A Weekend in PA (Photodump!)

[Due to the large bulk of photos in this post, I am a day late in publishing it! So this was written yesterday.] ;)

Lots to share today! I took tons of pictures and we managed to fit a lot into a very short span of time, haha! So go refill your tea or coffee, get comfy, and dig in:

This weekend I got a chance to meet one of my penpals face to face and not just in a mailbox! The Snail Mailer and I have been corresponding through the postal system since June of 2011, and she very graciously offered to host us for a bit on our travels! I'm so glad I took her up on that offer... it was great to meet her in person, and she made sure we got a great taste of East Pennsylvania!

On our way to meet up with B, we stopped in Gettysburg. We only did the self/driving tour and so got a very very basic overview of the battle, but it was still neat to see. We did check out some of the displays of weapons and uniforms at the Visitor Center as well. The Civil War is a weird war. A lot of people are really into it... to the point of glorifying it. The only glory I see is that we were somehow able to recover from it in unity, which I guess is why it is so remarkable after all.

I say, this is a beautiful place for a battle! 

Cannons!

Soldier Cemetery Memorial Statue

I'll mention just a few of the many things we did with B... she took us on the scenic route along the Delaware to the Ringing Rocks! A bizarre phenomenon... If you hit them they ring like they were made of metal. The weirdest thing to me was that there was just a giant pile of them in the middle of the woods. I like to think aliens did it. ;)

Jamie blends right in.

That's no ordinary pile of rocks!

We also got to admire quite a lot of junk & treasures at B's favorite consignment shop! Oooh how I wish I had a home to decorate and money to do it with. ;) The main event of the day was visiting the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works factory and Fonthill, two places built by Henry Chapman Mercer, who I consider the East Coast version of William Randolph Hearst... they both took trips to Europe when they were boys which had a huge impact on them, both came from wealth, both built crazy castles, and both were rather eccentric in their own ways. I personally like Mr. Mercer better of the two, because he was an artist who glorified the past (as I am wont to do). He was part of the Arts & Crafts movement, which was marked by its resistance to the Industrial Revolution. I see the same thing happening in it's own form today, and I find that interesting. Plus his castle was way cooler than Hearst's... unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the castle, but I got some of the outside and of the tile factory, which was also quite a treat. The factory still produces tiles using the same technique, just with newer firing ovens. ;)

Outside of the Moravian Tile Works

A sample of Mercer's work 

Mr. Mercer would collect old stuff and hang it on any spare surface... he also catalogued EVERYTHING, with the intent that it would be used in a museum someday.

Beautiful clay tiles!

Even the columns were decorated... Also, everything he built was made with hand-mixed cement. He had his builders use natural wood on the columns, so they had the imprint of the wood grain on them.

New tiles being made!

The outside of Fonthill, his castle with more than 40 rooms. It was a beautiful maze of color, light and art... I wish I could have explored the whole thing! Mercer had a great sense of lighting and made sure that each room took full advantage of natural sunlight.

I enjoyed geeking out over crafts & mail art with B... she has a HUGE stash of stationary, and she handed me a box and let me fill it to the brim with beautiful cards and papers! I was in heaven... She also gave me an entire sheet of this year's Christmas stamps! Wow! B is also great at reusing materials into new and awesome things and her letters are never simply paper in envelopes... each piece of mail from her is a great surprise. =) I was inspired! Another reason I can't wait to settle down... more mail! (Thanks Dad for forwarding the few pieces we do get, and thanks to the penpals who keep writing despite the delay in my responses!!) ;)

We also got to enjoy all of B's critters... her old pup Sparky warmed up to us and soon was crawling into our laps for belly rubs. Alphonse the kitten (whose name was inspired by an Alphonse Mucha envelope I made & had sent to B!) kept us all entertained... Sloopy was paranoid about us all weekend, but he did come get some scratches & pets a few times, and Micky the Matriarch pretty much sat around looking pretty, haha. I love homes with pets. <3 br="br"> Long story short, we had a great weekend! =)

Alphonse found my suitcase right away...

Sloopy keeping a safe distance.

Micky (and Alphonse photobombing)

Sparky came on all of the day's adventures! =)

And we made it to New Hampshire. So far we haven't lost any toes to frostbite, but it is threatening, haha! No snow, but we woke to a frosty wonderland nonetheless!

SO BEAUTIFUL

And so cold...

We plan to get a lot of relaxing (and a lot of art & work!) done these next few weeks! I'll try to remember to update (shouldn't be a problem since I have no schedule to speak of, woo!). Today the plan is to stock up on food, get more stamps, mail some stuff (I wrote a bunch of letters & postcards this morning... see? inspired!), make soup for dinner and be cozy.

TTFN!