Vacation Day 3: Lancaster, Here I Come

I woke up early and departed The Chateau. Day three saw me start driving out towards the Lancaster area. I stopped by a naval and aircraft base which was closed and took some quick shots before anyone became suspicious.

As I left the naval base an aircraft museum popped up on my right hand side, so I had to stop again to take some more shots. It was too cool to pass up and who knows if I would ever see it again.

The highway continued and I made my way towards the hotel that I was staying at in Lancaster county PA. Also known as Amish Country.

Fulton Steamboat Inn:
Arrived early and checked in without a problem. The hotel is shaped as a large steamboat and surprisingly the interior is very classy and warm. They use warmer colors on the inside of this hotel than my last one and the surrounding area was just as beautiful. (5/5)

Prof. Nacker’s Lost Treasure Golf & Maze:
This place was quite literally across the street from our hotel so we decided to go and have some fun. I’m not a big golf fan nor have I ever played any sort of golf, but it was fun and I want to go again, when the weather is a little bit warmer. They had two different courses, one was of the mountain and the other was on the pirate ship. I voted for the pirate ship. (4/5)

Vacation Day 2: Waterfalls, Hiking and Bowling

My goal for day two was to simply forget about the stress of Day 1 (see lost bag in Day 1) and just continue to try and enjoy myself. The weather was still a bit annoying since it was raining on and off but I decided to take a risk and go to out and get some stuff done and see what else is in store here in Tannersville. This was my second day in the Poconos so I was in the same hotel, The Chateau.

Bushkill Falls:
The entry fee was $8 per person for the trail and hiking. They have four trails, some are as short as 15 minutes and the longest is just over 2 1/2 hours. I decided to go in between and take the yellow trail, which was about 1 1/2 hours. Of course my g/f isn’t much of a hiker so it took some convincing. The waterfalls here are simply beautiful and a must-see. I was both scared to death and amazed at the shere awesomeness that is a waterfall. We got pretty close to it and took a ton of pictures. (5/5)

After that, the trail became a bit less frightening. I hiked about 2 miles and saw a nice river as I did so. There were a lot of stairs and wooden bridges involved and needless to say, my g/f and I got a good work-out.

Callie’s Pretzel Factory:
While on my way back I saw this pretzel and candy factory and we decided to stop in and check out their pretzels. A few minutes later I walked out with a pretzel filled with baked apple and another with chocolate covered over it. (4.5/5)

Mountain Lanes Bowling:
In the evening, after my long day and dinner, I decided to go out and go do some bowling… for the first time in my life. I’ve never bowled before so I figured this would be a good time since the rain was coming down now and indoor activities were the only thing to do. (5/5)

Big Daddy’s:
This restaurant was pretty close and just up the road from us. I looked them up online and the reviews were pretty good so I said SHOOT. I ordered some chicken and risotto and it was fantastic. The problem here was the extremely rude employees who were vacuuming in the back of the hotel. I couldn’t hear myself think once they started vacuuming. I was hoping it would stop after a few minutes, but ten minutes later, I left in disgust. (4/5 for food, 1/5 for service)

Vacation Day 1: Enjoying The Poconos

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I have been busy actually driving around and doing things that humans should do. I arrived at my hotel in Tannersville on Saturday morning and everything has been going pretty well since then with the exception of the rain.

I went horseback riding with my girlfriend, went out to eat at a couple of local spots.

Hotel: The Chateau Resort & Conference Center

This hotel was pretty nice, not to mention affordable ($109/night). The people were really friendly and the pool and jacuzzi were really nice to go to and relax. Of course finding pizza became a pain here but I was finally able to get some. The largest thing I saw in the Poconos that day was the amount of Real Estate development going on in the area. Most of what I saw was buildings being renovated, detructed or built, real estate offices, real estate attorneys, construction companies, furniture store and advertisements for property sales. It became quite clear to me that the development in the area is very strong right now. The property sizes are nice and big and thus it is an ideal place for people to live once more employment is moved into the area. (5/5)

Mountain Creek Riding Stables:
We went here and paid $25 each so we could do some horseback riding. It was our first time (we are from NYC). The ride was pretty cool. I rode on “Patch” and my g/f rode on “Turbo”. My horse rode fine but hers would stop every now and then to “go”. It was a good experience overall but still a bit expensive at $50 +tax for two people. Because of the high price tag, I would probably skip this place and try to find a more affordable horse ranch. (3/5)

Barley Creek Brewing Company:
We ordered up some sandwiches and sweet potato fries and just hung out at this brewery and restaurant. they are known for their special on-site brewing. They give a tour at 12:30 around the brewery with some tasting and they are also a full-scale restaurant. The food was good and so was the service. I would definitely go back to eat there again. (5/5)

The Crossings Premium Outlets:
Very nice place to shop and a lot of nice stores. I bought some items at the Hilfiger store, but unfortunately my g/f lost her bag (and everything inside: camera, cell phone, cash, ID’s) so we had to spend all day trying to find it to no avail. This frustration pretty much put the day to an end abruptly. It’s not a good feeling to lose a bag on Day 1 of your vacation and all the pictures you’ve taken so far. (4/5)