Today is my birthday. Well, since this will probably post after midnight, the 29th is my birthday. What a difference from last year. I had had stomach surgery exactly one month earlier.
I had just started eating semi-solid food. Joe's dad was still alive and in a nursing home. It's so hard to believe that so much has happened in one year.
I have been trying to clean up some today. The house is a wreck and I mean bad. There are gifts and cards and mail and you name it all over the place. Joe is changing our satellite TV to cable and the guy is coming tomorrow to set it up. There is so much in front of the TVs that he can't even get to them. So it's been a matter of finding places to put the gifts away, sorting through mail, hanging cards, etc. Some way to spend your 58th birthday isn't it?
But it wasn't all work. Joe sent me flowers.
He also gave me two necklaces, both in the shape of a heart -- one cerulean and one garnet. And we went out to dinner.
I had been wanting to go to the King George II Inn in Bristol, PA so that is where he took me.
If you look closely at the bottom of the sign it says "Est. 1681". Yes, it's really 330 years old. Here is some of its history:
It is known to be the oldest continuously operated Inn in America.
The Ferry House was built on this site, by Samuel Clift, owner/operator of the ferry service between Bristol and Burlington, N.J. He had opened it as a small hotel to accommodate guests upon their arrival, via ferry.
In 1735, a Frenchman, by the name of Charles Besonett, bought and built the Inn on a much larger scale, using Clift's hotel as the base to this grand new site. Renamed "George the Second Hotel," in keeping with the many royal Inns he had visited and fashioned it after in England. The story is told that a timely name change took place when General George Washington and his troops approached Bucks County. The image of King George was quickly removed from the outside sign and painted over with a likeness of the General.
Shortly thereafter, Besonett thought it was wise to permanently change the name to the "Fountain House" which it remained for many more years.
Bolstered by important land and water routes, Bristol developed into a leading market town and river port, where hundreds of boats unloaded their wares. The Inn prospered due to this prime location where it became the hub of the town's upward development.
Bristol also became known as a popular summer resort and spa. Warm river springs from the Delaware were said to heal many ills. People flocked here to enjoy the "Bristol Springs" and to drink and bathe in their waters. During the warmer months, the Inn was filled to capacity by the wealthy who could afford weekly hotel rates. According to legend, many dignitaries were guests at the Inn during the Victorian era. A short list includes General George Washington and Presidents John Tyler, John Adams, James Madison, and Millard Fillmore.
Really interesting isn't it! You can see why I wanted to eat there. We got there about 4:00 p.m. and were seated on the "porch" a sort of sunroom overlooking the Delaware River. It was so beautiful. We watched the river flowing past, the people in the park across the street and saw across the river to Burlington, NJ. I like Bristol a lot and wouldn't mind moving there when I retire in a few years. But who knows what the future will bring.
We both got a small house salad with honey mustard dressing and Chicken Piccata with mashed potatoes and green beans. Everything tasted wonderful. It wasn't very expensive either.
After we ate we took a little walk in the park. I tried to take pictures, but it was really too dark by that time. We watched it getting darker and darker as we ate. In fact it got so dark on the porch that the servers came around and lit little oil lamps on our tables. A few of the pictures came out though.
 |
| The HUGE Christmas tree beside the Inn. That's our car in the background. |
|
 |
| The dock at the entrance to the park. |
 |
| Joe and me |
 |
| The whole town was beautifully decorated. I tried to take pictures of these wreaths on the lights all down the street, but none of them turned out except this one. |
|
On the way home Joe said I should have a cake. I told him I didn't want a cake, but would take a cupcake. So we stopped off at Shop-Rite. While we were there we ended up doing our whole week's shopping. At least that is taken care of. I couldn't eat it right away because I was so full, but later Joe stuck a candle in a cupcake and sang "Happy Birthday" to me. He insisted on taking pictures too.
Besides Joe's gifts, I got a cute little blue tote bag from my friend Debbie with tons of great gifts in it (gardening gloves, a photo album, nail clippers, a notepad, and a gift certificate to Wendy's), a $25 gift certificate to Amazon to buy kindle books from my sister Elaine, money from my former supervisor to have "lunch on her." My next-door neighbor came over tonight with the cutest gift. She gave me a "birthday cake" made out of $2 bills, a wrist purse so I don't have to carry my big purse when I run down the block to the store and a keychain that holds digital pictures. Very cool. So I made out like a bandit. I also got phone calls from my family and friends. I had no idea I was so popular.
Well it's almost 1:00 a.m. so I am going to bed. I'll get up early and start in on my marathon cleaning. Till later.
