SISTERS GET AWAY DAY 2 PART 2

Welcome back to the conclusion of our Sisters Get Away.  Yesterday I left off when we were heading for the Farmers Market and that is where I will pick up today.  Elaine and I love the Bird-in-Hand Farmers Market.  There is produce, meat, baked goods, spices and other kinds of stalls upstairs.  Downstairs are a couple of gift shops.  Since I knew my limitations, I suggested we just go upstairs.  I really didn't need more "gift" things.  But I wanted some good food to bring home.  I grabbed a cart and walked around once to see what they had.  My money was starting to run out so I wanted to be wise in how I spent it.  I finally made up my mind and bought some lovely things to bring home.

Raisin bread, potatoes, bananas, tomatoes and Brussels sprouts.  All looking beautiful.  The banana are gone and so are the tomatoes.  Wonderful!

At the deli counter I got bologna and homemade macaroni salad.  So good!

How do you like the covered wagon outside of the market?  It is a full sized covered wagon.  I can't imagine how people traveled across our country in these things.  They were much tougher people than I am.

We left here and went to Kitchen Kettle Village.  We go there each year to select our Christmas ornament for the year.  I was finished before Elaine so sat outside to wait for her.

There were pots of beautiful coleus all over the place.

The Jam and Relish Shop was our next stop.  We love going in there.

A view of the village.

 

Here's what I got in Kitchen Kettle. Mild salsa, tortilla chips, and chocolate covered pretzels.  I also got 3 K-cups for Joe but he had already put them away by the time I took the picture.

 I thought the birthstone jingle bell snowmen were so cute.  The turquoise for me, emerald for Joe and amethyst for our friend Chrissy.

And the ornament of the year this beautiful snowflake.

When we got back to the car I asked Elaine to get some pictures of the countryside while I got the car cool.  It was hot every time we left it for awhile.  The shots she got were just beautiful!

It was 12:45 and we left to go home.  Our 1 1/2 hour trip lasted almost 3 hours with the bad traffic.  But it was worth it.  We had a wonderful time.  Hope you enjoyed going along with us.

Kathy

SISTERS GET AWAY, DAY 2 PART 1

Friday morning Elaine and I both woke up with stuffy noses and scratchy throats.  We had slept on the foam pillows but had put the feather pillows underneath because we both use two pillows and they found only one pillow for each of us.  Those feathers are nasty stuff if you are allergic.  And we are.  But we got up, showered in their very nice shower, and dressed to get on with our day.

La Quinta give you a free breakfast with your room.  And it's not just a donut and coffee.  Elaine had creamed chipped beef over homemade biscuits, a side of fruit and a cup of tea.  I had scrambled eggs, hash, fruit and lemon and cucumber water.  And I even went back for seconds.

The waitress at the hotel breakfast room remembered me and was talking to me for a few minutes.  Her name is Jessie and she is so sweet.

We went back to the room, packed up and loaded up the car.  When I went back to the desk to check out, the desk clerk said, "Hello, Mrs. Specht.  I was hoping I would get to see you before you left."  It was Brittany, the one who helped us so much at Thanksgiving last year.  She asked after Joe and said she hoped she would see us when we come back next time.  Yes, there are other places to stay in Lancaster, but when you have a clean place to stay and people who remember you from visit to visit, it makes your stay so much nicer.

After we left, we headed for an antique store that Elaine wanted to visit.  She is quite an artist.  She will find the most run down and beat up piece and make it into something beautiful.  Just like on the show "Flea Market Flip."  I just see an old box, she sees a jewel.  So I took her to this store we had never visited to look around.

As I said, I am not much of an antiques person unless it was something handed down in my family.  But looking around I did see a lot of old Christmas tree ornaments that were like the ones on my grandmother's tree when I was little.  I think I will go back and get some of them for my tree this Christmas.  I think Joe will like them too.

Here is the treasure Elaine found.  To me it is an old box.  To Elaine it is something to be restored and cherished.  I call it her treasure chest.  It rode home in comfort on the back seat.

I wanted to stop at the Fulton Steamboat Hotel to look into their gift shop.  I haven't been there in years because they are always full up.  It's almost impossible to get a room there without a year's waiting.  The gift shop was alright, but nothing special.  I did see a little book which I got for Joe.

You can see he really liked it.

I was running low, so we stopped to get gas and then it was on to the Farmers Market.  But that's another story for another day.  Come back tomorrow for the end of our vacation.

Kathy

SISTERS GETAWAY DAY 1 PART 2

I started to post about our vacation yesterday and ended just as we were about to get to the hotel.  So that's where I will begin today.  We stayed at La Quinta.  Joe and I have stayed there several times, but this was Elaine's first time.  We checked in and got our room keys.  It was a beautiful room.  The only thing wrong is I had asked for foam pillows since Elaine and I are allergic to feathers and they gave us all feathers.  When they called to see if the room was OK I asked for different pillows and they brought them to us.

Here was the view out of our window.  I loved seeing the corn field and the vegetable garden patch.

After resting a little bit and changing our clothes, we headed to Bird-in-Hand for dinner.

Google image

My legs were hurting me so I chose to have the turkey dinner delivered to the table.  Elaine got the smorgasbord.  I am not a big fan of turkey, but it was so good on Thanksgiving that I wanted to try it again.  It was good, but not as good as the last time.  I got the small portion and it was huge.  I would hate to see the large portion.  Our waitress was really nice.  I told her I had been there for Thanksgiving last year and she said she had worked it so we had a little conversation.

After we ate we looked around the shop a little bit.  I got Joe a sugar-free apple dumpling and my friend Donna had asked for a pumpkin whoopee pie, so I got that for her.  And of course I paid for dinner for Elaine's birthday.

It was still early, so we headed to Hershey Farm to look at the shops there.  We used to stay at Hershey Farm all the time.  Joe and I even spent our honeymoon there.  But the inn was sold and it went down in quality with both the rooms and restaurant.  We will try it again eventually, but it will have to come up in quality.  The shops are still good though, so that's where we headed.  Elaine got a few small things and I bought an Amish doll to send to Hadley for her first birthday.  I know she won't get another gift like that.

After shopping I said I wanted to get some pictures of the animals, but my legs hurt so much.  Elaine said she would take some pictures and headed off.  Here's some of what she took:

By this time we were both beat, so we headed back to the hotel to relax and watch some TV.

We had brought Elaine's birthday gift from Joe and me with us and she opened it out there.

We gave her a Pioneer Woman teapot and a pretty mug from Target.

We were both really tired and kept falling asleep so that was the end of Day 1.   I'll start Day 2 tomorrow.

Kathy