I love Valentine's Day - but not because of the flower/candy stuff. Our oldest son was born on Valentine's Day and turns 27 today! Because this day is his birthday it has always had extra special meaning to me. But my husband and I rarely give each other presents...I am such a low maintenance wife...never expecting presents.
I would rather celebrate the way we did on Saturday. We had planned on going down to our son and DIL's and head to Frederick, MD for the day...but Jeremy ended up with the flu. So hubby and I decided to head to Carlisle...a nearby small college town filled with quaint shops, eclectic restaurants and art galleries. It was supposed to be a warmer winter day - in the 40's - which it was but it was extremely windy making it feel very cold. But we dressed warmly and headed off for the day.
We knew we wanted to hit up Market Cross Pub for lunch as it has a wide selection of microbrews but other than that we were just planning on exploring. We had a wonderful day....visiting great shops and art galleries filled with local artists. I wasn't looking for anything in particular although I adore pottery and really would like a large piece for on the dry sink in my living room.
I love silver jewelry and we found a wonderful silversmith shop where the owner makes wonderful freeform poured silver items. I bought a pair of earrings but fell in love with a bracelet which was jsut a little out of my price range at the moment - but I think my husband tucked the idea into the back of his mind for a future gift!
We wandered into a beautiful yarn shop called Yarn Garden. I wasn't planning on buying any yarn but hubby found some yarn n the right colors for fingerless gloves he wants so we did buy that. When we were checking out we found out the owner - Hilary - was someone we knew from several years back from soccer...small world. I will definitely go back - our knit group is looking to do a yarn crawl and this is definitely on the list.
While we were there she recommended a new place that had just opened - Helena's Chocolate Cafe and Creperie. Oh my word...we stopped in to check it out - full from lunch - but decided to each have a hot drink and share a sweet crepe - spread with nutella and fresh strawberries and sprinkled with powdered sugar - oh so good! I had a hot chocolate made with dark chocolate and topped with fresh whipped cream...yum!
We will definitely go back....not just for the chocolate but also to explore the town more. They had a wide variety of restaurants...including several that specialized in vegetarian and gluten-free. The town sponsors a Wine Walk at the end of April as well as several gallery events that we would like to go to see.
Needless to say this was the perfect way to spend a day celebrating Valentine's Day.
That does sound like a lovely day! Happy birthday to your son!
Posted by: Beth | February 14, 2011 at 03:11 PM
This is really a late reply but that does sound like a fabulous trip and Saturday Valentine's Day! Next time I'm visiting my brother, I'll have to check it out.
Posted by: Carrie#K | February 25, 2011 at 12:32 PM