Family, Friends & the Fourth

Might this be a very long post? It may indeed – because I want to share all the pictures I have from the three-day weekend and our time spent in Pennsylvania. So, I’m about to dump a whole bunch of pictures on you and share a wee bit about our time in Amish Country. We had a great time, so I hope you enjoy my little recap!

 

We chose to go to PA on Saturday – Monday since Ryan and I both had Monday off for July Fourth – so we headed out around 9 on Saturday morning and the drive isn’t bad at all, about 2.5 hours depending on the route you take. Our first stop was Dockside Willie’s, near Harrisburg. Ryan worked at Dockside Willie’s while he was in college at nearby Central Penn. Ryan had taken me to this spot before, but it was a treat to share it with my parents and show them a little bit more of Ryan’s life in PA!

After a delicious lunch and some exploration, we headed to Lititz, Pennsylvania to check out the Wilbur Chocolate Shop. There used to also be a factory (a chocolate factory guys) but it has since been moved to elsewhere in PA (not Hershey though). The town of Lititz is so cute and is filled with great little shops! We checked out the chocolate shop and stocked up before walking down one of the main streets and popping in and out of several of the shops: soaps and candles, baby clothes, old fashioned toys, boutique clothing and bakeries and candy shops galore!

 

Our final stop before heading to the Air-BnB was the Bird-in-Hand Bakery that was right around the corner from the house Ryan grew up in! They had amazing baked goods, gifts and so much more... and Ryan used to sit outside the shop when he was small and sell lemonade! *sigh*

We stayed at an Air-BnB located in Gordonville and it was very nice – I think the owner converted a barn into several rustic units and he’s making a killing on this, because it looked like every little apartment was filled! We got our things organized and changed for dinner and then made our way to Quarryville to eat at CR Lapp’s Family Restaurant. This restaurant was started by Ryan’s uncle (his dad’s youngest brother) and is now owned/ran by his cousin Christina. We had dinner with one of Ryan’s oldest friends (and soon to be groomsman) Aaron – also known as Trim – and his precious baby boy, Nash!

I was finally able to try the famous Chicken Corn Soup (it was delicious) and I also had an Apple Dumpling! After going to see Trim’s new house that’s being built, we stopped in at the Giant because someone (me – it was me) walked out of the house with zero toiletries and so I had to rectify that a wee bit. Then it was back to the BnB to watch a little Super Store and get some sleep!

Sunday arrived bright and early – we hadn’t quite decided where we wanted to eat breakfast and after some back and forth, we ended up at The Speckled Hen. I will confess, I was dangerously close to becoming seriously “hangry” because my Chicken Corn Soup and Apple Dumpling had long since fled my stomach!

Also – please note how thrilled Ryan was to take a picture in front of a corn field. I am thinking I wasn’t the only one “hangry”.

After we had a tasty breakfast (look at my Blue Butterfly Latte), we perused some shops, including the Strasburg Creamery, Train Town (Jeff was in heaven) and some of the outlets – I found tons of things on sale at Loft for 60% off but held myself to two adorable dresses that will be perfect for our honeymoon and a cute little yellow sleeveless sweater! You just can’t beat 60% off! After our shopping, we headed to the Strasburg Railroad to ride the train and experience the Great Diamond Heist! Spoiler Alert: the Diamond was a person, and she was not a gem of a person! *cue cheesy laughter*

 

The train ride was really enjoyable – the drama that went along with it was fun to watch but I just thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the velvety seats as the breeze wafted through the windows and the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside rolled by – that was pretty wonderful! We also noted the coolest looking spot called Cherry Crest Adventure Farm and you better believe I was making notes to take my future children to this spot. It is like the pumpkin patch on speed – it looked absolutely amazing! 

We popped over to the other set of outlet shops and then made our way to YP to have their famous Stromboli for dinner! Ryan took me to YP early on when we were dating and we had a delicious Stromboli and so when we decided to head back, he immediately announced that we would have to stop in at YP to introduce my family to what a “true Stromboli” was! Ryan’s longtime family friends, the Hershey’s, joined us for dinner and we had a blast chatting with them and hearing more about Ryan when he was younger and especially hearing more about Ryan’s Dad!

Our final stop of the evening was the best stop of the evening: we went to Ryan’s Aunt Naomi & Uncle Bernie’s house and his Aunt Naomi had outdone herself in the hospitality department! Her back porch and patio were decked out for July Fourth and there were pretzels, chips, chicken drumsticks, boiled shrimp, fresh fruit and wine, lemonade, water, and beer for everyone to partake in! We were joined by the Hershey’s, Ryan’s Mom and Doc and Ryan’s cousin Geoff and his wife Amy!

It was wonderful to get to know a little more about Ryan’s family! His sweet Aunt gave us pictures of Ryan’s dad when he was small, and I know we will cherish those pictures! We had a great time sitting around the patio sipping lemonade and devouring pretzels (they were so addictive), chatting and sharing life and laughter! It might have been my favorite portion of the entire weekend!

Monday was the Fourth of July – and we kicked it off perusing the shops at Kitchen Kettle Village! The shops are certainly a more “touristy” aspect of Lancaster and Amish Country – but they do offer some wonderful shopping options and I really enjoyed checking the shops out! We also popped into Taylor Chip Cookies, which I have been seeing advertisements for on social media for weeks! The cookies are gigantic and while we probably should have gotten a half dozen… we got a dozen. Oops!

We had a late lunch at Park City Diner and got to see Ryan’s Aunt Barb! She was so precious, and kind and she gifted Ryan and I a beautiful hand-blown vase (that she makes herself). The food was delicious and after we stuffed ourselves with some slammin diner food, we hopped into the car and headed on our way toward Harper’s Ferry and then home!

We stopped in Harper’s Ferry long enough for Ryan to FINALLY get his bonsai tree! Last year we passed a woman selling bonsai trees and I didn’t stop for him to look… and I’ve never lived it down! Well, we finally stopped and perused the options and came home with our new bonsai: Rhino. I didn’t name the tree, but I did name the turtle chilling in the shade of the tree – and his name is Leo! We spent the afternoon sitting on the back deck reading, chatting and just enjoying the fairly decent weather.

Shortly after 6:30 we packed up the car with chairs, a blanket and some drinks and headed over to Middletown for some fireworks! Middletown is the teeniest little spot but they always put on the most amazing fireworks show each year and this year was no exception! They took things to a whole new level with arts & crafts vendors, food trucks and a band playing right up to time for the fireworks! Ryan and I grabbed ourselves some Schaffer’s BBQ and read our books until the sun set and the night sky was filled with fire.

It was such a wonderful weekend filled with so many wonderful memories made! I can’t believe we are already approaching another weekend (sadly – not a three-day weekend but still) and I truly can’t believe the blessings of being so loved. This weekend made me thankful – and that is a wonderful feeling to experience.