Where in the World is the Box?: HARRISBURG, LEMOYNE, MARYSVILLE, AND COVE, PENNSYLVANIA

Well, this is getting ridiculous. My life is so exciting and colorful, I have to blog every day! I might as well go back to work. Let's get right down to it.

This morning I went to Market Square Church in downtown Harrisburg to sing in the choir. I was incredibly lucky right off the bat as I found a parking spot in the garage on the same level as the door into the church! After a short rehearsal, the choir climbed the thirteen flights of steps to the gallery in the rear of the worship room. (It's not really thirteen flights, but some days it feels like it.)

We sang our opening song, and a little later the "big" piece. At the end of it, we got the signal from the director to repeat the whole thing. We're still contemplating about whether we sang it twice so it might get better the second time, or because it was so wonderful it was worth hearing twice. Maybe we will find out at the next rehearsal.

After church, I drove through the Harrisburg neighborhood called Shipoke, which is cleaning up from the recent flood. I was surprised to see the water level on the windows at the famous restaurant, Char's Bella Mundo.

I had a bite to eat across the river and then headed to the Antique Marketplace in Lemoyne. I was not looking for anything in particular, but I wanted to see how the now-completed large addition turned out. I came across a small aquamarine-colored pitcher that I had often admired in the old Williamsburg Craft House catalog. I don't know if it's an authentic Williamsburg piece or not, but it was a bargain, so I bought it.

I also checked out Steve Ziegler's Architecturally Speaking displays of old building parts and furnishings. There's always something cool to see at Steve's. I tipped off a writer for The Burg magazine, and she wrote an article about Steve (see page 13), who is a friend of our friend Mike the deck-builder. The writer called me recently for a quote or two for the article, so look for it to come out at the beginning of October. It is distributed free at many places around town and online, too.

Remember my blog not too long ago about going up the west side of the river to an antiques barn that was open only on Sundays? Well, today is Sunday, so guess where I went next.

On the way I saw the "Scenic Overlook" sign again at Marysville, and then a similar sign caught my eye on a platform along a small street running parallel to the highway. I made a quick turn and pulled up to the overlook to see what the fuss was all about. Maybe it's better in winter when the leaves have dropped.

The Box and I continued up Rts. 11 & 15, passing through Perdix and stopping at a Sheetz store to get some gas. I cannot tell you what a thrill it is to slide in the "Sheetz My Card" and get three cents off per gallon, and earn points on other goodies! (Oh, I have to mention that Susanne's friend from college, Nancy, was here to visit this past weekend, and she is as cheap as I am -- maybe cheaper! She had some great stories to share.)

A few more miles and I came to the Cove Antiques Barn. I think the term "antiques" might be a little misleading. I might call it "stuff." Remember the little French glasses I was looking for? You see them everywhere in France, in cafés and restaurants. It seems that I was the only person looking for them, for they have been there since last Christmas. There were eight of them for $8.00, truly a bargain, except that three of them were -- to use the museum curator term -- yucky. Scratched and cloudy. The other five were fine. I talked the cashier into selling me four of them and tried to get the fifth, but he insisted on keeping a set of four. No one will ever buy them. Boo hoo. I wanted that fifth one! Waaaa! But I do understand his decision.

After that I came directly home under grey skies so I could share this wonderful day with you. So there ya go.