Planning Our Summer Travel

Back to the mountains... again!

Every year my wife and I have numerous discussions about where we would like to go over the summer and this time around it is no different. While we don’t have any extensive plans like we did last year, we do plan on returning to our usual weekend trips around the state that we enjoyed so much in the past. Basically, now is the time to get the broad strokes down and we will fill in a lot of the other day trips as the season progresses. Plus, with all the things that usually occupy our weekends, being able to schedule this much is kind of surprising at this point.

The first trip that is on our agenda is a place that we have visited many times in the past the last drive up there being two years ago on our anniversary. Having introduced our son to the Strasburg Railroad a few weeks ago, we thought it was time to return to Jim Thorpe for a couple of days. Not only is it a place where we can relax a little and walk around but we can also take our son on the train through the valley. Also, it helps that it is only about an hour and a half away which affords us plenty of time for exploring. Of course, we might have to introduce our son to Country Junction while we are up there as well.

The second trip that we have locked into the calendar is a return to Gettysburg. With our son more mobile than ever and looking for a place that would allow us to explore both from in the car and by walking around, Gettysburg seemed to be one of the better options. Given the family history regarding the Civil War it is also important for me that we introduce our son to sites like this early on. And, as many of you know, no matter how many times you go to Gettysburg you always find something new every time you are there. 

In addition to a variety of local and regional events, I also have a number of locations on our calendar for later dates including Elizabethtown, Lititz, Ronks, Lancaster, Manheim, New York, Kennett Square, and a number of others. All of these are in various stages of planning and I am not sure if we will be able to fit them all in but there are some options beyond the scheduled items above. It certainly won’t be the busiest travel season that we have ever experienced and it won’t have some of the longer excursions like last year but it will give us all an opportunity to get out and explore a little this year. After all, our son wouldn’t want it any other way.

Eating Buffalo In The Mushroom Capital

Well, the summer day trips have officially begun. Of course, that means more pictures that I will be sharing some photos of the places that we see throughout the commonwealth. Well, at least this part of the state. For the first trip of the summer, we drove down to Kennett Square to spend a relaxing afternoon walking along the main street through town.

Having slept in to recover from the long short week, we got a bit of a late start on the drive so by the time we made it there (it is about an hour away on a less than smooth road) we were ready to find a quiet place to grab some lunch. With our first mission in mind we walked by a small breakfast place with a rather large cock outside…

 

…and a more reserved looking place with spring flowers hanging from the awning, nice lamps mounted to the brick, and metal tables and chairs on the sidewalk.

 

Finally, we remembered a place that we saw on the Travel Channel just a few nights prior. With a place in mind, we made our way to Half Moon Restaurant & Saloon where I could break down one of my wife’s food barriers with a buffalo burger (highly recommended for great food at good prices).  

After an excellent meal in a nearly empty dining room we just sat there for a few extra minutes looking out the front window. It is nice to get out sometimes, go to different places, and just people watch. It’s also nice to look around at all the old buildings that line the street and the balconies that overlook the constant flow of tourists and cars.

 

With bellies full of buffalo (and mushroom bisque), we walked up and down a few of the small side streets weaving in and out of shops. While we were unsuccessful finding some inexpensive Wizard of Oz books for my wife (one store didn’t have anything old and the other one was closed by 4:00pm (Really?)) we did manage to find a nice little tea shop, Mrs. Robinson's, with surprisingly reasonable prices (and, no, we did not run into Simon or Garfunkel).  

 

Not surprisingly, we walked out with a small sample of a few teas selected from the hundreds that lined the shelves (including Carrot cake tea which should be interesting). Small splurge in hand, we slowly made our way back to the parking garage but not before taking a few extra pictures. While most of the storefronts seemed to be thriving, there were a few beautiful buildings standing there, vacant, with balconies empty, waiting to be used.

There were also a few alleys that I could imaging being packed full of people every fall for the Mushroom Festival.

 

Just before turning down the brick path to the car, I had to take a final picture of Marilyn posing in the middle of the Mushroom capital of the world.

It was a great trip for the two of us and a nice easy way to get us back into the routine of our adventurous weekends. While some of the places will be repeats there will be a few new destinations like our trip to Kennett Square. Stay tuned for more travel blogs throughout the summer as we continue our explorations of Pennsylvania. There will also be a few surprises this year!