Styled By Grace, Framed By Fall: Part 3 Northeast Fall Adventures in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina
Disclosure: I only recommend products I truly love. As an Amazon Associate and Shop My Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may also contain other affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting lovingpetite.com
Fit Guide. I am 5', 105 pounds, 34,-25-33, and usually wear XS -S tops and XS bottoms. All sizes and fit will be displayed for each outfit when you click the link to shop on ShopMy.
This is our final leg of of our northeast fall trip to view the fall foliage through Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Having toured Virginia and Pennsylvania on our way to New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire, we were able to get a sample of these beautiful states. On our journey back to our home state of Georgia, we experienced the caverns in Virginia, learned about the culture of the Amish in Pennsylvania, and explored the quaint mountain towns surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.
The weather was mostly mild, so a light sweater and jeans were sufficient for exploring during most of our trip. Just add a light jacket or cardigan in the evenings.
Staying in a lovely campground in the heart of Lancaster, allowed us to experience the culture of the Amish families as we observed men working in the fields cutting corn and loading it on wagons being pulled by horses, visited an Amish home and enjoyed eating dinner at the family dining table, and learned about the history and lifestyle of the Amish cultures. One of our most pleasant experiences happened right in the campground as three young Amish boys pulled a wagon of home baked goods including cookies, pies, and cakes around the campground for campers to purchase. We found all of the people of the Amish cultures to be very friendly and inviting into their community. They loved to answer questions and were quite engaging.
The food was amazing! I love that most foods are prepared with fresh ingredients and they even made their own ketchup and bacon jam for meatloaves. The pickled vegetables were my absolute favorite dish and I quickly obtained recipes for all of our favorites! I will definitely be rendering bacon to make homemade bacon jam along with homemade ketchup for my next meatloaf! After having a delicious homemade meal in the Amish home that consisted of meatloaf, fresh vegetables, homemade bread, and pumpkin pie with ice cream for desert, we had the honor of hearing the lovely lady play hymns on her harmonica which made our little dog, Jack, sing along which is his favorite thing to do!
If you love this style, check out Bright, Bold, & Flattering Transitional Petite Dresses To Rock Over 60.
The Amish's devotion to family was admirable and they truly depended on each other in the community. We viewed where a huge barn had burned to the ground and the community pitched in to rebuild it, having it almost completely finished in one week's time. Since education was important during my career as a speech language pathologist, I inquired about education and discovered the children are educated together at school and most children go into an apprenticeship to learn a skill around the age of 14 in their area of interest: carpentry, farming, teaching, etc.
The lifestyles of the Amish cultures are strongly determined by the beliefs of the bishop and that can vary from group to group. Young adults are baptized when they make a commitment to the Amish community. We also learned the Mennonites community is very large in this area. Over the years, some people from the Amish country evolve into the Mennonites community because it offers a slightly less conservative lifestyle, but also holds many of the beliefs of the Amish community.
We ventured on to Luray, Virginia where we explored the beautiful and grand Luray Caverns. I must admit this was quite an impressive surprise. I was not expecting it to be so massive and beautiful. All of the caverns and grounds surrounding the caverns had been immaculately maintained. Purchased by Colonel Clay Northcott in 1905, the caverns have been owned and maintained by family members since that time. They even had a transportation museum which housed buggies, cars, and firetrucks dating back to the 1800's. The selection was vehicles was outstanding and I'm sure they must have come from all over since the collection was so extensive. On site, was a small community of homes and buildings that had been preserved from the 1800's along with a museum that contained old cast iron stoves, tools, weapons, and some clothing. Luracy Caverns is definitely a gem of a place to visit if you ever have the opportunity.
The adventure continued to North Carolina where we stayed at our favorite campground. In fact, this was our fourth visit to Moonshine Creek Campground, but not for the moonshine, for the beautiful tumbling creek. I love to hear the sound of water rushing down a mountain stream. Even though it is small, it puts out a beautiful sound as the water rushes down the stream surrounded by an abundance of trees that truly makes you feel like you are camping.
We explored the small towns of Sylva, N.C, Dillsboro N.C., Murphy, N.C., and Clayton, Ga. and marveled at the beautiful boutiques in Highlands, N.C. Even though we encountered rain for a few days, that didn't stop us from getting out and exploring the beautiful towns in the mountains.
We drove up to Asheville, NC to the Biltmore House and spent the day strolling around the gardens and biking around the grounds. It was such a gorgeous day and we enjoyed the beauty of the grounds. We had an amazing lunch and enjoyed the winery at the Antler Hill Village on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate. We chose to not view the inside of the house, since we have already toured it numerous times during previous visits to the estate.
We had an amazing trip to the northeast in early fall; experienced so many fun adventures, visited with various family members, and met some very nice people and dogs along the way! We are truly blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy this retirement season of life together, God's creations and meet new people.
"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!"- Psalm 133:1
"Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the the glory of God."- Romans 15:7
As far as weather goes, we experienced a range of temperatures, but nothing extremely cold. Fashion wise, some days were more fashionable than others depending if we were hiking, biking, or exploring in the rain!
If you enjoyed reading this blog, check out: Styled By Grace; Framed By Fall: Part 1 and Styled By Grace; Framed By Fall: Part 2 to learn about the adventures and fall petite fashions while exploring Virginia, Pennsylvania, Upper State New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.
We hope you enjoyed this series on our Fall adventures in the northeast: Styled By Grace, Framed By Fall. Follow along for more adventures and petite fashion over 60 at www.lovingpetite.com
What are some of your favorite places to visit in the Northeast in the fall season?
Comments