Columbia, Jamesport to St Josephs

Today was another big driving day as we seem to be 2 hours on the bus... 2 hours off the bus.... 2 hours back on the bus..... then happy hour..... yipee

Paul, Kaye, Mildred and Bruce

We started off with the drive to Columbia to visit Statler HQ....  There we were welcomed by Paul and Mildred Statler... We all owe a lot to this couple as they are the ones that invented the Statler Stitcher... we also met Matt who we can thank for the development of Creative Studio.....  We also put a couple of faces to names like Dave and Justin....


Then it was back on the road again as we headed to Jamesport.... We did drive through another lovely looking town which we would have loved to have been able to explore, St Charles.... but it was closed so we could only drool from the bus.

Now Jamesport is  apparently one of the biggest Amish settlements in the US.... well they all must of been having a day of rest as we only saw one buggy during the whole visit.... they must of paid them to be constantly on the move in Shipshewana.... Jamesport seemed like a very sleepy town when we first arrived... apart from the little man in what looked like a little mini tractor with his shopping basket in front there was hardly any traffic... but this was all deceiving  as when we walked into the shops then turned out to be a much bigger find than what we thought....

The one buggy

Bobby Bear and Sharon

Sandra, Robyn and Joan

Back on the bus and we headed for our hotel in St Josephs..... now this looks like a real interesting town ... but unfortunately we are only passing through and will miss some of it's highlights... though over a few drinks we did suggest to sharon that some of us could stay on and they could pick us up on the way back through from Nebraska.... hmm don't have to tell you what she said....

So we just continued on doing what we do best.... taking over the bar!! ...though this time we had to pay for our drinks!!.....This hotel had a lovely outdoor area where we all ended up migrating to until we thought we were getting just a little too noisy for the other tennants...

Bruce making Bobby and Howard look good

Where is the Barbie!!

 
Speaking of the hotel... this would have to be one of the Cutest ones we have been too.... to quote Verna all she could think of was rawhide... or have we travelled back in time to the ponderossa... we took pictures .... lots of pictures... talk about marketing .. they even have a stuff toy on your bed with a little note begging to bought and taken home..... yes they have a gift shop....