Holiday Fun Small Town Style

The day after Christmas, hubby Bob and I went small town and enjoyed, "Shining Light Through The Darkness" at Kish Park in Burnham, PA. This is a truly home grown event in my hometown.  It began as a project by a student and has grown every year to become a welcome holiday event in our area.

Kish Park is a local park complete with picnic tables, a campground, duck pond, a stream, a community theater and a walking path.  From early December to early January, this park becomes a lighted holiday wonderland.The event is hosted by Freedom Avenue United Methodist Church. Different businesses and non-profit organizations sponsor and set up lighted holiday displays throughout the park. Visitors use the walking trail to enjoy all the displays. If you are not able to walk, a golf cart ride is offered.  If you go on certain nights, you can get a horse drawn carriage ride around the park.

Santa welcomes you to the park!

Just a few years ago, this was the extent of this event.  This year, there was some sort of activity or entertainment planned for every evening except Christmas eve, Christmas night, New Year's eve and New Year's night. There have been a dog walk and dog picture day, kid's make it/take it crafts, children's story time, a Christmas service, Karaoke and lighting of luminaries along the walking path.

New LED display on the duck pond

Many different local entertainers have performed including Saints and Singers barbershop quartet, Tim and Duane show, Cassie Campbell with Carla Traxler, Unusual Suspects, Free for All, Chris Ruble, Country Gospel Revival, Brush Mountain Band, Grace Fala with Rhonda Sweigart, Miranda Shoop, Drew Zimmerman, Blue Grass Country Express, Dylan Crosson and Mike Bair.  The night we were there, we listened to Drew Zimmerman while sipping our hot chocolate.  He was good!

Penguins getting warm by the fire

This was a totally free event.  Volunteers do welcome any donations you can make when you are at the park. The donations are used for expansion and maintenance of this delightful little piece of hometown fun. They also welcome any volunteer help. Check out the Kish Park Shining Light website for more information.

Destination: State Theatre for "It's a Wonderful Life"

My all time absolute favorite Christmas movie is, "It's a Wonderful Life". I put the DVD in every year on Christmas Eve, then fight sleep the whole time I watch it.

So this year, I found out that the State Theatre in State College was showing it on the big screen.  I was very excited.  We were able to purchase the tickets online for only $5 per person.  We went to the 7 p.m. showing on December 23rd.

Hubby and I found out two friends of ours were going on the same night.  We made plans for dinner before the show.  We went to the Green Bowl.  It was the first trip for John and Suzanne.  They really liked it.  We had a nice relaxing dinner and then walked to the theater.

John, Suzanne and hubby Bob at the Green Bowl

We were all surprised to see that the theater was almost full.  John and Suzanne had gone two years before and said there were only about thirty people there.  It was so cool to see a movie I almost know by heart on the big screen for the first time.  It was also really eye opening to hear groups of people laughing at the funny parts of the movie.  We all said our favorite lines out loud! At the end, everyone clapped and cheered.

Waiting for the movie to start

If you are in the State College area next Christmas, Check out the State Theatre if you would love to see, "It's a Wonderful Life" the way it was meant to be seen. If it's your favorite Christmas movie too, here's some things you may not know about the movie.  Amaze your friends  :)

1. It was based on the short story, "The Greatest Gift" by Phillip Van Dorenstern.  He couldn't get it published so he made it into a Christmas greeting card and sent it to 200 people. A producer from RKO Pictures saw the card and bought the movie rights for $10,000.
2. It was Donna Reed's first starring role.
3. Beulah Rondi, who played George Bailey's mom had played Jimmy Stewart's mom in three previous movies.
4. Director Frank Capra, Donna Reed and Jimmy Stewart all call, "It's a Wonderful Life" their favorite movie.
5. The copyright lapse from 1974 to 1994 (it made the movie free to anyone who wanted to show it) turned this box office bomb into an American movie classic.
6. Donna Reed really threw the rock through the old Granville house window in one take.
7. The high school kid who opens the gym floor to expose the swimming pool as a prank is played by Carl Switzer AKA Alfalfa from "The Little Rascals".
8. The film was shot in the summer of 1946 during a heat wave. Production was shut down for a day due to extreme temperatures.
9. Carolyn Grimes (AKA Zuzu) did not see the film until 1980, 34 years after it was made.
10. Myth Busted: The characters of Bert and Ernie have no link to the Sasame Street muppets.  Jim Hensen and Jon Stone (the producer of Sesame Street) just thought the muppets looked like a Bert and Ernie. 

What's your all time favorite Christmas movie? Share your comments!

Destination: Peter Mayer Stars and Promises Concert

Last week my friends and I started the holiday season off on a great note by attending Peter Mayer's "Starts and Promises" Christmas concert in Lancaster, PA. In case you are asking, "who is Peter Mayer?", we were introduced to his talents when we went to a Jimmy Buffet concert years ago.  Peter is part of the Choral Reefers band that backs Jimmy.

Peter Mayer plays lead guitar.

Don't expect "Christmas in the Carribean" when you see "Starts and Promises".  This is a totally different musical experience.  Peter is an accomplished guitarist and he tours with some pretty impressive musicians. There is Mark Holland, a native American flute player.  I counted 13 different types of flutes that he played while onstage. Alicia Enstrom plays violin and has played as the featured violinist for Cirque du Soleil. R. Scott Bryan can play just about any instrument you put in front of him and is oh so good as the group's percussionist.  Chris Walters plays a soulful piano. Zeb Briskovich played great stand up bass.  Peter's son, Brendan is a talented guitarist and vocalist in his own right who has begun touring with his father in recent years.

The music in this concert is eclectic, inspirational and uplifting.  There are influences from Peter's childhood in India, jazz and rock.  The concert is filled with Peter's original songs.  Two of my favorites are "Junk Man's Christmas" and Peter's version of "Go Tell it on the Mountain".

We were about two rows back.

The concert was held at Highland Presbyterian Church.  This was a small venue, so there was no bad seat in the house. The music was a celebration of the joy of the season and we all felt a part of the celebration.  Several times during the concert, we were asked to join in the song. What fun!

Last Spring, we came to the church to see Peter's Easter concert.  My friend, John White won an Australian guitar that Peter raffled off for the church.  He decided to donate it back to the church so it could be re-raffled.  He's hoping it will become a little like those traveling pants in the book.  He's excited to see where the guitar goes next and what it's story will be.

John White and the now famous Aussie guitar.

Peter and his band are touring the country in the next few weeks before Christmas.  Take a look at his tour dates.  Maybe you will be able to enjoy this wonderful slice of Christmas for yourself!

How to Switch Your Family Vacation Destination And Love It

TV room in our South Bethany Beach House

This past summer, my family reluctantly switched our vacation from Sunset Beach, NC to Bethany Beach, DE.  We always thought we would have to end our time in Sunset Beach when my mom and dad became too elderly to travel.  Not so!  They are in their early 80s and are healthy.  They love our vacation.  Turns out our adult children needed the change to somewhere closer to home. They all could make it for at least a few days around their jobs and various places they now call home.  Who knew.

Our bright and cheery bedroom!

Our last beach experience in Delaware was a week in a townhouse at Rehoboth Beach.  We weren't up for that after our great two weeks at Sunset.  Also, none of us were relishing the COLD water of a Northeast Beach in June. We kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that it wouldn't be as good of a gig as Sunset, but we would all be together and that would be what would be important.  Well, guess what?  We were wrong!

Beautiful beach, lots of space :)

My sister went looking for a place that might be comparable to our Southern experience and she found it in South Bethany Beach.  She worked with Sandcastle Realty.  She described the type of beach experience we were looking for.  They found us a sweet little beach house. It was big enough for our whole clan (15 people). It also had a lot of little "hideaway" places on patios and smaller rooms so if you wanted to be by yourself, you could do it.  It had a large sun room where we all hung out together, laughed, played games and read.

Me, with my rented bike in Bethany Beach

The beach was beautiful, with plenty of room between families. There were lifeguards up and down the beach, which made us all feel safe. The water was not too cold to get in (although on the windier days I opted to stay dry). The best part for me was Highway 1.  There was a bike path that ran up and down the road on both sides.  Hubby and I rented bikes and rode every day. We could ride to Bethany Beach and get breakfast or ride South and take in the old fashioned light house North of Ocean City.
We were also very close to Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City Maryland so we visited those boardwalks too.

Bike ride to the lighthouse.

I almost hate to admit it because I absolutely loved Sunset Beach, NC,  but I think I might like this vacation spot a little better.  What a pleasant surprise!

Where is your favorite beach vacation?  Please share it!

A Break From Winter in Key West Part 3

DAY FIVE

Sunday called for brunch, so we headed back to Stock Island for Pizza and Prusecco. Roostica is a fairly new restaurant. I would have to say it's a great addition to the islands. There were a variety of breakfast pizzas, yummy veggies and even a chocolate pizza for dessert. It went well with the cranberry mimosas that were served. It was great to be able to sit outside in the morning and listen to live jazz while eating breakfast.

Of course we spent the afternoon lounging by the pool. Another couple flew in from our area that day. They were so glad to be with us as the temps at home were in the single digits all week. Brrr!

The event of the evening was the sunset cruise we had all booked together. We boarded the boat, had some beverages, some food and some dancing. Unfortunately it was overcast so no sunset :( but on the way back to the harbor, the sky cleared and we got to see a beautiful moon rise over the island.

The food on the boat was a little scant so we decided to go truly tourist and spend some time at the original Margaritaville Cafe. Southern Drawl was playing live and as luck would have it, they were making a video, so guess who can be seen dancing through it in a conga line? Yes, it was our goofy crew.

DAY SIX

Although all our friends were staying for longer periods, Bob and I were heading home on this day. Mary Ann and Scott said we couldn't leave before having breakfast at Blue Heaven. We actually got to dine in a beautiful outdoor garden, complete with Key West wild chickens clucking and strutting under the tables. They served some tasty omelets and eggs Benedict here. After breakfast there was just enough time for goodbye hugs and pictures at Mile Marker 0 before catching the shuttle to the airport.

This was truly one of my favorite trips. When I think about it, the reasons are everyone could enjoy their time in the Keys in their own way and on their own schedule, the weather was beautiful and it provided a much needed break from Winter and we got to share a lot of new enjoyable experiences with some great friends!

Have you been to Key West?  If so, what were your favorites?

A Break From Winter in Key West Part 2

DAY THREE

Friday was an "on your own" day for us because we weren't signed up for any events. We ate breakfast at the hotel beach cafe and then took the Olde Town Trolley for a sightseeing tour of the island. When we returned, we had lunch at a tiny little Cuban Cafe. The rest of the day was pool and sun time.

That evening, Todd found a place on Duval Street called the Smokin' Tuna. We listened to Scott Kirby, who can be heard on Radio Margaritaville. No cover and the food was good too. We met one of Bob's One on One Fitness buddies and her husband. They had just arrived and flew out of a snowstorm to get there. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Cork and Stogie. Mary Ann and Scott know the owners. We spent about an hour just sitting on the front porch steps watching the characters on Duval Street. I love to people watch so this was a highlight for me.

DAY FOUR

Saturday was a big Wine and Food Fest Day. Bob and I worked out in the hotel gym in the morning and went to the little cafe across the street for a light breakfast. After a short rest, we boarded the trolley for a trip to Stock Island. This is where the "working folks" live away from the tourist area of Duval Street. We went to The Hogfish Bar and Grill for a shrimp boil. On the way in you could get white or red wine. It was a little better quality wine then at some of our previous stops.  "Barry Cuda" and his band entertained while we enjoyed our lunch.

The appetizer was coconut shrimp, one of my favs. The main course was a bowl full of boiled shrimp, Key West Lobster, potatoes and cornbread. I was a little apprehensive at first. The shrimp came, legs, heads, eyeballs and all and they smelled, well, fishy. The meal was already paid for so I dug in and hoped for the best. It's good I did because the shrimp were delicious and probably about as fresh as you could get. There were shrimp boats parked in the harbor right behind the restaurant. They say most people either prefer Maine Lobster or Key West Lobster. I prefer Maine, although Key West wasn't bad.

After lunch we pitted the wine pourers against each other in a facebook battle over who could give one of us the tallest refill. That made our table pretty festive until the trolley came back for us!

Another short rest by the pool was in order before we headed for the Duval Uncorked event. This featured 46 businesses on Duval Street. Each offered a wine and food taste. This was about two hours of walking, eating and drinking. Some highlights were Leather Masters (no more description here, this is a G rated blog!) a Western bar with a mechanical bull and a boutique that offered a sample hand washing with Secret of the Islands salt scrub. I'm going to order some of that soon for nice soft hands.

Duval Uncorked wrapped up around 8 p.m. We walked back to our hotel with Scott and MaryAnn but it was way too early for us to call it a night, so we met Deb and Todd at the Smokin' Tuna for some more live music.


Part 3 to come soon......

A Break from Winter in Key West

From January 23 to 28, my hubby, some friends and I took a break from the cold Northeast and headed to Key West for some warm weather, good food and good wine at the Key West Wine and Food Fest 2013.

DAY ONE

One nice thing about this trip is that we all made different travel arrangements so that we could come and go as our schedules allowed. Bob and I decided to fly to Miami and drive the famous Highway One to Key West. What a great way to start our winter escape! We touched down in Miami, picked up our Chrysler 200, rolled down the windows (aahh, what a treat in January for a Centra PA native) and headed down US 1 for an adventure.

Bob got me a CD for Christmas called, "Florida Keys Road Trip". It told the story of the Florida Keys as we drove. What a great way to start our trip; with some "us" time before we met our friends. At one o'clock, we stopped in Marathon to eat at Fish Tails, a sweet little diner with the best Wahoo you ever tasted. We also tried conch (pronounced conk, like a conk on the head) chowder for the first time. Yum.

Not long after lunch, we started getting texts from our friends who had flown straight to Key West. They were anxious for us to get there because they were already knee deep in the party! At about 3:30 we pulled into the parking lot of the Southernmost Hotel. We checked in and found Deb, Todd, Scott and Mary Ann at Wine School. We changed into our swimming suits and joined the fun of live music, sunscreen and mohitos by the pool.

Mary Ann and Scott have been to Key West many times. This was our first time and they were excited to share some of their favorite restaurants and bars with us. When the sun set we headed to Cafe Sole to try some raw conch. I had some blackened grouper that was to die for. Scott suggested the hog fish (it's kind of like snapper) that Bob really liked. We also shared some really good white wine. Key lime pie topped off the meal.

The next day we needed to walk off that dinner so we walked all over the island of Key West. It was a beautiful day to walk and see the sights.  Naturally after all that walking we were hungry.  So we walked into Camille's for a tasty breakfast of omelettes and Cuban toast.

It was pool and sun time for the afternoon, then the Key West Food and Wine Festival began with the Flip Flop Beach Party.  We tasted a variety of wines and foods while the sun set over the water. What a gorgeous day.  You just haven't seen the most beautiful sunset until you have seen it set in Key West. When it slipped into the sea, we all applauded.  What a show!

Our evening fun was the Mallory Square stroll.  We visited about seven different restaurants where we sampled food and wine at each.  It gave us a chance to experience places to dine that we would not have visited otherwise. It was a warm and breezy evening, a thoroughly enjoyable time to be near the harbor with good food, good drink and good friends.

Stay Tuned for Part 2....


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Kidnapped to the Finger Lakes!

Our latest adventure began when we started to plan our friend Todd's 50th party. His wife, Deb, thought it would be fun to plan a surprise trip for him. We decided the Finger Lakes would be a fun destination. So we planned stealthily for months.

On Friday, we picked Deb and Todd up at their house to go to Suzanne and John's for dinner. Todd did not know that Deb already had his weekend bag stowed in John and Suzanne's RV "The Clipper". When we got there, Suzanne said, "Let's have a little party in the camper." Once we opened the camper door, the party began. My husband said, "Don't you think it will be boring to just party in the driveway?", and off we went. At first, Todd was a little disappointed that he wasn't getting one of John's home cooked meals, but he got over it pretty fast when he heard where we were going.

In about an hour and a half, we were in Williamsport. We parked in Wegman's parking lot for the evening and headed for Bullfrog Brewery for dinner. Todd enjoyed a beer sampler. We all ordered appetizers and Bob and I shared a dinner of Walleye. I had never eaten it before. It was really good.

We camped in the Clipper for the night. When we got up it was about 47 degrees inside the camper! Time for some hot coffee and tea at Wegmans. We shopped for our lunch items and then it was time to leave for the Finger Lakes.

The first winery was Ravines. They have some pretty good whites and we were just excited to get started. The second winery was Barrington's. At this winery a limo was stuck in a ditch. We felt bad for the driver. It was only his second week on the job. It didn't stop us from taking a picture though.

Next was McGregor's. This one had a nice atmosphere, a nice girl at the tasting bar and some good white wines. They also let you taste different spreads and jams on crackers too.

Our last stop of the day was Pleasant Valley, but we didn't taste here right now. This was the place we were staying for the night because they are "RV friendly". That means they will let you stay in their parking lot rent free! We had a campfire. John had cooked a great Italian meal of eggplant and ziti that we heated up in the microwave. It was delicious! We booked a tour of Pleasant Valley Winery for the next day and enjoyed our campfire.

Day 2 was just as much fun. We woke up and John made us breakfast sandwiches that would put McDonald's to shame. Our tour guide, Cory came to work and the fun began. Pleasant Valley is one of the oldest Wineries in New York. They began production before the civil war and the history here was amazing. If you go to Pleasant Valley don't skip the tour. It only costs $5.00. They are known for their champagne and sherries so make sure to taste some of those.




Next was my personal favorite winery, Dr. Franks. This place is great because all their wines are good, the people are very friendly and the view while tasting is to die for. We bought a
Riesling/Chardonnay mix.

The last stop was Heron Hill. This place was also awesome. If we had not already blown our wine budget for the weekend, we would have bought some whites here (can you tell we like whites best). They had some really good selections. The tasting bar guy, Eddie, poured tastes that were almost half a glass each. If you are driving yourself, plan to stick around a bit. We broke out our lunch here and ate while taking in the awesome view of Keuka Lake.

We had such a fun time. We are already looking for excuses to go back. Whose birthday comes next?


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Destination: Scary Saturday in Gettysburg

After Friday's excitement we awoke Saturday morning to a really good breakfast out in the garden of the Farnsworth House. I had yogurt with raisins, granola and whipped cream, yum. Hubby Bob and I were helping Seven Mountains Wine Cellars from 12 to 2 p.m. at the Gettysburg Wine and Music Festival.  We were looking forward to our first turns behind the tasting bar.

Breakfast garden at the Farnsworth House

All was going well and sales were brisk.  It was fun to talk to all the people as they came to taste wine. It was almost time for our shift to end when a storm blew in quickly. It was forecast to stay away until evening, but I guess it wanted in on all the fun.

At first it was just a light rain, but very quickly turned into driving rain with strong winds.  The tent we were using threatened to blow away.  Those of us working grabbed onto it at each pole to keep it from collapsing.  Once we did that, we were in it for the duration.  Thank God Scott the winemaker told Gina to unzip the canvas on the side or we would have all blown away!  Mary Ann (Scott's wife) and I were holding down a corner post when the wind really picked up and unhooked the ceiling joint from the post.  We were both too short to hook it together AND hang on so the thing didn't launch into the air.  Lucky for us a strong man who had been tasting earlier came out of nowhere and took over for us.

Wine festival after the storm...

Finally the wind subsided and the rain slowed down. Scott shook his fist and shouted, we beat you! To celebrate we went to dinner at a local ale house. Then we decided to take a look at the battlefied......in the dark. Our friend Todd told us battlefield stories at Spangler's Spring and Culp's Hill. Mary Ann and I were both thankful we had not become Gettysburg ghosts during the storm!

 Spangler's Spring on the battlefield...at night

Check out what happened back at the Farnsworth House when we got back from the battlefield!

Destinations: I Survived the Farnsworth House!

If you read my last post, you know I was more than a little apprehensive about staying in the haunted Farnsworth House in Gettysburg.  Well I'm back and I survived. Here's the weekend rundown.

We headed to Gettysburg on Friday after work. We picked up Mary Ann at Seven Mountains Winery. We got into town about 7:30 p.m. As soon as we hit the square we saw our gang walking down the street.  They directed us to the B and B. We parked the car and headed for dinner. We had 8:30 reservations at the tavern on the square. The food was great (I had a pretzel bread sandwich) and the glass of white wine I had was a perfect way to end my day.

Jeremy's chairs at the bottom of the photo

We decided to do a "ghost hunt" after dinner. It wasn't a ghost walk, you got a bag with ghost hunting tools in it. Things like an energy meter, a voice recorder and a devining rod (that was to ask the spirits yes or no questions and they would make the rods cross for "yes".) After some direction, Jim, the tour leader, took us across the street to where one of the biggest battles of Gettsyburg occured. We were then set loose to hunt for ghosts.  I didn't really find any, although it was fun to play with all the gadgets. Every now and then the energy meters would go into the red. It was too dark to figure out the voice recorders.  My hubby thought it was a giant waste of money and time. I thought it was kind of a hoot, but not in a scary way.

Custer's "Be quick" note at the bottom left.

We were in the "Custer Room".  I got a giant kick out of the framed original note sent by Custer during his last stand to reinforcement troops. All it said was, "Be quick". Guess that didn't work out so well! There were also little chairs in our room for Jeremy, the 3 year old ghost who supposedly haunts the Farnsworth House. I took some pictures around our room to see if anything weird would show up. I was so tired  that I went right to sleep. I woke up at 5:30 a.m...more on that later. Another couple in our group of 18 reported that they had a swinging chandelier and darting lights on their ceiling. They were a little spooked..oooooh.

Is that a ghost blob above the plate??

 

 

The really scary things happened at the wine festival on Saturday. Check back tomorrow for more creepiness....