~ Our Little Day Trip ~

Yesterday we went on a little day trip. I decided that it was time for me to place my order for a chair that I've been dreaming of having for several years now. I've recently sold some things on Craigslist and had enough for the deposit on the chair and we're planning a big yard sale this month on the 19th and will then have enough to pay for the remainder. It's a Lawrence Crouse Sack Back Rocking Chair, they're made in West Virginia.I actually have always wanted just the chair version but it will be replacing a bentwood style rocking chair that husband always sits in when his clothes are too dirty to sit on the upholstered furniture. It will set in a corner of the living room and the rocking chair is easier to slide on the carpet as he likes to pull the rocker out away from the corner to be closer to the tv and all that, so I decided to pay a little more money and get the rocking chair as opposed to the regular chair. It will be done in black over red with a crackle finish, which is the standard finish for this chair. I am so anxious to finally see it in my home, I don't think I'll be able to believe my eyes!

There were a few places to purchase it from and I chose a shoppe called Village Americana, it's located in a little town called Occoquan (pronounced Ah-ka-kwan) in Northern Virginia. It's about an hour and a half drive from us here in the Richmond area and whenever we go up that way we always try to time it so that we can eat at The Original Pancake House which is located in Falls Church. Now that's a bit further, maybe another 20mins. to half an hour but oh is it worth it!

When we lived in Southern California, we used to go to this place called The Pancake House, it was in Anaheim, and it was in an old house that was converted into a restaurant with the same lady taking names and seating people week after week, year after year. We thought it was a proprietorship and had no idea at the time that it was a chain! Anyway....one of their specialties is Apple Pancake and oh my goodness is it ever special indeed! It's kind of a bowl shaped pastry dough filled with apple slices that have been baked in a sugary cinnamon glaze, yum! It's not sweet like apple pie would be, you can really taste the apples and cinnamon, it's just a wonderful treat and super filling! Here's a picture of one from their web site:

Yum yum yum!....so when we moved to Virginia we were amazed to learn that there was a place called The Original Pancake House and it served apple pancake! Come to find out, there are about 100 of these restaurants across the country! Since it's a bit of a drive we don't get to go that often but since we were going up that way yesterday we were able to go and have our apple pancake. Our youngest son, Michael, joined us. He's 19 and is back home with us after moving out to see what that felt like, LOL. The grocery store he works in was closed for Labor Day and he decided to spend his day off with his old folks. Here is a picture I took yesterday as we arrived at The Pancake House, that is husband and Michael standing near the entrance. That place was packed and there was about a 25min. wait so wait we did.After our apple pancakes we then drove to Occoquan. Here is a picture I took of the main street there: It's a quaint little town with TONS of shoppes. There are a few places to eat there as well and a couple of them overlook this creek:
A picturesque little place indeed. Of course we were stuffed from eating our apple pancake so we did not eat there and since I was with the guys who aren't big shoppers, to say the least, I wasn't able to spend the kind of time there I usually do when my gal pal and I go but I wanted to pop into my 3 favorite shoppes. Here's a picture of husband standing on the corner, not sure why he had his hands on his hips LOL....and that is son Michael in the red shirt.

So after I placed the order for my chair I did a whirlwind tour of my 3 favorite shoppes. They mostly have stuff that I also sell in my own shoppe and I enjoy seeing the displays, but sometimes I run across something I haven't seen which is fun and they often times have a few antiques and handmades mixed in which is fun too. I have a "thing" for little benches and couldn't resist this wonderully heavy olde oak bench I spotted. I also purchased a cute little handmade pin cushion. In another store I found an olde boot jack that was priced well. I remember passing one up in a local antique store, going back for it and it was gone, and have regretted that for quite some time so when I saw this one I had to buy it. Here's a picture of my purchases:
Well by this time the guys had walked all around and were ready to get going so we headed back home. I returned home to find several orders waiting to be filled so I got right to work and started packing them up. With the long weekend, I haven't been to the Post Office since Saturday so my vehicle is loaded up and I'm off to the Post Office and to Fedex.



Have a great week everyone!