It’s always fun to walk around Peddler’s Village and get some Christmas shopping done. This visit was on a rainy evening, but the wet sidewalks just made the Christmas lights look even more magical. We also walked across the street to check out their annual gingerbread house competition entrees. The judging was already complete but we saw some cool creations. View the photos here.
I’ve seen all of Alton Brown’s previous live shows. So, when he announced he’d be doing a Christmas version of Beyond the Eats in 2022 and one of the stops was Bethlehem, PA, I had to go. Besides, we usually go there for the annual Christkindlmarkt anyway. So, we got a see a really cool show and shopped the market on a slightly rainy day avoiding the crowds. It was a win-win! Check out the photos here.
A few years ago, we went to Easton, PA for their garlic festival and it was a lot of fun. Check that out here. So, when we heard they were having a bacon festival, we knew we wanted to go. We braved the massive crowd and sampled some delicious bacon products. We also watched the hog calling contest (seriously). We might have hung around longer, but the crowds were getting to be a little too much. I’m really glad they had a great turnout, but it made it really hard to walk around.
While in the DC Metro area visiting my cousin, we took a side trip to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. They were having a “Colonial Market and Fair” which meant there was more going on there than usual. After browsing the market vendors and walking all over the grounds, we took a guided tour of the mansion. Despite being from Philadelphia and having been in many of the buildings where our country was founded, walking through Washington’s home was fascinating and a bit awe inspiring. It portrayed him as a person, not just the mythical history book character who led our country. It also meant walking the same halls he did and seeing his work and living spaces up close. It was easy to imagine what it was like in the 1700’s when George lived there.
Thanks to the COVID pandemic, it’s been a while since I’ve posted any new photos on my site. Hopefully you’ve been following along on Instagram or Twitter in the meantime. Now, I’ve finally “traveled” someplace that was worth photographing.
If you’re not from Philadelphia, the terms “Mummers” or “String Bands” probably don’t mean a lot to you. However, to Philadelphians, they’re a New Year’s Day tradition going back over 120 years. While looking for someplace to go for the weekend, we discovered that about a dozen of the bands (a majority of them) were performing at Renault Winery in Egg Harbor City. It was a new event called Mummers Mardi Gras. It made for a fun mini-vacation. Even though it was only less than an hour from home, the festivities were all outside which made it a nice COVID-safe way to get away for a few days. We stood out in the barely above freezing temperatures for over 5 hours and enjoyed the string bands. A glass of mulled-wine helped me stay warm too.
Check out the photos I took and even a little video compilation right here.
I will gladly admit that I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to Thai food. I almost always order Pad Thai. That might seem boring, but I like the dish and it’s a good way to compare restaurants. Thai Terrace is one of the best I’ve had. The only complaint I have is that sometimes the spiciness is a little inconsistent. However, I’m willing to chalk that up to varying depending upon who’s cooking on a given day. They have four levels of spiciness. I usually go with #2, medium. It’s usually within my range of spice tolerance.
We also order typically a lot of appetizers. They have some really good ones. The pork dumplings are delicious. The chicken satay is incredibly tender. They also have one called Thai Shrimp Green Wrap that’s really unique and tasty. It consists of shrimp, peanuts, coconut, sweet chili sauce, lime, scallions, ginger and red onions in a lettuce wrap. It seems like a lot of ingredients but they all combine incredibly well.
We occasionally try new local Thai restaurants as we discover them, but we always seem to wind up back at Thai Terrace. The atmosphere in the restaurant is quiet and peaceful; the owners and their staff are really friendly and the food never disappoints.
I just posted some photos from another one of our socially distanced Christmas activities this past year, a visit to Winter in Wilmington. It was a light display set up in a parking lot on the waterfront in Wilmington, Delaware. You may recognize this (but you probably won’t) as the area where Joe Biden gave his victory speech when he finally won the presidency a month or so earlier. It was a fun excursion since we weren’t doing much else over the holidays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conveniently, it also is right across the parking lot from one of our favorite seafood restaurants, Big Fish Grill, so we did some curbside pickup and took home a delicious meal. Check out the photos here.
I’ve finally gotten around to posting the few photos I have from this last Christmas. In a normal non-COVID year, we would spend Christmas week visiting with friends and family, cooking big meals at my house, meeting them at restaurants, going to Christmas shows, traveling to their houses, etc. Of course, thanks to the pandemic, none of that was in the cards. So, we did something we haven’t done in a long time. We researched some of the most wildly decorated homes in the area and drove around to look at them. From a small home in Hi-Nella to a compound in Hammonton, we found a high tech digital light display, an entire street that goes way overboard with lawn decor, and more. It was a fun way to spend a few socially distant evenings. There’s even a video! Take a look at the photos and video here.