our trip

July 6, 2008

One Sunday afternoon we visited the small town of Berlin MD. This is the town of "Hale" Maryland in the movie Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. It was hard to imagine Hollywood invading this small town to film the movie, it was really small. Like, we ran into main street and began seeing all the movie locations and sets. The tour guide map really wasn't necessary. The town was preparing to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of this movie. We heard from a waitress that the main actor and actress were invited to attend but they each required a small fee of $50,000 to make an appearance! We stopped by the hardware store where Maggie worked in the movie. It had recently closed in the past few years. We visited the Atlantic Hotel where Richard Gere stayed and filmed alot upstairs. The young girl offered to show us around and we quickly followed her. Remember in the entry way of the hotel....the long pretty staircase? The inside of the hotel looks just the same. The hotel was beautifully decorated in Victorian style, complete with claw foot bath tubs and lots of lace and floral prints. Each room had a special name and we got a peek at the "runaway bride" room. One room looked especially nice to me and we have considered staying there in the future maybe.

After church we had "brunch" at the hotel restaurant. We relaxed outdoors on the front porch and enjoyed delicious steak and eggs and Lacey ate her pasta. It was all good until the bill arrived and we realized our little "brunch" was $80! We made a mental note that if stayed there in the future we will check out the diner across the street! It was so cool to see all the places from the movie. We walked down to The Hair Shop but they were closed since it was a Sunday afternoon. I was disappointed because I really wanted to get a hair cut there. Remember in the movie where the big city reporter (Gere) came walking into the salon looking for Maggie Carpenter? She was actually in the floor fixing a chair. I peeked into the window and it looked just like in the movie. I think one of my favorite spots was down by the railroad tracks. The big blue and white 2 story house with the steps out front....the one where Maggie came running out to get the newspaper to see if she got the reporter fired....remember? There was actually several scenes from this house. We turned around by the railroad tracks and snapped a few pictures. A neighbor lady yelled at us, obviously tired of the visitors from the past 10 years!

And.....Victorian Charm! I checked this store out on the web before we got there so I knew it was still open. It was the great scene where Julia is trying on the wedding dress in front of the mirror and Richard Gere is just stunned. I think that's my favorite part of the movie, just so sweet. This store was the best! It's a beautiful gift shop with lots of unique items and lots of Vera Bradley purses and wallets. Adam patiently waited while I shopped and shopped! I got a beautiful purse and matching wallet and some birthday gifts for family. I'm hoping to visit this store again this summer :) There is also a small bakery, antique shops and other small stores in historic Berlin MD. If you are on the east coast near Ocean City, it's only 6 miles from town.

2 easy steps

How to beat the winter time blues:

1~~book the kennell for the puppies
2~~reserve that oceanfront room at the beach!

growing up

Here's a few things my little 4 year old has said this past week that just shocked me;

As she picks up an issue of People magazine on my desk she flips through it and suddenly stops at a photo of our new president. She then tells me, "mommy... there's brack bama!" So I asked her how she knew his name and she quickly informed me "from the news!"

As we left for day care the other day she reminded me "after school today I gotta do my homework Mom!"

She was being ornery one afternoon and I told her she better stop before she got into big trouble and she looked me square in the eye and said; "am I just grounded now or what?"

The other night she was looking at a catalog with me and told me that I should "go online to dot com and look it up!"

When did my four year old become a fourteen year old?
I think I may need some tissues on the way to Pre-K enrollment in the morning!

popcorn

This past weekend was movie weekend! I love to go see a good movie.

~~gran torino (clint eastwood)-Rated R due to the language for sure, great movie plot!

~~hotel for dogs- the kids really liked it and I thought it was pretty cute too. I was hoping to see a little bichon but no luck. Lacey loved the close up of the dogs and their noses :) It had a few sad parts in it that almost brought tears to us female dog lovers.

~~paul blart- mall cop- one of my favorite actors, Kevin James. He played his funny old self and made us all laugh. it was a short movie and a little disappointing but it was still good to watch.

I'm still waiting for Nights in Rodanthe to come on pay per view, can't wait to see it since I just recently read the book.