Vacation 2014 - Branson, MO

Back in August, our family went on vacation. We traveled to the Branson, Missouri area. It was beautiful! I fell in love with the area. 

I was excited to travel to Branson for a few different reasons. One was because it was a place my grandparents had been to many different times and very much enjoyed. Another reason was because I read the book called "Love finds you in Branson, Missouri" by Gwen Ford Faulkenberry which tells about the Shepherd of the Hills Play that is produced there. And lastly, I was excited to go there because I wanted to go to some of the productions around the area. In particular, I wanted to go to the Sight and Sound production. Last year on our vacation, we were going to go to their production of Noah which they were doing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but that was when our car broke down and we were not able to make to it. Thus, I was thrilled that we were going to get to go this time around. Even though it wasn't for Noah, we did get to see the Jonah play.

I have to say, the Sight and Sound production of Jonah was the the best play I have ever seen and I would highly recommend going to one of their productions. If I am ever going through Lancaster or Branson again, I am going to go to another one! It was so real! The sets were unbelievable. There were real live animals in the theatre. The music and sound effects were great. I absolutely loved it!

Below is a picture of the keychain that I got there.  

So we saw "Jonah" the first night, then we went to the Shepherd of the Hills production. I enjoyed this play, too. It had a great message in it. It was also cool because the book I mentioned above was about people who were in this play. This play was also one that my grandparents attended while on one of their many trips to Branson. Oh, and did I mention that it was an outdoor theater!

Here is the keychain I got there and it has my name on it!

The final production we went to while in the area was The Great Passion Play that is in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was also an outdoor theater. I very much enjoyed it. Besides the play, we also saw two shorter shows while there. One was about the potter and the clay and the man that that did it was actually making a vase while he talked about it. The other was about David, the Shepherd Boy. The man who did this one also gave a good talk and showed everyone how to use a sling like the one David would have used to kill Goliath. (My sister actually made one of these when we got home. Just by seeing them, she was able to make one!)

Here is the keychain I got from there.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip! I would love to go back there someday. There is so much to see and do. And it was beautiful. We stayed at Table Rock Lake and it was gorgeous there!

On our way home, we got to visit my great-aunt and my great-uncle! It was great to see them as it had been a few years. I will treasure the time that I was able to spend with them. All of my grandparents have passed away and it made me miss them a lot. But I feel privileged to have people like them in my life, even if I don't get to see them often.

The trip was a very much needed break and I'm so thankful that it worked out so well! Now summer is mostly over and school has started here. But I am going to enjoy whatever is left of the summer and I hope you will, too!

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 7)

Colonial Williamsburg

Our last stop on the way home was Colonial Williamsburg. It was incredible to see a working town from before the 1780. I was able to walk in the same streets that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson walked. 

Colonial Williamsburg Keychain

The Church

Part of the town

In the Governor's House

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 6)

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

On our way home, we drove through on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is the weirdest tunnel/bridge I have ever been on. It is 20 miles long. It starts as a bridge and then you go down under the water in a tunnel, then back up to a bridge, then another tunnel, and finally a bridge to the other side. It was quite the experience!

The keychain below is from the gift shop that is about halfway across. There is also a restaurant that is pretty much in the middle of the water!

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel Keychain

Looking across to the other bridge. The tunnel is under the water!

Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 5)

Ocean City, MD and Assateague Island

Our next stop on our great vacation was camping at Assateague Island. It is the place of the wild horses and as my mom says, "Didn't you read Misty of Chincoteague?" While camping on the beach, we were able to see a few horses. It is fun because they are wild, so they will walk right through your campsite!

One of the wild horses. While I am used to seeing deer on the side of the road, I was not used to seeing horses on the side of the road!

Assateague Island Keychain

Assateague Island Keychain (back side)

While camping on the island, we also drove over to Ocean City and walked the boardwalk! Lots of fun shops there!

Ocean City, MD Keychain

"Sand Art" Someone made this in the sand on the beach in Ocean City.

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 4)

Supreme Court Building 

 While in D.C., I was able to tour the Supreme Court building and since I was able to add two keychains to my collection from there, I thought I would share them with you!

The first keychain is a gavel! On one side it say "United States" and on the other it says "Supreme Court".

"United States" gavel keychain

"Supreme Court" gavel keychain

I wasn't going to get this keychain originally because one keychain is enough from each place, but this may be one of the cutest keychains I have ever seen! It is a little tin box and it even opens up. 

Supreme Court keychain

Supreme Court keychain (the top)

Supreme Court keychain (With it open!)

The Supreme Court building is currently being repaired so there is a covering on it.

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 3)

3rd Stop - Washington D.C. 

Next we headed to Washington D.C.! I was excited to go to the Capitol of the U.S.A.! While there, I had the opportunity to meet with several congress members from my state, visit the Capitol, the Supreme Court, 2 of the Smithsonian Museums, and go to almost all of the memorials around the Capitol Mall. 

This keychain has a few different pictures on it of the different places around D.C.

United States - Washington D.C.

 

The Lincoln Memorial

The Capitol

The White House

Vietnam Memorial

The Washington Memorial

The next keychain is another one that shows different sights around the city!

Washington D.C. Keychain

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 2)

Gettysburg 

Our second stop was Gettysburg. I had no idea how big the battlefields of Gettysburg were. I thought it was a small area, but I had a totally wrong idea in my head of the true size. It was a very solemn place to be and I will never forget it. 


The keychain I got in Gettysburg commemorates the 150th anniversary of the battle fought there. 

Gettysburg keychain - 1863-2013

July 1, 2, and 3, 1863 - Gettysburg

Here are a few pictures from the battlefield.

A small part of the Gettysburg battlefield

"Now we are engaged in a great civil war..."

Washington DC Trip - The Keychain Version (part 1)

I am so excited to share about my recent trip to Washington DC and the surrounding area. I have to say right up front this may very well have been one of THE best trips I have ever been on. I had so much fun and learned so much about history. The places I went to open the doors to a whole new dimension for me. It was a fantastic trip.

One of the fun parts of my trip was that I was able to expand my keychain collection while traveling! It is always fun to get a souvenir to help remember the vacation and the good times. And my favorite souvenirs happen to be keychains! I added a quite a few so it will take a couple posts to share them all, but I hope you enjoy my story through the keychains!

First Stop - Hershey Chocolate World

While we hadn't planned on this being our first stop, it was indeed. (We had planned on going to the Sight and Sound Production of Noah in Lancaster, PA, but our car broke down. Check out my mom's blog for more of the story.

Hershey, PA was a fun town to go to. The street lights are made of chocolate kisses and the town seems to center around chocolate. We were able to go on a tour of how they make the chocolate. It was a lot of fun!

So my first keychain came from there! It has my first initial on it, "M," a "kiss," and it say Hershey Chocolate World!

Hershey Chocolate World Keychain

Minnesota Key-Chain

This key-chain is from my home state, Minnesota! I can't remember when or where specifically I got this key-chain, but I think it is a fun one! I love it because it highlights many different parts of the state. It has our state bird, the loon. It has our state flower, the lady slipper. It shows our state, the flag, and the date it was established.

Minnesota Key-chain

Texas Vacation Key-Chains

Back in January, I said I was going to post pictures of my key-chain collection. But I have yet to be consistent in doing that. Last week, I took pictures of all the key-chains that I have and they are ready to be posted. 

The key-chains I am posting this week, are some that I recently got. They are from our family vacation back in November 2012. One of my favorite ways or times to get new key-chains are when we are on a trip. It is my special souvenir and a way to remember the fun times we had. It also helps me remember the places I have been!

The first key-chain I got on our Texas trip was from Padre Island. It is a National Seashore that goes about 30 miles. But there are no roads, so if you want to drive down the island, you have to drive on the beach. We drove for about 10 miles on the beach. It was quite the experience. There was a ton of debris that had washed up. While we were there, someone told us that that beach gets a lot of debris because a lot of different water currents wash up there. On the beach we saw all kinds of things: TVs, chairs, a boat, crates, ropes, bottles, lots of plastic, etc...

Padre Island (many turtles are born on the island) This key-chain also has a whistle on it!

 

On the next part of our vacation we went to the Alamo in San Antonio. The key-chain below is from the Alamo gift shop.

The Alamo

The last key-chain on here is also from San Antonio. I found it at a shop in the Mexican Market. I wanted to get a key-chain with the Texas saying on it!

"Don't mess with Texas!"

Collections

We all have collections. Some people have small collections and some have rather large collections. My family happens to be a family that likes to collect. While people always come first in our lives, we do have our share of "things" and collections. My grandparents came from the generation that never got rid of things because, well, "you never know when you might need it"! To some extent, I think I may have inherited this as well. I like my collections and I like to see other people's collections. It can also be fun to add to yours or another person's collections. Collections tell stories!

My love of collections probably comes from when I was very young. When I was a little girl, I often went shopping and antiquing with my grandma and mom. I would get to help my mom and grandma look for pieces of their collections. It might have been a new cameo for my grandma's collection of those pretty pieces of jewelry. It might have been looking for another piece to my mom's dish set. Or it may have simply been the adventure of being together with three generations of family and the memories that came from those times.

Or it may have been the collections that were started for me. The Noah's Ark pieces that decorated my room from when I was little. The little mugs that were brought home to me from trips people went on. The books I have. And on and on...

But of all of the collections I have, the one I would like to share right now is my key-chain collection. Collecting key-chains started from a collection that my brother had. He had started collecting them and had a quite a few. I liked the idea and started my own collection many years ago. Since then I have collected quite a few. I have gotten them from different places that I have traveled, from other people that have brought me souvenirs, and some from conventions, booths, and fairs. I love getting a new key-chain and the memory that comes with it. And I would love to share them with you! Each week, I am going to try and share one or two key-chains with you. Hope you enjoy!

"Celebrate who you are"

My most recently acquired key-chain! I got this on December 31, 2012. Every New Year's Eve, we do a white elephant game and this was one of the prizes I won from the game!