This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.
In my earlier post I mentioned the affect of the economy on our home, and Maine, and was delighted to see an opportunity to share on a topic that is somewhat related to both of these things.
My husband has a great interest in the economy because he has experienced unemployment twice after working for 30 years at the same company. He does have a job now that seems to be secure. In this job and in the previous job, he discovered that much of the work that was done by machinists and factory workers was being sent out to other countries because it costs less money. Fellow employees were loosing their jobs.
I see a similar thing when shopping for just about anything…but I’ll focus on clothing right now. Have you read the little tags on the cloths you buy? I don’t know when the last time was that I saw “Made in America” on a clothing label.
I personally don’t know what to do to help change this problem in a big way, but maybe in small ways change can be made, one person and company at a time. Researching what things ARE made in America and buying them is one thing I can do more than I have been.
Now here’s where the “Maine” part comes in – Ramblers Way Farm is a company that makes fine woolen apparel using resources grown and manufactured 100% right here in America. They purchased an old historic building in a small town that was struggling economically. They refurbished the 1792 structure located in Kennebunk, Maine, to it’s original condition. At the same time it had to be modernized so that it met our current environmental standards. This is now their Corporate Office. They have received the Gold Lead Certification level, which is a great honor….plus they can now provide jobs to people in an area that needs them badly.
To me, this is a GREAT example of how companies can help make “Made in America” a more common label seen on products, and at the same time provide much-needed jobs in distressed communities.
I think we may just pass through that way on our vacation mentioned in the post before this and see this place for ourselves. We love history, and what a wonderful example this is of preserving it.
The affect the economy has had, causing unemployment for both my husband and son, has caused us to live on the memories of past vacations over the past few years. We’ve been able to get away for our anniversary weekend, but that’s about it.
This year, since my husband now has a job, and has not used the 5 days allotted to him for the year…yes, that’s it, just 5 days…for vacation, sickness, personal day, whatever, we hope to get away for a week and go to our favorite destination, Maine. We’re going to have to keep it downright simple, but we enjoy the simple things of life, so that’s fine with us. There’s so much beauty in Maine, and the lobster is wonderful.
We vacationed many times in Blackwoods Campground in Acadia National Park when the children were growing up. We loved vacationing in September before they were school age, and now that they are adults, we are back to vacationing in September.
I’ve probably written a few pages on here before about our vacations, and have elsewhere on the web, here’s a few links for you:
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Memphis Travel. All opinions are 100% mine.
I wish I had fond memories of Memphis, Tennessee to tell you about, but visiting Tennessee is a dream of mine…a memory I’d like to make. Some of the nicest people I’ve become acquainted with here on the internet live in Tennessee, and when I make my way down there one day, I can’t imagine not visiting Memphis.
I visited the site at one of the links included on the page and found that you can enter to win a trip package, something I’ll be doing as soon as I’ve finished typing this post.
Then I visited their website, which is what I’d call a “Memphis-savvy travel guide” and looked in the blue box around the middle of the page…under it was a large section of white with nothing written in it….hmmm…kind of a waste of space it seemed UNTIL I picked my interest…music was the first thing that caught my eye…and as soon as I picked it, that blank white area filled in with all kinds of wonderful things related to music…so I went on to pick a few other favorite things, like couple trips as I’d be going with my husband…no children…we’ve raised them…but they do have a family selection. In fact there’s lots of interests to select, you’ll have to give it a try…you can plan a good part of your visit right there.
I love flickr, have some of my own pictures uploaded there, here’s some nice places to see while you’re down there:
This is at the Memphis Botanical Garden…there are lots of beautiful natural things there, but what a cute idea…literal “flower beds” I love botanical gardens. You can look at the I Love Memphic photostream in Flickr for many more pictures.
Don’t forget to sign up for the enter to win a trip package…I’m going to right now…win or not, I do hope to visit Tennessee and have some memories to share with you.
The northeast has been experiencing nothing but hot, hot, and more hot weather. This weekend is supposed to be a rare cool weekend, in fact I am actually listening to crickets outside rather than the drone of our two air conditioners…and fans that help push the air into rooms that don’t have air…no, we don’t have central air.
As I was sitting here in the living room earlier appreciating the air conditioner in spite of the noise, I remembered our vacations as a child at my grandparents. I don’t remember them using an air conditioner very much, if at all. In later years there was one, only one, in a living room window, but it rarely went on.
I remember playing outside, running up the hill to the wooded area of their property picking blueberries, playing bad mitten, washing dishes by hand after dinner…that was our chore as children…my grandparents never had an automatic dishwasher….ever.
As the hot days wore on, we’d do quieter things, and enjoyed a nice dinner together around the table, followed each evening by the reading of a short devotional from “Our Daily Bread”. Then, as the sun went down, something simple, but magical happened, on went the attic fan, and suddenly, quickly, the air in the house became cool as the heat of the day was pulled out of the house and the cool air was pulled in through the windows….funny the memories that come so unexpectedly…warm memories on a warm day.
Many of my memories take place right here in my home state of New Jersey, and around this time of year, when it is COLD and I’m busy stoking my wood stove up here in the hills of Northern New Jersey, a Jersey Shore beach vacation isn’t the first thing that pops into my mind…so it’s good to have a reminder to make summer plans ahead of time when the prices are GREAT. Now that our children are grown, we love to vacation at the jersey shore in September. Last year the Spring brought with it warm weather as early as April, so we were down at the shore for several days.
When you are vacationing with children, a fun place to enjoy a New Jersey vacation is in the Wildwood area of the Jersey Shore at Morey’s Piers. Not only are you in the vicinity of beautiful beaches as well as the natural beauty of preserved land, but there’s plenty of water park fun for the children!
There is a special going on right now, from December 1 through January 9, you can save close to 40% on a season pass to Morey’s Piers, and enjoy both of their water parks, and these days, with all of us counting our pennies, sales like this are just what we need. So visit the link above, and makes some plans to make some memories with your family this summer…come to think of it, this may be a great Christmas gift idea!
Summer vacations were something we always looked forward to when we were children, they were spent at my grandparents every year. It sounds like such a simple vacation compared to the elaborate vacations many take these days, but we loved it and I don’t have a single regret. My grandparents were wonderful, as I’ve probably shared in other posts.
They lived on property surrounded by woods, with what I thought was a HUGE hill in the yard. Everything seems bigger when you look back on it from the perspective of an adult. At the top of the hill was a metal shed that always smelled like gardening…manure probably, but it was a good, clean smell.
In the shed was a box that contained fun in the form of rolled up yellow plastic. We’d take it out, unroll it down the hill, and then attach a hose to the top so there was a steady flow of water, and we’d slide down the hill on the Slip ‘n Slide to our hearts content. Oh yes, there were times when the water wasn’t flowing as nicely as it could, and you’d get a nice “belly burn” on the plastic, but it was fun as can be and among the treasured vacation memories stored away in my mind.
Slip ‘n Slides have come a long way, now there are Slip ‘N Slide Mega Sharks, can you imagine? Now you can feel like you are escaping the jaws of a shark when you slide down the hill, but for us, just a plain piece of yellow plastic was enough.
In our town it was the last day of school for the young ones, and a flood of memories came to mind as a result, I’ll have more for you. When my husband and I went to my Grandparents house after Grandad passed, about 10 years after Gram, we took a look in that shed, and sure enough, the box was still there. Now the house and property have been completely redone, but pictures and happy memories remain.
Last week my husband and I packed a few days worth of cloths, hopped in the car, and went away for a few days to use some of his vacation time and get away. We had no real destination, just knew it would be somewhere down on the jersey shore. We decided to start at the northern-most part of the shore destinations, Sandy Hook, and work our way down, and never got beyond our favorite spot, Long Beach Island. You’ll find a lot more about the history and spots we stopped at as I post them to New Jersey Baby Boomer, but for this post, LBI is the focus.
We have great memories of taking our children there for a weekend. We spent time on the beach, my favorite being early morning or very late afternoon, as the sun is going down. Especially nice if there is a full moon. We enjoyed our just-the-two-of-us time very much, but also missed the good old days with the added excitement of having our children with us. When you’re raising your children, you love being with them, but dream of days when it can be just the two of you, then when it IS just the two of you, you realize how much life and vitality children add to your life…no, we’re not sad or depressed because they are grown, but treasure and hold tight to those special memories.
I took LOADS of pictures, and again, will be putting some up on New Jersey Baby Boomer where I share more history, but for now, here’s Barnegat Light, the lighthouse in Barnegat Bay, fondly called “Old Barney” – what a great history it has. We had been here years back with our children, and this trip my husband took on the challenge of climbing the 200+ winding steps to the top.
And what is a trip to the shore without seagulls? This one posed for me on the rocks that are on the other side of a railing along a cement trail at Barnegat Light on the bay.
Wishing those of you that are able a happy and safe vacation. There are, and will be more, tips on saving when you vacation this summer at Baby Boomer Penny Pincher, stop by if you like.
I love botanical gardens. You can look at the 
