A Family Visit

I always look forward to family coming for a visit. On October 3rd my sister, Shirley, and a cousin, Bobbie, came for a week's visit. They brought with them a friend of Shirley's from College, Virginia. Shirley lives in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. Bobbie lives in Nashville, Tennessee and Virginia lives in Memphis, Tennessee. Shirley left Ft. Smith on October 1st and drove to Memphis to Virginia's and then on Thursday drove to Nashville to Bobbie's. On Friday they left Nashville and drove 700 miles in one day to get here. It was a very long day for them. When you are traveling with others the time goes quicker, plus they had a book on tape they listened to (Yes, I know you don't end a sentence with a preposition, but it just works sometimes.)

St. Jacobs is a Mennonite community and is always a great place to take visitors. On Saturdays they have an outdoor market that is interesting to walk through. We got up Saturday morning, ate breakfast and then left to go there. It is about an hour and 10 minute drive. At the edge of town there is a peanut shop called Picards. (Unfortunately I forgot my camera-so no pictures of it.) We love stopping there because they sell all kinds of flavors of peanuts and have samples of all of them. Some of the flavors are ranch, dill pickle, salt and vinegar, BBQ, salsa, etc. You can make a lunch out of eating peanuts.

From there we went into the small town to walk through the different shops. I was a little disappointed because some of the shops there were changed and clothing stores were in their places. Anyhow, there were several shops that were the same. My all time favorite store is called The Weathered Gate. It has beautiful dishes, decorations, purses, candles, etc. in it with good prices. If I am looking for a gift for someone I usually can find it there. Since it was Saturday and nearing the end of tourist season, it was very busy every where we went. After going through the shops we drove down to the outdoor market, which is about a mile from the edge of town.

There are two big buildings at the market that have crafts, meats, baking, crafts and a great deal of other things. Outside you could buy fruits and vegetables, maple syrup and more crafts. A number of the Mennonites were there selling their items. It is interesting to see them in their outfits, and to see the horses and buggies they drive. There was a long line up for lunch most places there, but we found a little restaurant where we got a sandwich, and good fries and of course, diet coke for me.

More to come in other blogs.