The Mayberry Cafe

Because it took me so long to recap our vacation, I'm behind on telling  you about all our other adventures as well!

We arrived home from vacation about 10:30 on a Friday night, which is really funny, because our trip to Virginia Beach from our home was significantly longer and we arrived significantly earlier! We blamed our long drive home on a late start time, rush hour, construction delays, and being Shaffers.

And the next morning, we got up early and got BACK in the car for another two-hour {one way!} drive. This time, our destination was the Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana, which is just south of Indianapolis. Our outing was to celebrate my sister's birthday, and we asked my parents if they wanted to ride along with us. No need to take two cars to the same place, right?

This is just trouble in a car, right here.

I was excited about going to this cafe, because I'd heard good things about it, but I'd never been there. I actually would love to someday visit Mount Airy, North Carolina, which is the "real" Mayberry, but since it's a bit of a distance from our home, the cafe works well enough!

The cafe is a two story restaurant across from the courthouse in Danville, and they even have a real Andy Taylor sheriff's car parked out front!


Inside, it feels like home with big kitchen tables that you can gather around, and they bring you good home-cooked food, just like Aunt Bee would have made.

While we waited on our food, Julie unwrapped her birthday gifts:

Food was SO delicious. Ryan and I each got tenderloins. So good.

We even got dessert! Blackberry cobbler and coffee. {If anyone is keeping track, I brought about half of everything home.}

The food was so good...it was fun to have episodes playing on TVs in the background...and it was so worth the 2 hour drive!

Happy birthday, Julie!

Comin' Home

Thanks so much for going on virtual vacation with us for the past week or so. I have to say it was just about a perfect vacation. It was perfect in terms of weather, and when you throw in the great opportunities we had to meet people, eat at new places, have a safe journey, and make incredible memories, yep...it was perfect.

Thought I'd do the final wrap up today...a few random pictures you might not have seen in other posts, and some glimpses of our journey home {which, in true Shaffer fashion, took WAYYYYYY more time than it should have}.

No, Mom I didn't buy them. 

We LOVED this lamp. It was at the Cafe Moka Coffee Shop in Virginia Beach.  Coffee cup lamp!

No caption necessary.

After our day at Niagara Falls, ALL I wanted was ice cream. I had wanted it all week and that night, I needed ice cream. There were a little place not far from our hotel, but of course it was seasonal and apparently ice cream season ends before October. {Do NOT get me started.} So we asked unreliable Siri about it, and she swore to us there was a Coldstone a few blocks from the hotel. So though our feet were about to kill us, we ventured forth, on foot, to find Coldstone. This:

IS A STINKING CASINO!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not think I need to tell you my thoughts on walking all that way to find a casino. Ryan said he thought I was going to legitimately break down and cry right there.

I considered it.

When dogs leave you surprises on your camera....

When you ask to take a picture with the pumpkins, but aren't specific about where they should be in the photo:

You can't really hate it too much when this is your view outside your hotel window at Niagara Falls.

When you're driving home and your husband deviates from the interstate to go INTO downtown Cleveland in the thick of rush hour so you can get your Sonic fix....

When you try to take a picture of the last state sign as you go by at 60 miles an hour and realize the camera is on timer...and your husband slams on the brakes to try to give you a fighting chance of your scrapbook memory:

It worked. It represented how we we felt at that point.

And I think...I think...somebody missed us.

Correction. She missed HIM.

I paid for the absence for the next several days. HA!! :)

Niagara Falls in the Fall

You. Guys.

1. Thank you for being here as I am, yes, STILL talking about our vacation.

2. If you have never been to Niagara Falls in the Fall....GO.

The first time I went to Niagara Falls, I was two months old. My parents drove an old green Dodge van with carpeted walls and no seats in the back. My carrier rested on the engine between the two front seats.

Surprisingly, I don't remember that visit. Also surprisingly, that van has long since given up the ghost, and seat belt laws now prevent such extraordinary adventures.

The second time I went to Niagara Falls, I was somewhere in the neighborhood of a third grader with bangs splitting down the middle and teeth to match.

Ryan had never been to Niagara Falls. So we put it on our list. And I must say, it was a stunning, stunning visit.

Niagara is just about an hour and a half north of Letchworth, so that Thursday morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed that way. It was supposed to be a cold and rainy day, and we determined that was okay, because we were touring a waterfall. It seemed appropriate. But God had other plans, and the day turned into a gorgeous, gorgeous time. And the sun...the leaves...the power of the waterfall...we were overcome. Worship come to life in nature, for sure. I will try not to show you every. single. picture. we took. But I am not sure this is possible.

His first view of the Falls: 

 We took our chalkboards and after we did this photo, a really nice mom said to us, "You seem to know what you're doing. Can you take our family's picture? And can we use your chalkboards?" LOL! Made my whole day.

 The leaves. I can't even...

And then...I cannot even tell you the joy THIS brought to my soul:

A rainbow!!!! I never get to see rainbows and yet...there it was. Just for us. God is good!

Amazing. Just amazing.

It was nice enough that we were able to eat lunch outside that day - and because we were there on a weekday in the fall - it was just quiet and lovely.

We spent the afternoon testing out different views, including going down to the bottom of the American side of the falls. {We did not do the Cave of the Winds or the  Maid of the Mist mostly because it was windy and cold enough that we knew we'd get chilled to the bone by the water, and we were afraid of ruining our camera. And we are of the persuasion that if you can't take pictures, there's no point in doing it. HA!}

Started the afternoon with a broken travel tripod. Had to move to the big one for the rest of the time. 

He told me to flex. Not sure why. Also not sure how.

Back to the natural scenery:

In the late afternoon, we walked across the pedestrian bridge to enter Canada. The gentleman at the border lacked a wee bit of personality, but we got through okay. And while the view from the Canadian side was more complete than the American side, we weren't able to get as close...so it wasn't as overwhemlingly powerful. {I say that so you know we loved both sides for different reasons.}

 We had fun walking up and down that side. And Ryan scored the photo of the entire trip:

We climbed a RIDICULOUS hill and ate dinner at the first restaurant we found. Had an amazing waiter who took such good care of us.

And then? We enjoyed the lights:

We didn't want to be gone from our home and native land too long, so we crossed the bridge and came through security to get back in the States. The guy asked if we bought anything while we were gone. We told him we'd gotten a Christmas ornament and he shot back, "That's IT?" Sorry to disappoint you, Sir!

By the time we got back to our hotel room, we could no longer feel our feet. We had been on them ALL day and they hated us. In fact, mine hurt so much, I couldn't fall asleep!!

But what an amazing, unforgettable day. I loved it so much!!

Letchworth State Park

Thanks, everyone, for your unending patience in reading through the adventures of our vacation! We have just a couple more days to cover, and I think you'll find the photos particularly stunning!

I told you that originally, this vacation was just supposed to be a long weekend to Virginia Beach to visit our friends Mark and Lynnette. One reason we added the New York component to it was because one of our church friends told us about a state park in New York that she thought we would really like. It's called Letchworth State Park, and if you've not heard of it {we hadn't either!} - you are missing out! It's rated the #1 state park in the nation, and we quickly saw why. It is STUNNING.

It's hailed as the Grand Canyon of the east, since it has similar rock formations, but it's in a forest, not a desert, so it has gorgeous rock formations AND trees. And since we were there in the fall, those trees were amazing. It also has stunning waterfalls. We asked the nice lady in the Visitor's Center which trail we should hike if we only had time to hike one trail, and she recommended the one that would take us past all three big waterfalls. It was the best day.

We especially appreciated the beauty of the day, since it was supposed to be cloudy all day with a possibility of showers. IT was a cloudy morning, but the sun came out, it wasn't too hot, and we had a truly wonderful day hiking together. I'll pretty much let the pictures do the talking from here, but can I highly recommend that if you visit, you go in the fall so you can enjoy the amazing New York trees?

I have DOZENS more pictures, but you're probably tired of looking at them, so I'll stop. :) But seriously, this is a place you should put on your must-visit list if you've not been there. And if you have been there, go back. It's so worth it.

We just got some snacks to munch on throughout the day, so by about 4:00, we were pretty ready for a REAL meal. We went back to Mt. Morris, where our hotel was, and found a local restaurant for dinner. And yes. We ate with the senior citizen crowd. LOL!!!

The food was delicious, our waitress was wonderful, and we left with full bellies and tired feet. We were back in our hotel and resting by 6 p.m., and it was just the most wonderful evening. We'd been on the go so constantly throughout the vacation that it was nice to have a few hours to just sit. Our hotel offered complimentary coffee and cookies, so we enjoyed those, we visited the pool, we watched TV, and we had a great evening together.

The next morning, we packed up and drove about an hour and a half away for our last adventure of the trip: Niagara Falls!

Linking Up!