So last weekend, despite grumbles from the peanut gallery, I made everyone bundle up and head out to an old part of town, Sycamore Square. This is a quaint, little, cottage-style shopping area that was the place to go when I was little. I remember going grocery shopping at the Ukrop's there and buying my new white Keds each year at the Tootsies shoe store for kids.
Neither of those stores are there anymore, and actually we never go to this shopping center, so I wasn't sure what to expect at all. The only thing I knew for sure was that they were having horse carriage rides for free, and we'd never done that before.
We got there just before Santa did and saw him pull up in the carriage and adjust his beard. The kids gave him a shy hello, but his strong southern accent gave away the fact that he wasn't the real Santa. So we headed off to the horse carriage line, about six families deep.
A shop keeper came out quickly and handed out a slip of paper....if you visit nine certain stores and get a stamp at each one, you could win $100 gift card. It was a brilliant idea. Now we had a purpose, a scavenger hunt, and a reason to explore what stores were actually in these few square blocks. So while JP and Isabela held our spot in line, the boys and I headed off to get some stamps.
Along the way, we found a balloon lady who made Diego this sweet snowman which he loved.
We also came across free bowls of clam chowder, chocolate cookies, and hot apple cider. We hurried back with our discoveries, then JP and I switched places. They came back with a bag of popcorn and only one last spot to stamp. By then, it was our turn on the carriage!
A view of the horses backside. They jingled all the way, and it was very merry.
We huddled under the red blankets they provided and enjoyed the clip-cloping of the horses hooves.
One quick pit stop later at Awful Arthur's, a seafood restaurant, and we think we discovered a new place we'd like to eat at.
The kids were still hungry, so we had seconds on clam chowder, popcorn, and cookies. Happy faces and excited talk filled the car on the way home.
Just goes to show you, sometimes you have to force the fun.
2 comments:
wow that was a treasure, i was hoping your story would end with you winning the gift card....loved your pink nose on the carriage ride. and boy joaquin looks different, bigger/older? Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Yes, I thought we would win, too! That was a funny picture of Joaquin...he NEVER smiles like that. He definitely looks older, he's also lost two of his top side teeth which makes him look different.
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving, Maggie!
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