Morgantown to Philadelphia

We woke up in Morgantown (kept thinking of that Joni Mitchell song Morning Morgantown) and figured out our game plan. Dan and I really wanted to see The Mummies of the Insane in the bathroom of the the Barbour County Historical Museum (seriously, just click the link – they have a hilarious story behind them) but they’re closed on Thursdays! So, we decided to do a little wandering in Morgantown, grab lunch at Black Bear Burritos and head to Philly. 

It was 80 degrees in Morgantown and really nice to walk around in. We went to this old stone house. It is something historic. And very old.  Two very sweet ladies talked to us about Morgantown and we told them where Door County is. I bought a couple things from the gift shop – all proceeds go back to the community and various non-profit organizations. Cool. 

  

After chatting with them we walked to Black Bear Burritos for lunch and the food was AMAZING. The restaurant is super cute inside. I got a WV Hot Rod burrito. It’s a sundried tomato tortilla, tofu, fake bacon, lettuce, tomato, pepperjack, and a chipotle Dijon mustard that reminded me and my sinuses of wasabi. Their guac is also superb and I couldn’t help but think my dad would love to master that recipe!

  

After lunch it was time to hit the road! Speaking of, sometimes I see signs on the highway for Sheetz. I am from Wisconsin so I don’t know what this is. I imagine it is a store that only sells sheet cakes. Let’s go with that, shall we?

  

The ladies from the old stone house told us to check out Cooper Rock Overlook because it has the most beautiful views and hiking. This wasn’t on our itinerary but when we saw signs for it on the highway we decided to check it out. Dan and I did our version of hiking – drive to the very end of the path, park, and walk a little to the actual overlook. Dan and I are SO happy we took this tiny detour. The woods were so pretty and the views were breathtaking. 

After getting our fill of pictures we hopped back on the highway to Philadelphia. I drove for a stretch and let me tell you, it was terrifying. There is a part of West Virginia heading into Maryland that is SO hilly like rollercoasters and such thick fog I couldn’t see 30 feet in front of me. There may have been a point when an overpass emerged from the fog and I shrieked in horror.

The drive to Philadelphia took a long time. We were in the car for about 7 hours but some of that toward the end was because we couldn't find a hotel. We tried about 6 near the airport and none of them had rooms! We had checked out a Comfort Inn but when we drove past it looked really sketch so we figured we'd just find another one. The only place we found to have a room was the Renaissance Hotel. It was twice what we wanted to spend but by then we had no choice.

We settled in and drove into Philadelphia for dinner at Jones. I had baked mac and cheese and potato pancakes. Dan had the jambalaya. Banana cream pie with carmelized rice krispies and caramal sauce for dessert. Dan had the chocolate chunk bread pudding. It was really good.

Milwaukee to West Virginia

Today was the first leg of our road trip! We knew it would be the roughest drive for the whole trip but it actually turned out to be a bit worse. We thought it would be about 9.5 hours but our directions were wrong so it was more like 12. Most of the drive was dull and boring, scenery wise, and the whole drive was under cloud cover, but boy is it gorgeous in PA and WV! It's really hilly and green. Another fun surprise was that the song Billie Jean came on the mp3 player, randomly, while we were driving through Gary, IN!

We're relaxing here at our nice hotel in Morgantown, WV. I can tell it's a pretty place, even in the dark. I look forward to seeing it in the day time.

Anyone who has ever worked with me will find it pretty funny that I ate Panera today for a very late lunch but it ended up saving my life! When we arrived in Morgantown at about 10:00pm the only thing open was a 24 Hour McDonalds and I can't eat that crap.

Road Trip Itinerary

Out road trip is mostly planned out! The worst leg of driving will probably be the first day. We're leaving early and trying to get to West Virginia that day.

May 12th: leave Milwauke early for WV
May 13th: hang out in WV - Morgantown, maybe other places?
May 14th: Philadelphia
May 15th: Connecticut and Rhode Island
May 16th: Boston
May 17th: Salem
May 18th: Portsmouth, NH
May 19th: Portland, ME and the Shaker Village in Sabbath Day Lake, ME
May 20th: Pittsburgh
May 21st: Toledo, OH
May 22nd: home!

Road Trip Reading List

Even though this blog is primarily for my crafting endeavors, I'm going to be turning it into a travel log for our upcoming New England road trip. I want to remember and document everything as we go instead of doing it all at the end. 

We leave in 6 days! The itinerary isn't completely set yet but I sure do have a reading list planned out.

Ellie:

Dan:

Audio CDs:

Tropical Dress

I finally finished Dress #2! I used McCall's pattern M5845 and fabric my aunt gave me. This dress was definitely a challenge. Since there is a lining, it's like making two dresses and doing double of everything, including pesky darts. The darts made it look polished and tailored though, so they're worth it. Having only done two before in my life, it was daunting to do about 30 of them, in total, some of which were topstitched.

Now I am on the hunt for a wide brown woven belt. It has been surprisingly hard to find just the right one!

Egg Salad

I'm still working on dress #2! It's going well so far, but I think it will take me another few weeks. In the meantime, enjoy my sister's fabled recipe for egg salad.

Like a good runny brie cheese, this egg salad should be made when the eggs are still warm.

Ingredients:

6 hard boiled eggs
3 second squirt of yellow mustard
3-4 large T Hellman's Mayonnaise (eye it for creaminess)
1 t Kosher salt

In a bowl cut up the eggs into small to medium chunks; careful to not overmix
Add a 3 second squirt of yellow mustard
Add about 3 large tablepoons of mayo
Add 1 t salt

Fold ingredients together; taste.

This recipe is so simple and I've tried it twice but it never tastes as good as my sister makes it. I'm thinking the secret ingredient is magic.

Coffee Date Dress

My next sewing project was a lofty one, as I've never made a piece of clothing before. My friend Jess introduced me to the BurdaStyle website and we found a great, free dress pattern, the Coffee Date Dress. BurdaStyle is a great, collaborative community for people of all sewing abilities to find free or cheap patterns and share their own projects. Usually, the patterns have detailed instructions but for some reason this one did not, so we were on our own.

We raided my aunt's fabric stash and I came away with two gorgeous tropical prints and some peach lining fabric. I decided to start with the gray and white print since it didn't need a lining. No need to make my first project harder by making a lining (essentially a second dress) when the pattern doesn't even have instructions in the first place!

Here is the pattern cut out and pinned to the fabric:

I started piecing the bodice together. Here it is almost done:

This pattern is for an A-line skirt, which I don't really like, so I took it in a lot at the sides and back. Here is the bodice and skirt ready to be joined together:

The pattern also calls for a ruffle at the front of the bodice. I played around with the ruffle but I decided not to use it. With this bold and busy pattern I found that the ruffle blocks a lot of nice pattern on the bodice and  looks jumbled when folded up like that.

The finished dress with the perfect red belt!

Overall, I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Stay tuned for pictures of my friends' dresses using the same pattern! As usual, I couldn't do it without my ladies, so, a shout out to MaryLee, Amy, Jess and my mom!