Mini-Vaca Faves

Autumn is in full swing around here!

And today is Friday which means it's time to look back over the last week and find FIVE FAVORITES.  These can be people, places, events.  Things like Scriptures, songs, foods, drinks...whatever made your week special....even when faced with trials, we should always be looking for the blessings the Lord brings to us....because each and every day is a treasure....and we can always find some kind of treasure in it!

Thank yous go out to Susanne for hosting this each week and  for helping us to remember to pause and find those blessings.

My faves revolve around autumn and the mini-vacation we took over the long, holiday weekend (Columbus Day weekend for those of us who live in the USA). We traveled east and north to the North Shore area of Boston, where my oldest daughter attends college.  We spent 2 nights in Gloucester and parts of 2 days at the college.  Here are some faves from our trip:

looking out over Sea Lion Inn & Motel from balcony of our room
Gloucester, MA

• OUR RESTING PLACE!  We booked 2 nights in the Sea Lion Inn...we had never stayed in Gloucester and we fell in love with the town right away.  The building you see in the photo is the main office and owners home.  On the side there are a few cottages (they were all booked!) with full kitchens, etc.  The owner served a continental breakfast each morning for those of us in the motel section (we chose to eat out) and opened up the pool although we didn't pack suits.   We were expecting cooler temps but had lovely, mild late summer weather.....the ocean is in the background just past the tree line.  Claire really enjoyed the stay and couldn't wait to get up on Saturday morning and head over to the college to visit her big sis!

image taken from udineforless.com/morningglory

• THE MORNING GLORY!  Oh my.  We found a fantastic place to eat breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, and we took Courtney with us for a late lunch there on Saturday before touring the Castle.  Click here to see the morning glory menu and prices...it was great service, inexpensive (full breakfast for the 3 of us was less than $30...you can't get that here in the capital region of NYS!)  The first morning, I had a fresh basil, tomato and cheddar cheese omelette.  Claire was in heaven with S'mores Pancakes and Dave enjoyed fresh trout for breakfast!

Courtney (age 18) and Claire (age 12)
in back of Hammond Castle
Gloucester, MA

• TOGETHER AGAIN!  Claire was so happy to see Courtney; and Courtney, when we got to her dorm room, just threw her arms around Claire in a huge hug!  It was so special to see them together again!  We all had  fun exploring the castle......it's what Courtney chose to do, upon a few suggestions. I had mentioned some of the arts events in a nearby town, but she wanted nothing to do with art.  She said she was tired of looking at art! (she's a graphic design major and taking her first art course....)she wanted something totally different!  She did enjoy looking at some of the medieval items in the castle and we both enjoyed the various ceramic plates on display.  Here is a pic of the back of one side of the castle:

Hammond Castle
Gloucester, MA

Faith on the Boulevard in Gloucester, MA

• SIGHTSEEING!  I love exploring new places, so we walked for a bit along the Boulevard in Gloucester.  I want to go back in the spring and see other areas of the town that we just didn't have time to see.  This statue, of course, is very famous...I believe it was used in the movie, The Perfect Storm, which was filmed in Gloucester Harbor.  I'm sure most of you have seen this in photos or have at least seen the movie.  The Scripture from Psalm 107:23 is inscribed on the plaque. 

image taken from USNews website
The Pedestrian Mall through campus
Gordon College, MA

• TIME WITH COURTNEY!  Even if we had just stayed on campus for the day, and chatted and walked with Courtney, I would have been thrilled.  This is a part of campus called the Pedestrian Mall...it is just beautiful this time of year.  We also saw it in mid-summer of course when we toured the campus over a year ago, and this past summer when we moved her in to her dorm. Staff have told me it is really pretty in the winter snow as well. It was so peaceful on Sunday morning as most students were either still in bed, or at church.  Courtney decided to attend (with us) the on-campus Chapel Service they were offering for Homecoming Weekend.  It was a nice service (typically there are NO on- campus services in the chapel on Sundays....students are expected to join a local church in the communities surrounding the college). Dave and I really enjoyed just walking in the warm sunshine and talking with our oldest....it was sooooo good to see her, put our arms around her and hear her voice!

That sums it up for my week.....I did have some special moments once we were back in town to begin our work week...and I have more photos of the castle and the interesting things we saw....if you're interested, I'll be posting some more photos on here later this weekend.

ENJOY THE WEEKEND, EVERYONE and HAPPY FFF!!!

Now....it's your turn!  What was at least ONE FAVE THING from your week?  Please share in the comment section! :)