Friday, June 26, 2009

To Paradise and back


Yesterday Tim and I had a date and it was so nice..nice and relaxing. We drove down to Paradise...a small town outside of Lancaster. We needed to pick up a few things at The Amish Trader, a wholesale store. Then we went next door to Cackleberry Antique Mall.After the antique shop we went to IN GRANDMA'S ATTIC in Kinzers..Love that store especially the barn out back filled with lots of goodies!
On the way to Paradise we drove off the beaten path...we do this a lot. We love taking the "scenic drive" and let me tell ya..it was scenic! We left our home and got on RT 501 to 322 in Brickerville...drove through Ephrata...love that town! Then we decided to take Route 897 to Route 30...what a nice drive. I had my camera with me but I never did take any pictures. I was too busy just looking at everything and soaking in the beauty of the area. Tim and I were so impressed with how beautiful all the yards and gardens were. And the Amish were busy cutting hay ( I think it was hay!) and also planting. We saw an Amish family planting PLANTS of some kind in a big field. The dad was riding on an Amish piece of machinery driven by HORSEpower. It looked like this machine was making a hole in the dirt, then the Amish children were taking a plant and placing it in the hole. It was a hot day in PA yesterday and these kids had to have been hot and tired..it was a big field. We left IN GRANDMA'S ATTIC and got back on Route 897 and headed back to Ephrata. Tim found a restaurant in Ephrata on the Internet that he wanted to check out, LILY'S ON MAIN...SO glad he found it! It was so nice....http://www.lilysonmain.com/
We were seated by a window which overlooked the Main Street of Ephrata.
We spent a couple of hours there....enjoying a bottle of wine, appetizers, salad, meal and of course cappuccino and dessert...It was SO GOOD. The owner Steve Brown came out to our table a couple of times to talk with us..nice guy. We found out that he was a drummer in a band as was Tim! We could have talked all day with him...really personable guy. AND the food was so good...that meal ended up being our only meal for the day...too full to eat anything else the rest of the day! We will make sure we dine there again when we are in the area.

After we left Lily's we headed to Espenshade's greenhouse. Every Spring my Mother-in-law and I take a day and drive to Espenshade's and fill my Jeep with plants and I am not kidding..we fill it!! Well this year we never made it down there so I told Tim I had to stop in and get some plants...Now I know why we go in the Spring...there was not much left to choose from...but I did get some good deals on some Perennials...Now I have to find some time today to plant them...find time before it gets hot again!

I need to get out in the gardens and do some planting and tidying up before it gets too hot...and I need to open the Brickhouse Craft Shop. I hope you all have a nice relaxing weekend.
Thanks for stopping by our porch.
~~Patti~~

10 comments:

~K~ said...

Patti...you were in neck of the woods! You ate at Lilly's...haven't been there in a long while...You must go to Lititz on your next visit, you would love all the shops on Main...! Glad to see you made it to Esbenshade's...

How long does it take you to get to 501..? I live just off 501 and want to visit your area and shop...

Something Nice and Pretty said...

You are so lucky to live in that area!
Love all the plants you got too!
Have a great day!
Rondell

Holly Hills Primitives said...

Hi Patti, sounds like you and Tim had a wonderful "date". I love PA and one of these days... Sure wish you could make it to MI too. Thank you for the wonderful comments about my dad and our new little baby girl. Things have been a little hectic around here! Talk to you soon, Dawn

TeresaM said...

Sounds like a wonderful date you two had!!! I know exactly what you mean by the beautiful scenery in Lancaster County!!! Heavy sigh!! I want to be there!

Your plants look wonderful Patti! I didn't even make it to the greenhouse this year!

Have a great day!

Nonna said...

It was a very nice description of you lovely day. Every couple needs a getaway or laid back day to reconnect in this busy world.

My Hubs and I need to do some exploring and finding new, fun places in our neck of the woods. You have inspired me today...thank you !

Have a great weekend !

Tina❀ said...

My favorite place in the world! Lancaster, I love Paradise, my sis lived there for a while before she moved to New Holland, which is just as super. Honestly, I love that part of PA. But my real favorite place to be a typical tourist is Intercourse, Pa. Love that place. The Candle Barn, have mercy!!! At one time, my sis had 3 shops there. When I went to visit her, I never wanted to come home. I hated leaving. It's so clean and wholesome on that side of the state (from Pittsburgh here).

sonyadawn said...

Patti, this is my first time to your blog, and i love it, i love the picture at the top! is it your porch?? I adore everything in it!! So glad you enjoyed your date and how lucky you are to live in an area with such farmlands and quaint towns close by. Wish I lived closer... TN is just to far to drive from for a date night. HAHA
sonya

Henny Penny's Country Store said...

Hi Patti, I also think you should visit Lititz, park on Main St. and you can walk to all the shops. There is "The Herb Shop" right there and you will enjoy it. I also lived just 15 miles north of Lititz off rt. 501 and I would drive in a big loop and hit all the neat shops for the whole day. Happy July 4th.

Holly Hills Primitives said...

Hi Patti - Thanks for being one of my best "cheerleaders" about the shop. I do think that one of these days we need to "talk". Have a great 4th and hope you get lots of buz. Dawn

My Colonial Home said...

Hi Patti, I just loved reading this post....you took the exact route as we did the first of June when we were in PA - we headed from Brickerville over to Ephrata and through the back country to Rt 30 and we ended up at the same places! lol Small world.

The only thing we didn't do was stop at Lilys or Espenshade's - we were tempted to but we needed to get down to Amish Trader before they closed.

Thannks for the memories!
Karen
MY COLONIAL HOME BLOGT