Salt Spring Island, Canada

The more I research, the more I realize how much I don't know. I've been trying to figure out our summer vacation, and waking up at 6 just to have an hour to do so. With all of this research, I've found some places I've never heard of, that seem like great places to know about. Salt Spring Island, which is just off of Vancouver Island (also a fantastic place to visit--we did a story on it in Cookie), seems pretty idyllic. I thought this organic B+B called Bloom looked like a great place to go, although they don't take kids. Bookmark it for your getaway, or for your friends without kids.

We Love Pennsylvania (Part 2)

We made it to the Omni Bedford Springs Resort by 6:45, which meant no stopping between Lancaster and the hotel. We promptly had a delicious martini at the bar, which totally took the edge off the day of driving. I've already waxed on about the hotel in this post, so I'm just going to put up pictures here. It's still as great as it was before.

We Love Pennsylvania (Part 1)

A couple of weekends ago I went with Matt (I know, this is Travels With Clara--but sometimes you have to go away with just your husband) and we decided to go back to the Bedford Springs area, which is in the southwestern-ish part of the state. We had been to the Omni Bedford Springs Resort a year and a half ago (with Clara) and loved it. We knew the food was good at the property, and that there were tons of antique stops along the way, so we put the seats flat in the back of the car (you know, for more room for all the crap we were going to collect), and took off. Since we are the most ambitious squeeze-as-much-in-a-weekend people that we know, I'm going to break up what we did into a week's worth of posts, since you could probably do just one leg of what we did, and it would work as a relaxing weekend, or overnight trip. First stop was Lancaster, where we rushed to the Lancaster Central Market (you can read more about the town in this post!) because we were starving. We got an amazing hoagie (shoot, I can't remember, is that what they call it?!) at S. Clyde Weaver, and then headed to their antique row. If you wanted to make a trip out of Lancaster, you could overnight at the Cork Factory Hotel. It's right next to the Lancaster Science Factory, which looks really amazing, although I didn't go.

We loved all these vintage kids' clothes at Hinesite Vintage in Lancaster.

Have you ever had corn shoots? We bought a bag at the Lancaster Market.

 We fell in love with this dollhouse at an antique store on N. Queen St. (between E. Walnut and E. Lemon streets are where most of them are). Apparently, an old woman brought this dollhouse in to the shop, told them her father had made it when she was a little girl living in Germany, and they brought it to the States with them when they moved. Everything was made by her dad--even the windows were glass! We bought it for $70.

A stall at Building Character on N. Queen St.

Quickie Getaway: Vermont Day 1

I am on Day 2 of a getaway with my husband.  This is the longest we've been away (3 nights, 4 days) and it's pretty exciting for us. We drove to Vermont, and spent last night at the lovely The Pitcher Inn in Warren, which is about 3 miles south of Sugarbush (for those of you that ski).  Unfortunately the restaurant at The Pitcher Inn was closed (only on Tuesdays), so we went to The Common Man for dinner.  It was so great--very rustic while grand barn interior, with empty bottles of Dom lining the walls (its a tradition there, where people who are celebrating buy one, and then write their names and dates on it)...and great food.  Huge portions, which pleases the locals, but I would just share one entree next time.  We had microgreen salads, duck with risotto, and quail with a johnny cake and bacon on top (two quails in one entree and it was $23),  and it was all delicious.  I'll write about The Pitcher Inn and American Flatbread later this week.  After all,  I am supposed to be on vacation with my husband.