Bassman's Blog

Lancaster to Home

Tuesday, November 11, 2008
We left Lancaster and stopped at the Bass Pro in Harrisburg on the way home. I got my squashed penny from the store. I believe this is my 18th Bass Pro that I've been to. Only 34 to go!!

Had a friendly discussion with Darrell the Greeter.

From my favourite store, we headed to Rochester to stop at Chris' new favourite "Christmas Tree Shops" to pick up a few more treasures.

We arrived home at 11:00 pm. We sure had a fabulous time. We hope to visit both Williamsburgsburg and Lancaster again in the next year.

Williamsburg to Lancaster

November 10, 2008

We finished up a fabulous week at Williamsburg by going back to the huge Yankee Candle store where Chris dipped a few candles.

We also had to take one more dramatic drive down the Colonial Parkway. For me this was the absolute highlight. Never have I seen such dramatic colours!!

We left Williamsburg on Sunday morning and made a stop to see the Luray Caverns. Paul had told us about them earlier this summer when he was there and they were everything he said they were. Really quite amazing. http://luraycaverns.com/
We walked for a mile and a half under ground going down as far as 168 feet below the surface.

We arrived in Lancaster, PA late on Sunday. We wanted to take a few extra days to get an overview of Lancaster so that we would have a lay of the land for a future visit. We drove through Bird-In-Hand and Intercourse. We drove through covered bridges.

Monday is obviously laundry day in the Amish community as we saw clotheslines full of clothes everywhere we went.

Horse and buggies were everywhere, complete with tail lights and blinkers.

A pleasant surprise was the train museum at Strasburg. I knew that they had an operating steam train there, but had no idea how extensive it was. There was even a motel nearby that was comprised of about 30 old cabooses as rooms.

We moved on to Hershey. Chris has wanted to see this for years. The city is complete with Hershey Kisses streetlights.

And of course we had to do the Hershey Chocolate Tour.

Great Week!

November 8, 2008
We have had a phenomenal week here at Williamsburg. The most pleasant surprise has been the amazing colours! We arrived just as the trees are peaking here.

Drives down the Colonial Parkway have been breathtaking as the trees totally surround you.

Wednesday was a rain day so we went to Norfolk and took a bus tour of the world’s largest naval base. It was very informative and impressive.

We of course had to stop at the Bass Pro store in Hampton on our return. They opened a year before we did.

It was a nice store, but quite a bit smaller than ours. One of the highlights was having a great discussion with three Good ol’ Boys from Tracker and getting their perspective on the election results! They were a great bunch of guys.

Friday was our nicest day with lots of sun and temps in the low 70’s, we had held off going downtown to “Colonial Williamsburg” waiting for the best day. I have to admit that the Americans really know how to showcase their history. Over 80 buildings that survived have been totally restored and 400 others rebuilt on their original sites. There are period actors all through the restored town.

One of the most interesting was the Negro Lady (her term) that offered to do Chris’ laundry for 4 cents. I of course got her down to 3 cents as she said that was what she charged the people staying at the tavern. She was a remarkable person with amazing detailed knowledge of the period. We probably talked to her for 30 minutes as she maintained her “character” through most of that time.

Once we were finished touring the town we left to return to Jamestown where we had been earlier in the week to take a ride on the “free” ferry that crossed the James River to Scotland and Surry.

We had lunch at the Surry House and enjoyed a bowl of “Peanut Soup” (and there are those that say I’m not adventurous). It was very good and tasted a lot like……….. peanuts!!

We ended the day returning on the ferry and then taking the Colonial Parkway to Yorktown the 3rd place that makes up the “Historic Triangle”. It was here that I spotted Santa Claus doing a little R&R before Christmas!

We have only managed to scratch the surface here this week and will definitely be returning again. I would recommend the area to anyone. Our timeshare at Wyndham Kingsgate has been excellent.

Where Were You?

Nov. 6, 2008
Where were you at the Historic moment?

Another thing to remind us of this wonderful trip to Williamsburg.

Williamsburg, VA

Nov.2, 2008

Finally some quality time with Momma! We left for Williamsburg at 5:00 am (got an extra hours sleep due to setting the clocks back last night). It was a smooth uneventful drive.

Gas prices dropped the further we got south. Paid $2.49/gal in Pennsylvania and gas is $1.99 here in Virginia tonight! The colours were awesome all the way through the mountains.

They are just peaking here in Williamsburg.

An unexpected bonus was just before we turned off I95 near Richmond VA, what do I see to my right??? Holy crap a Bass Pro!! I checked on the internet, this store was listed as a future site.

I was already planning to stop at the Hampton, VA and Harrisburg, PA stores so this was an added bonus! A very nice store that has only been opened for 6 weeks. Got the T-Shirt to prove it!

We got to our Timeshare (Wyndham Kingsgate) in Williamsburg around 7:00 pm. and were very pleased with our 2 bedroom unit.

We had dinner at CrackerBarrel and did a quick tour of the town.

This is a beautiful place with plenty of history and plenty of shopping too! We're already planning a return visit.

Goths, Witch, Scooby Doo and Pumpkins!!!

October 31, 2008
My M&M Kids and their friend Linda came home from school today dressed a little unusual. Miranda and Linda were dressed in Goth clothing and Maddisson was dressed as a Witch!