Travel Log - Gettysburg, PA

With my husband and I taking a vacation for the last few days, I thought it would be fun to do a few Travel Log posts, like I have done in the past. Both my husband and I love to travel. We like to “get out of Dodge”, so to speak. We like to see new places and try new things, but we also like to revisit places we have been before. A number of years ago we passed through Gettysburg, PA on our way home from a conference. We spent one night so we didn’t have much time, but we saw enough to know that we wanted to come back. This time we spent three nights and were able to see and experience so much more.

For my first day of travel this is what I was wearing.

I apologize for my crummy selfie photo taking. I always seems to focus more on the selfie stick than the outfit, I am taking a picture of. Ha, ha. I really need more practice, but time is forever chasing me down like some sort of spectral wraith reminding me, I will never have enough of it.

The outfit was meant to be comfortable and easy, which it was. It was starting to warm up, so I knew I wanted something that would be warm enough, without being to warm. Both my top and the sweater were recent thrift finds. The jeans are a brand called Angel that Kohl’s carries. They are extremely comfortable as they have that perfect bit of stretch, but still hold their shape well. Here is a skinny pair, and here are a boot cut pair.

This is the outfit I wore, the first full day we were in Gettysburg. I got this skirt at JC Penney just before our trip and I love it. It is stretchy, swingy, tiered for extra room and comfort and you don’t need a slip underneath. I thought it would look pretty with yellow, so I grabbed this thrifted tee, which I used before in my Pantone Spring/Summer series. I added my blue, fringe necklace, my blue Keds, and my white jean jacket.

This little shop in Gettysburg makes and sells, period clothing. Most of the clothes are geared towards the mid 1800’s or the time of the Civil War. Think Scarlet O’ Hara with her big hooped skirts and fitted bodices. That is exactly the styles they sell. They also sell men’s period wear as well. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they had a no picture policy. It would have been fun to try things on and model them for a photo shoot. Ha, ha. The pieces were beautiful and they also sold, bonnets, hair pieces, jewelry and other period type accessories. If you are interested you can visit their website.

This was my next outfit. On this day we spent time hiking around a few specific battle sights from the Battle at Gettysburg, like Devil’s Den and Little Round Top, and we also did a two hour horse tour, so I wanted to be comfortable, but also covered, from the sun and from bugs. This plaid top and the blue tank underneath were also recent acquisitions from Penney’s. They were having good sales that day I went and i had a coupon. My Christopher and Banks jeans are some of my faves, although most of them are stating to look worn, so I thought they would be good for the horsey ride. You can see my blue fringe necklace made another appearance. Who says you can’t look stylish when you are riding a horse.

The next picture is Little Round Top. It doesn’t look like much, but it was one of the decisive parts of the battle that day. If you haven’t see the Gettysburg movie with Jeff Daniels as Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, it is a must see!

The group that we did the horse tour with was Horse Tours of Gettysburg. I had been wanting to do this tour since we first passed through Gettysburg, 13 years ago. I love horses and horseback riding, but have never had the money to own my own or take lessons. When I was younger, I had a friend down the street that had horses and she would let me get on them once in a while. Also, when my girls were young, my older daughter had the same bug for horses I did, so we were able to find someone with horses that gave her that exposure. Of course, I went along too. Ha, ha. A horse ride and a bit of history? Sounds like a win, win situation and it was. I would recommend this for anyone, especially families. The licensed tour guide gave such good, detailed and interesting information about what events led up to the war, the actual battle and the aftermath of all that fighting. It was excellent. And yes, my butt hurt when I was done, but it was worth it.

Here I am on Dixie.

Here is my hubby on his handsome boy, Patriot. We both thought it was funny that he had the Union horse and I had the Confederate. Sounds a bit like our marriage at times. Ha, ha.

Finally, on the day we left Gettysburg, I wore this outfit. This fun sleeveless top was a find at the end of the season last year from H&M. They have such fun prints and unique pieces that I have to go in there every once in a while, just to see what’s new. However, I do have to try things on, because often times what looks great on the rack looks silly on me and other times, I’ll try something really different and it’ll be perfect. The distressed, jeans were a Kohl’s clearance find and the suede oxfords are older from DSW. Here is a fun blue pair, an espadrille version, and a leopard print.

I hope you enjoyed this look at the first part of our vacay. We have a few more days left and are spending the last two nights in Oxford, MD. I hope to have enough pictures to do another post on Thursday. Until then, I hope you had a great weekend and that your week is off to a good start.

Thank you for your support. I would love to hear if you have any plans for the summer to travel, or garden, or just chill. Let me know in the comments section below.

Have a great Tuesday.









Summertime Travels - Hikes, Rainy Days and Legos

Believe it or not, I do not have an outfit post ready for today. I have been extremely unmotivated to take pictures and my daughter and I have another photo session scheduled, but not in time for my usual Tuesday fashion post, so I do apologize for my laziness. I've already succumbed to the lazy days of summer, even though it is still spring. Ha!

Instead I thought I would write a post on traveling. My husband and I both like to travel and if you have followed my blog from the beginning you have seen me do several posts on our travels to Florida, our attempt to go to Maine last spring and a few other short trips here and there. A few weeks ago, we were able to travel back to my hubby's old stomping ground in Wisconsin. 

I was first to drive. Here my hubby is pumping gas. 

Wisconsin is a beautiful state, full of gorgeous state parks, awe inspiring bluffs, rivers and lakes, and rolling hills interspersed with working farms and polka dotted with beef and dairy cows. Wisconsin is a large state, so we kept our travels limited to the lower one third of the state. Most of our time was spent in or around Madison, which is where the state capitol is. Mad City is a thriving, growing university town, full of interesting hang outs, shopping and one of a kind restaurants.

Our first night we spent north of Madison in a little community called DeForest. We were planning to travel further north to a beautiful state park the next day called Devils Lake. The fact that I was going to be apart from my seven year old Grandson for ten days, meant that we both were going to have a little separation anxiety. He still had school during the week, but I told him to pick out a few of his legos and they would travel with me. I assured him I would be sending pictures. 

The "guys" calling for room service.

The next day was bright and sunny. I donned clothes that would be comfortable and easy to hike in. This was my outfit, but I exchanged the Keds for my hiking boots before we took our walk. This fun pair of jeans are Rock & Republic brand, which I got at Kohl's. They have a nice stretch and I love the zippered cuffs at the ankle. 

We drove the forty-five minutes north and found that most of the state of Wisconsin was hanging out at the park! We ate a picnic lunch and then proceeded to hike one of our favorite trails. 

Minions love bananas!

Here are some photos from our hike. 

At the top of the lake.

The guys wanted to hike too.

I love trees, especially with this back drop.

Another view of the Lake

Even the guys were pooped after the hike.

They slept good that night.

As you can see, this is a favorite spot of my husbands and of mine as well. He has fond memories of hiking some of these same trails with extended family members from when he was young. We were able to bring our own family here nine years ago when we all got together to celebrate my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary.

The next two days it rained, and it rained and it rained. Needless to say the guys started getting stir crazy. 

I'll continue this on a different occasion, so you can see more of the guys' adventure and more of our vacations pictures. 

Are you taking a vacation this summer? Where are you going? What are your favorite places to visit when you want to relax and have fun? I'd love to hear you thoughts. Leave me a comment or two.

Check back on Thursday, when I will have a fashion post on my Old Becomes New column.

 

Travel Log - Post 4

After five nights of camping under breezy, tropical, star-filled skies we packed up our tent and gear and headed north. We made a few of our favorite stops along the way. 

Frenchy's Salt Water Cafe is one of our favorite places to visit when we are in the Clearwater area. This "burger" is a deep fried filet of grouper and there is nothing quite like it! This is not the sandwich you want to eat if you are on a diet. Ha, ha. My hubby had to order deep fried oysters as well.

Instead of exploring the shops of Clearwater Beach, we moved further up Route 19 to Tarpon Springs. This little town has the flavor of a true fishing village. These fishing docks specialize in harvesting sponges. They even have a museum with a movie that gives information on how the sponge industry got started. We stopped in a few of the shops, where I bought a few gifts for family members then we got dessert at one of the Greek bakeries. Yummy!

This was my casual outfit for the day. I love the lose and comfy feel of the boyfriend jeans. I topped the jeans with a navy and white striped top. The tank top stripes go horizontal across the chest and vertical from the waist down. It's a fun look and even though the bottom flares out it still looks slimming because of the stripe direction in the right places. I wore my white fly away cardi when in the air conditioning.  Also, it helped to cover up my nasty, bright red bite marks. You can see them somewhat on my legs and lower arms. 

Here you can see the top a little better. I added some navy accessories and navy Keds for comfort while we were walking through the shops in Tarpon Springs.

Hopefully, now that we are no longer camping with the bugs, my bites will start to heal and my body will no longer be polka dotted. I love polka dots, but not on my skin! 

Have a great day.

Click on the links to see my travels from the start:

Travel Log - Post 1, Travel Log - Post 2, Travel Log - Post 3