Getaway

We don't usually travel far, but Alison and I get around fairly often to various points throughout Philadelphia's surrounding region. This past weekend we once again traveled to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, as well as its environs- including nearby Lehighton, PA- to enjoy the feel of small-town Christmas preparations.

The first photograph below shows a fun destination of ours: Country Junction, billed as the world's largest general store, which is located in Lehighton. One can nitpick and gently suggest that WalMart is probably the world's largest general store, but we won't talk about that. Anyway, Country Junction- with its wide array of eclectic products inside, and farm animals (available for purchase!) outside, is undoubtedly the world's largest old-fashioned general store.


The photograph below shows Alison inside Country Junction on Sunday, December 11, sharing a moment with our nation's Chief Executive. Country Junction has all kinds of fun displays like this one throughout its aisles.


Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, with its many excellent restaurants and quaint small-town feel, is a favorite destination of ours. We enjoyed dinner there at a cozy, wonderful restaurant called Black Bread on Saturday evening, December 10. Seen below is one of the many horse-drawn carriages offering rides through the town during the Christmas season. I snapped the photograph on Sunday afternoon, December 11.


During our getaway, we stayed at a nice Hampton Inn (for less than a hundred bucks a night!) located halfway between Jim Thorpe and Lehighton, allowing us to easily enjoy both areas over the course of the Saturday and Sunday we were out that way. Then, when our getaway was over, it was only a quick 90 minutes on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to get back home to the Philly area.

Sigh, we had to eventually feed the cats, after all. But we had a nice time while it lasted.