It had finally stopped raining when I woke up this morning, so I decided to hike around
Old Ellicott City, hit the boutiques, and take some pictures. There are oh so many reasons why I love this town.
Why I love Old Ellicott City, Especially in October:1.
HELL HOUSE. Fabulous place to get spooked and take freaky photos. Unfortunately some lunatic decided to knock down the over a century old St. Mary’s College three years ago, so all we have now are our outrageous ghost stories (rarely believable, highly exaggerated), memories, and old pictures.
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2. The fabulous fairy factory (The Forget-Me-Not Factory) is having a store-wide sale. Pixie dust was 10% off today! This place never fails to bring out the kid in me. In warmer weather a man blows huge bubbles out front. It’s a festive place that I don’t think I’ve ever passed without walking in.
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3. Southwest Connection (another Old Ellicott City boutique that just so happens to sell pixie dust) always has new and different authentic Native American jewelry and crafts, like dream catchers, handpicked by the owners in their travels out West. The unique pieces are handmade with different gemstones and crystals, and very reasonably priced…I’m obsessed with their rings. I wear them for years, until they break.
4. The town is cutely quaint, (founded in 1772), and my Dad proposed to my Mom on the railroad tracks, which happen to be the oldest 13 miles of tracks in the country. And they’ve been married almost 30 years… that’s pretty quaint in today’s society.
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5. Fun places to eat and drink: La Palapa, The Phoenix, Ellicott Mills Brewery, The Wine Bin, Tersiguel’s French Country Restaurant (I recommend the poulet, it’s free range, in a champagne sauce with seasonal veggies, topped with puff pastry); and for your caffeine and sugar addictions, the place to go is Sweet.
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6. Ye Haunted History of Olde Ellicott City…to be continued (after I attend the tour this weekend).
7. Seven Hills. This one is bittersweet for me because a lot of good kids have lost their lives to this road. Now that I’m older and a bit wiser I strongly discourage anyone (I don’t care how good of a driver you are, or think you are) from trying to jump the hills, especially if you’re in a car with a driver that is at all under the influence (of anything!). Speeding on this road is suicide. Period.
I am looking forward to dispensing plenty of tricks and treats for you in my upcoming blogs the rest of this month, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and there are so many things to do and write about: hay rides, pumpkin picking, real apple cider straight from the mill, costume parties, costume contests, trick-or-treaters, ghosts, witches, Michael Myers; and of course the devilish chocolate candy that will be tempting me to cheat on my strict pancreatitis diet every step of the way...should be a fun, bumpy ride.