THANKSGIVING AND BLACK FRIDAY

DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS

Now we are on a real countdown.  I don't know how I will get everything done in time, but I'm sure going to try.

I hope you have all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was great.  Are you prepared for major picture overload?

We wanted to start out about 1 p.m. but you know how that goes.  Always one more thing to do.  So we ended up leaving about 2:30.  Still plenty of time.  Our dinner reservation wasn't until 5 p.m.  We were going along just fine until the sensor showing low tire pressure went on and stayed on.  Again!  *sigh*  I ended up going past our exit and pulling into the parking lot at King of Prussia Plaza.  That one tire was a little low again.  Fortunately we still had our air compressor in the trunk.  So Joe was able to use it to put some air in the tire.  The sensor was still on, but we decided to just go for it because the tire looked OK.  But...  I didn't know how to get back where I wanted to be and ended up on the Pennsylvania turnpike instead.  We had to pull out the GPS to find out how to get to where we wanted to be.  And as we did that the sensor light went out and hasn't gone on again since.  Go figure.  Joe is beginning to think it isn't the tires, but the sensor that is bad.  I think he may be right.

So we got to Hershey Farm around 4:40 p.m.  We checked in and went to our room.  I changed my clothes and we headed over to the restaurant.  We got there at exactly 5:00 p.m. and the place was packed.  People were waiting in line to give their names.  Fortunately they were taking people in by their reservation time and not the time they showed up, so we didn't have a very long wait.

We got seated on the porch which is my favorite place to sit.  I was so happy.  It was just perfect.

 We began by getting their creamy potato soup.  We both love it.  It is the BEST potato soup anywhere.

Then it was time for the entree.  Joe had Amish filling, corn, mixed veggies, turkey and homemade raisin bread.

I don't like turkey, so I had fried chicken, Amish filling and mashed potatoes covered in chicken gravy and green bean casserole.  So good.

Joe went back for seconds and dessert, but I was full.  He got some sugar-free pie which he said was very good.

We looked around the shops a little bit.  There are all these little shops attached to the restaurant.

Jewelry

Men's clothes

Food and this big display of candy

Ladies' clothes

I was thinking about buying a new handbag, but never got around to it.

I was sleepy.  Really sleepy.  While we were waiting for our check I was falling asleep at the table.  So we just went back to the room and I got ready for bed.  This is the only picture taken of me the entire weekend and you can see how tired I am.

 I did manage to stay awake to watch "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving".  It was cool to see it on a large screen TV.

I was going to take pictures on Thursday of the corn stalks and pumpkins they had decorated with.  So beautiful.  But it was dark and I figured I would do it first thing in the morning.  But their crew worked overnight and by morning instead of a pumpkin this is what I saw.

Here is Joe heading for breakfast.

 

We had to pass by all the goats in their pens.  I felt sorry for them out in the cold (it was in the low 20s), but their keeper said they have thick coats and are not cold.  They are used to cold weather.

 

 We had a good breakfast, and then headed back to the room to pack up and check out.  But you know I had to take some pictures of the pond they have and the other scenery around.  The sign by the pond says "Seasons Greetings" and the bridge has wreaths all across it.

There was a pretty wooden nativity.  It had lights aimed at it so I'm sure it's lit at night and must look stunning.

We bought some bows and some grave covers at the store before we left.  There were so many beautiful swags, wreaths, table toppers, but I have no room!  I just had to say no.

We headed over to Rockvale to look in some of the outlet stores for Christmas gifts.  They were decorated so nicely too with boxwood angels.

We stopped in Hager and when Joe wasn't looking I bought him jeans and a sweater for Christmas.  Yes!  He asked what was in the bag and I said none of his business.  We went to the bookstore, but didn't get anything.  Then we went to Christmas Tree Hill looking for advent candles.  We found them, the wreath, bayberry candles and electric candles for the kitchen windows.  When we left we started laughing because everything we bought was for ourselves!  Well, we might as well take advantage of the bargains also.

I wanted to get to Kitchen Kettle Village because they had a live reindeer there for two hours and I wanted to get pictures.  "Star" was there from 11 to 1 and it was 12:30 now.  So we headed right over there.  We were fortunate enough to get there right before the handlers led him off.  So I didn't get my picture with him, but at least I got the reindeer.

Every place out there is decorated so beautifully.  Look at how they did the lanterns in the parking lot.

We left there and went to Tanger Outlets.  It's all high end stores and all were having huge sales.  There was absolutely no place to park and after driving around for 20 minutes we left.

We ended up at Lenox.  We got a few Christmas gifts there.  Then decided to head home.  When we got out to the parking lot we saw a hot air balloon.  It was heading right for the mall.  So I got some pictures of it.  It said "In God We Trust" on it.  I think the guy in the car in front of us thought I was taking pictures of him and he did not look happy.

We left at 3:30 and were making good time on the way home.  We keep talking about moving out there and I hope sometime we will be able to afford to do that.

We just moved right along until we got to I-76.  The cars were just sitting there.  I turned on the radio and found there was a major 6 car accident about three miles ahead of where we were.  We ended up sitting (and inching along) the highway for over an hour.  So instead of getting home around 5:00 we got home around 6:30.  But we got home safely which is what we asked God to do.

It was a great time away, but now it's back to reality.  I'm leaving in 5 minutes to go to work.  I hope it's not crazy today.  When I get home I plan to undecorate the kitchen and start putting up the Christmas stuff.  I was going to do that last night, but was just too tired from that drive.

So until later folks.  Have a great day.