Moving On

I am happy to report that people in Lancaster County are not afraid of the word "Christmas" nor do they have difficulty publicly acknowledging anything associated with it. Our hotel even had a Christmas tree in its lobby. We saw big, bright colored lights and nativity scenes everywhere, even at places that were obviously business buildings. It was...refreshing. We left home around 10:30 on Saturday morning and made the hour and a half drive to Lancaster to see Sounds of Christmas at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater (actually for us it was a lunch theater because the seats were better and the tickets were cheaper).

We made a quick stop at a Walmart on the way and we knew that we had arrived in Lancaster County because of the Amish buggy making its way through the parking lot. What could the Amish possibly want at Walmart when basically everything they own is homemade and without the use of electricity? I'd be interested in knowing that, too. Another observation: if you want to know the type of people who live in a certain area, go to the local Walmart. This particular store was a supercenter, which I hadn't previously been to, but it also had a huge selection of hunting paraphernalia with a wide variety of camaflouge, guns, and gun accessories. And I just might have happened upon the shoe section and was appauled to find what I thought were the only choices in women's dress shoes. I use the word "choice" very loosely because they were all the same simple, black, 1/2" heel, $6.47 type of shoe that are standard issue for the Mennonite women-an entire section of them! Too bad the camera was in the car.

Anyway, we arrived at the theater, visited the lunch buffet and the dessert buffet, and took in our surroundings. It's a really cool setup and rather than try to describe it, here's a seating chart: We were at table B8, so we were in the front of our section. The production was very well done. Unfortunately we weren't able to take any pictures due to "copyright laws and for the safety of the performers," but it was fast-paced and they were able to cram 41 Christmas songs into the two-hour performance. We started way back in 1910 with Christmas in Central Park where many nationalities and traditions were represented and explained. Then it was Christmas 1949 and a winter wonderland theme with songs like Baby It's Cold Outside, Favorite Things, Let It Snow, and Sleigh Ride. After Intermission, we saw Christmas in the Country where we peaked in on one southern church's Christmas play put on by the children (accents and all!). We were encouraged to sing along with songs like It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Away in a Manger, and Joy to the World. I really liked this part of the show, it had the cuteness factor along with some kid humor that you probably have to be a teacher to appreciate. Then there was some random "Under the Tree Toy Fantasia" scene where they sang/danced to The Nutcracker Suite and a few other original Christmas songs. Then the show was rounded out with "Swingin' Santa" and the title of one song describes this scene best: Zoot Suit Santa. Most of the songs had a jazzy spin to them, and we love jazz, so we enjoyed the finale. The actors/dancers were excellent and the costumes brought you back to the time period represented. This was probably more than you ever wanted to know about a Christmas show, but I really wanted to write snippets so I can look back and remember it!

All that sitting and watching tired me out, so we checked into our hotel which ended up being five minutes away, and we relaxed until dinnertime. Since we'll be driving to CT on D's birthday, I thought it'd be a good idea to celebrate early...which worked out because David is not only a member of the Cold Stone Creamery Birthday Club, but he's also a member of Ruby Tuesday's Bday Club. That means we had a coupon for a free Chocolate Tallcake, and boy was it tall! Here's a before and after shot...of the cake and of how D felt before and after eating it (with my help):



















We got our complimentary breakfast of muffins and danish the next morning, and we even got juice after Dave inquired as to why the juice machine wasn't working. Check out was at 11am, so we left for home then. The ride home went by really quick, but I managed to snap some pictures of Lancaster on our way out:

A very important sign!

Typical Lancaster scenery...

D ate at the restaurant advertised here when he went to Lancaster with his family years ago.
Oops, how'd that sneak in here? Well, while we're on the subject, I LOVE Auntie Anne's pretzels and can sniff them out anywhere. We stopped by a different Walmart on the way home and the minute we walked in, I asked Dave, "Is that Auntie Anne's I smell?" Sure enough, it was and Dave let me get one. And did you know they sell make-your-own-Auntie- Anne's pretzel kits? Dave didn't let me get it though.

Finally, our weekend ended with my boss's Christmas program at her church at night. We missed our church's program in CT and we will miss our church's program here while we're in CT, so we wanted to go to this one. We went last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so we were invited and attended again this year. We even got this neat little ornament that I am sure will look nice on our future big tree.

It's only going to get busier from here, especially in kindergarten, this week. We went to see the Nutcracker ballet (an abridged version for short attention spans) and then to lunch at Friendly's today, we're having our Christmas party tomorrow, baking and decorating gingerbread men on Wednesday, and performing a song and dance number to Home for the Holidays in our "Holiday" program on Thursday. Not to mention other get-togethers and packing plans going on this week...did someone say something about a vacation??