With the accuracy of blindly throwing a dart or a real life weatherman, Punxsutawney Phil will look into his crystal ball, or shadow in his case, and tell us how much longer we have until Spring. The belief of course is that if he sees his shadow, he will be scared and hide for six more weeks when Spring will arrive. If it's cloudy, then moderate weather is here to stay. My knee does the same thing. If it's sore, Winter stays six weeks more. If it's fine, there will be buds on the vine.

The movie Groundhog Day is not a documentary, as I found out. I mean, come on! I can't be the only one who thought it was. Even though the real Punxsutawney Phil lives in Pennsylvania, the 1993 Bill Murray film was filmed mostly in Illinois including right here in Rockford.

The pit where Murray's character, weatherman Phil Connors drives into repeatedly is the Nimtz Rd. Quarry near where Mulford Rd. ends at Perryville.

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Most of the movie was filmed in Woodstock, about 30 miles east of Rockford. The hilariously named Gobbler's Knob is a real place in Pennsylvania, but was actually the Woodstock Town Square. Many of the surrounding buildings were used, and yes, the puddle that Connors steps in repeatedly was right there too.

The puddle is located on the northeast corner of the Town Square:

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Phil stayed at the B and B in Punxsutawney in the movie, but in reality it's the quaint Royal Victorian Manor in Woodstock.

Here's the view from the upper floor spire:

Here's what it looks like walking up to the house:

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Spring will arrive on Friday, 20th March, 2015 at 5:46 p.m. That works out to just under seven weeks from Groundhog Day. So when you think about it, if Phil sees his shadow, Spring will arrive early anyways.

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