Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Last weekend Mark and I took a 2-hour drive westward to the city of Bethlehem, PA. The reasons for our pilgrimage had an interesting beginning: I received an email from a girl named Kristi who invited us for a visit to her old-timey college town. How could I resist a chance to frolic around this a whimsical place with a promise of good vintage shopping?
We were filled in on the town’s history right away. Founded on Christmas Eve in 1741 by a group of Moravians, Bethlehem gets its name from the town in Judea, where Christ was born. Today, it’s a popular tourist destination with a seemingly never-ending holiday season – it quiets down probably only around this time of the year. Still, the atmosphere of cheer and celebration never seems to leave the place – we saw an ongoing festival, a girl hula-hooping on Main Street, and numerous store fronts decorated with colorful balloons!
Mark loved this sign. I defaced it in Photoshop, haha.
Bethlehem is known for the oldest bookstore in the US, as well as antique and vintage shopping (I made two purchases which I will reveal later). I especially like ‘witchy’-type places that sell talismans, incense and mysterious bottles filled with unknown potions. One such place had five large glass jars sitting out front, each stuffed with dried foliage and labeled: Energy, Love, Power, Money, Health. They were running low of Power that day.
I wonder if this typewriter types on it own, by magic?
Concocting a potion. If successful, it will make my dress less see-through.
No such luck! I guess it was ok to walk around half-naked in the 70s. (Actually, I’m wearing a slip and the hat makes me feel slightly less naked. :))
Ladybug truffles! Ahh!!!
You know how sometimes you fall in love with someone, and you don’t even know their name? It happened to me when I had a sudden encounter with a glorious pink antique. Everything just went sort of hazy and dreamy… This incredible piece of machinery brags to take nickels, dimes & quarters, but other than I know absolutely nothing about it! Help out a girl in love??
The pink apparatus
Isabella, the dove sits in a cage & comes with instructions “not to feed Isabella”.
Kristi & I
Thank you for inviting us out and showing us around, Kristi! We had a fabulous time. xo
Deerlings: any quirky towns you know and adore?
Wow, that dress is gorgeous :)
Last year I was an exchange student in France and we visited this tiny little town in Provence called St Paul de Vence. It is situated up on a hill and you have the most amazing view, and everywhere you go there are paintings and sculpture and tiny houses and it is just adoerable. I think you would love it. :)
I definately agree- Salem, MA is a must! There is a ferry that connects Salem to Boston, so maybe you guys could stay in Boston a couple days and make a day trip to Salem. The ferry leaves right from the aquarium.
The Fung Wah bus is only 15$.
I live 10 minutes outside of Boston. If you decide to head here, let me know. :)
Ellicot City, Maryland is a very fun town. It’s where the fairies live. There are lots of little shops selling handmade and vintage clothes, magic and antique stores. There is great food and everyone is friendly.
Also if you are looking for weird. Baltimore, Maryland is full of it. There’s a bar with a replica of the Sistine Chapel on it’s ceiling, there is an art museum that’s also a maze, and there are lots of weird little festivals. Plus it’s the home of John Waters, of course it’s going to be weird. Also there’s the inner harbor for more touristy type things like the National Aquarium (except the real one is in DC but it’s tiny). You can also rent a peddle boat that is shaped like a dragon.
OMG those lady-bug truffles look dee-vine.
I absolutely love Berkeley, California. There’s some great, old architecture there, cafes, tea shops, and bakeries on every corner, not to mention restaurants with any kind of food you might crave, and a thriving arts community. It’s also home to a bunch of vintage stores, and there is a lot of good stuff to find there because Berkeley was THE hippie hangout in CA (along with the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco) back in the day, and it still kind of is. A lot of people just never left :D
My favorite place there, though? Berkeley Ballet Theatre. I take class at least 5 nights/week, and it’s in a gorgeous old wooden building designed by Julia Morgan.
I also love Monterey, CA. People who live there say it’s kind of sleepy, but the aquarium is AMAZING. Cannery Row is fun and touristy, and the whole city is full of white walls, Spanish architecture and bougainvillea. And it’s right on the bay…Ghirardelli’s ice cream is always my favorite stop, next to the aquarium.
I live in Wyoming, and there are tons of quirky little towns with odd tourist attractions and such.
My town has tons of mineral springs, and we have a horse-drawn carriage. (I get rides for free, since my grandma lives next to people who do it.)
There are towns with only ten people. But the most amazing thing about it is the landscape. There are hills that look like they were turned sideways, and tons of fossils.
And we have buffalo. Lots and lots of buffalo.
I havent read through the comments, but i’m sure someone has already told you this: you look JUST like kirtsen dunst in the first photo of you.
I…I adore your hat. I just wanted to say that. I have a hat fetish or something. ._.
That is one fabulous dress, and you look damn fabulous in it!!
Absolutely lovely! Please tell me where you found your hat! Or at least what it is called/what era it is from, I have not adored an accessory like that in so long!