Relaxing in Lexington

There's nothing like a cozy evening at a piano bar, with some excellent jazz entertainment to help defray one's nerves from the crazy Sunday highway driving!

It's always a bit tough to leave, especially when Joshua looks so sad when the time to depart aproaches, but we certainly couldn't have squeezed in much more fun during our weekend visit.

And, today was certainly a treat for him as his Grandpa G decided to surprise him with a new bike after he realized that the old one that we bought him years ago was, sadly, way too short for his legs. I suppose that he must have grown!  Who would have figured that?  

As you can see, he is quite excited about his new toy!

And, I must say, he made quite a bit of progress in his ukulele skills, and he was anxious to play it for quite some time today prior to us having to leave.

We took one last photo

and headed on the highway for Lexington, where we had a lovely B&B room waiting for us at the Sheridan Livery Inn.  Traffic was crazy getting here, but the town is very quiet as none of the student have yet to return for their winter semester.

And, that certainly was quite a treat for us, as we could thoroughly enjoy strolling up to the piano bar for dinner.

I took a few photos.

There weren't many decorated storefronts, but the few that were offered some unusual entertainment.

Our dinner was delightful, and I decided to treat myself to dessert.

Life is short....right?    At least that's what people say. So, why not indulge a bit? 

By the way....it was melt-in-my-mouth fabulous!

We're headed home in the morning.  Thanks for following along!  And Happy New Year!

Felice Navidad

This morning began, true to form, with our Saturday morning trip to Blackbird Bakery.

As we were driving there, Joshua and I discussed the various donut options that we could choose from, and he seemed torn as to just what to order.

In the end, he stuck with his favorite regular:  a white cream filled, chocolate iced delight.  

It certainly seemed like an excellent choice to me, so I ordered the same.  Let me just say, it did not disappoint!

From here, we headed to Bass Pro, where there just so happens to be a small man-made lake on the grounds, if one was so inclined to try their hand at fishing.

Well, you know we couldn't pass on that, right?  We went inside to buy some fishing supplies, and came out with a new hat for Joshua. (He had forgotten his at home, as well as his sunglasses.) 

and a new shirt for Marty, who seemed to think that he would blend in with the background so the fish wouldn't know he was there.

Well, he does sort of blend in with that boat, but he certainly wasn't fooling anyone else!

You can see that the weather was accommodating.  But, the fish, once again, were not.

I couldn't help but chuckle at Joshua's casual fishing stance.  Look closely, and you'll see his left hand is in his pocket.  It's probably a good thing nothing did hook on his line!

These are the fish stocked in that lake.

Well, I suppose that we'll just have to take their word for it, because this is all we saw in that lake.

In fact, the only fish that we spotted today were inside

And Joshua was content to stare at them for at least 15 minutes!  Hey, if that makes him happy, that's fine with me!

Back at the house, Grandpa gave Joshua some Ukulele playing hints, and before you know it, Joshua was strumming and singing his own made up tunes.

He just might be singing "Tiptoe through the Tulips" sometime soon!  Who knows?

This year, we decided to try a baking adventure, so I brought my Pizzelle maker with me, and Joshua and I tried his hand at making the delectable cookies.  Actually, I did most of the baking, while Joshua did the counting in between bakes. (30 seconds)

It was great fun!

With great results.

We weren't finished very long when a crazy storm rolled through, knocking out the power in the house.  We ended up leaving shortly afterwards, to head to our hotel.  

But I hear that Snoopy was playing Felice Navidad for entertainment because he runs on batteries and no power was needed.

How lucky was that?

Gallivanting in the New Decade

I gave some thought as to whether I would continue to blog about my gallivanting adventures going forward, just because I thought it might be time to hang in the towel, as they say.
Then, I realized, that the chances of me being able to continue to write and post these blogs at no cost to me, was probably going to come to an end relatively soon.  So, I might as well continue to carry on as I have, particularly since this format is a great way to record memories for future enjoyment.  So, here we are, starting out 2020 by gallivanting.

We are in Bristol, visiting with our eldest daughter and her family, continuing our Christmas Holiday celebration.  Joshua was chomping at the bit, waiting for our arrival, upon which he immediately showed off his Christmas decor.

He is a big snoopy fan, and I had sent down ornaments and this fun light up display in December for his enjoyment, as they were just sitting in a box in my basement.  He was thrilled to have them!

After our quick tour, we wasted no time hopping in the car and heading out for some fishing.

The only problem that we encountered was that there were NO FISH to catch!   Joshua and I have decided that there must be Snowfish, kind of like snowbirds, that head south to Florida in the winter, because I can assure you, there was absolutely NO evidence of any scaled creatures in our usual fishing spot.   Although there were plenty of curious geese, who seemed to be laughing at us for being there.

Since there was no action on the worm front (and Marty had even brought down special worms from Schuylkill County!), Marty had Joshua work on practicing his casting. It took a number of tries, but after awhile he had it pretty much down pat!  And he was quite excited about it, for sure.

It just so happens that this guy turned 8 at the end of December, so you know we had to celebrate that monumental event, even if it was a tad bit late.  We decided to give up on the fishing and head to Blackbird Bakery to pick up a special cake that we let him pick out.

Technically, he was supposed to be sharing his birthday celebration with his mother, whose birthday was Sunday, but he was delighted to be able to blow out this candles on his own.

And he  certainly had a grand time opening his presents.

That last picture features Snoopy, holding Maracas.  When his foot is pressed, he plays "Felice Navidad" while shaking them.  Of course, Joshua thought this was just grand!

Honestly, I can't say when I've seen the little guy have so much fun!   And there's bound to be even more today!

I'll keep you posted!

Exploring the Wonders of Winterthur

Friday was reserved on my calendar to meet up with a special friend whom I hadn't seen in a while.  I certainly would have been happy to enjoy a meal and chat together, but when she proposed making a trip to Winterthur, I knew I couldn't pass on THAT opportunity!

All I needed to do was to show up at her house early and she would do the driving.  It doesn't get much better than that!  So we headed out early on this glorious day and arrived at our destination in the historic Brandywine Valley, shortly after the doors opened in the Visitor Center.

The house and grounds were home to the DuPont family and it once acted as a large working farm with a large sheep and bovine population amid the acres of fruit trees.  The house began as a relatively simple structure with only 12 rooms, but Henry Francis Dupont expanded it to 175 rooms so that he could use the home as a museum to feature his many collections of antiques.  The family moved to another home built on the grounds and the mansion was devoted strictly to Henry's passion.  The finished museum is so large that it is relatively impossible to get a photo of the entire structure, particularly since it is nestled among trees that have been standing for generations.

But, there was this very nice print of the house hanging in the Women's Room, of all places. It gives the viewer an idea of the enormity of this place.

For some reason, this particular day was a super busy day in regards to house tours, but we manage to secure an 11:30 entry with a delightful tour guide.  By the end of our tour, we felt as if Harry DuPont was our best friend!  She had a real love for the man and her enthusiasm was greatly appreciated.  

The first room on our tour was a dining room.  It held a very long table as well as some valuable artwork adorning the walls.

A small adjacent room had alcoves holding various tea sets from past eras.  I was amused by the teapot featuring an image of George Washington.

We then walked into a family room that was adorned with painted Chinese wallpaper on all of the walls.  Here is a closeup of the corner just inside the door.

The details get lost in this photo, but you can easily see how the walls are all covered with this unique paper.

This staircase came from a Southern Plantation and it stretched through several floors above.

Opposite the staircase stands a doorframe that once stood as the lintel around a fireplace. 

How clever is that?

Walking through, one enters the large parlor would have been where tea would have been served. The room features chandeliers that have not been upgraded to electricity, each holding a bay of candles, but low grade ceiling lights offer plenty of light today. 

We learned that the shiny silver tea set only needed to be polished every 10 to 15 years due to a special coating that was developed by the chemists at DuPont.  Pretty clever,  if you ask me. 

As you can see, every room was unique in character and there were so many interesting articles to admire.

Even the some of the windows had a unique character.

The view from the outside balcony was enhanced by the beautiful white puffy clouds hanging in the brilliant blue sky. 

The balcony overlooks a pool which now stands as a lovely reflection pond.  We ventured down for a first hand view. You can see the house in the background if you look closely through the trees. 

This cupid sundial stands on the grounds half way between the house and the pool.

and we took advantage of its placement, using the top to support my camera for a "selfie" shot with the house standing behind us.  

Well, at least you can see some of the house behind us. but it's fun to have this great memory of the two of us together.

Walking along the grounds, we explored the Enchanted Forest which offered fairy tale entertainment for little ones,  including a narrow house carved from a tree

a thatched roof house

complete with wee chairs for a child's enjoyment

and there was even an Acorn Tearoom

featuring chairs with a cute squirrel motif engraved on the back.

I haven't mentioned that the extended house holds nine floors, although we certainly were not able to tour them all.  But we did take an elevator up to tour the rooms that I've featured here.

In another part of the museum, there are rooms set up as a typical museum, with displays and explanations.

Here you can see just some of the textile displays.

There was unique American furniture

and artwork as well.

There was a large collection of ceramic items that one might see in any museum, but there were a few items that I particularly enjoyed, so I will share them here.

A five fingered flower vase

a gravy boat shaped like a mouse, which I must say wouldn't be all that appealing to see on a dining table, if you were to ask me.

And then there was the Campbell Soups Tureen Collection.  It had been mentioned on our tour, and I was eager to see it, expecting to be charmed by cute little Cambpell Kids.

Let me just say that there wasn't one of those famous cherubic figures in the lot.  But there certainly was quite an array of interesting soup tureens, most of them imported from Europe.  I've shared a few photos here for your enjoyment. 

Water Buffalo

Turkey

And a swan.

There were several dozen on display, many of which were quite unusual.  But I'm willing to bet not too many people have been served soup in their home in such style!

Winterthur is known for featuring various collections that go on tour around the country, and the one presently set up in a wing of the museum is the costume collection from the Netflix series, The Crown.

Marty and I had watched it, so I was certainly interested in seeing what was on display.

Having once been an avid seamstress, I found this to be quite fascinating.  The displays explained how the design team actually came up with the costuming for the series.  The production staff wanted the clothing to be authentic to the time period, so they pulled out magazines to examine the fashions of the day.

From there, they drew up sketches of the desired costume, and attached fabric samples that would be used.

Here you see the finished dress from the above sketch.  

In many instances, the costume was duplicated from a photo that the team would have in their possession.

It's a bit difficult to see, but Queen Elizabeth is wearing the original dress in this photo, when she was on her tour of Africa. 

Here you see Queen Elizabeth wearing the original dress that is copied above.

This was a copy of Princess Margaret's 19th Birthday dress, which I just loved.

The wedding dress took 6 weeks to make and was all hand embroidered, as would have been the original.

Princess Margaret's wedding dress was a bit trickier to make as the actress was 7 inches taller than Princess Margaret, but the designers were able to achieve the same effect.

Here is a copy of the coronation dress that was featured on the cover of Life Magazine, that you can see in the case.

Other items were simply styles that the design team felt were ones that Queen and family would have worn in the day, each unique to their particular style.   This was an older Queen style.

And this would have been from her younger days while touring Africa.

And this dress was featured in the film, but was not copied from any particular item that the Queen would have worn.

There was a room filled with clothing from many of the characters featured in the films, most of these being design productions rather copies from originals.

And, of course, the red letter box needed to be on display.

as well as a copy of the coronation crown.

It certainly was a fascinating exhibit, set up in an easy to read and view style.  And, despite being told that it was a record day for touring, we certainly didn't encounter any mad crushes of people in our adventures.

In fact, we enjoyed a peaceful, very entertaining day together, and I am thrilled that my friend suggested this.  It was a great day out gallivanting!