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Travel Log 15: Never Stop Traveling - Lancaster, PA
We may have settled down, but we still keep traveling.
We wrapped up our 6 month road trip and settled down in Florida. We’re getting use to the heat (having a pool certainly helps to alleviate that!) and settling in.
That was 3 weeks ago, now we are back in PA again. 😅
Table of contents
- What We’ve Been Up To
- Moving In
- A Thousand Mile Trek Back
- Red Door Escape Room
- Mini Golfing
- Agape Cafe & Grille
- Main Attraction: Sight & Sound Theater
- Continuing On From Here
What We’ve Been Up To
About 2 months ago we started looking for a place to rent in Florida. We knew the area we were looking for because Katie’s aunt and uncle are down there. They graciously went to see rental houses for us and tagged us in via video chat. We found a nice one and filled out all the paperwork and even put down the security deposit.
But then the contact we had at the rental company ghosted us. We started looking up reviews of this company and didn’t like what we were seeing. Yes, we probably should have done that before we signed a contract… Thankfully, they got in contact with us again after a very long weekend. Apparently the owner of the home decided to no longer rent the house at all. 🤦♂️
But we found another place nearby that has worked out great for us. The landlord has been really great, they even left us a nice card, a bottle of wine, and a bag of Skittles for the kids (who am I kidding, I ate a few handfuls too!).
Moving In
Since we had already sold most of our furniture and massively downsized before going on our road trip, there wasn’t much that we needed to do to get ready for our move. It was quite weird, we were moving cross states, but there wasn’t much of anything we needed to do to get ready for it!
Thanks to my parents we loaded up a large UHaul and journeyed 2 days down to FL and our final destination. Once we got there we had a lot of help from my parents (they drove down the UHaul), Katie’s aunt & uncle, and my brother that lives on the other side of Florida. We are very appreciative of all the help we had during this move!
Next to unpacking, we spent a lot of time assembling furniture. I don’t think I want to see another dowel rod or screw for a while… But we got everything together and it is really starting to feel like home!
A Thousand Mile Trek Back
2-and-a-half weeks after moving in, we packed up again and traveled the 1,000 miles back up to Pennsylvania. We had tickets to see the Noah production at Sight & Sound theater in Lancaster, PA.
Our packing was much lighter than we were use to. Without anything loaded on the top of the van, I think we massively increased our miles per gallon!
Red Door Escape Room
During our trip back to PA we stopped outside of Washington D.C. to take a break and do one of our favorite activities, an escape room. We previously have done Red Door escape rooms in Texas and Oklahoma and were impressed enough that we’ve done a total of 4 different rooms with them.
They offered a discount if we bought a gift card after completing an escape room. So we decided to go ahead with that when we were passing through Oklahoma on our way to California because they have several locations in CA. Unfortunately we didn’t end up staying in San Diego like we had panned, so we didn’t end up using the gift card.
Since the Maryland Red Door was near our path back to PA we decided to stop by and stretch our legs a little bit. We did their fantasy themed room and had a great time. We only ended up needing 1 clue and escaped with plenty of time to spare!
Mini Golfing
Arriving in PA (higher gas prices and all), we got a cute little Airbnb in Paradise, PA, just outside of Lancaster. It had a great big backyard that led into a nearby creek.
While staying there we went mini golfing at Waters Edge Mini Golf. Mini golfing can be very interesting with our group. There was some fierce competition between our older two with Emalyn just narrowly beating out her older brother. But the youngest two got bored less than half way through.
They also have a little petting zoo there. The kids really enjoyed feeding the flock of ducks that waddled over after hearing the machine accept our quarters.
Agape Cafe & Grille
For lunch before our show, we found the Agape Cafe & Grille. We had a 45 minute wait, but it was well worth it. We got some garlic parmesan fries for an appetizer and the kids were complaining that the fries were smothered in an aioli sauce. But after trying them, the fries quickly disappeared (9/10 according to our self-proclaimed fry connoisseur, Eli). For the main course we all shared a large charcuterie board that was really great.
We were so impressed by the place we came back after the show to get coffee and macaroons from their cafe. And we weren’t disappointed (the macaroons didn’t last long either)!
Main Attraction: Sight & Sound Theater
Last year we went to Sight & Sound to see their Moses show. It was good, but not nearly as good as the Noah show this year. The actors & actresses were fantastic and did a really great job with the story. But the best part was them loading up the ark with all the different animals!
We might be making trips to Sight & Sound a regular yearly cadence as we’ll want to come back to PA anyways to visit family.
Continuing On From Here
Our trip to Lancaster was short, but still a lot of fun. Next we’ll be visiting with family and friends one last time before heading back to our home in Florida for a while. After that, there is a yearly church camp meeting coming up that will always be part of why we come back to PA.
Once we head back to FL, we don’t have any more big trips planned. But there is plenty of exploring for us to do around our new home!
