bum-cation

So this year, the family decided to forego Spain (map 1) due to schedule conflicts and head over to Bedford, Pennsylvania (map 2) to spend some quality time together and bum, bum, bum. Why Bedford? Why Pennsylvania? Why not the beach? I do not know...but it turned out to be pretty relaxing and fun in its own right.

We headed over to historic Bedford Springs Resort, the "summer White House" of President James Buchanan and favorite getaway of the elite back in the 1800s. It became pretty much defunct by the 1980s due to a terrible flood but got renovated around 2003 and became what it is today. (Yes, there was an intro video for the place on one of the hotel TV channels, haha)

We spent our arrival day looking around the building, which was full of historic decor (old guest books, hats and photos.)

Day 2 (late morning/early afternoon) - Pool

Twas a pretty good substitute for the beach, I suppose.

Day 2 (late afternoon) - Golf

I do not know how to golf, but I did get to drive the cart! I mean, I did try out some swings...but I am basically the biggest noob at golf...ever. -_- I suppose that despite my general dislike for golf (I always found it absolutely boring to watch on TV and I'm not a huge fan of putt-putt), I can kinda sorta see the appeal of the sport, especially if I were any good at it.

Day 3 (early afternoon) - Perusing "downtown" Bedford antique/random stuff stores. Apparently these magnets are a parody on "Life is Good" and I found them pretty funny, especially the one in the upper left-hand corner with the distressed wife and the snoring husband hahaha.

Day 3 (late afternoon) - Cooking class! We got to see a "real" kitchen and interact with "real" chefs :) It was pretty cool, but I really could never be a legit chef (again, no upper body strength to flip things in super hot pans...)

Day 4 (late morning) - My mom and I went to the spa at Bedford Springs :) I got "only" a pedicure done, so I guess I didn't experience a full-out spa experience, but even so, it was really nice - they gave us free food in the lounge area, I got to read the Bible some and listen to good music before heading in, and we even got to see a wedding ceremony in a nearby garden area!

Day 5 (late morning/early afternoon) - I finally got to go KAYAKING! I've been meaning to go for a WHILE, and I almost went in the Potomac with some friends while we were in DC, but the rental place was closed the day we had planned to go, and it never worked out thereafter :( And we had actually planned to go on day 4 when we visited Shawnee State Park, but that also got postponed because rentals were done for the day when we arrived. But nevertheless, when we DID get to go, it was super fun and I got to have my Pocahontas moment!!! (you know, humming "Just around the river bend" and letting my hair fly in the wind very unattractively.)

Day 5 (mid-afternoon) - We visited Old Bedford Village, a preservation-y site of what "downtown" Bedford used to look like back in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. If you've ever been to Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, it's kind of like the Plymouth Plantation thing they've got going on over there...but yeah. It was pretty random, but my dad loves history, so we decided to make a trip before driving back home.

We met some quirky people who told us a bit about the village and the various restored buildings, and unlike Plymouth, where the actors actually act and pretend like they've never seen a camera before or they have no idea it's the 21st century, these people were just very matter-of-fact about the clashing between the centuries in the replication.

Last but not least, I got to see a HORSE! Actually, I got to see TWO horses, but I liked this one's haircut better :) Pretty chic bangs for a horse, don't you think? hahaha We almost went horseback riding, but the site was about an hour's drive away, so I had to be content with just seeing horses up close and personal.

Anyhoos, that was our pretty short, random trip to The-Middle-of-Nowhere, PA, and though I am glad to be back home to Korean food and my own room again haha, it was good family time and good old "American" vacationing time too. It's amazing how there are little pockets of interesting places to see all around America...we kind of take it for granted, huh?