Take a Walk Off the Beaten Path

If you are looking for a vacation that is off the beaten path and great any time of year, then do not look any farther than Bird-in-Hand. Yes, that is actually the name (the town of Intercourse is its neighbor) and it is a little piece of heaven located in the heart of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Bird-In-Hand Family Inn and Restaurant is located on ten acres of beautiful farmland that was once the home of the Smucker Family.

The Inn offers comfortable, clean rooms that also includes suites at affordable prices. However, that is not all! On the grounds of the inn sits outdoor and indoor pools, a hot tub, tennis and basketball courts, a miniature golf course, petting zoo, playground, as well as a walking path around a picturesque duck pond. They also offer a complimentary bus tour of the surrounding Amish farmland.

A short walk into town will take you to quaint shops offering hand-made crafts and quilts along with a nearby farmer's market and bakery that will satisfy any sweet tooth. Children will enjoy a horse a buggy ride to see the sights. Bird-In-Hand is centrally located so that within a few minutes drive, you can find Dutch Wonderland which is a family-friendly amusement park.

Avid shoppers will delight in all the Rockvale and Tanger Outlets have to offer. Railroaders will find paradise in nearby Strasburg where you can take a ride on an actual steam train. Thomas the Tank Engine comes to town a couple of times a year to pull coaches filled with little ones. The National Train Museum and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania are must stops for any train enthusiast. Antique shops and Amish word-working and furniture stores are in abundance too!

When the day is done, you can kick back and enjoy a wonderful meal at the Bird-In-Hand Restaurant which is located on the property of the Inn. The fare is farm fresh delicious comfort food that your grandmother used to make at great prices! Check out http://www.bird-in-hand.com/ to plan your next vacation! Our family loves it and yours will too!

Lancaster on Dwellable

Life is Full of Surprises

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get"

That is one of the most famous lines, uttered by Tom Hanks in the Oscar winning movie, Forrest Gump. An awesome movie and a great line mostly because it is the truth.

One of the things with making your living with your words is the unpredictability of it. Teaching was very organized and orderly with each day blending into the next. Students need structure and don't do well when every day is a roller coaster ride.

Writing on the other hand is definitely an adventure with a lot of ups and downs. I love my free lance jobs and continue to try and snag some more in between my blogging and trying to find a home for my latest novel.

I've been noticing that my posts on the new website http://theslowway.com/ has been generating a little more traffic for my blog which is very exciting since it is just past a year since I started it.

Last week, I got a comment on my post about the ghosts of Cape May, asking me if I wanted to have my blog featured on http://www.dwellable.com/. Dwellable is a travel site which helps people find the right place to stay. It also features blogs about many of the potential vacation spots. Since I would love to find my niche as a travel writer, I was really thrilled to get this unexpected opportunity to get some exposure for my blog as well as my other works.

While I am still waiting and working on my big break, I appreciate the nice little accomplishments that have come along.

Some days you get the yucky piece of chocolate with the gross filling you hate or you get the creamy caramel one you love. The fun is in the picking! While putting yourself and your work out there is a scary thing, the rewards do outweigh the fear factor.