Berlin Maryland-Part 2

There are so many great little shops around the town of Berlin Maryland. This shop "Victorian Charm" was used during the filming of "Runaway Bride." It kept it's own name and it was the bridal store where Julia Roberts was showing off her wedding dress to Richard Gere. If you remember that scene it was when Julia Roberts wanted the wedding dress that was on the mannequin in the shop window. The bridal shop owner was very reluctant. And Richard Gere stepped in and grabbed the mannequin out of the display and said "We're buying the dress! And anything else she wants!" I love that scene!
This store is a very up-scale boutique. And lining the shelves are hundreds of Vera Bradley purses! It was very colorful and beautiful inside! I didn't buy a purse, but I did buy a beautiful ring that reminds me of our vacation!

Just as we were leaving I happened to glance in the display window and seen what I thought was a "fake" dog. It was lying completely still. I said "Alex, is that dog real?" As we got close, it moved! lol Yes, it was a real dog!

Under closer inspection I saw this cute sign! "Pawtected by Maltese Security!" Hooooow cute!

We never attempted to pet the dog. I'm a dog lover, but this dog didn't appear to be very friendly. The shop owner said that when it's in the window, it doesn't want bothered! Here Alex is looking through the window at the dog!

I visited Berlin on three occasions, and each time I came by, the dog was in it's spot right at the window!

I have much more photos of Berlin to share with you tomorrow! I even met another furry friend! Stay tuned for that cutie!

Berlin Maryland-Part 1

Hey everyone! Hope you had a great day! I on the other hand have been feeling crappy! I was really sick last night and today just felt yucky! Hopefully tomorrow I'll be better. Anyway, here are the photos that I wanted to share with you of the photos I took in Berlin Maryland. Remember, where the movie "Runaway Bride" was filmed!

I live in a small town in Pennsylvania, so I'm use to little towns, but Berlin was just "magical!" Maybe because it was a tourist town and is flourishing...I'm not sure!

For example here is a little stand that is built to hold a bucket of children's bubbles. The wand is a handmade bubble wand using copper wire! How cute is this? And it was outside one of the stores for kids to play with! Here's Alex blowing a bubble!

The stores in the town were very "artsy." A lot were boutiques, and most had artwork from local artists! One boutique had an art gallery in the upstairs, but I didn't get a chance to view the paintings! Next year...definitely!

This is a little diner called "Raynes Reef!" It was in the movie "Runaway Bride." In the movie it is called "The Falcon Diner," and it was also changed a little on the outside of the building for the movie. The inside of this diner was used for one scene. There was a scene in the movie when Julia Robert's character was sitting in a diner with her fiance and Richard Gere. They were ordering breakfast. Well here it is! I heard they had really good food, so I had to see for myself!
My husband Chris and son Ben spent the day golfing. So Alex and I spent the afternoon in Berlin! Here he is with his menu! I love the wooden booths with the high backs and the chrome bar stools! It's very retro, and I loved it!

I got a turkey BLT, and it was super yummy! I wasn't thinking and took the photo after I ate half the sandwich! Oh, well! Each sandwich is served with a side of potato chips! We ordered a side of fries, and they were the best french fries I have ever tasted! EVER! They were seasoned with something, and oh sooo good!

The menu was a little pricey. For example Alex got a hot dog chips that came with a side of apple sauce and our lunch was close to $20. That's probably the norm for a tourist area, but I think it was a little expensive, but definitely worth it!

There were a lot of memorabilia from the movie inside the diner. Here is a Runaway Bride movie poster. If you look below the photo you can see part of the directors chair just thrown in the corner! I soooo wanted to acquire about it, because if it was treated like that, maybe they'd sell it! I was too embarrassed to ask about anything regarding the movie!

This sign was on the side of the cash register. It says:

"Please excuse our appearance. Our downtown is being dressed for part of the Paramount Film "Runaway Bride." Some of our names have changed, but all of the shops are open for business as usual. Please feel free to join us. On actual filming days, movie personnel will assist you."

Here is a wall of movie memorabilia. The photos in the frames are still shots from the movie!

And here's one of my favorite photos of course! A photo of Richard Gere! Not sure why there is a Johnny Cash photo. My guess is that he had visited the diner in the past!

And I LOVE this! And take 71...wow!The food was sooo good, that I convinced my husband to take us there for ice cream later! We really wanted to try breakfast there, but we never got the chance! Here we're sitting at the same counter and seats that Julia Roberts and Richard Gere sat at!

There are much more magical places in the town...and I'll share my favorites tomorrow! :) Have a great night!

Movie Monday: Runaway Bride

Edited: I forgot to add my favorite quote from the movie it is:
Ike Graham: [on the perfect proposal] "Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me."

I am soo sorry that I didn't do "Movie Monday" last week. Like I said in a previous post, the internet connection was sooo slow that I couldn't upload photos! I was really disappointed especially since the following movie was filmed in the town where we vacationed!
So, this week's Richard Gere movie review is of the movie "Runaway Bride!" I LA LA LOVE this Romantic Comedy! Even though it isn't a highly reviewed movie by critics, it's still my favorite!

This movie is about a writer (Ike Graham-played by Richard Gere) who has writer's block, and takes on a story that he heard about in a bar. The story is about a bride (Maggie Carpenter-played by Julia Roberts) who gets engaged multiple times only to leave the men at the altar!

Because parts of Ike's story was fictionalized, his boss (played by Rita Wilson) fired him! Ike Graham goes to the small town, where Maggie lives, to get the facts and prove that his theory, about why she leaves men at the altar, is true!

Ike goes to Maggie's hometown in Maryland because she is due to get married within the week. Once he meets her he follows her around her small town to try to write his story.

Will she get married?????????

I sooo want to go on with this review and tell you ever little detail about this movie, but I don't want to give it away to those of you who haven't seen it!

It has a great cast of people like Hector Elizondo (who plays in many Gere movies), Rita Wilson, Christopher Meloni (from Law & Order), & Joan Cusack (who is extremely funny in this movie as well as others)!

I rank this a 9 on the Richard Gere hotness scale!....Short hair, which I like and it's very gray, so that's a plus! ;)

**This movie was filmed in Berlin Maryland about 5 miles from where our campground was on vacation. In the movie the town is named "Hale Maryland" but they changed it just for the movie. It's funny watching the movie and comparing things to "real life." For example right before Ike Graham drives into the town, he is driving through beautiful farmland. While there is a lot of beautiful farmland in the area of Berlin, the only thing leading to the town is an interstate! lol

I visited the town on a couple occasions, took tons of photos, and I will share more about that tomorrow!

Vacation-Part 2

Our campground was only 7 miles from Assateague Island Park in Berlin Maryland! And for my readers out there from a different part of the country or world...Assateague Island is a wonderful place where wild horses roam the island! Here is some info that I got off of the Assateague Island website:

Some people believe that the wild ponies of Assateague arrived on Assateague Island when a Spanish galleon cargo ship (with a cargo of horses) sank off the coast and the horses swam to shore. Others believe the wild horses arrived there via early colonial settlers. Recently in 1997, a Spanish shipwreck was discovered off Assateague Island, which lends credit to the first theory. In any event, the ponies have become well adapted to the seashore ecosystem where they feed on saltmarsh cordgrass, dune grasses, bayberry twigs, rosehips, and persimmons.
The following photo was taken on our third trip to the island. Much to my surprise, I saw this beautiful little pony nuzzling up to what I believe is it's mom!

In the parking lots of the island are big piles of horse doo doo! You have to watch where your step at all times! lol The same goes for the beach! As you can see by this photo, these horses greeted us in the parking lot.

There are three beaches on this part of the island. This beach here was the only beach on the island that allowed dogs. As you can see it wasn't very busy on this day.

My boys absolutely LOVED the beach! They chased the waves, the tried jumping over them, they ran along the waves, and even tasted their salty water! Ben said it was "Soooo gross!" lol

Here is my favorite photo from my entire vacation! They are sooo sweet, and are finally cooperating with me taking their photo.

Or should I say sometimes cooperating?! lol

Out of nowhere these horses came onto these people's beach towels and started eating their lunch! One of the rules is that you are not allowed to feed or get close to the horses. But how is that possible when they do whatever they want on the island? lol

What's really bizarre about these horses is that they'll just stand there and stare at you for a very long time! These horses here wondered down the beach and stood in front of one family for about an hour! And all they did was stare! I got really close to take a photo and they'll look at you, and it's kind of creepy because they are "wild" and sooo unpredictable!