Our 2006 trip to PA

Took the girls on a vacation to PA. Eric wasn't able to join us due to limited vacation time. We had a great time; this entry provides a glimpse. Enjoy.

.... RTS

WEDNESDAY

Our vacation started out in great fashion, a meatball dinner in Uxbridge. Thanks Mom & Dad!

THURSDAY

We arrived in PA on Thur, 8/3. First up, a fabulous diner at T.J. Rockwells. All you can eat steamers, or crabs.

For the record, WOW, Laura sure can pound down crabbies.

We did take a group photo, but I haven't got a copy. If I can add it in here later, I will. Cara managed to escape my lens, so this group photo will probably be the only picture I have of her with us. To be fair, Cara was busy with coaching a volleyball team; but she was with us in spirit for sure!

FRIDAY

A day trip to Baltimore. First up was a trip to the aquarium. This guy's pig nose is a hoot.

Then off to Camden yards to watch the O's lose to the Yanks (boo, hiss, hiss). Not the best seats in the house; seems every 5 minutes somebody was standing up and blocking the view. A good ball game, and it sure is a beautiful ballpark.

We won't soon forget the 3 New York families, 14 of'em in all, that sat in front of us. If there is such a thing as 'typical new yorkers', they did well to fit the stereotype. The free food wasn't bad though; anything beat them passing it back and forth, forth and back, etc..

Russ and I lagged behind and tipped a couple in a bar in Baltimore's little Italy. Nice try Baltimore, but not quite Northend caliber.

SATURDAY

Off to Mt. Gretna; this place is a real gem. Too bad nobody got a picture of that old guy diving off the high platform.

When we got back to the house, Russ decided to play a game of Clue, nothing wrong with that, except he sort of forgot to tell us. We picked up on it when he impersonated one of the characters; yea, that didn't turn out to be such a good idea.

I never realized there was a PA edition of this game; who knew!!

SUNDAY

Took a ride to Dorney water park. Lines for the water rides were a bit much, but we managed to have lots of fun. Check out these smiles:

On the way back, we had a nice diner at a Cracker Barrel restaurant.

MONDAY

A day trip to Philadelphia. First stop was Reading Market. A converted old train station, turned into indoor market with little shops to buy groceries, trinkets, and prepared foods galore.

Then it was off to the old section of Philly. Stopped in on Betsy Ross's house.

Checked out an old meeting house, then a Quaker hall, and then an amazing little place called Elfreth's Alley. This is the oldest, continuous, residential street in the country. Incredible that all of these old time houses are still in use.

Independance hall was next. The girls took some time off from the history, and had some fun on their own.

Afterward, much to everyone's surprise (NOT), the girls went shopping. We ended the Philly experience with a nice dinner.

TUESDAY

Started the day off with a nice breakfast at Kuppy's Diner in Middletown. Followed that up with taking the girls shopping at the outlets in Hershey (they never seem to get tired of shopping!!). Later that day Russ, Mikayla, and I took a ride to City Island in Harrisburg for some batting practice.

WEDNESDAY

Russ and I took a ride to York, and toured the Harley plant. Rather interesting, but they don't allow any photography inside, so no pics. They produced 360,000 glides and road kings there last year (their other bikes lines are produced in other plants).

We then drove down to Strasburg and checked out the train museum. Russ would've made a great train engineer, his form was impeccable.That evening we dined on Russ & Dana's beautiful deck, and Dana surprised Kristin with a birthday cake. Wow, 22 years old, where has the time gone!THURSDAY

All good things have to come to an end, such was the fate of our vacation. I took the girls to breakfast in Hummelstown before we shoved off.

Just like it started, we ended the trip with diner at Mom & Dad's. Meatballs and eggplant.

How's that for bookends to a vacation; dinner at Mom & Dad's. Gotta love it!!

While this blog entry doesn't break the text record (Justin still owns that), but it certainly shatters the record for number of images (15 in all).

So, that was the trip. We had a GREAT time. Kristin and Mikayla aready blogged their thanks. This megga posting is my way of saying thanks to Russ, Dana, Cara, and Laura for a wonderful time.