Jump Into the Holidays at Moon Dance Cliffs

Give more joy to your world this year with a holiday escape to magnificent Moon Dance Cliffs and save up to 30% on your stay.

The Cliffs of Negril, Jamaica – Make a splash this holiday season with an unforgettable stay at Moon Dance Cliffs, a stunning, peaceful seaside resort and spa perched on the dramatically beautiful, westernmost edge of Jamaica. Book now and take advantage the resort’s Holiday Specials offering up to 30% off nightly rates.

From December 22, 2012 through January 2, 2013, stay four 4 – 6 nights and receive 20% off Moon Dance Cliff’s nightly rates. Stay 7 nights and enjoy even deeper savings with 30% off its nightly rates.

Negril’s newest luxury resort, Moon Dance Cliffs features spectacular oceanview accommodations, luxurious amenities and a secluded, unique setting on the picturesque cliffs of Negril. Moon Dance Cliffs offers something for everyone—from the active adventurer who wants to cliff jump and snorkel off the resort’s shore to the relaxed traveler who just wants to sit by the pool or their private verandah and watch the sun slip behind the watery horizon. The resort joins its sister property, the acclaimed Moon Dance Villas, located up the coast of Negril on a private stretch of famed Seven Mile Beach.

From the moment you reach Moon Dance Cliffs, feel the stress that can sometimes precede the holidays melt away. Upon arrival, our warm, attentive staff greets you with traditional Jamaican rum punch as you take in the sweeping seascape in our open air lobby -- waves rising up to meet the captivating coastline -- before settling in for your unforgettable stay at Jamaica’s hidden gem.

Moon Dance Cliffs is an ideal gathering place for geographically scattered families, with a superb selection of spacious and luxurious accommodations allowing you to spread out, relax and enjoy your idyllic home away from home as you celebrate the season. These include 480- to 1,200 square-foot rooms and suites, along with 1-, 4- and 5-bedroom private, poolside villas – all with amazing Caribbean views. All the villas have private garden Jacuzzis and fully-stocked wet bars; some feature other festive amenities such as full-size pool tables in the living rooms.

Meet by the resort’s stunning swimming pool, complete with waterfall and island bridges, to catch up on each other’s lives. Soak up some sun and gaze out to sea as you while the more active members of your group experience the gentle thrill of jumping from the resort’s lifeguard-attended cliffs and splashing into the warm Caribbean waters. Eat, drink and be merry at Moon Dance Cliff’s poolside/swim-up sports bar or Annie’s restaurant, located next to the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Both serve traditional Jamaican fare such as ackee and saltfish (the national dish) and curried and jerk-seasoned meats, along with North American cuisine. All-inclusive dining options are available, as are some of Negril’s best restaurants just a short walk away. For couples wanting an unforgettable, romantic experience, staff can arrange a private, candlelit dinner in a small cave overlooking the cliffs.

Look your picture-perfect, holiday best after a visit to Moon Dance Cliff’s Kamala Spa and Salon. You’ll be thoroughly rested and ready for the New Year after a relaxing massage from the resort’s skilled masseuse, as the warm tropical breeze and rhythmic waves soothe your soul. From essential oils to the infinity hydrotherapy spa, natural products and modern technology are blended together to ensure the ultimate spa experience.

While the resort itself is singularly beautiful, Moon Dance Cliff’s service is what sets us apart. Our staff anticipates your every need, pampering and treating you like cherished family members while also ensuring plenty of privacy. “We truly enjoy making sure our guests are happy as they can be while they are at our little edge of paradise,” said Randy McKay of Moon Dance Cliffs.

For more information about Moon Dance Villas and Moon Dance Cliffs, visit http://www.moondanceresorts.com villas and http://www.moondanceresorts.com/cliffs or call 1-800-621-1120.

Strites' Orchard Farmer's Market and Bakery in Harrisburg

If you live in the Harrisburg or Hershey area in Pennsylvania, you have probably heard of Strites' Orchard Farmer's Market and Bakery. If you are not familiar with it, or new to our area, you can find Strites' at 1000 Strites Road Harrisburg, PA 17111 Business: (717) 564-3130.

When you visit and shop at Strites Orchards you will find all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables to buy. We love going to Strites to buy our potatoes, peaches, pears, apples, onions, zucchini, grapes and melons. They have so much to choose from that it's hard to make up your mind on what you would like to buy.

The fresh produce you can get at Strites is so much better than that stuff in our local grocery stores. Matter of fact, any time I buy produce at our local grocery stores, I am always dissatisfied with my purchase. I try to buy "as little" of my produce at the local store as possible! Strites' is my "go-to" source for fresh produce here in our area.

In addition to the fresh produce, they also sell milk, apple cider, walnuts, canned jams & jellies, freshly baked dessert pies, apple dumplings, whoopie pies, cookies, muffins and breads. All of their baked goods are baked fresh and taste delicious!

New this year you can find natural grass-fed beef from D & M cattle which is a local farm here in our area. I love that I can now purchase beef at my local farmer's market for my family and it's beef from grass-fed cattle! Yeah! I hope we see even more beef products at Strites' in the future too!

You can visit Strites' web site for additional information, driving directions and hours of operation. You can also follow Strites Orchard on Facebook. Happy Shopping!

Spooky Halloween Yard Decorations

For our photo of the week this week, we are doing something a little different! A few days ago we took a drive around our neighborhood to look at all of the Spooky Halloween Decorations that all of our neighbors have been decorating their yards with.

We came across this one particular house and REALLY liked what we saw! They had spooky witches, skeletons, tombstones, ghosts, bats, pumpkins, you name it...they had it going on! They have been attracting a crowd and on this particular night, there were about 15 people there checking out all of the Spookylicious Halloween Decor.

You can click on the photo above which will enlarge it so you can see the details better.

Out of all of the houses we checked out on our drive last week, this particular one was one of our favorites! These neighbors, really do it in style and with Christmas approaching, we can't wait to see what they put out next! Enjoy our Photo of the Week!

Memorial Lake State Park in Pennsylvania

My photo of the week for the week of October 17th, is one that I took 2 1/2 weeks ago while spending time up at Memorial Lake State Park in Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania.

If you have never visited this state park in Pennsylvania, it really is a "must see" state park! They have picnic pavilions, playgrounds for the kids, hiking trails and you can rent paddle boats, kayaks and canoes and take them out onto the lake.

We spent several hours up at Memorial Lake State Park with the family and had a fantastic time! We enjoyed it so much that we will be holding our family reunion up there come late May of 2013. There are a ton of fun things for both children and adults to do, and the lake is just beautiful! Enjoy!

Stonefield Estate Resort Announces Its Newest Package That Lets Guests Enjoy the Best Parts of St. Lucia

Stonefield Estate Resort Announces Its Newest Package That Lets Guests Enjoy the Best Parts of St. Lucia

This Caribbean hideaway is offering guests the chance to stay in two luxury villas on different parts of the island where they can experience fabulous boat tours, culture, dining and more!

St. Lucia, Caribbean – Stonefield Estate Resort’s newest package offers guests the best of all worlds where they can visit different areas of St. Lucia while being pampered with luxury accommodations and dining, as well as exciting activities and more.

With this new package guests begin their trip staying up north where the nightlife is enriching and where they can enjoy duty free shopping and some of St. Lucia’s finest gastronomy. Guests overnight in Stonefield’s new Villa Cybelle for three evenings, which includes lovely views of the town of Castries and a beautiful ocean view.

Head south, and enjoy four nights in one of Stonefield’s one-bedroom luxury ocean view villas where guests are pampered with daily breakfasts, a couple’s massage and a snorkeling excursion to the coral gardens. Guests can also take advantage of some of the amazing activities offered in and around nearby Soufriere, including climbing the Pitons, visiting the Diamond Botanical Gardens and spending a day at the sulphur springs and mineral and mud baths.

Rates for the Duo Package start at $2,995.36 through December 20, 2012 and then increase to $4,275.09 January 5, 2013 through April 15, 2013.

Nestled at the base of the awe-inspiring Pitons in St. Lucia, Stonefield’s lush tropical location gives guests plenty of privacy and tranquility to relax and unwind. The resort’s elegantly rustic villas include wide open verandas; attractive jalousie shutters; antique four posters beds; fully equipped kitchens; private pools; private tropical, outdoor showers; locking safes; ironing boards and irons; telephones; iPod docks; and hammocks. While there are no televisions in any of the guestrooms, guests can unwind in their villa’s hammock or sit outside under the stars. Onsite amenities include:

•A new 860-square-foot yoga studio equipped with tatami mats for martial arts and yoga.
•Bamboo Door Spa offering couples massages and more.
•Lush tropical gardens.
•State-of-the-art, air-conditioned gym equipped with Cybex cardio equipment, free weights and multi gym machines.
•Mango Tree Restaurant, which includes an al fresco-dining pavilion that looks out onto the ocean and the Pitons.
•Access to scenic hiking – the resort is nestled at the base of the Pitons.

The resort is also minutes away via shuttle bus from the picturesque colonial town of Soufriere, as well as diving excursions in the Caribbean Sea; sightseeing tours of world-renowned sulphur springs and baths; horseback riding through a local cocoa plantation; and more.

Stonefield’s newest addition, the Villa Cybelle, is located in the prestigious, secluded hills of Castries where guests can shop, enjoy fine dining and experience St. Lucia’s fabulous culture in Rodney Bay. Villa amenities include:

• Fully equipped kitchen.
• Four-poster, king-size bed.
• Air conditioning.
• WiFi.
• Flat-screen TV with cable.
• Swimming pool.
• Dining and living room areas.
• Three separate bedrooms with in-room showers.
• Laundry services.
• iPod dock.
• And more.

For more information on the Duo Package and Stonefield Estate Resort, or to make a reservation, visit http://www.stonefieldresort.com or call (800) 420-5731.

Pick Your Own Pumpkins at Strites' Orchard Farm Market & Bakery in Harrisburg

Are you looking for something fun to do with the kids this month? Well, Fall is in the air and Halloween is just around the corner! One of the family-friendly activities you can do this month with your family is heading to a local pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins or head to a local fruit orchard to pick apples.

Pumpkin picking and apple picking are both fun activities to do with your family this Fall and lucky for all of us, we have Strites' Orchard Farm Market & Bakery nearby. If you have never been there before, you are really missing out! For the month of October they are open from 8am to 7pm Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 8am to 5pm.

On October 6th, 2012 we headed to Strites' Orchard to participate in the "Pick Your Own" Pumpkins day with the family. The pumpkin patch is about a 1/2 mile down the road from the actual Farmer's Market and sits on the left side of the road. There is plenty of parking on the field.

After parking the car, it's a very short walk to the pumpkin patch! We found 4 large rows of pumpkins going down the field and just headed down one of the middle rows. It was a tad muddy because it had rained earlier in the day, but really, it wasn't too bad at all.

The family spent about 40 minutes in the pumpkin patch and finally picked the four pumpkins that we wanted to buy. Two of the pumpkins were heading to my daughter's house and the other two pumpkins were headed to mine. My daughter's family is going to carve theirs up in a few days and turn them into Jack-o-lanterns and I decided to place my two pumpkins right on my front porch!

We had a great time in the pumpkin patch and once we were done, we headed on over to Strites' Farmer's Market to buy some fresh apple cider, concord grapes, onions and a bushel full of gala apples. Yes, Fall baking is on my horizon for next week!

Right now you can go on over to Strites' web site and print out a FREE coloring sheet for the kids. Once it has been colored by them, take the sheet into Strites' and they will give your child a FREE apple to eat! Super fun! You can also check out their web site for additional Fall activities, get driving directions and a list of what produce is in season right now.

If you are on Facebook, you can follow Strites' on Facebook to keep up-to-date with news and happenings at the Farmer's Market and Orchard. Visit their web site and sign up for their email list too! Have fun!

Miniature Golf on Sunset Beach Cape May New Jersey

Back in early September, my hubby and I went down to North Wildwood New Jersey for our annual September vacation. While on vacation, we spent one particular afternoon down at Sunset Beach which is located in Cape May.

If you are not familiar with the area, Sunset Beach is located near the Cape May Lighthouse. Sunset Beach is a small beach area that offers:

* 3 Gifts Shops
* Grill to Grab Something to Eat
* Views of the Concrete Sunken Ship
* World War II Lookout Tower
* Sunset Beach Mini Golf

After doing some shopping at their gift shops, we headed outside to play a round of mini golf. The mini golf course is a newer mini golf course and is really landscaped nicely.

It is an 18 hole mini golf course and the first 9 holes are wheelchair accessible. I believe we paid $7.00 or $8.00 per adult for a round of mini golf. 

The day that we played was not busy at all, matter of fact, it was just us and 2 other adult couples playing that afternoon, which was really nice! It took us only 40 minutes to play all 18 holes and trust me...we took our good old time! 

We found some of the holes to be fairly easy, most were moderately tough and two or three were pretty challenging. Overall, we love this mini golf course and are looking forward to playing there again next year!

Changing of the Leaves in Pennsylvania

Our "Photo of the Week" for this week is one that I took yesterday of a gorgeous tree in our neighborhood that is beginning to change the color of it's leaves! We are located in South Central, Pennsylvania and the gorgeous Fall foliage colors have already began.

As you drive through neighborhoods, suburbs and the mountainous areas here in Pennsylvania, you can "take-in" all of the beautiful trees and their colorful Fall foliage. Most people think you need to head up north or go into Virginia or West Virginia to see the beautiful leaves, but that simply is not true! Pennsylvania is one of the prettiest states to view the Fall foliage in.

In another 2 weeks or so, I will try to get another photo of this same tree so that you can see the color change in progress. We love this time of year! Enjoy the photo!