Lovely Road Trip

Yesterday, June 22nd, the girls and I picked up Mama, Lori and Lars and headed East. We started out to just go to McPherson for a doctor's appointment but once there, decided that we just had to go to LindsbOrg to take a look around. Everyone except for the girls and I had been there. They had been quite impressed with the town and wanted us to experience it also. I suppose that we spent at least two hours there. And yes, Folks, we really enjoyed this town of Swedish descent! Lindsborg is nationally known as "Little Sweden". You'll find restaurants, tea rooms, ice cream parlors there that specialize in authentic food straight from Sweden. And it is DELICIOUS!!! I don't know how many bed and breakfasts we saw there. All of them promised Swedish breakfasts. The charm in these B and B's spilled all of the way to the street and beyond... Further in this post, I will mention a few of them so that you can plan your own retreat to Sweden without having to cross the "Big Pond".

Something else that we saw which I, for one, was quite impressed with was their payphones. Yes, believe me, coin-operated phones still exist!!! Their's were in cubicles constructed of red metal or wood and alot of glass along their business district. Mama and Lori have spent a considerable amount of time in Europe. They assured us that these phone booths looked exactly like the ones that are sported everywhere in Europe. Really, kool!

Before we left town, we made a trip to Scott's Hometown Foods which is large grocery store that they had visited several times before. It was an actual joy to walk through this store. It had a section of the store set aside for only Swedish food items. In their meat market, they sold what looked like very large toothpaste containers. They held Roe (fish eggs) and Salmon. You just squeeze however much of the fish you want out of it at a time, put the lid back on it and place it in your refrigerator for the next time that you need it. Now, Lori's family likes this alot as the Swedish and Danish Foods are very similar. Leif loves the flavors of home! Unfortunately, they had just run out of the salmon but assured me that they would have more early next week. They give me their business card and told me to contact them and they would be very happy to ship anything directly to us. The lady told me that they ship many Swedish foods around the nation. I'll write a post about how to contact them also.

Too soon, our visit to Little Sweden came to a close and we headed back home. It was one of the best day trips that we have ever had! It is sooo wonderful to have such wonderful family members close-by to be able to do things such as this with!

Now, here is the B and B information that I promised you:

Seasons of the Fox
800-756-3596
Go to www.seasonsofthefox.com to take an interactive tour.
This B and B is handicapped accessable.

Swedish Country Inn
All furnishings were constructed in Sweden.
1-800-231-0266
www.swedishcountryinn.com
They also boast of a giftshop, sauna and their breakfast buffet that is also open to the general public. They serve breakfast from 7-10 Monday through Friday and from 7-11 on Saturdays and Sundays.

Many of the homes there are Victorian and anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE anything Victorian! They have an extremely charming business district. Everywhere you look it seems, you're going to see their famous Dala Horses. Dalas are sculpted horses that are then decorated anyway that you want them. For instance, a local bank had one that was decorated to look like dollar bills. Others had flowers, speckles--you name it, they had a dala there with it on it. Beautiful! They are one of the additions to the 8 Wonders of Kansas Customs.

VLE-B