Sunday morning, I drug myself out of bed early to go to Williams Grove.

The former amusement park and picnic grounds in Cumberland County's rural Monroe Township closed down a few years back, but the place has found new life with a weekend flea market in a beautiful setting.I got more peaches than I can eat in a week for $1.50, a bunch of homegrown tomatoes for a dollar and a beautiful green pepper for less than 50 cents. You'll also find vendors selling yard-sale-type items, antiques, plants and more amid the remnants of rides.

Williams Grove is also the site of the annual Grangers steam engine festival, set for this weekend. I've never been to it, but I'll probably go -- if nothing else than to watch my 14-month-old niece ride on the trains she's obsessed with.

And to get more peaches before summer's over!

Posted in Backyard Travels Events Jen's Journeys

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My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, so the best way I could think to celebrate was to invite a group of friends to join me for dinner at a place I have wanted to check out for some time now: Bube's Brewery.

About half an hour from York in the small town of Mt. Joy, the historic brewery complex offers a variety of dining options in a very cool setting.

We were supposed to dine in the Biergarten, but the weather looked threatening, so they put us in a room on the second floor of the main complex, right next to an old-fashioned general store of sorts.

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Saturday, I, Jennifer Vogelsong, a non-beer-drinker, took a bronze medal in an event in the Beer Olympics (disclaimer: This event was not in any way, shape or form related to the official Olympic Games now on televison sets everywhere) hosted by friends of friends.

It was the keg toss -- the only event in which drinking beer was not required!

I went because I had heard the organizers put impressive effort into the event and I couldn't pass up a chance to check out something as crazy-sounding as this. I wasn't disappointed.

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I spotted these "Life is Crap" T-shirts in Ocean City, N.J. when I was there for a day last week to celebrate my (gulp!) 31st birthday.

Apparently, there's a bit of backlash by folks who are fed up with the popular motto's cheery attitude. You knew it would happen sooner or later!

Posted in Jen's Journeys Misc Sign spotting

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Sunday afternoon, some friends and I hiked to an observation tower near the resort town of Mount Gretna and climbed the narrow rusty ladders to the top, where you can supposedly see parts of four counties on a clear day.It's not super well-known -- the Park at Governor Dick isn't a state or county park and I heard of it for the first time when friends mentioned it. We had a bit of difficulty figuring out which roads would take us to the trail head, and the trail itself wasn't well-marked, but we figured it out.

It was a nice excursion, but we were a little frustrated at the lack of on-site information about the tower and the park. We like to learn a little when we're visiting new places.

Now, for the ice-cream...

Posted in Backyard Travels Jen's Journeys The great outdoors

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Friday night, I did something I've been wanting to do on a Friday night for some time now.

I walked to Eckel's drug store in Mechanicsburg for an ice-cream cone.

The town landmark still makes milkshakes with those lime-green mixers and whips up some of the tastiest floats and flavored sodas around. It was the setting for filming of some scenes in the movie "Girl Interrupted" in early 1999.

It's one of the reasons I love living in a small town. If you've never been there, it's definitely worth the 35-minute drive from York.

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I know you can't resist reading a blog post with a headline like that!

Two colleagues and I accompanied members of the York Daily Record/Sunday News's Teen Takeover staff to a York Revolution baseball game Monday night.

It was a monkey magic Monday at Sovereign Bank Stadium and I took full advantage!

In the first photo, you'll see me peeking behind the back of magician/illusionist Eli Georgaras to see if I can spot any secret moves as he performed a card trick. (I couldn't -- he was pretty swift.)
In the second photo, you'll see Django, a 17-year-old capuchin monkey, perched on my shoulder.

Django and I go way back.

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Check out my story in today's paper about the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. Friend and coworker Melissa Burke (YDR's religion reporter and a Baltimore resident) raved about the current exhibit and suggested the museum might make a good backyard travel for cash-strapped locals looking for a nearby day trip.

I wasn't disappointed. Here are some photos from my visit that we didn't have space for in the paper:

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Summer isn't summer for me without a visit to Cowans Gap State Park near McConnellsburg.

Earlier this month, my family rented a cabin there for a week and I spent a weekend there. Here are three photos that show my favorite parts of camping:
The rowboat that got me hooked on being on the water and taught me how to steer a boat. It was my inspiration for buying a kayak two years ago. I wanted to be able to go out and paddle around on my own.
The campfire. Oh, the stories, the silliness. The sticky marshmallow S'morey goodness. This glowing fire probably has coals that are perfect for cooking mountain pies.

And lastly, the view. The relaxing scenery by the lake is a sight for sore urban/suburban stressed eyes.

Posted in Backyard Travels Jen's Journeys The great outdoors

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I hate the way my voice sounds, but other than that, I think this video of me flying on a trapeze in Baltimore two weeks ago is pretty freakin' cool.

All credit for its coolness goes to YDR photographer/videographer extraordinaire Paul Keuhnel, who captured my airborne frustrations and success (note, that's success, singular!)

Keep your eyes on the Living section of the paper in August for the full story and another video.

Have you ever tried this? Would you?

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