New Year's Weekend will be a blast in Lancaster!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, full of joy and laughter with your loved ones, and a few nice gifts too!  Well now it's time to make your plans for New Year's Eve, before there's any chance of those post-holiday doldrums setting in.  There are some great events going on in Lancaster over the New Year's holiday that we'd like to tell you about.  And of course it starts with a stay at the cozy Apple Bin Inn!  We've got some great rooms still available for the holiday weekend, which you can book by clicking here!  Now for some fun stuff...

 

The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra presents a New Year's Eve concert at the American Music Theatre, Friday, Dec 31st at 7:00 PM. The Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and full Symphony Chorus will perform a semi-staged performance of the delightful musical "My Fair Lady" along with the fully costumed Fulton Theatre cast in this once-in-a-lifetime concert. The Fulton production has been getting rave reviews, so this concert promises to be an amazing evening!

3...2...1...Lancaster!  Friday, December 31st starting at 5:00 PM.  Enjoy over 20 different entertainment and activity options at Clipper Magazine Stadium and the City YMCA. This family-friendly entertainment includes visual comedians, music, magicians, kids crafts, storytelling, caricaturist, fortune teller, plus ice skating at Clipper Magazine Stadium and much more! For those who can’t make it to midnight, an early fireworks display will be part of the festivities.  You can click here for all the details.

Segway Holiday Tours, available all weekend.  Click here for more details.  If you've never been on a Segway, you've just got to try it once to be hooked!  It's so easy to do, and they accommodate people of all shapes and sizes.  It's a unique and thrilling way to tour historic downtown Lancaster City.  And to broaden your smile even more, we have coupons worth $15 off your ride!

There are plenty of other great activities, shows, restaurants, and shopping in Lancaster County during the holidays, so come visit us!

We wish everyone a Happy, Healthy, Safe, and Prosperous 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Deck The Halls!

It seems like Christmas shopping starts earlier and earlier every year... now we've barely finished handing out candy on Halloween when the malls start their Christmas sales.  Before you know it we'll be buying Christmas cards and suntan lotion on the same shopping trip.  But decorating for the holidays is another story.  Here at our home, the Apple Bin Inn, decorations are never done too early... we don't do any Christmas decorating until December 1st.  And then of course it's a very busy few days while we get everything hung, strung, wreathed, and lit throughout the inn.  

10 ft. Living Room tree

We have a 10 ft. tree in the living room for our guests to enjoy with us, an 8 ft. tree in our own family room, and a special 7 ft. tree in the kitchen that is decorated with Jamie's hand-strung popcorn, kitchen gadgets, and spice jars.  

Kitchen tree

And since our guests enter the inn as friends do ~ through the kitchen ~ it's the first thing they see.  We always look forward to decorating for the holidays.  And even though we don't have quite as many B&B guests during December as we do during the summer and fall, we love watching our guests' faces light up along with our trees, garlands, and Jamie's amazing displays of Snow Village houses and characters.  We invite you to come and stay with us during this festive time of year.  We promise you a warm cozy bed, a scrumptious breakfast each morning, and fond memories you'll take home with you from Lancaster County and the Apple Bin Inn.  Season's Greetings to All!

Buddy the Supervisor!

Lancaster's Live Theaters

As we enter December and continue to enjoy the holiday season, we are reminded of the marvelous assortment of live theater available in Lancaster County.  The variety of holiday shows this month includes "The Miracle of Christmas" at Sight & Sound's Millennium Theatre, and "The Voices of Christmas" at their Living Waters Theatre.

Millennium Theatre



Then there's the annual "Christmas Show" extravaganza at the American Music Theatre, along with Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" at the Theater of the Seventh Sister.  The historic Fulton Theatre has the classic musical "The Sound of Music".  And not to be outdone, Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre has brought back Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", while the Rainbow Dinner Theatre is offering a holiday comedy, "Pool's Paradise".  There's even an "Amish Family Christmas" at the Freedom Chapel Dinner Theatre.  

American Music Theatre



Fulton Theatre

A number of our B&B guests have seen several of these wonderful shows during their visit to Lancaster County, and have truly enjoyed being immersed in our seasonal live theaters.  Please take some time to click the show links above, and we think you'll be amazed at the wide variety of performances, not only during December but coming up in 2011 as well.  And of course we hope you'll come stay with us at the Apple Bin Inn as you explore the many treasures of Lancaster County!  Happy Holidays!!

Happy Thanksgiving, From Our Family To Yours!

One thing we've learned after almost 8 years in Lancaster County is that "family" is the core to most everything that happens here.  It's easy to spot this in family-run businesses, like B&Bs or the myriad of cottage industries operated by the Amish.  But it's also true of larger businesses throughout Pennsylvania Dutch Country.  Our son, Dylan, works summers at Cherry Crest Adventure Farm, a wonderful agricultural amusement park that caters to children from 1 to 99.  It's owned by a local family who treats every employee like part of their extended family.  Coming from the corporate world ourselves, and living in numerous cities during our long engineering careers. we have really come to appreciate what we have here in Lancaster County. 

So that brings us to today's simple message... To wish each and every one of our friends, neighbors, family, B&B guests, and fellow innkeepers a Very Healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Pies and Apple Pies, baked today by Jamie and Dylan... Yum!

Ready for the Holidays!

As those of you who have visited Lancaster County in November and December already know, this is a great place to be for the holidays!  Shopping at the outlet malls, Tanger and Rockvale Square, is always fun, but "Black Friday" weekend is totally over the top.  Tanger's festivities start at midnight on Thanksgiving night and continue all weekend ~ with extra sales, deals, coupons, and more.  Rockvale has similar events, and together they make for a really cool overnight of holiday shopping.

Just a couple of miles from the Apple Bin Inn is a great candy and chocolate maker, Evans Candy, who is only open from October until Easter.  Since holidays are their prime time, they really do it up right.  Their chocolates are some of the best we've had, and they make hundreds of specialty candy items in every conceivable shape and size.  Our favorites include "mojeskas", which are homemade marshmallow and caramel dipped in chocolate... heavenly!

Of course the holidays aren't just about shopping.  So if you'd like to get in the Christmas mood in the most memory-evoking way, you definitely should visit the National Christmas Center.  This amazing museum's curator and historian, Jim Morrison, looks strikingly like that jolly old soul with the big white beard and the red suit.  And his museum is such an uplifting collection of Christmas history, nostalgia, storybook lands, international displays, toy railroad mountains, and just plain fun, that you'll leave with a renewed spirit, and a better understanding of how Christmas has touched the lives of families across the generations.  We won't spoil all the surprises by telling you everything... you'll just have to see this place for yourself.  And the best part is, they're open all year 'round! 

Well that's it for today.  We'll be adding much more about Lancaster County in the coming weeks and months, so please become a "follower" of our blog, and we'll talk again soon :-)  

Welcome to the Apple Bin Inn's new blog!

To what we hope will be a growing number of followers, we wish you a fond welcome to our newest endeavor at Internet communication!  We've often thought about writing a blog about Lancaster County, the home of our Apple Bin Inn B&B, but never seemed to find the time.  But as we read many of the wonderful blogs being written about our little corner of Pennsylvania, we realized that we had a lot to add to the conversation...

 

We plan to post entries at least twice a month about things to do, places to eat, and sights to see, so feel free to add your comments about topics you'd like to know more about in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.  We sincerely hope you'll become followers of our blog, "InnSights into Lancaster County"!

We also hope you'll visit our website, and come stay with us when your travels bring you to Amish Country in Lancaster County.  Have a Happy Holiday Season!