Meet Baby Jones

Melvin and I are selling our duplex in Wynnewood, PA. I’m sad to see her go, but we both think it’s time. It had become so much of a headache to maintain [1] and manage [2] from such a distance that it was no longer worth it to keep. I still like the idea of having an investment property, especially in such a desirable location, that it’s something we might consider again in the future. But for now, we’ll just concentrate on this house [3].

Anyway, because Melvin had to meet up with our realtor on Saturday, we cancelled our plans to go to Tyler Arboretum. And since Sundays are when we prepare for the upcoming week, we didn’t want to do anything big.

The alternative: drive the unbelievably scenic road that leads to J. Maki winery in Elverson, PA.

We had driven this road just once before, in 2005 when our friend Stef from Cali Cal visited. Back then, I wasn’t too impressed because afterall, I was a city girl at heart.

Or so I thought.

Since that time, I have developed a deep sense of appreciation for the quiet and beauty of the countryside. I don’t think I could live anywhere else, to be quite honest. As a matter of fact, during our drive I mentioned to Melvin that I really would like to retire on a farm somewhere. He said he would like to do the same. Perfect.

We planned to go out on this drive in the morning after breakfast, before the sun was high (it would create shadows in photos). Avery had different plans though. By the time we got him all cleaned up, wouldn’t you know it, the sun was high.

So before sunset, we made our way out. The exact location of the winery is only about 12 miles from where we live, but our trip lasted almost 2 hours. We stopped at 2 different farms where Melvin took some really cool photos. We wanted to take pics of lil’ Avery, but since we were on private property, space where we could put him down was kind of limited. We resorted to capturing images of horses and the lush countryside instead.

[1] Melvin tried to fix stuff up by himself. He had some success, but to truly fix the joint up the way we wanted would’ve cost thousands of dollars.
[2] Manage whom? Our second floor tenant, Deb, moved out in March.
[3] The house we would lose if we didn’t sell our duplex.

Today we visited the world famous Longwood Gardens, located in Kennett Square, PA about 30 minutes from our house. The original plan was to go yesterday, but Melvin was smart enough to suggest that 3 hours in a place that was 1050 acres in size was not enough time (it was already past 1 pm by the time we were all ready to go).

Anyway, so after breakfast at home, my mom, Melvin, Avery and I started out on our trek. I started to reminisce on the way there about the first time I visited Longwood. It was in the summer of 1984 when my lolo took my lola, my mom, my cousins Frank and Christine and me. At the time, of course, I had no appreciation for the place. I even remember thinking how ridiculous it was to charge a fee to get in to a place just to look at plants. Afterall, there are plants everywhere! Silly me.

And then I thought about how nice of my grandfather to take all of us in his hooptie and drive what must’ve been like 3 hours for him! Where we lived back in 1984 was about an hour from Longwood, but factor in how slowly my lolo used to drive and you easily have a 3 hour tour (a la Gilligan’s Island). Poor thing.

So anyway, after we pay the obscenely expensive entrance fee of $16 per person (yikes!!!!), we first head to the fountains. We had just missed a show, so we then checked out the many different outside gardens. My favorite then and now is the Topiary Garden, and if I knew how to post photos, you guys would be able to see the fantastic ones taken by my darling hubby. But alas, we all must wait until Melvin posts our pics from the trip. Until then, please enjoy this and this and this.

Afterwards, we checked out The Conservatory. That was pretty amazing too, and probably my second favorite area in Longwood. Outside of The Conservatory was an exhibit featuring lily pads. There we got to see some freaky looking Giant Water Lily Pads. Melvin said he read or heard or seen somewhere that these can hold up to 150 lbs! Wowsers.

After spending a million dollars chowing down at the on site restaurant, we finally got to check out the fountain show. I guess it was alright. Photos taken by my beloved will be posted some time soon. I guess.

The second half of our trip was not as fun, partly because we were all just very tired. Surprisingly, Avery quietly enjoyed the day. I was sure he would get cranky at some point because he usually has at least one instance of madness during the day, but he didn’t. Just like his daddy, he must like being outdoors.

We concluded our day by going to the store, strategically located right at the exit. We usually have no self-control when it comes to spending, but still being bitter from being got at the restaurant, we decided we would only get one item for scrap booking sake. We settled on a set of postcards.