Small Business Saturday

This is the first Thanksgiving holiday season that I can remember in years when I did NOT go shopping on Black Friday.  You know what?  It actually felt good to be able to sleep in on Friday and to leave the madness to everyone else.

Instead we had a pleasant day with family, eating leftovers, taking a LOT of family pictures, and playing games.  Some of us watched the seemingly endless football games that were broadcast .  It was very relaxing.

On Saturday we tried a new tradition.  I don't know if this has been going on for awhile now or if it is something new that retailers have dreamed up but local advertisers and newspapers have been touting "Small Business Saturday."  The push is for shoppers to go out and visit locally-owned businesses to do some shopping, thus giving them support and sending business their way.

We headed out to Gettysburg Saturday to drive around the National Park, doing a self-guided auto tour.  It was a lovely morning, with few tourists around and fairly balmy weather.

As the day progressed, the sky turned gray but still the rain held off and so did the wind so we were content to wander along the ridges of Little Round Top.....

To take pictures of the many monuments scattered around the park, which are amazing in their variations and meanings.....

To imagine the horror and carnage of those days in July so many years ago and the many families that suffered loss, realizing that this was not just a battlefield but also the final resting place of so many young men...

And to stop to appreciate the stark beauty of farmhouses straight out of a Wyeth painting.  I couldn't help but also think about the townspeople and the farm folk who suddenly found themselves in the middle of this horrible conflict during the Civil War.

But back to our "Small Business Saturday," after our time spent at the Gettysburg Battlefield, we headed off through the winding back roads to the Adams County Winery to do a little wine tasting.  The roads back to that little winery are so twisty that we laughed and joked among ourselves that surely this was a deterrent for those who might be tempted to imbibe too much once they arrived at their destination.  Anyone slightly tipsy would be likely to find themselves having a close encounter with an apple tree if they weren't careful.

We had a lovely time there and, by the way, I highly recommend these folks and their wine.  The wine is lovely, the vintners are very friendly and there's even a golden retriever who greets guests and has a wine named after him.  We did our part supporting a local small business and headed on home to have yet another go at our Thanksgiving leftovers.  I believe we have now set the record for getting the most meals out of one Thanksgiving meal in our household.  I don't want to see turkey or green bean casserole again for a LONG time.