Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Fall Foliage Festival in Jim Thorpe, Pa

Hi everybody in Blogland! What gorgeous weather we've been having here in Pa !!! Today it was sunny and 77 degrees!! Kind of warm for mid October .... definately an Indian Summer Day!! ....and, as you can see, (and I know I mentioned this before) the leaves are also GORGEOUS !!! Whatever the perfect conditions are for tons of colorful leaves, I guess we're having them!

Anyhow, I did get a chance to walk over to the Jim Thorpe Fall Foliage Festival this past Sunday, and I took some ....well lots.... of pictures. So, get your beverage of choice , sit back , listen to the music, relax, and I'll take you on an Autumn tour of Jim Thope, Pa! (and, in case you missed the first zillion times I mentioned it, I LOVE autumn!!!! I just can't get enough of the weather and the colors!!)

OK..... here we go.....


.....first up is the new gazebo in the park by the train station (I think this is so pretty and old fashioned .... if I wasn't already married, I'd want my wedding pictures taken here!...hmmmmmm, maybe I'll have my birthday pictures taken here!....should I wear my birthday suit?) Anyhow, there were crafters and food vendors set up throughout the park, and a man and a woman in the gazebo with guitars and singing.



...and here's the train station (oops, that picture is kind of dark ...maybe if you click on it to make it bigger you can see it better, especially the round turret tower thing on the left side of the station). The fall foliage excursion trains run about every hour (I think).


...OK, now more pretty leaves .... because , did I mention how much I love autumn and pretty leaves ?!?!




....and here is Mr. Moonbeams place of business .... where he's the captain of the ship, the head honcho, the big cheese .... this is The Inn at Jim Thorpe ..... and, just for your Halloween pleasure, it's haunted to boot! (or so some of the guests and housekeepers claim!...if you go the the webpage and scroll to the bottom, you can click on "ghost stories" and read all about it!)

... now, across the street from The Inn is this shop,"Nature's Trail" , and next door to that is....


.....the Mauch Chunk 5 & 10 (Mauch Chunk is the original name of the town .... it was changed to "Jim Thorpe" in the 1950's)



.....OOOOooooooo!!!!Look!! More pretty leaves!!! because, like I said I LOVE autumn and pretty leaves!



....OK, continuing on down the street, next to the 5&10 is this shop, "The General Emporium" . There are 2 sides to this shop. On one side they have really neat vintage decorations for each holiday and antiques, etc,. On the other side it's Harry Potter's ville! All sorts of witch and sorcerer's hats (ala Harry Potter ) and much stuff about witchcraft ....very interesting.....

loat:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0
....OK, farther down the street is this building "The Douglas House Shops". There are a bunch of shops in this building (which originally was a single familly home built around the time of the Civil War, I think .....anyhwo, it's HUGE!!! you should see the woodwork and the stairway inside!! ..... I like looking at it, but I would NOT want to dust it!)


....across the street from The Douglas House is this shop "The Dreisbach House" .... this place has tons of vintage clothing and HATS !! also vintage jewelry, and linens. Don't you just love those big droopy sunflowers?!?! This was also , at one time, a single family home .... and you should see the beautiful double stairway inside .... more amazing woodwork!! ....and original light fixtures! (if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see one of the lights in the window.)



......yep, you guessed it....MORE pretty leaves!


....OK, now we turned the corner and we're on Race Street. This is The Country Cottage , home of the blue ribbon pickle! (and lots of other fun stuff).


...a little further down on Race Street is St Mark's church .... also supposedly haunted!


......uh huh ... leaves........pretty



...OK, across from St Mark's is this fancy, shmancy restaurant "Moya". This is where Kid #1, the college boy Matt, works on Friday and Saturday nights as a runner and bus boy. So, if you go out to dinner there and see Matt, tell him what a handsome dude he is, and mention that it wouldn't hurt for him to clear the table at home once in awhile ! ( I guess he's waiting for us to give him a tip.....)



Next to "Moya" on Race Street is this very cute shop "Homespun". She has alot of very cute decorative nick nacks (on the "primitive" side), paintings (country landscapes, etc), quilted wall hangings and yummy smelling soy candles. Also, on the top 2 floors she has a GORGEOUSLY decorated daily/weekly rental apt.



.....another little sidetrip to see ..........MORE LEAVES!!! (did I mention I just can't get enough of this fall foliage? .... I did? .... oh..)



...OK, now this isn't a shop, it's a private home ... but I think it's really pretty and old fashioned ..... and it's for sale!!! Well, at least half of it is .... it's a double house .... I've been in both sides and I like the side that isn't for sale the best ... oh well, we're not in the market to buy a house anyhow ... but, the side I like has a HUGE open hearth fireplace (like in the pioneer days .... it's so big I can walk right into it .... they have the big black hanging cookpots hanging in it and everything! .... and stairways!!! a formal front stairway and a back stairway .... alot of the old houses seem to have the 2 stairways.... and another fireplace in the living room .... and upstairs in the bedrooms! and THE WOODWORK !!) Anyway, click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see it better.



.....OK, it's starting to get dark, so we better call it a day ....(oh, look, it's not too dark to still see the PRETTY LEAVES!!! )


Well, we here at "Moonbeams in a Jar" hope you've enjoyed yet another one of our virtual tour extravaganzas !!! AND, if you're in the area (that is eastern Pa/ Pocono area) don't forget The Fall Foliage Festival runs for the next 2 weekends here in Jim Thorpe.

So, stop by again soon because..... I didn't just walk around taking pictures on Sunday ....oh, no ..... I did some shopping in a few of those cute shops and I'm planning a HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY with the goodies!! So, check back in a day or 2 and I might actually be organized enough to show you the loot!

Be back soon!

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare)

15 comments:

CuteStuffInside said...

Thanks for the tour!

S.W.A.K.
www.CuteStuffInside.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I love fall foliage too and seeing your photos is wonderful since I can't see them in person. Oh how lovely they are.

Lisa said...

I just adore the architecture of your town!!! Lovely colors!

The Southern Mom said...

The tour was great! I can't wait for our leaves to start turning...we're still green!

Laume said...

What a wonderful walk through a New England town! (Is PA considered part of NE?) Thanks for bringing us along. I love the green shutters on Moya. And the fall color. So far we're not getting much color at all out here - grump.

Gretchen said...

I want to hop in the car right now and come visit! Your town is fabulous and the trees are beautiful. I think I need to add Jim Thorpe to my "places to see" list. Thanks for the tour!

Queenly Things said...

Picture perfect and envy-inducing that town of yours. I have heard of it's old name before, where, I can't imagine. What a joy of a place to live.

black eyed susans kitchen said...

Stunning! The music is the perfect backdrop. I felt transported. Susan

Mona said...

What a wonderful tour! Thank you for taking us along. The leaves there are so wonderfully vibrant and colorful!! Here in the Ozarks the leaves are just beginning to turn.

Cheyenne said...

Hi! I am from the Lehigh Valley and my husband and I are coming up there Saturday to finally do the tour thing. We used to always just drive through on our way to his Dad's place (who is no longer here).
I am looking forward to seeing things up close and personal.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the fall tour.
Millie

Red Geranium Cottage said...

WOW those photos are great. I love the trees with the leaves all changing. And I'd love to go to that town. Looks like fun.

Dawn said...

With your tour & beautiful tunes accompanying your gorgeous pics -- I feel as if I actually took this jaunt w/ you. Thanks, it was very breath-taking!

Susan said...

Great town, loved the tour.

Nan said...

Heavy sigh.....Jim Thorpe is absolutely gorgeous!! I so enjoyed the tour - Thank You for sharing!! I especially love the changing leaves - we don't have anything so lovely in Washington State.