park in Tipton features family-friendly rides, a water park and plenty of pasta. Don't forget to visit nearby Boyer Candy Co. while you're there.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Last summer, my daughter, Sarah, and I ate pasta in the shadow of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dipped our toes in Bambini Cove. Then we took a ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl.
Tipton, a suburb of Altoona in Blair County, is home to DelGrosso’s Park, which kicked off its 80th season May 16, and its 2016 aquatic addition, Laguna Splash — America’s only Italy-inspired water park.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
In addition to the Leaning Tower fountain, the attraction features numerous slides, private cabanas, a wave pool, the float-friendly River Lazio and a Roman Splash Bucket that dumps 450 gallons of water on waders every 21/2 minutes.
Both attractions are owned by the DelGrossos, America’s oldest family saucemaker. DelGrosso Foods is one of the largest private label and co-packers of pasta sauce in the country, producing store brands for more than half of the top 20 grocery retailers in the United States.
I went on a Spaghetti Wednesday in July. Crowds are smaller mid-week, and you can sup on spaghetti and meatballs or the weekly pasta feature with a fountain drink and a roll included.
Not into noodles? The waterpark has spots dedicated to pizza, cheesesteaks, burgers and Dippin’ Dots. Sarah went with the Alfredo, while I opted for penne in vodka sauce with grilled peppers. These meals weren’t microwaved in a ramshackle snack bar but instead prepared before our eyes at Pasta Fresca, a cafeteria-style eatery.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Founders Ferdinand and Mafalda DelGrosso, known as “Fred” and “Murf,” opened their first Italian restaurant in Altoona in 1943. Three years later, they sold DelGrosso’s Cafe and purchased Bland’s Amusement Park, which was established in 1907. The couple spiced up the Bland site by selling gourmet grub to thrill-seeking patrons and worked night and day canning sauces in the kitchen. There’s now a massive production plant located across the street.
DelGrosso’s Park has dozens of rides, most of them tame — which makes it a great spot for kids. OK, maybe not my kid, an angsty teenager who, at that time of our trip, was chomping at the bit to visit Boyer Candy Co. in nearby Altoona so she could grab a few Mallo Cups and Clark Bars before the orthodontist put metal braces on her teeth. (She balked when I offered to buy her jars of marinara from the gift shop.)
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
For the park’s 80th anniversary season, I’m planning to return and try more of their offerings, including the Meatball Hero, Sloppy Joe Fries and Murf’s Famous Potato Salad, sold by the cup or by the pound. There’s something very punk about devouring heaping helpings of carbohydrates while wearing a bathing suit in public in your 40s, but a word of advice: Wait a while before you ride the Wacky Worm.
After leaving DelGrosso’s (and feeling 10 pounds heavier), we swung by Boyer Candy Co., where they’ve been making Mallo Cups the same way since 1936. The factory store can be found at 821 17th St. in Altoona. Owner Anthony Forgione is a stickler for tradition.
“My father took over Boyer in 1984, and we were embraced as family,” he says. “We learned the heritage of the company from the source, and we try hard to preserve it as best as we can.”
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
The Boyer and Forgione clans aren’t bonded by blood, but by milk chocolate with a whipped, marshmallow center sprinkled with coconut. When they were children during the Great Depression, brothers Bill and Bob Boyer made chocolates in their mother’s kitchen and sold them door-to-door around Altoona.
Today, the Boyer factory takes up a city block. In 2018, the company purchased the rights, recipes and equipment for making Pittsburgh’s iconic Clark Bar. The D.L. Clark Co. debuted the treat in 1917, but sold its secrets to rival New England Confectionery Co., or Necco, in 1999.
When the Massachusetts brand went bankrupt, Boyer stepped in to save the yinzer staple. After a two-year absence, Clark Bars returned to store shelves in Pittsburgh on Valentine’s Day 2020. Every wrapper reads “Born in the ’Burgh.” Boyer produces about 7,000 bars a week; they vanish from the outlet store almost as fast as they’re made.
“We saw it as an opportunity to bring the Clark Bar home, bring it back to Pennsylvania,” Forgione says. “It’s made the way it was made in the early 1900s. It’s a slow process, but it’s a labor of love.”
After the Clark Bar resurrection, folks started showing up at the factory to donate old keepsakes, advertisements and giveaways, including a hatchet. Forgione is a New York native, but he appreciates Pittsburgh’s attachment to its regional sweets.
“You can tell where you grew up by the candy you ate,” he says. “I’ve fallen in love with what it means to other people and what it now means to me.”
Where to Stay:
It’s a two-hour drive from Pittsburgh to Tipton, but if you don’t want to make a round-trip in one day, there are plenty of affordable, family-friendly accommodations in the area.
The swanky Altoona Grand Hotel, which once hosted President George Bush, has three restaurants, a spa, a 4,500-square-foot ballroom and a heated, indoor pool.
Not a fan of eating spaghetti and spinning around? Head into town and try an Altoona-style pizza. The Sicilian-style crust is topped with tomato sauce, salami, green bell pepper and slices of American cheese — and then cut into squares. The delicacy originated at the Altoona Grand Hotel in the 1960s, but most local pizzerias have it on their menu as a matter of hometown pride.
When to Go:
DelGrosso’s Park and Laguna Splash operate May through September. Go early- to mid-week when the crowds are smaller — the concession lines are shorter.
