Relentless Rain

The second day of the second trip to Lancaster PA involved sloshing thru relentless rain to the Kitchen Kettle Village http://www.kitchenkettle.com/, a charming village of boutique shops my favorite of which was the Jam and Relish Kitchen where one could spend a respite from the relentless rain tasting an amazing assortment of relishes, jams, jellies, dips, mustards, and salsas. We went sloshing thru the relentless rain to the "Miracle of Christmas" performance at the Sight and Sound Theatre, http://www.sight-sound.com/WebSiteSS/ after which we boarded the bus and drove thru the relentless rain back to Long Island.
In spite of two days of relentless rain, everyone had a good time on the trip because that's what they wanted to do. They were a very sweet group of cheerful seniors who were happy to be traveling thru the relentless rain to have some fun with friends.
Did I mention the relentless rain? Holy Crap!

Filling in the Details, Part 2

I'm back in Lancaster, PA on the identical trip that we did last week but with a different group. So I'm going to tell you about day two of the first trip on day one of the second trip and then I will tell you about day two of the second trip on another day to be determined.

After a full breakfast buffet at the Country Inn Hotel we took a tour of the Kreider Dairy Farm http://www.kreiderfarms.com/. This was an interesting and smelly tour of the outdoor facilities of the farm as well as the "milking house carousel" where we saw the milking process in action. The cows are "steered" onto a carousel and as they go around it, the workers in their turn clean the udders, attach the milking apparatus, extract the milk and then the cow is "backed out" of the carousel. They explained how, since cows don't naturally like to back up, they have to be taught to perform this step in the process. This was done by spraying water in their faces at the end of the circuit so that the cow would back up to escape the annoyance. They said it only takes a couple of sprays for the cows to learn to back up. Pretty interesting but as I said...smelly.

It was so smelly that I had a few ladies in my group who went into the milking facility and made an immediate U-turn because they couldn't take the odor. They didn't even have to be sprayed in the face...they just turned tail and got out!

After the farm tour we went to the Sight and Sound Theatre and saw "The Miracle of Christmas" http://www.sight-sound.com/WebSiteSS/ which was an elaborately produced dramatization of the birth of Jesus. The production was lavish--the costumes, effects, staging, and scenic designs were stunning.

After the show we boarded the bus and head for home but made a dinner stop at Cracker Barrel in Downingtown, PA.

Filling in the Details

My group is 42 people from Brooklyn and Staten Island.

We got an early start and made it to the Rockvale Square Outlets http://www.rockvalesquareoutlets.com/ in Lancaster for some Christmas Shopping and Lunch. Then we went a short distance to the American Music Theatre for their 2008 Christmas Show which was a teriffic musical variety show with beautiful scenery, great costumes and excellent performances by a Broadway-caliber cast.

If you are ever in Lancaster check out this theatre, or even make a trip to Lancaster specifically for a show at this Theatre. Upcoming performances include Billy Ray Cyrus, Kenny Rogers, Lyle Lovett, The Neville Brothers with Dr. John, American Idol Pop Tour, George Jones, The Doobie Brothers, Peter, Paul and Mary, Jewell, and also from Broadway...Movin' Out, Stomp, and Cats.

Check the website http://www.americanmusictheatre.com/

After the show we checked into our hotel and went to dinner, family style, at the Good and Plenty Restaurant http://www.goodnplenty.com/. Yummy

Lancaster, PA

Tomorrow I am off to Lancaster, PA with a group for Rendezvous Travel http://www.rendezvous.travel/
We will be visiting the Rockvale Outlets, see two Christmas shows, tour a dairy farm and visit the Kitchen Kettle Village.
I will fill in the details tomorrow night.

Changing of the Guard

Our sobering visit to Arlington National Cemetery http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ included the opportunity to witness the formal ceremony of the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/tombofun.htm. The staggering number of gravesites of US military personnel and their families defies description.

The understated memorial at JFK's gravesite with it's eternal flame faces an impressive view of Washington DC across the Potomac River.

Lunch in Chinatown at Tony Cheng's Mongolian Restaurant was yummy.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/washingtondc/D53628.html

We also went to the Newseum, a brand new museum of journalism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newseum. It's a huge facility on Pennsylvania Ave. that provides an interactive experience of exploring media coverage of major events in world history. The $18.00 entrance fee seemed exorbitant in light of the fact that everything there is available on the internet if one is inclined to look for it. We were shown the door at the 5:00 closing time and found our way to the Metro for our final trip back to the Moose Lodge in College Park.

I am heading for BWI to return to LI and Peter is heading south, then for points west.

Before I come to Washington DC again I will buy new shoes.