I arrived during what was supposed to be a big blizzard! I knew how much my hostess Babs loves snow, but all we had was a Nor' Easter! Within an hour of my arrival, I put on my rain gear and headed out into the storm with Babs. Our first stop was to her hometown of Avon by the Sea, NJ. We watched the waves from the boardwalk. It was quite windy, the wind even knocked me down a few times! (or was it the hot toddies?) Don't worry Mama Robin, I am OK, no bruises!
We left Avon and drove along the shore, though Bradley Beach, and into Ocean Grove. I got to see the Great Auditorium and the cool tent houses that the members of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting live in during the summer. (Actually just the frames, the tents do not go up until summer time.) After leaving Ocean Grove we drove down to Asbury Park. I finally got to see the Stone Pony! It was not what I expected, I knew my mom goes there to mosh to alternative bands, but Babs explained that it will never be what it was, and went on to fill me in on the "Glory Days" of Rock and Roll, The Pony and Asbury Park.
We also got to see the Palace Amusements, it is so sad to see how it is almost falling down! I got my picture taken under "Tillie" that is the name of the face on the side of the building. I do hope they can fix it up before it is too late. There is a grassroots organization that is trying to save the Palace, I really hope they can!
When we got home it started to snow, so I got out of my wet clothes and went in to check out the Boutique. It is not completely done yet, and Babs was working on a Wedding gown for one of my cousins. I was able to pick out a nice spring like fabric, and purse! I got measured, and sat down with the girls for a cup of sipping hot wassail. What a wonderful place! I placed an order to have my custom made outfit from the boutique. It should be ready for me before I head to the Poconos with Babs at the end of the week.
CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO SEE MY VISIT TO BABS' BOUTIQUE!.
Next it was off to the Pocono Mountains in Pensylvania! The first stop was one of those "Road side America" type places. It is called Hot Dog Johnny's in Buttzville NJ.(Yes, that is an actual town name, up in the mountains of North Jersey!) We stopped in to buy an old fashion Birch Beer, they also serve Buttermilk drinks! They serve up the best Hot Dogs, but it was Friday and Babs could not get one. (I am learning about all the different religions on my trip too, it is very interesting, to see how even though everyone believes in different things, we are all still pretty much the same!) Here I am at Hot Dog Johnny's. It is a round shaped road side building painted in green with huge hot dogs on top and on all of their signs!
Finally we made it across the Delaware Watergap to the Pocono's! I was nervous getting my picture taken here. I thought I would fall off the cliff, but Babs' was careful and made sure that I did not.
I spent the weekend at the Tree Tops Villa with Babs' and 6 of her friends that she invited up for the weekend. We had a blast! We went to a winery and many shops. My favorite was the Ribbon Factory. They had so many cool ribbons and trims to look at! Then the digital camera's battery died and we could not take anymore pictures. I had so much fun with Babs and I hope to see her at the Unconvention at Michelle's house on Memorial Day weekend. I will miss her bunches!
Well, I am off to Heidi's home in Illinois! I can't wait!!
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Hi, It's Robin! Dawn called me last week. She had a blast at Heidi's House in Des Plaines, Illinois! She loved showing Heidi her souvineers from all the places she visited. Then being a junk food hound they went off to visit the very first McDonald's ever built. I told her she wasn't going to fit into her mini's when she came back if she doesn't start eating healthier.
Now, being Dawn was there on a week day, it was off to work with Heidi to the Riser Animal Hospital. Everyone there thought it was so cool that Dawn came to visit and Dawn had a great time visiting there. She loves animals and it was so interesting!
Here is Dawn observing the Doctor at work. Thanks to Dr. Dutcher for being such a good sport!
Dawn loved hanging with Heidi, but time is short on this long journey. She is now headed off to Wendy's house in Ashley, Ohio. There are rumors about a Ohio Dawnette gathering...stay tuned!
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I arrived at Wendy's house on a cold, sunny Saturday afternoon, via the post office in Ashley, OH. Wendy was eager to begin taking me places but decided instead to give me a baby wipe "bath" and let me relax 'til the next day.
On Sunday we drove into Delaware to pick up Amy, then headed into the big city of Columbus to visit with Janet. It was fun to meet Andy and little Benjamin, and Wendy and Amy finally got to see Janet's Dawn collection. Before we knew it, it was four o'clock and we still had lots to do, so we took off to see some sights.
Our first stop was at the campus of Ohio State University to see the football stadium. Wendy's a big OSU football fan!
After that, we went downtown to the first Wendy's hamburger restaurant. The restaurant is full of memorabilia and awards...very interesting. I got my picture taken three times in there! Wendy, Janet, and Amy did a lot of giggling because there was a guy in there cleaning the carpet while they were posing me.
 
Next we drove over to Goodale Ave. to see the White Castle building. At this writing, Wendy still isn't sure if this particular place has anything to do with the hamburger end of the business, but you know me, if there's any chance of junk food, I'm there! Apparently, the various subsidiaries are into everything from powder paints to fertilizer spreaders!
On Tuesday Wendy took me to the Delaware County Fairgrounds. This is the site of the annual Little Brown Jug harness race - easily Delaware's biggest claim to fame. Most of us are familiar with The Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing (The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness, and The Belmont Stakes). Well, there is also a Triple Crown in harness racing, and the Little Brown Jug is part of it. The other two races are The Cane Pace and The Messenger Stake.
When we finished up at the fairgrounds, we headed back to Ashley to go to an old ribbon factory. It was really cool. We saw ribbons for AKC shows, and fair queens and princesses, and livestock competitions, and almost anything else you can think of! We even saw ribbons printed in foreign languages.
They also have a large selection of tiaras for beauty pageants and fair queens and such, plus they handle trophies as well. The receptionist was very nice, and she was fascinated by my vacation story. She even remembered that one of her daughters played with Dawn dolls when she was little!
I had been looking forward to going for a tractor ride that night, but since the tractor wouldn't start, I settled for a picture. Maybe it was better that way, because that thing sure is BIG, and I probably would've been too scared to ride after all!
On Wednesday afternoon, we took off for Cleveland to see Dana and got a couple of pictures along the way. Here is Cleveland Stadium and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, woo-hoo!
Dana was happy to have us over and I was so happy to meet her and have her be part of my vacation! We got to see her amazing Dawn collection, and we coached her during her mini-making efforts for Babs' spring mini swap. (Wendy and I are very proud of her.) We had fun setting up and taking pictures of our little jam session scenario. We all went out to dinner, then said our goodbyes before dropping Dana off and heading back to Ashley.
Thursday morning I said goodbye to Wendy and beautiful Ohio, and off I went to Shelley in Connecticut for the next leg of my journey!
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at Shelly's house in Connecticut!
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