Mother - Daughter 8.0

May 6th-8th

This year for our Mother-Daughter Weekend, we headed to the country for a relaxing but overly packed weekend.

We started our weekend with a trip down to the Lancaster Central Market. After wandering through the market and purchasing some fun things to take home. We decided to venture elsewhere for breakfast.

Not far from the market we found Rachel's Creperie.  This place was on point. We loved it!

After breakfast, we wanted to check out an Amish farm and not far from where we were was Amish Farm & House. As we approached the farm, we were sure our GPS was incorrect and it directed us into a Target Parking Lot, but it was correct. There in the parking lot was the old Amish Farmhouse with school buses lining up. It wasn't exactly the experience we were looking for so with even getting out of the car, we decided to try a different area to tour.

Through the country we traveled to Landis Valley Museum. This was an interesting place full of history and entertaining employees. We didn't realize it but it wasn't a traditional Amish farm, it was a traditional German community that they had saved from all over Lancaster and recreated in this location.

With the rain starting, we headed out to find a buggy ride to beat the rain. Thankful we were able to find Aaron & Jessica's Buggy Ride.

We had a fantastic time with our Amish buggy drive and he took us through his personal farm and taught us about aspects of his life and the life of Amish families. We even purchased homemade cookies and root beer from one of his grandsons.

We rushed to Wheatland for our final stop of the evening. Wheatland was President Buchanan's Lancaster home. While we were there our tour participated in a Period Re-enactment. I was even asked to be a Senator. It was a really neat experience despite talkative toddlers and salty tour guides.

The night ended with dinner at Lancaster Brewing Company. We had covered a lot of ground but we had plenty more the next day.

On Sunday, we made our way to Bird In Hand Farmers Market. This was everything we hoped it would be. We had an authentic Amish pancake breakfast and purchased way too many Amish treats for our drive home.

Our next few stops were to do a little shopping. We walked around Kitchen Kettle Village and found a quilting store to check out.

In the afternoon, we drove out to the "Coolest Small Town 2013", Lititz, PA. We both really enjoyed our time in Lititz. The Chocolate Festival that was in town was a bit of a bust for us but we made due by checking out all the local favorites like Wilbur Chocolate, little store fronts and a fantastic lunch at Tomato Pie Cafe.

We even took the time to learn about Sturgis Pretzels and became Official Pretzel Twisters!

Time went quickly and it wasn't long before we were heading to our final destination for the day at Strasburg Railroad. It is not a Mother-Daughter Trip without one meal of cheese and fruit and this year we were able to have that meal with a glass of wine on a train.

It was great! We had so much fun relaxing and enjoying the countryside.

I love having the opportunity to have this time with my mom and I can't wait to see what our next adventure will be.

Mother - Daughter Weekend 7.0

April 8th - 11th

This year for our Mother-Daughter weekend, we decided to head for warmer weather, Key West, Florida. We met in Richmond for a quick flight to Miami, FL where we rented a convertible so we could truly experience Key West by enjoying 166 miles, 42 bridges and tons of smaller Keys between the airport and our hotel.

After a few random pit stops along the way, we ended out at our hotel in time for dinner. We weren't ready to tackle Duval Street so we found a great little place, Hurricane Hole Restaurant, by the water and walking distances from our hotel.

The next morning, we were up bright and early to hope on the Old Town Trolley that would take us all around Key West. It was great! The driver was so funny and we even learned things about that little island.

We rode for a while and got off so we would take the tour at the Ernest Hemingway House. What an interesting life that guy lived. It was full of romance, drama and lots and lots of travel. I think we both really enjoyed the tour and the property.

When we finished at the house, we went walking down towards Duval Street. We walked for a while and explored different shops and enjoyed a little people watching.

We ended up finding the Turtle Kraals Restaurant where we stopped for lunch, on the water, of course.

After lunch, we did some more walking and found the Key Lime Pie Company. We won't pass up key lime pie in Key West, it is what they are known for! I loved it but it was a little too sweet for mom.

We were able to make it to our next stop, the Truman Little White House, just in time to catch the last guided tour of the day. I really enjoy this house. It is all really fascinating. It is pretty amazing that President Truman was able to relocate for periods of time to Key West. Who won't love working in Key West in the winter!

You can't go down to Key West without stopping at the beach, the Southern Most Point and Mile 0 on Route 66 so of course, we had to join all the rest of the tourists for out pictures too!

Before our final stop of the night, we stopped for our traditional dinner of cheese and bread with wine at Vino's on Duval. We sat for awhile and watched the night life to roll in.

Our final stop of the night was at Mallory Square to watch the sunset and all the people. It was a beautiful sunset and a neat experience with all the extra entertainment all over Mallory Square.

For our last day, we still had lots to cover, so we were the first people at the entrance of Fort East Martello Museum. We learned so much about the role Key West played in the Civil War and this building was used many other times through out its history.

 When we were done at the fort, we started our drive back up to South Beach. We ran into lots of traffic so we made a lunch stop at Green Turtle Inn.

We had plenty of time to explore South Beach once we got in and settle. There was a huge Pride Event right in the heart of South Beach so there was a lot going on. It was a great atmosphere.

After a walk on the beach, we settled in to Wet Willy's to grab a few drinks and enjoy the view and the people watching.

It felt like such a quick trip and we had so much fun! I can't wait to see where we head next year.