Staycation

    Last week was a "staycation" for us.  We normally go away but with planning our daughter's wedding and then hubby needing a new car, we decided that day trips was the way to go this year.

     We started off on Monday morning taking a drive into Burlington, NJ.  Hubby wanted to check the navigation system on the car to see how it worked and see how "user friendly" it was.   
     Hubby is pretty accommodating when I ask if he'll "chauffeur" me to a quilt shop or two or three  :)    We visited a really nice quilt shop called "Olde City Quilts".  It's in a very historic area of Burlington that has an old working train that goes thru the center of town and the streets are cobblestone! 
After that we went on a search for a Joann's Fabrics for some notions and quilting accessories that your normal quilt shops don't carry.  He treated me to a favorite lunch spot, Panera Bread, and then a quick visit to Wegman's.  We don't have a Panera or a Wegman's locally so those two places are treats for me.
 
     On Tuesday, Sarah was off work too so we took  the
Statue Cruise and went to the Statue of Liberty!
We've always lived in New Jersey but for some reason we've never gotten onto the island for an up close and personal with the Statue!
It had only opened to the public again on the 4th of July so it was a great time to go over and see the island.  The elevator was out of order so we had to walk the 170+ steps up to the area below the statue's feet to go outside and look out over the river to New York.

I have seen the statue before but to actually be able to see it up close is an amazing feeling.  The original torch is inside the base of the statue outside the museum and heard the story of why it's inside now by a really nice park worker.

 

Ellis Island is still off limits since it had quite a bit of damage during Hurricane Sandy so we could only look at it as the boat passed.

Hubby and I have been on the island, back about 20 years ago for a company anniversary dinner....His company rented the island for an evening to celebrate and after dinner, dancing, speeches etc. we were treated to a boat ride around the statue with fireworks.   One day we'll go back but for now we were happy to ride past it.

 

Wednesday we drove to Maryland with boxes, bins, newspaper, packing tape etc for our newly married daughter who is moving back to NJ with her husband for a job transfer!   Can you hear me cheering ????

 

Thursday the hubs and son golfed and gave me a little relaxation time....

 

Friday was an overcast/sprinkly day so I talked hubby into another trip to yet another quilt shop.  I didn't even know it existed until I did a Google search of NJ Quilt Shops.  We got to Mouse Creek Quilts and dashed to the front door thru raindrops only to find it closed AND the shop was empty.  Guess I didn't look at the web site carefully enough because it clearly says that they moved  :)   So, off we go on another adventure, found it and did some shopping....   Great shop, great fabrics and very, very nice ladies in the shop.  So willing to help me pick stuff out and spend my money  :)

All in all, it was a really nice and fun staycation.  I went back to work feeling rested and refreshed.