Greece is the word

Travelling to anyplace new is an experience.  We are not strangers to the new in travel. Even our simple family fun Fridays are filled with adventures, but let me tell you this trip has been filled with adventure from the start.

Until we arrived I was not convinced this trip would even happen. Consider that in the past 18 months six other trips have been cancelled. So it really shouldn’t have been a surprise that our rapid tests resulted in a quick (possibly panicked) trip to Lebanon, Indiana to get a test result – negative.

Just getting out of Indy was a process. Nothing like getting to the airport early only to have your flight delayed by three hours – oh the horror of lost sleep to begin the journey.

Travelling in the new Covid World is unique. Vaccine cards, masks, social disctancing, and limited staff make for interesting scenes.

Landing in JFK was an adventure. No signage – no directions – and no one with answers as to how you get to the international gates. No wonder … it was like a ghost town.

Thanks to the wind our flight to Frankfurt, Germany was only 7 hours – a movie, dinner, and a long nap. We arrived just in time for breakfast. If you can call a beer and currywurst breakfast? The short answer is yes. Yes you can. YUM!

Our wait for our flight to Greece was interesting. Lets just say it involved three gate changes and eventually a short bus ride (really a tour) of the Frankfurt Airport. I mean why assign a gate to a plane when you can just load the plane for the end of the runway?

26 hours later (32 on the actual clock) and welcome to Greeece.

While unpacking and getting ready for our first day of touring, it became apparent that I was missing a key component – the battery charger for my camera – what is it about me and cameras?! Good news the hotel provided us a map and directions to a camera shop. They were most helpful and we are now ready to take pictures and wear out the batteries. 

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Thankful for helpful people and common places (camera shops) that allow a strange place to begin to feel like home.

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Quick observations

Not every where new that you go feels like home or is even welcoming. There are some places that are just so different from what you are used t0 (or expect) that you just struggle adjusting.

I can already begin to understand Paul. A Jew from Jerusalem finds himself entering Europe into a land that while ruled by the Romans is still very Greek. It is different.

Perhaps that’s why Paul (Acts 17:1) chose to spend time in the cities that had synagogues – there was comfort in the familiar.

I’m confident we will meet more people like our new friends who aided us in feeling welcome.

Tomorrow we explore a place were Paul discovered new friends and launched the church he most loved – Phillipi.

Family Fun Friday … Rerun?

The debate is on: Does it qualify as a rerun, if the last time we were there was during Christmas Season?

The weather was certainly warmer and with warmth comes the desire to explore a little more.

Oh we hit our favorite spots

For lunch we chose Waffle Which again. It is a fun place with an unique menu that is much more than waffles (but Sherry highly recommends the gluten free waffle) as you will be amazed at what they can create with a waffle iron (like try the loaded hash browns!).

And no trip is complete with out shopping on the square and stopping into the Martinsville Candy Kitchen. We placed our order for Handmade Christmas Candy Canes which means we will be back in December!

This was our unique find today …  

Still not sure if I feel patriotic or creeped out? Will let you decide

We also discovered an unique spot we missed in the cold of winter – The Art Sanctuary. What was once the United Methodist Church in downtown Martinsville has new life as an event center and is the home to large number of local artists who have studios in each of the former classrooms and offices.

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We also made another great find on our way home just off of 67 in Mooresville. The Chunky Monkey. They serve up Hershey Brand Ice Cream! and they make incredible Ice Cream Nachos at least according to Riley.

We once again hit the three components of a great family fun Friday.  And while it was a rerun, we discovered something new.

Lesson Learned – old things can be new again if we are open to the journey and the adventure!

Family Fun Friday Trips and a Tip!

The past two weeks we discovered 2 new day trips. Now mind you the places were not new to us, but the adventure was new.

First Trip – Edinburgh and Franklin

Now most people know Edinburgh for the Outlet Stores. And yes we stopped to look for bright colored shoes – and yes we found some – and on clearance too!

But if you go to Edinburgh make sure to take time to visit the Edinburg Diner.

They have the distinction of serving the largest tenderloin in Indiana and it does not disappoint (notice the slice of cheese for size reference)! Riley and I did are best and we still had leftovers to take home.

After lunch we needed some exercise, so we headed to downtown Franklin. The home of Franklin College and the Historic Artcraft Theatre. If you want to experience the movies the way the used to be … take time to see a film at the Artcraft. But there was so much more in the downtown square of Franklin. So we shopped. And we find a few antique stores as well.

Why Antique stores? You never know what you will find and with imagination you will be entertained all day. And with a keen eye, you might find some treasure to take home. At the least you will walk down memory lane and tell stories.

We enjoyed the Madison Street Salvage in Franklin as they benefited the local NonProfit and they had some great architectural salvage as well as antiques.

But we enjoy the stories we make up along the way as we find little gems. Like Goth Orphan Annie on the left. Apparently even little Orphan Annie had her teenage phase!

We rounded out our day at a toy store downtown and with ice cream store from a shop in the old Franklin Train Depot.

Second Trip – Downtown Noblesville

We actually started the day with some shopping at a few big box stores on 37 on our way and lunch at Zaxby’s which we had not had in over 15 months. But our target was downtown Noblesville and the town square. I have driven by countless times in my life, but honestly never been. This won’t be our last trip. We enjoyed all the shops – antiques, clothes and toys. Met shop owners and enjoyed some great coffee!

Noble Coffee was a great treat and hit the spot late afternoon. And I was excited to learn that they fresh roast small batches of coffee beans from Guatemala. I now have a local spot to get my fix in between trips to Mission Guatemala and Crossroads Cafe. They have more than just coffee (but who cares?) and plenty of seating!

We will keep both these trips in mind because we could have spent plenty more time in both places and we have just scratched at the surface of all there is to do in these places.

Once again … Family Fun Friday was a success! Food, Culture, and Activity. And now you have 2 new selfie spots to find in Noblesville and Franklin.

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BONUS TIP for Family Fun Friday Planning – CALL AHEAD

On both of our trips, I had done some homework online and found a couple of unique stops that were open. A Train Museum in Franklin located in the old train depot and a History Museum in Noblesville located in the old jail that once kept John Dillinger.

We were unable to visit either because they were closed.

Apparently in these COVID days, the information on their Facebook Pages and Websites were not accurate in stating that they were open. So call ahead to verify hours of operation.

While we were disappointed, it gives us an excuse to return soon to explore these spots again.