Day 1:

We call Cherry Springs Pennsylvania a star gazers paradise because well… If you’ve ever visited – especially during the new moon – you’re jaw would totally drop. It’s so breathtakingly beautiful and serene.

Friday, May 31st Zack, Gracie and I packed our things and headed on the road. If there’s one thing we really appreciate, it’s a good roadtrip. To some they can be long and grilling, but we love the family quality time.

We talk, sing, laugh, laugh, sing, talk. And, as you can see, act totally goofy… What could be better? 🙂

Once we hit the Pennsylvania state line we were super excited. We had a beautiful cabin waiting for us, but check in wasn’t until 3pm. So, we stopped for lunch at this small little country restaurant called the Critten Hotel.

It was the quietest little place. Not a soul around, except for the server and us. The restaurant itself was freezing too. It was pouring rain outside and we felt water flying our way as we sat and waited for our food to arrive, and the server could not figure out where the rain was coming from. It was a cold restaurant experience to say the least 💧

When food finally arrived, it was a bit disappointing. The French fries weren’t cooked fully, the chicken fingers were very small, our waitress wasn’t attentive on refills for our drinks. Overall, visiting that restaurant again probably won’t happen for us next time around.

Needless to say, after lunch we headed straight to our cabin. We pulled up and immediately said “let’s explore, we’ll grab the bags when we’re done”. So, that’s exactly what we did.

We grabbed our key and went straight for the door. As soon as we opened the door we saw a cute little entry way for shoes, a side door leading to the garage, and some stairs. We took the stairs up, opened the door that led to our actual little house and immediately I think all three of us fell in love.

It felt so much like home, which is something I think all of us want most when traveling and visiting new places.

I wish I would have grabbed more pictures because there was so much more to see. Our little cabin had three bedrooms – two kids play rooms upstairs, and the master bedroom right next to the bathroom downstairs. It had the cutest little dining area, breakfast bar, kitchen, bathroom, and very spacious closet space in all of the rooms.

Zack and I loved the front porch with the swing, the back patio with a grill and table to hang out / eat at if we chose too, the huge amount of land in our backyard

And the view of the front of our house…

While Gracie’s favorite thing was the little play area right beside our cabin.

I think the craziest thing is, as beautiful as the house was, we really didn’t spend too much time in it, unless we were sleeping.

We’d wake up in the morning, eat some breakfast, sit on the porch swing for a few minutes – talk about our plans for the day. Take a shower, get dressed and then be gone until later that night.

I think one thing about us is – we’re really into nature and exploring. We love seeing absolutely everything a place has to offer. And Gracie has so much curiosity for the world – we love sharing these beautiful moments with her and watching her eyes light up with wonder ♥️

But, we’re getting sidetracked here – So… Back to day 1: after we brought all of our bags into the house, we visited one of Pennsylvania’s state parks – Lyman Run State Park.

It was raining all day pretty much. But once we got to the park, the skies started to get a little more clear. The ground was wet. There was puddles everywhere. But we had such a blast. We saw the entire park which featured a mini beach, a star gazers destination for those night time photographers, and our personal favorite – a bridge overlooking a small waterfall pond.

After a few hours spent exploring the park, we headed back to our cabin for some dinner. That night we had pizza 🍕😋

After three slices later, this little girl says “momma, I’m still hungry”. So, chips immediately followed 😆😆

I know what you’re thinking, but you guys, this little girl has a huge appetite 😅

It was about 9:30, maybe 10pm when we finally left the kitchen and decided to unwind a little bit before leaving our cabin for a little late night adventure catching the milky way.

Here’s what we caught that first night:

Day 2:

Early the next morning, we woke up, ate some breakfast as usual, took a shower, hung out on the porch swing and did a little playing on the mini kids play area beside our cabin. Daddy fell asleep on the couch so Gracie and I decided to explore our back yard.

It was about 90° degrees outside – being six months pregnant, climbing up a non stop hill in the heat made this momma feel light-headed. So, we returned back to the cabin where we found daddy awake. I chugged A TON of water and rounded up the crew to grab some lunch.

This time we visited a new restaurant – A&W bar and grill. This experience was much better as the food was much larger (score) 😅 the waiter was attentive on our drinks, and overall, everything was delicious.

We would definitely go back.

After lunch, we visited the creepiest little house dead center in the city village

We love stuff like this. (Take a peek at what that middle window says). Doesn’t it just remind you of something you’d see in a Disney movie?

After the house, we visited Cherry Springs State Park – this park in particular was genuinely built with the photographer in mind.

It was beautiful, and we have to add – Gracie had a blast throwing rocks in a pond 😄

After exploring the park and finding our next destination for that nights new moon 🌕 we walked the town’s cute little city – it was small but quaint ♥️

Then we went back to our cabin, took daddy to explore the backyard with us that he missed earlier on while napping. Keep in mind I’m still pregnant so it wasn’t a long walk climbing up such a steep hill 😅 but we didn’t want to leave that moment, the precious memories we made, or our little cabin, and the serene calm of this place. We could stay forever.

Relaxation, fresh air, and nature…. Ahhhhh 😌

10:30pm rolls around the corner and we leave to go back to Cherry Springs State Park.

These are the pictures we captured from night 2:

And one final late night picture back at the cabin ✨🌑

Day 3:

Time to leave and head back home. We fell in love with this little town, and we’ll absolutely be coming back. But until then, it was nice getting away from work and responsibilities for a little bit.

The best part? Zack and I were both off that day and spent it at the park and riding Gracie’s bike. Having even more mommy, daddy, Gracie time ♥️♥️♥️

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time….

XOXOXO

Jessica, Zack, Gracie and Rylan Mikolajczak