APPLESTONE COTTAGE & BLONDIE'S JOURNAL MEET!

Our visit to Galena, Illinois has come and gone.  This is the 4th time we have met up with Cindy and Dan from Applestone Cottage. Once a year for 4 years!   Galena is a nice place to meet because it's a halfway point between our homes.  And it's a great little town with tons of little shops and restaurants set against a backdrop of rolling hills and valleys.  We met up on Saturday afternoon at this restaurant.

Wonderful Italian decor and food!  The Husband and I actually arrived the night before.  After a 5 hour drive and getting stuck in traffic, we checked into our B & B and then went out for a nice dinner.  Afterward we stopped at a little place and listened to some great jazz music.  Then it was back to the inn.  I was a little disappointed in our room.  It was very small but had a large bathroom with a jacuzzi tub.  Alas, no shower.  It is really difficult to wash your hair in a tub under a faucet!  The Husband was really not happy with this at all!

Here's Cindy at the restaurant.  After a year of only blogging and emailing, we picked up the conversation where we left off!  The Husband and Dan are very much alike and get along great. 

After lunch it was time for some serious shopping.  The streets were full of people and even some street musicians. 

We stopped off and on to just soak up the atmosphere and listen to the music.  Why do the Cindy, The Husband and Dan all have their arms folded?!

I fell in love with this wreath but it was a little over priced.  I did find a lot of cool stuff that I will share with you in another post.  Since all we had to do was throw our bags in the car, I didn't hold back shopping!

I have been borrowing my daughter's Vera Bradley overnite bag lately and looked at a few in this shop.  Wow, the prices were steep.  I guess I'll just keep using Abby's!

The shops had a little of everything.  And it was nice to step into them and out of the heat.  Actually, it wasn't that bad...in the mid 80's, I would say. 

This is where all of us stayed, The Queen Anne Guest House.  I am lacking pictures although I had every opportunity to take some.  We were rarely there.  We did join in with the owners and other guests for refreshments late Saturday afternoon.  Anita made the most delicious carrot cake and iced tea.  The guests wanted to know how our little foursome met and we started talking about blogging.  Amazing how in the dark people are about what blogging is, and sometimes it's very hard to explain.  They were laughing over our description of what a "Party" is and tablescaping really blew their minds!

This is the resident kitty and it was as friendly as could be!  Isn't he/she pretty?

We had dinner Saturday evening at One Eleven Main and the food and atmosphere was wonderful.  There was however, a mishap that involved Cindy and a clumsy waitress, but I will let Cindy tell you all about that.  The next morning we met for breakfast downstairs (our rooms were right across from one another) and we were served a fruit parfait, and egg casserole, some kind of streudel cake and juice and coffee.  Then we set off for more shopping!  At about 1:00 we had to say our goodbyes.  We have a whole year to plan on where and when we will meet up next!

Galena is really a pretty town, very close to the Iowa border.  I wish I could have gotten better pictures of the rolling farm fields.  Considering how flat Illinois is, it's like being in another part of the country.  The Husband and I made several stops on the way home; lunch at a little diner, an antique shop where I found some really neat things, a garden nursery where I bought another hanging flower basket, and two stops for more iced tea.  The temps had crept up to the 90's.  We finally made it home by 5:00.  

It was a fantastic weekend, never a dull moment.  I know Cindy and Dan had a much fun as we did.  Now I have a lot of laundry to catch up on and a lot of flowers to water so I have to run.  Hope all of you had a wonderful weekend.  Visit Cindy to read her post on our trip!  See you soon! :-)