Happy 4th of July!!!
To me, this holiday usually means BBQ's, Fireworks, and time spent with family and friends. Although all of those features are wonderful, let's still stop and remember the real reason for the momentous day and also take a moment to honor our troops fighting for every single freedom that we so often take for granted.
My mom and sister arrived at my house around 7:30am so we could get a jump start for our fabulous breakfast. Rule of thumb when going to The Hershey Pantry....GO EARLY!! Trust me, this place fills up fast, and I have had the unfortunate experience of having my beloved oatmeal "run out!!" To avoid this disparity, we didn't waste a minute and arrived at the perfect time.
Okay on to the masterpiece. If there is one thing in this life that I can say I am so happy I didn't miss out on, it would be the baked oatmeal at The Hershey Pantry. If I were on death row, this would be my last meal. This is one bowl of decadence and pure amazement.
Every Saturday, they have a "Special" baked oatmeal. Today, the special was Peaches and Cream. Oh my, that's all I can really say.
Sweet fresh peaches were hidden in there along with a creamy cheesecake-like swirl of heaven. This is so rich that I don't think I've ever eaten more than half, but trust me, it is worth every single bite.
We sat outside in the garden, which was beautiful. This place is pretty awesome. It's so quaint and uniquely designed with the most adorable ambiance.
My sister loved it! Happy Birthday Brooke!!
It was also a first experience for my mom. She loved it of course!
Breakfast with the ladies, so much fun! (Ha, I just noticed my mom and I are totally rocking the Red-White-Blue theme! Go us!)
After breakfast, I headed home to get ready for a day of hiking with my men. Toly and I took a 45 min drive up to Mt. Gretna. Wow, this town is great! A small little suburb that sits in the mountains with tons of neat little shops, stands and stores. We drove up to the nature center to start our hike.
We first hiked about a mile to The Tower.
If you make the climb, we were told you can see 20 miles outward.
When I took a peak inside, this was what I saw.....
Yes, that would be a steal ladder. I of course had to make the adventurous climb to the top.
Good thing I did. The view was remarkable!
We ventured on and found some great trails. Well, actually they were pretty muddy and rugged, and we were a filthy, but it was true hiking and I loved every dirty minute!
We ended up hiking for around 2 hours and probably covered around 5-6 miles. Sammy was such a trooper. This little guy loves to hike and we could hardly keep up with him.
It was such a wonderful day and I truly have the best husband in the world to share these great experiences with.
Now we are just relaxing before we get ready to fire up the grill for our backyard BBQ and later we are going to watch the fireworks on City Island.
Such a fantastic day, but I think my boys have run out of juice.....
Hopefully some BBQ food will get them going again!
Hope you all had a wonderful day!
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Wow, you sure had a great day, starting it off right with a run, and that amazing breakfast!
ReplyDeleteWait, your sister's b-day is on July 4th? how freaking cool!
That looks like a wonderful hike. That is awesome that your little dog can hike such far distances. My pup would tire out after a couple miles.
ReplyDeleteMt Gretna is awesome!! Only about 10-15 minutes away from my house if you ever want to go again! Hope you had a great holiday! See ya soon!
ReplyDeleteThat breakfast sounds incredible! And the name of the place sounds so endearing!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you and the husband had a lot of great views on your hike. And Sammy must've had sooo much fun! I hope you had a wonderful rest of your holiday :)