Christmas Visitor



Look at this beautiful visitor we had in our backyard wetlands today!

Just a wee little guy - hopefully he'll come back to visit again.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

The first snow of the year...pre-Halloween! 

These shots were taken mid-day October 29th,

with beautiful flakes rapidly spiraling downward from up above. 

Forecast says 6-10". 

Soccer games were cancelled...

 - but -

Happy kids sledding everywhere!

Eek - power just went out mid-post. 

Keepin' my fingers crossed!  

This tree pictured below hasn't lost its leaves,

making the snow fall heavier on its limbs.

Drive-thru Zoo

Venturing out of Lancaster County...about 4+ hours drive over state lines (MD, WV & VA) and through the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley, our family found ourselves back for our 2nd annual feeding frenzy at the "drive-thru zoo" in Natural Bridge, VA.  Aka the Virginia Safari Park. At the risk of sounding like an info-mercial, it's a 180 acre park that is home to over 1,000 exotic animals from 6 different continents.

The park consists of two experiences in one.  First, a fun walkable petting zoo where there are miniature goats, potbelly pigs (this year w/lots of babies) and llamas to feed. Snakes and other scaly creatures to look at, as well as sloths, deer, tigers, kangaroos, exotic birds, monkeys and even giraffes that eat out of our hands!



Yes, this is a little slimy.  But kids love it & parents fight

for the perfect photo opp.

The park is well-maintained, and well-staffed with frequent hand sanitizer stations.  The staff are very knowledgeable about all of their animals and love to answer questions for all of us with "inquiring minds".

Once the walking tour is over, we hop back in our car where the real fun begins!  Upon entry to the park we had purchased 4 buckets of food for $10.  Since I'd read many online comments prior to our first trip, we ask for additional buckets (camels like to steal your buckets) and I bring along an extra plastic bag to dump all the food in to - then divvy it into smaller amounts so when you lose your buckets (and you will), you don't lose all your food at once.

Here's a shot of the beginning of our 3 mile drive-thru zoo.

Where the deer & the antelope play...

As we continue, various exotic (and a few not-so-exotic) animals come to be fed.

A nosy Watusi (one of the few we're not supposed to feed) thankfully doesn't tip us over!

The ostrich don't mess around and their hard pecks are a little intimidating.

Llamas are another fav; though they stalk cars and can sneak up on you!

Oh yeah, sometimes they bat those long lashes at you

 and then spit food on you.  It's not pretty.

This is what a hungry camel looks like:

And this is what a camel that steals your food bucket looks like!



But then they blow you kisses...

And look all cute for those special Kodak moments...



Can you say you've pet a zebra?

Okay...in actuality, that's a park no no,

but we had serious lack of impulse control when they got in our face!

By the end of the 3 mile drive, we ran out of food.

Luckily we didn't make this guy mad.

Though he did give us the stink eye.

Notice how quickly my husband rolled up his window!



Though the purpose of this blog was to highlight LanCo...this is such an

awesome experience, it just had to be shared. 

Here's their link:

http://www.virginiasafaripark.com/geninfo.html

and here are my last bits of wisdom for this outing:

• Drive your husband's car - it gets messy. 
• Don't wear white - llama spit, bison drool...need I say more?
• Ask for more buckets - we lose on average 3 each trip.
• Drive your husband's car. I cannot stress this enough.
• Buy 4 buckets of food - it's worth it.
• Take your camera.

Take me out to the ballpark

The Lancaster Barnstormers - Clipper Magazine Stadium

The perfect way to spend Labor Day weekend - a night at the ballpark!  Okay, we can all think of other places we'd rather be (Nordstroms) than pretending not to be sweating while in high humidity with the sun beating down on us, but since our family was there and we had such a great night...it just seemed like the fair thing to do.

Just to set the record straight...normally I would never think about blogging about a baseball game.  Nothing against baseball; I just wouldn't.  However, something very important came to me while at this game...something very important.  These were hands-down, no contest, the CLEANEST public restrooms I have ever been in.  Sparkling clean.  Not a spot on the floor, no toilet paper on a seat, no overflowing garbage cans, no droplets of water on the counter clean. 

Now, everyone likes a clean bathroom (except maybe those people on that "Hoarders" show - eew).  However, as a mother, the cleanliness of the bathroom gave me pause.  A pause that made me take even more notice of my current environment.  (For the record, by then my pause had taken me back outside the restroom.) 

Let me explain.

The "experts" whoever they are, claim that women make 80% of all household decisions.  From what a family eats, to what they wear, the decor of a home, the brand of detergent, what toys are purchased, and so on.  They generally have the final say of any major item, appliance or car a household might purchase right down to where a family dines out, vacations and the entertainment they see.  That said - why aren't more businesses marketing to Moms? 

I digress; back to the pause.  I pause.  I look around. I had noticed in the restroom that while it was sparkling clean, it also had a good-sized section cordoned off with a diaper changing station; was pleasantly cool (highly unusual in many sports stadiums), and had a crisp fresh scent to it.  Nice and appreciated touches to any mother.

Mental mommy notes (pun intended) are flying around my head at this point. Reread that Mental mommy line again, it's kinda funny. Anyhow some of the voices that were singing in my head would be highlights for any Mom who visits Clipper Magazine Stadium:

 

• Lots of kiddie entertainment.  Several playgrounds (free) that were fenced in for security.
• Carousel, bumper boats, bouncy slide and several baseball style games at a reasonable cost - good throughout the night as many times as a kid wants and a parent will tolerate.
• Plenty of seating for the adults - oh, and in a place you can still check on the ballgame periodically.
• Cute, clean area by the kids entertainment for Birthday parties.
• Multiple food stations with more options than just a hotdog! Yes, one even had Caesar salad.  They were clean, food was cooked on the spot and was relatively tasty, 3 condiment areas in each location with lots of napkins around (amen); kids meals with cute Lancaster Barnstormer buckets to take home (plz don't let us be hoarders...) and best of all - cups with lids.
• Cylo, the Barnstormers' mascot comes by for pictures and autographs in the kids area every game.

At some point we convinced the kids to actually watch some of the game, so we sat.  More mental mommy notes popped up:

• Every seat seems to be a great seat and aisles were roomy enough for my husband's very long legs.
• A fabulous, but not obnoxious sound system.
• Kooky games and entertainment or giveaways at the bottom of every inning.  
• A beautifully maintained grassy knoll to spread out blankets and watch the game for those who don't want to spring for higher-priced seats.

They (them again) say in marketing that if a person has a good experience, on average they'll tell 4 others about it and if it's a bad experience, they'll share their horror story with 10 others.   I want to share with the world the incredible job the Lancaster Barnstormers are doing at making moms' lives easier - they really, truly know how to "Market to Moms".  

Great job Barnstormers - we'll see ya next year.

Makin' Lemonade

Mother Nature handed my husband and me a few lemons this past weekend; actually a whirlwind of them we begrudgingly are referring to as "Irene".  Our fabulous plans to celebrate 10 years of marital bliss together in NYC (sans kids) came to a screeching halt when Hurricane Irene decided to encourage Amtrak to cancel their schedules and the city to be cleared out.


Babysitters were in place, so not willing to give that up, we moved on to Plan B: make lemonade. 

Destination: Lancaster, PA. 

Pretending to be in Manhattan, we only went to new places we hadn't yet discovered - here are some highlights.

First stop; lunch at "The Brickyard".  Great food, great beer, great service and a supercool jukebox that looks like a giant i-phone in the bar.  Note for future trips: bring the kids, they eat free w/adults.  They may change that policy once they see how much our kids can consume. Scary.

Second stop: An amazing new "go to" place for must have decor (and gifts for people we really like) Radel & Stauffer http://www.radelstauffer.com/aboutus.html. 
Throughout our wonderful and personalized tour of the store, the co-owner Daryl, took notes on everything I oohed & ahhhed over and handed the list to my husband on our way out as a ready to go Christmas list.  Gotta love that kind of customer service.  Did I mention their outstanding "Alessi" collection?

Next stop: Details on Queen St. http://www.detailsandpappagallo.com/  Wonderful boutique for home accessories, stationery, candles, etc.  Pappagallo is their trendy clothing store, which I'd been to before and didn't drag my husband into.  I can get in more trouble without him there.

Home for the evening was the contemporary and eclectic "Lancaster Arts Hotel":



This unique art-filled boutique hotel is definitely a (the) hidden hot spot in Lancaster County.  With just 63 rooms, the historic building is intimately set with over $300k worth of artwork by 36 different local artists.  The building was originally built in 1881 and the hotel architects should be showered with praise on how they maintained the building's integrity and brick walls while converting it from a tobacco warehouse to the hotel.  The rooms feature individual artist's work with descriptions and biographies, a sketchbook for guests to doodle on, a wonderful book describing this and other historical hotels, handcrafted furniture and the most comfortable hotel bed we've ever slept on.  And that's been quite a few. Seriously, seriously comfortable.

Sadly I didn't bring my camera, so all pics shown are from their website and don't do the angles, the artwork, the architectural design justice.  The nice staff did promise me entry to photograph the hotel anytime I want, so I will be back.  Check out these uber-cool & comfy chairs in the lobby:

After a romantic dinner next door at Lancaster's trendy "Fenz" restaurant, we wandered/teetered back and enjoyed a few spirits at the Arts Hotel's swanky bar:



Overall, we couldn't have asked for more memorable lemonade. 

Happy Anniversary Honey!

You say tomato...and I say "is it?"

Look at these little beauties found recently at the

neighbor's produce stand...teeny tiny "pea-sized" tomatoes. 

So cute, so adorable and so yummy!

I've been throwing them into tacos, pastas & salads -

adding to veggie sides and eating them one at a time. 

Just too cute not to feature on the blog.

To give more perspective, this is one sitting pretty 

next to a little spice jar.  Sure glad I'm not the lucky girl picking them. 

They grow like any other tomato, not in clumps,

so lots of picking one after another, after another, after another...

Hip & happening hangouts for the whole 'hood...

Thought I'd highlight some of our favorite family hangouts in & out of LanCo. Some we visit just once a year, some we grace (?!) with our presence frequently.  Lucky them.  A few we've outgrown, but are still worth a mention for families with wee ones. Either way, lots of fun for anyone!

 The Lake & Beach at Mt. Gretna

Which has to be followed up by heading across the street to

the world famous "Jigger Shop" for burgers & ice cream!

Below is one of their special concoctions.  Established in 1895,

their website shares wonderful historical stories about Mt. Gretna,

as well as a "web-cam" so you can find those sneaky teens.

http://www.jiggershop.com/ 

"The Hands on House"

A wonderful kids museum which keeps kids attention

until around ages 6-8 years.  New this year is a wonderful

addition "Mason's Active Adventure Garden".

"The Wilbur Chocolate Factory"

Home of the iconic & highly addictive Wilbur buds.

A sinful and sensational mouth-watering creation 

long before Hershey kisses.  (Though we love those too!)

So...all that talk of kisses reminds me

to include "Hershey Park".

Our favorite areas always seem to be their water

parks - lots & lots of ways to keep cool.
Also home to some pretty far out roller coasters...

HP also offers great concerts year-round & in the winter

the Hershey Bears hockey team rock the house!

Another LanCo hotspot for littler people:

"Dutch Wonderland".

Though there are a few rides like the Pipeline Plunge

that we haven't braved quite yet, it is a perfect place to begin

the amusement park experience for newcomers.



"Cherry Crest Adventure Farm"

checks in as our all time favorite fall experience!

A ridiculously well designed corn maze (see 2011's below),

plus the added benefit of tons of outdoor games,

arts & crafts, petting zoos & great food.  All digital-free!

Bit of a drive, but an annual must do.  Plan to spend the day!

Lititz Springs Park is home to the 4th of July celebration. Anywhere.

That celebration is a whole other blog in itself, but the following

You Tube video of the over the top fireworks choreographed and graciously donated

annually by Clair Global, will inspire you to visit Lititz for that reason alone.

Sit back & enjoy just a tiny taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V8Cldhyoe0&feature=related

And some indoor honorable mentions:

B2B Baseball & Softball Academy

LaserDome

Strasburg Railroad

That Bounce Place (new in Lancaster)

&

The kids indoor gym at Universal Athletic Club

**stock photos from company websites

w/the exception of Hands on House by yours truly**

Amish Paparazzi

It's not often my husband calls me names, though more than likely I deserve a few choice ones periodically.  However, since moving to Lancaster County I have more or less been stalking the Amish.  Stalking.  Such an ugly word.  I prefer to think I am kindly snapping photos in a "journalisticly" or "artistically"  albeit secret manner in which to share with fellow bloggers the new-found knowledge I've obtained about the Amish culture.

My husband has now dubbed me the "Amish Paparazzi".  This weekend I was not alone in my stalking as my friend and her son came to visit from Las Vegas and shared my passion in the quest for the perfect shot, or the chance to churn butter...we settled for pictures. 

We headed over to a town called Bird in Hand, which is a quaint village in Lancaster County -- chalk full of Amish.  This village's economy is based primarily on tourism - which means a lot of businesses that call themselves Amish, but probably aren't.

You see, it's been uncovered in my thirst for Amish knowledge, that the Amish never use their culture (or religion) to advertise. Thus when they own a business, it may be listed with their name but never includes the word "Amish".  So...when the six of us boarded our Amish buggy at the "Plain and Fancy" tourist trap (insert hee hee here), we pretty much understood that the premise was there and the authenticity was not.

Here are a few shots from our trip, beginning outside of Lititz, PA.

When you see a bunch of buggies on a Sunday morn,

they are generally gathered for church services inside a home or barn. 

This is my favorite shot of the day, two little boys outside the barn gathering.

When doing a drive-by, one can only be so quick at focusing,

as well as being incognito.

A family waits to go on their Amish buggy ride at "Plain & Fancy"

located in Bird in Hand, PA.  Nothing fancy about it!

The Amish always have beautiful horses pulling their carts,

their main mode of transportation. 

The kids were bored and missing their technology on the short 4 mile trip.

An "authentic" moment as a man passes us in an open air buggy.

Another real buggy siting, with a gorgeous Amish farm and

sprawling countryside to feast your eyes on. 





Lastly, one of my lovely Amish neighbors. Sweet as can be.

In traditional Amish garb.  Older Amish don't like their picture taken,

younger Amish don't seem to mind.  This friend actually has her own camera.







Lancaster County Top Ten Restaurants...and counting!

We like great food.  We like to eat great food.  A lot.  Yep, that said, we also have kids (who know how to act in a restaurant, thank you very much) so we also really like great restaurants that not only have great food, but also have nice little touches to offer parents of great kids.  Word of the day "great".

In review of the year (plus) that we have now lived in Lancaster County, I've compiled a list of all the restaurants we've discovered, and compiled the oh so familiar "Top Ten".  Based the list on food, ambience, service, and if it wasn't a date night, kid-friendliness.  Let me add that we have enjoyed many fine meals over the years at other restaurants not listed, but to be fair to current owners, I am only including those that we've haunted since our move here. 

Top Ten...in no particular order, with a few good reasons why you

should frequent these fine establishments:

The Horse Inn/Lancaster: known for a Lancaster County favorite "Tenderloin tri-tips" as well as scrumptious crab bisque.  A Lancaster secret, it's discreetly hidden down an alley and up the steepest set of stairs possible.  If features authentic ambience due to the fact it was built in the 1800's and rumor has it that it was part of the Underground Railroad.  Yes, that means a little old and rickety, but nice servers who have been around forever.  Generally not a young and hip crowd, but worth a visit all the same!  Great food...could improve the wine list.  And bless those seniors who always stop to say hi to our children.   Kids are welcome but seem to be a novelty there.

Isaacs Deli & Restaurant/Lititz/Lancaster:  Their "Bird of Paradise" sandwich makes a grown man cry. I've witnessed it.  Isaacs is a staple of Lancaster County and multiple surrounding counties.  Insanely good sandwiches.  Worth repeating.  "Insanely good sandwiches."  Cutesy atmosphere, friendly servers, food named after birds.  We've been going there for years and have never, ever had poor service.   This place is so good, it's my go-to place when I need a gift certificate for friends, teachers, coaches, anybody. Everybody loves Isaacs.  Oh; and they have really cool rainbow bread that comes with their pbj with marshmallows.  Can you be more kid-friendly than that? 

Tomato Pie Cafe/Lititz:  See former blog about my feelings on their food as I may weep if I re-write it.  Gourmet, fresh, original for this small town and sensational.  Not mentioned previously, but their grilled cheese has Brie on it! Yes, rich, creamy brie. Slow service, but is a must-have on the Top Ten list.  (Sidenote: I am still trying to replicate that darned tomato pie and it's still not there.) Grrr.

Blue Orchid/Lancaster:  Only on the list as it's the best sushi we've discovered thus far.  I am positive there will be better, but since sushi is a staple in our diet, had to include the one place we've been seen playing with their chopsticks.  It is always fresh and if you eat at the sushi bar, there's a waiter named Eric who is wonderful.  However...that said...there is a serious lack of creativity in their sushi and often a language barrier when I try to explain rolls I've had in the past.   It's a relatively new complex, so one must wonder who the heck thought of the tacky, outdated blue & purple decor. It's truly as bad as it sounds.  If you know of better sushi in LanCo, please, please, please email me!

Gibraltars/Lancaster:  Love, love, love this place.  Our first visit was right after moving here.  The manager Chris (apparently now at Penn Square Grille) and the chef welcomed us with carpaccio that was like butter.  My husband was moved to tears by the delectable lamb chops and I was seriously blown away with both my ahi meal and  the outstanding service. These are fine dining servers who still have a great sense of humor shining through.  It's a date night restaurant as you want to slowly savor every morsel of your meal and hey, they don't serve crayons with their white linens.  That statement might not be be true, but I've never seen crayons.  Excellent wine list and on both visits (the second with a larger party) we've had sensational service and sensational meals.
 

Penn Square Grille/Lancaster:  Great lunch place. Read about it in a local mag

and didn't realize it was actually the Marriott's restaurant.  My husband had the mushroom burger and said it was the best burger he's ever had.  He's lived a lot of places and eaten a lot of burgers, so that's saying something.  Kid-friendly and also catered to vegetarians, a nice change. 

Ciro's Italian Bistro/Lancaster: Same complex on Fruitville Pike as Blue Orchid.  Wonderful, wide mix of Italian food, hip/trendy atmosphere, fast and friendly service, great w/kids, some unusual yet good full-bodied wines, and it's own gelato bar to choose from!  Heavenly.  However...we've ordered takeout twice and they've messed up both orders.  Moral: Eat there and you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Oh; and get a reservation or you'll wait - always packed. 

Belvedere Inn/Lancaster:  Met some friends at the Belvedere for a wonderful dining experience.  Their menu is small, yet somehow covers a little bit of everything.   We dined on the second floor terrace - cozy, shaded and graced with lovely flowers, all absolutely perfect for a midsummer's night.  Our waiter was well-versed and happy to work with the chef to adhere to our friend's gluten allergies.  Overall, elegant, intimate, historical ambience, yet we'd definitely feel comfortable taking the kids for a nice evening.  Not a stuffy crowd at all.  Entertaining bars upstairs and downstairs if you just want to hang for music and chatting as well.

Annie Bailey's Irish Pub/Lancaster:  If I had to choose a #1, this would be it.  Oops, guess I just chose.  What a fabulous first experience we had there.   Can't wait to go back.  Claire was our server and she was amazing.  Amazing.  Welcomed us, gave us a thorough and mouthwatering tour of the menu; backed by astounding support for their chef (apparently used to be the chef at Log Cabin before it closed, which was one of our "old" favs and is newly re-opened and on our list of to do's).  Again, a menu so well-written it was difficult to choose.  However...who can say no to Lobster Mac & Cheese?  Not us!  And it was worth of every single little calorie enhaled.  And there were lots of calories. My mouth is salivating as I recall my ahi tuna. Yum.  Sigh.  I digress.  Claire not only outshined most servers we've ever experienced, she also went and got playoff scores for my husband every time she headed out of our area.  Claire got a handwritten thank you note. She was that good.  Ambience includes two original bars shipped over from Ireland, at least that's the rumor.  We dined downstairs but apparently the upstairs is gorgeous, so we'll ask for that when we go back.  And we will be back.  Asking for Claire. 

Brunch at the Eden's Resort/Lancaster:  A champagne brunch that should be outlawed.  Should you decide to take on this challenge, prepare with a week's fast.  Everything imaginable is available and cooked or baked to perfection.  The only other place on earth I'd rather eat breakfast at is Peg's Ham & Eggs in Reno, NV.  That's a whole other blog.  Back to the Eden - it is a once a year special occasion brunch.  Divine, simply divine.  Not for those weak on self control, such as myself.

Out of Lancaster County Delightful Honorable Mentions:

Devon Seafood Grill (Hershey / Dauphin County)

Blue Moon Cafe (York / York County)

The Jigger Shop Ice Cream Parlor (Mt. Gretna/Lebanon County)

On the list to try in the near future:

Fenz

Rosa Rosa

The Log Cabin

The Stockyard

Reflections

And the complete list of restaurants we've tried and (usually)

 enjoyed that didn't quite make the Top Ten:

Cork & Cap

Lancaster Brewing Company

Lancaster Dispensing Company

Lombardo's/Lancaster

Bent Creek Country Club/Lititz

Rachel's Creperie/Lancaster

Sushi One/Lancaster

Mojo's/Lititz

Airport Diner/Lancaster

Lititz Family Cupboard Restaurant

Brickerville House Family Restaurant/Brickerville

Bombergers Cafe

Cafe' Chocolate of Lititz

Fiorentino's/Lititz

Capriccio's Pizza/Lititz

General Sutter/Lititz

The Olde Lincoln House/Ephrata

Lily's on Main/Ephrata

White Swan/Rothsville

Lititz Junction Tavern *now closed

Roma's/Lititz

A&M Pizza/Manheim

2 Cousins/Manheim  

JoBoy's /Manheim

The Cat's Meow/Manheim

Folklore Coffee & Company/E-town

Dosie Dough/Lititz

Spill the Beans/Lititz

Brickhouse/Manheim

Ironhill Brewery/Lancaster

Loxley's/Lancaster

Experiencing the taste and culture of our new environment has truly been one of the greatest joys of moving to Lancaster County. 

Same as my sushi request, the search goes on for any breakfast that can rival Peg's Glorified Ham & Eggs in Reno, NV...and for any pizza that even has a ghost of a chance at being half as good as that of Flying Pie Pizzaria in Boise, ID.  

Help me out people - give a shout out for your favs!

Produce...fresh produce!

I (along with at least 4,000 other Lancaster County neighbors and tourists) ventured out on this gorgeous 70 degree morning to meander the aisles of abundance at Roots, one of our local Farmer's Markets.   Roots has been a single-family owned market since 1925 and as they claim, there truly is something there for everyone. 

There are 5 connecting buildings which house a host of produce stands, baked goods, homemade jams and jellies, coffees & teas, plants, flowers, leather goods, clothing, furniture, tools and much, much more. 

Hodecker's houses the county's best celery hearts; Donegals always has the freshest spinach and the Donegal ladies are always so warm and welcoming as they bag my items and, of course, I cannot go without a stop to see Miriam, a wonderful Amish baker who creates the most luscious lemon poppy-seed bread imaginable.  (And yes, I've tried to replicate it several times and it's never quite up to par with Miriams.) 

Incredibly low prices at a variety of fresh produce stands is the big draw for me.  Some of the attached pictures share the great bargains, while others simply reflect the beauty of nature's abundance just waiting to be sifted through, chosen and taken home. 

Tuesdays are the only days that Roots is open; year-round.  It's best to get there early if, like me, you don't enjoy a mosh-pit while shopping; however, rumor has it that the farmers don't want to pack up remaining produce and at the end of day, the bargains get even better.  For more info: http://www.rootsmarket.com/

Don't these radishes just scream "Pick me, Pick me!"

3 for $1 - can your store do that?!

Homemade Root Beer is a favorite of the Amish stands

This week's choice: Horseradish pickles!  And this nice lady didn't think

I was strange for taking pictures of her pickles! 

At least she didn't show it.

And for that, she gets a nice plug: Peter Piper's Pickles are outrageous!

Try the garlic or the jalapeno styles as well!

From Donegals of course

And my homage to Miriam's Pies...

She also bakes other forms of perfection besides Lemon PoppySeed Bread

Multiple flavors of whoopie pies

Okay, who can say no to this?

Mocha! Seriously?

And while trying to leave at the same time as the other 4,000 attendees,

I noticed this beautiful cornfield.

Then the blasting horn behind me woke me out of my revery

and it was back to this reality.

Moral: GO EARLY!!