Hello Neighbors! It was a week of exploring in my house! Have you ever been to the Amish settlement in Giles County? My family headed out last weekend making Nature's Way Country Store our first stop. A huge selection of reasonably priced bulk goods, dried fruits, nuts, candy, canned goods and more are available here, and this store is a baker’s heaven! We enjoyed lunch at a picnic table (they have a deli and offer hot dogs and BBQ as well as homemade ice cream) with The Mighty Prius parked next to someone’s horse and buggy! Next we went to Heritage House to admire the gorgeous handcrafted furniture and make a wish list. In addition to traditional furniture, they build well designed patio furniture of woods and laminates, and beautiful children's toys. The store has creative natural lighting and smells heavenly. Our last stop was Mountain View Country Store where I bought some homemade fleece sheets while the kids enjoyed the farm animals. What an interesting and enjoyable afternoon! Warning- GPS will take you to downtown Pearisburg, but you want to take Rt 100 to Rt. 42. Thursday afternoon we visited the Jacksonville Center for the Arts where my children enjoyed an Afternoon Arts class. Topics change weekly, and at only $3 is an affordable fun field trip. You can learn more about all their classes on their website. Of course a trip to Floyd is not complete without stopping in the Floyd Country Store, and we started our holiday shopping with some unusual finds at The Treasured Toy. They have an excellent selection of educational and "green" toys from all over the globe. Speaking of shopping, I’m working on a Holiday Gift Guide. Starting in November NRV MK will be offering suggestions on gifts from local merchants. I’ve talked about the impact of shopping local before, and I'd like to encourage you to consider spending a portion of your holiday budget this year supporting our local small businesses. If your company would like to learn how to be included, contact me at jenniferc@macaronikid.com.I’m headed down to Florida this weekend for a Macaroni Meet Up! MacaroniKid publishers from all over North America (there are over 350 of us!) Will be sharing ideas and learning how to improve our e-newsletters. Sadly this means I will miss Jim Alberti's flea circus perform at the Hokie Bug Fest this weekend! Be sure to enter to win tickets to see storyteller and singer Charlotte Blake Alston perform live at The Lyric in this week's e-newsletter for a real treat next weekend! I hope you enjoy your week wherever it takes you!
