April 30

lighthouse at our KOA in Maine

Christian teaches Gracie how to tie a knot

We stopped at LL Bean to take a pic and Gracie and Christian played in the kids area....drawing on the gigantic wall chalkboard and tying knots...good job, son!! 


 While we were there I treated my kids to a Lobster Roll from Linda Beans Perfect Main Lobster Roll which was right across the parking lot (granddaughter of LL Bean, she is an LL Bean also....Linda Lorraine Bean)....I was surprised and delighted to see that they liked the lobster even though it was served cold because it was in a sandwich, very fresh...caught this morning....

Pine Point Beach

We drove to Pine Point in Scarborough to look for sea glass....no luck, not a rocky enough shore.......we found some shells and drift wood, though.  We drew our names in the sand and froze to death!!!    It was soooo windy, my fingers felt like they might break off.  I wish I had one of the nice thick warm coats from LL Bean....The beach was pretty deserted and the town looked all closed up.  We met a local lady as we walked in the dunes and apparently it doesn’t get busy here until after memorial day.  whe the summer renters start arriving, the shops all open and it is a busy beach town for the summer.  We walked by numerous b&bs and rental homes....all closed up for the winter.  The gal that we talked to had a beautiful Newfoundland dog named Bo with her.  He was huge, 140 lbs.....such a cute dog.  He looked like a huge bear. As he ran over, he noticed a dead seagull in the algae and yes, he rolled.  What is up with dogs??  Of course, chasing a stick in the distance there was a golden retriever.....they are following us everywhere....

Bo the 140 lb Newfoundland

Pine Point, Maine

From there we followed the only road that takes you from one end of Maine to the other.....when we reached Kittery, Maine (on the border of NH) we stopped at the Trading Post and shopped for souvenirs.....and guess what, I am so excited to report that I found the cutest moose jammies for my kids for their Christmas pjs!!  I have to order Gracie’s but we have them and I don’t have to search all over the place like I normally do trying to find the right sizes.....and they were cheap......We stopped and I started dinner which continued to cook as we drove, very interesting.  Now I can say I have cooked at high speeds!!  The kids were thrilled because they had hotdogs.....yum....or maybe not!

On to Vermont.....too dark to see the KOA but we had an official greeter when we pulled in and the laundry is open 24 hours so Pam and I have been doing laundry for the last couple of hours and are trying to get caught up a little on our blogs....the internet and the blog don’t cooperate with us very much!!! Are we crazy??.....I contemplated this as we trudged home in the rain at 2:00 am overloaded with laundry and laughing at the hystericalness of it all.....is it funny or are we just so tired that we can’t think straight anymore??? 

April 29, 2012.....All the way to Maine....

April 29

entering New Hampshire on the way to Maine

we are in Maine, the furthest pointon our journey...

Portland Head Lighthouse

This is the oldest lighthouse in Maine, commissioned in 1791 by President George Washington.  It has been shortened and heightened many times over the ensuing years.  It has had  updated lights added and it is still a working lighthouse today.....Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the lighthouse poem that is here and the midnight ride of Paul Revere....also a native Maine resident and he loved to visit and he was inspired to write as he sat here to think.......The day was so beautiful just extremely windy and COLD!!!  We walked along the cliff to take some pics and stood on top of Battery Blair that was part of Fort Williams during World I and II. 

We arrived in Freeport and quickly went to check out the LL Bean Outlet Store.  It closed at 6 so we only had a short time there.  Found a couple of good deals.  We spent the night, almost, at LL Bean.....here in Freeport there is a little section of the village that is all LL Bean land!  There are four stores and an outlet here, Hunting and Fishing, Bike, Boat and Ski, Home, and the Flagship store that has all of the clothes and camping items in it.  All stores all multi-level and there is a coffee shop and cafe in the Flagship store.  The kids enjoyed the trout pond, fresh water river aquarium, and real animals throughout the store.....moose, fox, wolf, skunk, porcupine, squirrel, bobcat, bear, and beaver.....Upstairs in the kids section, there was a huge chalkboard to draw on, a whole wall of knot tying, and a tree to walk through. 

We took the kids pics in front of the big LL Bean boot in front of the flagship store and sent them on their way to the RV to make dinner and kick back.  Pam and I joyfully shopped at the Home store kid free.  I think we were hungry because we both purchased quite a few yummy things from Maine.  I have a few of the awesome LL Bean canvas bags now and I am happy about that.  We took a dinner break and finished the day, really, at the Flagship store.  Did you know they are open 24 hours???  Seriously, Pam and I were walking around the store well after midnight and there were plenty of clerks to help us with any need.  The store staff were very polite.  The very best part of the whole shopping trip was that everything we bought was shipped right home to our door.....for free!!!  I wish every store did that!!!! 

April 28.......

Plimoth Plantation...yes without a "y" (the town is spelled Plymouth and the original plantation is spelled Plimouth with an "i".  Why you say?  Museum guests often question the unusual spelling of Plymouth in Plimoth Plantation. Plimoth is an old-fashioned spelling used by Governor William Bradford in his history of the colony, Of Plymouth Plantation. This spelling was adopted to differentiate the Museum from the modern town of Plymouth. There were no rules for the spelling of English words in the early 17th century, and each writer did as he or she pleased, phonetically spelling the word as seemed fit – sometimes differently on a single page. Plymouth is spelled a number of ways in colonial documents, including Plymouth, Plimouth, Plymoth, and Plimoth. When Plimoth Plantation was founded, it was decided to use Governor Bradford's most common usage, Plimoth.

Today I realized a dream of going back in time to see where my ancestors came from.....back to my roots.  Let me start at the beginning for those that haven't been entertained by my "I'm a Pilgrim" talk.  Last summer, we were at my aunt's house and we were looking at some old family albums and papers and as I started reading them in depth, I got really excited.  It appeared that a relative in my grandmother's family had put together an extensive family tree with a few branches.  The most exciting one right off the bat was the one that traced her family back to the Mayflower....WOW!  Being the history buff that I am, this was one of the most exciting discoveries that I have ever made for myself personally!  So, I took the basic names and dates that she had written down and traced them on ancestry.com and started my own quest.  I traced the line even further back into Englands middle ages and I am related to royalty....I don't think I will be seeing the crown jewels anytime soon or invited to tea with the Queen but it is just fun to know where you come from.  

My 10th great grandfather was John Alden, a cooper from England (although not a pilgrim by faith but a pilgrim by defintion, in the sense that he left his homeland to come to another), he came over on the Mayflower and is said to be the first one fromt he ship to set foot on Plymouth rock in 1620.  Being just 21, he was a single young man with no family on the journey.  He eventually married Priscilla Mullins, a young gi rl whose family had passed away during the early months of this colony.  This is how Wikipedia describes my(10th) great grandparents: 

 John Alden (1599 – September 12, 1687) is said to be the first person from the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620.^[1] He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton.^[2] He was also one of the founders of Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact. Distinguished for practical wisdom, integrity and decision, he acquired and retained a commanding influence over his associates.^[3] Employed in public business he became the Governor's Assistant, the Duxbury Deputy to the General Court of Plymouth, a member under arms of Capt. Miles Standish's Duxbury Company, a member of Council of War, Treasurer of Plymouth Colony, and Commissioner to Yarmouth

Priscilla was most likely born in Dorking in Surrey, the daughter of William and Alice Mullins. Priscilla was a seventeen-year-old girl when she boarded the Mayflower. She lost her parents and her brother Joseph during the first winter in Plymouth.^[1] She was then the only one of her family in the New World, although she had another brother and a sister who remained in England. She spun wool and flax for the colony, taught children, and helped with the cooking.
John Alden and Priscilla Mullins were likely the third couple to be married in Plymouth Colony. William Bradford’s marriage to Alice Carpenter on August 14, 1624, is known to be the fourth.^[2] The first was that of Edward Winslow and Susannah White in 1621. Francis Eaton’s marriage to his second wife, Dorothy, maidservant to the Carvers, was possibly the second.^[3]
Priscilla is last recorded in the records in 1650, but oral tradition states that she died only a few years before her husband (which would be about 1680). She lies buried at the Miles Standish Burial Ground in Duxbury, Massachusetts. While the exact location of her grave is unknown, there is a marker honoring her. 

The John and Priscilla Alden Sites property consists of the c. 1700 Alden house and the c. 1632 original Alden Homestead site. The property owes it significance to the cultural impact of The Courtship of Miles Standish, a poem about the courtship of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, written by Alden descendant Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and published in 1858. The public embraced the poem. It became one of the most popular national origin stories in American folklore. The property also is the location of important archeological fieldwork and analysis by Roland Wells Robbins (1908-1987), a pioneer in the field of historical archeology, making the site of national significance in the development in this field. Robbins located and excavated a foundation of the original Alden home in 1960, which yielded nationally significant data that shed light on the lifeways of the first English settlers in North America.^[2]

We arrived at Plimoth Plantation and watched a movie about the Pilgrims and Wamponaug Indians.  We walked down the path to the Wamponaug village.  From there we ventured down the path and entered the gate of the Plimoth village.  There was a blacksmith working in his shop making nails.  Throughout the village, we found residents in their homes. 

this is John and Alden's home in Plimoth

To my disappointment, my 10 great grandfather was not home today.  His neighbors said he was probably working in the common fields gardening, but neither hide nor hair could be found of him. 

We did locate his home and it was fun to see the inside. 

this is the inside of their humble Plimoth home

His home is the only one in Plimoth that has a shingled roof.  The reason for that is that he has the skill needed to make them quickly as he is a cooper (barrel maker) and he is  at word working.  It was fun to see how Grandfather Alden lived and worked.  There is a garden, animals, fort/chapel, community oven and blacksmith shop in the town.    

talking to Mistress Winslow about her food preparation

looking at the cannons in the community house/chapel/fort

We went down to the Craft building to watch artisans creating pottery, weaving, sewing and woodworking.  The pottery was amazing....they make cups, bowls, etc. to be used at the Plimoth Plantation and to sell in the gift shop.  While we were in the gift shop, Gracie lost a tooth.  She has been working on it for a couple days.  It took a while to get it all the way out and she was distressed about it until it came out but she did it and was really excited about it. 

From there we drove to the John Alden House to see the Alden property that was given to John in a 1627 land grant. 

It would be difficult to write a better summary of the significance of the John Alden House than that written by Dorothy Wentworth in the foreword to her publication, The Alden Family in the Alden House:
"There are houses built in the 17th century, but few have survived without 'improvements' such as plumbing, electricity, and modern kitchens. That the property which was granted to the Alden family in the 1620's has never been owned by any other family is remarkable, if not without parallel among historical sites. Today the property is owned by the family association, the Alden Kindred of America."

The house that is standing today was built around 1672.  John and Priscilla may have lived here for a short time and then it was the home of their son, John.  Matt, who runs the house, gave us a tour and let me buy some mementos even though the house is not open yet for the season.  As we walked up to the house, he showed the kids some artifacts that were just found during the garden renovation recently.  That was fun to see and he let the kids touch everything, pottery, nails, and glass.  He was so cool.  He showed us the walk outside with memorial bricks.  There are many names that are relatives and some that are just supporters.

Some Famous Supporters: 

Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
Jon Perry (Aerosmith)

Some Famous Relatives: 

President John Quincy Adams
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Marilyn Monroe (rumoured to be a relative)

Inside the house, Matt showed the kids fun house puzzle blocks as an example of how the house has grown and changed over the years.   The house has a really interesting stairway that was called “the good morning stairway”....it is a double stairway that goes along the back of the chimney.  In an old hallway that was made into a closet, the wallpaper is old and peeling away...underneath the wallpaper newspapers can be seen that are dated in the 1800s.  The process then would be to apply the newspaper onto the uneven wall boards to make the surface smooth.   Upstairs, there was a room with childrens toys, a doll and doll cradle.  The wallpaper would be applied onto the newspaper.  I just loved seeing the inside of the house and being able to walk around and hear stories of family that lived there.  One set of brothers had a feud going on when their mother died and left the house to both of them.  They put a wall through the house and one lived on one side and the other on lived on the opposite side....talk about crazy!! 

Plymouth Rock

We hurriedly drove into the town of Plymouth to go aboard the Mayflower II and see Plymouth rock.  The rock is surrounded by an enclosure to protect it from the many people that visit so you can't touch it but you can see it and take pics. 

Imagine, almost 400 years ago my great great great great great great great great great great grandfather stepped off of a weathered ship and placed his worn leather boot onto this rock and then the land of this beach.....wow! So cool!  Over the years the rock has been moved to protect it and it actually split into two pieces and was then repaired glued back together and placed here. 

Across the way, we could see the Mayflower II, a recreation of the ship that crossed the sea and brought these folks to this new land.  We boarded the gangplank and explored the ship.  Christian was looking for the cannons.....There were 3 sailors aboard that told us all about the journey across the sea and what it would have been like to have 120 passengers and crew aboard....cramped, smelly and not all together pleasant in any way.  Many of the passengers were sick and the sailors took to making fun of them, calling them pukestockings.....being mostly made up of Christians, the passengers turned the other cheek and at one point nursed the sailors that ended up taking sick.  Ironic, isn't it??

April 26, 2012...The Breakers.....

April 26, 2012

Good Morning.....I woke up to the most awful sound that any parent can hear.....a child throwing up.....uuuggghhh.  Poor Brittany was sick today and she stayed in the RV sleeping most of the day.  In light of this, we left for The Breakers a little later than anticipated.  We try really hard to get going and it always seems that something out of our control gets in the way.  What are you going to do?  Deal with it..... When we arrived in Newport, you could smell the sea on the air.  The breeze was refreshing, and very cool.  We found The Breakers and other beautiful, massive mansions all located on the cliffs

looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

 The Breakers is one of a few of the mansions of the Gilded Age that are now open to the public to tour.  At the time of its construction, it was by far the most lavish and most ostentatious private residence in Newport, if not the world.  Cornelius Vanderbilt II (whose grandfather the Commodore made his millions in the railroad) chose the prolific and prominent architect, Richard Morris Hunt (the same man who designed the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty) to design and oversee the building of his stately and stunning mansion.  Mr. Hunt was able to complete the project in just two years, an amazing feat considering the workforce and materials that he imported to build this piece of art.          

We entered the house (if you can call it that) and walked through with an audio tour (id friendly for the kidlets) that was informative and interesting.

  As we entered the mansion, we could feel and see many elegant things.  The Great Hall in the center of the mansion is immense, rising 45’, a full two-stories tall.  The interior of the entire mansion is decorated in the style of European extravagance.   Every room has magnificent details featuring rare marble, alabaster, and gilded wood imported from Italy, France and Africa.  The Morning Room is adorned with platinum leaf wall panels.  There is a fountain with dolphins at the back of the main staircase that you see as exit the Formal Dining Room.  By far, the most lavish and ornate room in the house is the Dining Room with its stunning painting of Aurora at Dawn which overlooks the dining room table.  When you couple this painting with the gold leaf that is applied on many of the surfaces, you have a very valuable piece of real estate!  I continued to be amazed when we got to the kitchen and Butlers Pantry.  The kitchen was organized and huge.  Hanging from an immense pot rack in the center of the room were every size of copper pot, pan, and lid that you could ever imagine needing.  All cooking was done according to  French cuisine.  Upne entering the hall that leads to the Butlers Pantry, we heard the tour guide tell about the roses that would be picked in the gardens each day.  Approximately  20 huge bouquets.  The Butlers Pantry is two stories tall.  All of the delicate china and the family silver are stored here.  Each home that the Vanderbilts owned had its own set of china.  The Vanderbilts had one set of family silver and it traveled with them to each of their homes and was stored in a safe that was located in a special room off of the Butlers Pantry.

The mansion is a must see if you are ever in this area.  The grounds have been maintained also and are very lush.  Situated right on the cliff, the scenery is stunning.  The first and second floor logias (verandas) face the ocean providing any guests to the mansion with sweeping views of the beautiful coast line.  One can only imagine how wonderful it would feel to wake up to that view every day.  The words that I leave here cannot do this magnificent work of art any justice at all.  The mansion is used once in a while for private events that are hosted by the Preservation Society of Newport County and is open to the public for tours.  I was happy to hear from the kids that they really enjoyed the tour! Success! They enjoyed a little bit of culture.  We left the mansion and drove over to the beach that runs along the backside and to the North of the mansion.  It was so cold and windy that we took pictures and gathered a little sand and a few shells and ran, literally, back to the RV.  The irony was that parked in the mostly empty parking lot was an icy lemonade truck....easy to see he was having a slow day!! 

A Revolution begins - A Nation is born

From there we traversed on to Minute Man National Historical Park where the opening battle of the Revolution was brought to life as we explored the battlefields and structures associated with April 19, 1775, and we witnessed the American revolutionary spirit through the writings of the Concord authors and a great multi-media presentation.

We walked out to the North Bridge where "the shot heard round the world" was fired and made famous by Henry Wadworth Longfellow in his poem. The fields and river were so peaceful and picturesque that it is hard to think about gunshots and battle sounds exploding here in the countryside. How must have the people that lived her felt to have gunshot go whizzing by their windows and lodging into the walls of their homes. 

We saw the evidence, though, in the two monuments to Patriot and British soldiers on each side of the bridge in their respective battle positions, one fighting for the preservation of old world tyranny and one fighting for independence and freedom. There was also markers to the fallen We heard about Paul Revere and we saw the sight where he and William Dawes were apprehended on their way to Lexington to warn patriots that the British were coming. We will visit the North Church where the lanterns were hung (one if land, two if by sea) tomorrow when we visit Boston. It is a peaceful landscape and very pretty. We walked along the colonial, country lane that is part of the park. We stopped by the tavern where patriots met. As the raindrops started to softly fall, we made our way back to the RV....another Jr. Ranger book done and another stop finished. 

As we drove out, we stopped by the home of Louisa May Alcott (authoress of "Little Women") and also Ralph Waldo Emerson (he lived in the same house years later).  On to the Boston KOA....getting lost on the way and stopping for directions at the CVS and a much needed potty break.  We finally arrived at the Boston KOA and even in the dark we could tell it was nice and clean!!  YEAH, something to celebrate!!

April 25

Goodbye to Daddy.....sad day here

I stayed up late with Tim while he packed up all of his things and tried to get it all in to the small carryon bag that he brought with him.....trouble is he bought 2 new sweatshirts while in NYC.   It was challenging but he got the bag zipped.  A short time later, around 2:30 am, Gracie came in to our room crying.  She woke up and realized that Tim is leaving today and she was upset about it.  She was so upset that I started to cry with her.  We snuggled with her and she finally went to sleep but she tossed and turned for the rest of the night.  When the alarm went off somewhere in the 7’s my eyes hurt so bad!  I am tired and I don’t want Tim to leave.  Neither do the kids.....Christian came in and was sad, too. 

Chad had been up early to go pick up the chicks that he had ordered.  Isn’t that amazing, that he could just go to www.mypetchicks.com and order 10 baby chickens to be delivered to him from another state??  They sure are cute...the Rodgers kids decided to name them after the illustrious travelers so now in New Jersey there are chickens named after us.  My kids were thrilled!  They were so excited to hold them and didn’t even care when the chick pooped on their hands.  OK, Madison did but the other kids laughed.  Christian and Gracie had a lot of fun this week collecting eggs and feeding animals every day.  Today was no different, they helped Annalise and Ava find the eggs and visited all of the animals to feed them.  Kim made “fresh from the chicken” eggs and toast and healthy smoothies that looked very “green” but tasted very fruity!  Tim and Chad left for the airport around 9 and we began the arduous task of packing back into the RV all the things that we had taken out and the new stuff that we have purchased.  I decided to mail home 2 boxes of purchases.  I should have sent home a bunch of clothes, too.  It makes the souvenirs a little more expensive, oh well.....While at the post office, we picked up burgers from Rambos....the local market.  They grind the meat right there and, boy, were the burgers good.  YUMMY!!

  The kids kept disappearing out to the church playground or into the basement to the chicks and the legos...We did end up leaving a lot later than we planned but it was nice to spend the day with Chad and Kim even if we were trying to pack up.  Thanks to the Rodgers family for being great hosts...not only did they loan us their van for 5 days but they let us invade them....do laundry at will, ignored the mess, teased us about our late hours, made us great food and refreshed us on this long journey....It was great to be embraced by family when we are missing all of ours at home so much! 

So we will drive straight to the Walmart in Rhode Island go to bed and get up and go to the Breakers in the am.  We headed for a TRader Joes that is on our way.  We replenished the cupboards a little and noticed that there was an LL Bean outlet in the parking lot....oooohhhh, we just had to go in.  So a little while later, we had some new things (awesome LL Bean canvas bags, a rain/wind breaker and new swimsuit for Gracie and a KLEAN KANTEEN water bottle for me all for killer prices).  On our way again, Christian and Gracie passed out.  We finally made it to Walmart, made beds and went to sleep.

April 21-24, 2012......I love NY....

April 21-24 
We spent 4 days going in to NYC each day.....so much to see and do. TRAFFIC AND LOTS OF PEOPLE!!!

(CHECK BACK FOR THE NEWS FROM THIS WEEK)

 

April 20, 2012.....Lady Liberty

......our family enjoyed the NYC skyline.....

April 20, Califon NJ.....We went to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island today....we took a couple of wrong turns and got really lost but we finally made it.  It was breezy and cold on our way over to the islands. 

Lady Liberty

 

 

I was very moved to see the statue come into view as we approached.  She was a gift from the people of France and what a sight she is. Standing in the middle of the bay, she is 305 feet tall including her pedestal and foundation.  She stands proudly atop her 11 point star shaped pedestal.  As we disembarked with all of the rest of the crowd, I felt awed at her immensity.  She was assembled in France and taken apart and reassembled here.  On her pedestal it reads,   

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Author: Emma Lazarus

We quickly stamped our National Park passports and the kids delved into their Jr. Ranger books.  (we are doing this program everywhere that has the books.....so Ft. Raleigh, Ft. Sumter, Ford’s Theater, Antietam, Independence,  Gettysburg, etc.)  It seems that everywhere we go, there is construction of some kind or renovations....so in that spirit, the pedestal and the statue were closed to entry.  But we did get to walk around her and listen to a Ranger talk while we were there. 

JSB????

While we stood at the base, Brandon started doing magic card tricks to Madison....surprising her with a card made just for her.....asking her to the JSB on May 5th at home.....She totally didn't get it at first and then was so excited when she realized what he was doing.....

From there, we reboarded the ferry and rode the short distance over to Ellis Island.  This is where new immigrants to our country would disembark and start the process to enter the USA.  Ellis Island was open from 1892-1954.   Millions of newly arrived immigrants passed through the station during that time--in fact, it has been estimated that close to 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors to Ellis Island.  In my case, I will talk about my grandfather, Niels Endrup Petersen, a Danish man who braved the journey to come to America to make a better way for himself.  He came over a 2^nd class passenger on a ship,   He sailed by Ellis Island but did not have to be processed here because of the his class level.  His name is on the Memorial Wall of Immigrants and I was thrilled to see it and run my hands over his name.  He is someone that I admire and respect so much.  He came here, learned the english language, worked hard, joined the military, served his adopted country as an airplane mechanic, and raised a family.  He was hugely influential in my life and I was proud and excited to see his name there!   

From there we boarded the ferry again and rode the short distance back to the New Jersey port of entry.  There we visited the 911 Memorial to the people from New Jersey that fell victim to the terrorist attack of Sept.11. 2001.  The memorial is two steel structures that when you view from the correct angle, looks just like the view of the two buildings that you would have seen across the water in NYC from the Jersey side. 

We then drove over to Carlo’s Bakery, the famous Hoboken bakery of Cake Boss, The Next Great Baker, Buddy Valastro and La Famiglia from TLC. Our family watches these shows and we are enthusiastic fans of both.  When we pulled up to park we were overjoyed to see an open space right in front of the bakery!!  We couldn’t believe our good fortune......oooops we spoke to soon for upon leaving the bakery we saw a ticket attached to the windshield.......drat!!   In the meantime, we had gone into the shop (no line to get in...usually there are lines down the street)  where it was packed with people all waiting their turn to snatch up the yummy pastries from the cases.  We picked a small cheesecake, cannolis, meringue cookie, and LOBSTER TAILS!! Seriously, these have to be the yummiest ones in the bakery.....So back to the ticket, we exited the bakery and found a $30 parking ticket on the windshield....better pay closer attention to those signs!!  We were not happy!!  No worries, we were shortly to taste and enjoy our treats!!
 

....Gracie's sweet tooth had a hard time making a choice....

...don't these cakes look yummy??

 



...these lobster tails were soooo good!!!!

...cheesecake.....

,,,,,so many yummy treats!!



.......Gracie is a sweet-a-holic.....