When our family comes from out West, it's an event. They can only afford to come every few years because of how much it costs to get them all here. When they come, there are always places they want to go and people they want to see. Often, the places are new to all of us -- but the people are family and old friends. We found this year that one of the best ways to visit the places and see the people we wanted to was to combine the activities.
Some of our oldest and dearest friends hoped we could get together, as their grown daughters and ours had been good friends growing up and had seldom seen one another since our youngest daughter's wedding 15 years ago. We thought we could manage it if:
1) All of the girls were free on a Saturday during the visit:
2) They were willing to meet us somewhere in between, preferably a place where the kids could run and play while the adults visited.
In addition, my daughter hoped we could find an ice cream place serving locally or New-England made ice cream. So, after a few phone calls (to check on availability of the people) and a bit of time online (to research possible locations), it all worked out.
We settled on
Beech Hill Farm and Ice Cream Barn and were so glad we made that choice! Not only was it a pretty place with great ice cream, it is a real working farm with animals to see, a nice walking trail and a giant sandbox which was a real hit with the kids. There's also a very nice garden center with plants and gardening accessories -- some quite unique -- for sale. I'm just going to share a few quick photos I snapped and add captions. Sorry I didn't get pictures of the ice cream, but it was delicious!
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| A weathered red shed with flowers |
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| I just liked the look of this barn, particularly the multi-paned window above the doors |
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| The giant sandbox, with 8 of our grandkids (and one son-in-law) in the picture |
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| Some of the garden accessories -- these decorative, apparently laser-cut spades were so pretty |
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| More art, with some plants |
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| These garden accessories, made with found bits and pieces, were so interesting. The one at left is topped with a teapot, the one at right is a birdbath made with glass pieces. |
This is such a fun place! It worked out perfectly for our get-together with friends. After the ice cream and visiting at picnic tables, Mr. T and I walked the nature trail with our friends, and our daughters also walked the trail together while our two sons-in-law watched all of the kiddos at the sand pile. A lovely afternoon!
This makes me want to return for another visit to New England Mrs T. We visited Vermont ten years ago and I fell in love with that area. So glad you were able to work out logistics for the visit. Looks like a fun time was had by all.
ReplyDeleteOh, Arlene, do let me know if you do plan a visit to New England! It would be fun to meet up somewhere for ice cream!
ReplyDeleteYes, this visit worked out well on all accounts. So thankful that God works out even little details like this! Beech Hill Farm also has a corn maze in fall. Even though this was our first visit there, I'm quite sure it won't be our last. A very beautiful and relaxing place!