Frankenmuth

Happy Sunday! We have a wee bit of snow falling here in the resort town of Cobourg.  It won’t last because it’s to stay above zero during the day for the next few days at least. The Farmer's’ Almanac is predicting a cold and snowy winter this year, but I’m not ready for it to start yet!  Will I ever be?

My apologies for not getting a blog out last week, but I was enjoying the weather and shopping in Frankenmuth. Viv and I were up last Sunday by 5am!  That’s how our trip began.  We were met at a Tim  Horton’s by a lovely gentleman by the name of Henry in a mini van, who picked up two other ladies before leaving Toronto and we were driven to Kitchener, where we boarded a big bus and headed out for our trip.  We had folks to pick up in Woodstock, London and Sarnia before we crossed the border.

With the new rules, we all had to leave the bus and go through US customs--the same at Canadian customs, when we returned.  They were very efficient and we were back on the bus in no time.  I should point out that there were 51 of us on the bus, not counting the driver Jim and our tour guide Sharon. Of the 51, only two were men. But we all know that shopping isn’t often a hobby of men!

We arrived at Bronner’s, that afternoon.  For those of you who don’t know, Bronner’s is the largest Christmas store in the world and I am one of the greatest fans of Christmas!  I found out that the INSIDE of Bronner’s is 2.2 acres! I was in heaven! We only had two hours to shop before we got back on the bus to head to the hotel. I could probably have spent an entire day there, just absorbing the ambiance!  As expected, I didn’t do much shopping, but we did find some really nice things and since we spent over $30 we got a free ornament.

I should point out that I didn't realize how much shopping this trip entailed.  I should have asked more questions.  My understand was we would visit Bronner’s and then on the way back, stop at an outlet mall.  Well, we were at Bronner’s the first day, there was more shopping possible that evening, several shopping stops the next day and two shopping stops on the way home!  I am really not a shopper and with the exchange rate, it wasn’t cost effective to shop that much in the US.

Viv and I did not go shopping on the second day, we just wandered through Frankenmuth, which has some nice little shops of its own. I did buy a few things, but Viv bought very little. On our way home, We got a couple of long sleeved Christmas t-shirts at Kohl’s and some spa socks as gifts.  I also got some nice little Christmas gift bags from Dollar Tree.  That was it for the first stop.  The second and last stop, on our way home was at the Great Lakes Outlet Mall.  It is a huge mall, but all Viv and I got was lunch--at Johnny Rocket’s--and a cinnamon bun each, from Cinnabon for the trip home as we were not stopping again.

Well, we loved Bronner's, but I could have gone without the other shopping. With all said and done, it was still a nice trip and the weather was amazing.  The Drury’s in Frankenmuth is lovely and provided a free breakfast and happy hour food, which were full meals, so all we had to do was get our own lunch.

Unfortunately, I returned home with quite a cold, which truthfully began before I left.  I’ve been nursing that all week, but I think I’m finally getting to the end of it.

All in all, a good time and a busy week when I returned. Until next time, I pray for the health of all and ask for God’s blessings on everyone!