⏔⏔⏔ ꒰ ᧔ෆ᧓Museum Art & An Old Log Church᧔ෆ᧓ ꒱ ⏔⏔⏔
Today, I am writing an extra special post because I am actually in the car on our way home from my husband and I’s visit to my art in its very first art museum debut!!! The art museum itself was located in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and honestly, I couldn’t have picked a better place for it to be. The area itself was historic and gorgeous and extremely friendly! (Though not very vegetarian/vegan friendly ≧ᗜ≦…) Nathanial and I dropped off our kids and Ozzy with my parents Friday around 3/3:30 PM. Directly from there, we headed to Bedford and our hotel, only stopping for some food on the way (and bathroom breaks). We got into town at 1 AM and went right to bed. We both ended up getting up WAY earlier than we normally would, especially on vacation, so we got an early start and got to see a whole bunch of local sites. First we had breaky, and friends: pumpkin pancakes are in season! They were amazing. We then went to visit the “Giant Coffee Pot” which is essentially a one room hut made out of cement in the shape of a silver coffee pot! It was built in 1927 and has been moved a few times so, you can imagine, it is not in the best of shape… but it was still really cool to see! We drove around, enjoying the sites and checking out some antique shops. We stopped by and looked at the “Old Log Church”, a building from 1806 that still stands and has original pews/pulpit, and is completely surrounded by a cemetery that held centuries old history. We got to go INSIDE the building thanks to the nice, older volunteer couple that were there to do quick maintenance and let us know that we were allowed to poke around! The pulpit seemed crazy how high up the pastor would have been over the congregation… but then there was a balcony space for even more people above him (tiny people, seriously, Nathanial could not even sit down properly). The pews had graffiti ALL over them, riddled from all aged people from years dating back to the early 19th century. It was really beautiful and really powerful to sit down (or try to sit, in Nate’s case) where people some 200 years ago had sat listening to a Sunday sermon. Just imagine what sort of things they would have been thinking while sitting there.
We then took a trip to the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in downtown Bedford. It is literally right next to the Bedford Fort Museum which is the site of an old fort built in the late 1700’s, some of the older log walls were still standing. The Art Museum itself is housed in a building titled the “Anderson” house, which reminded me of the historic buildings on Bourbon Street. It was built in 1815, and was originally a bank for the first 15 or so years. The old money vault and iron doors were still intact and could be found inside the gift shop. As well as absolutely stunning fireplaces in each room. I was SOOOOO thrilled with the Biennial show but also just really proud of my own artwork. It looked great in the room, next to its companions. Was I a little scared it would look like it didn’t belong there? Yes. Yes, I was. Luckily, my husband was with me to tell the employee that I was the artist because I was way too shy or nervous and terrified to say anything. And then we, OF COURSE, got stickers and pins from the money vault gift shop!
After we left the museum, we went back to our hotel and relaxed for a little while. I read a bit of Frankenstein (I have so much to say about that, but I’ll save it for another time) while my husband took a quick power nap. He was the driver for our whole trip & deserved one! Then we visited the Jean Bonnet Tavern, a structure that was built around 1762–older than our country. The building has an incredibly rich history and was a fun place to go have a drink and read about! We checked out the gift shop and got a shirt for my dad. I was thankful we were having dinner later in the evening because it was EXTREMELY busy there and it would have been a long wait to get a table. Luckily, we just wanted an “ale” and got to go right into the tavern side and get out before the real rowdy minutemen showed up with their front-load muskets and their rebellious talk of freedom! They even had goats on the premise that loved getting pets! I also want to note that the NEXT WEEKEND is Bedford’s fall festival and apparently, it is a BIG DEAL for the area, so we are glad we missed the chaos and got to see the sites while it felt private & off-season.
After our tavern ale, we visited the Giant Quarter. Do we pay for giant coffee with giant quarter? While waiting for our dinner guests, we walked around a few trails and got to check out the gorgeous nature of Allegheny Mountains… the elevations and views were gorgeous. And you know, I love a good rock! My husband and I were both surprised at how little wildlife we saw… We heard bugs. We saw some squirrels and a giant slug but there were no fish in the water, or frogs, or turtles, or birds… Not even many bugs. It was weird! Is it Pennsylvania nature and I am just used to the teeming West coast of Michigan or something is it a sign of something more ominous? Who the heck knows. ¯\_(•_•)_/¯
So our final event of the evening was meeting up with my twin brother and his partner! They live in Philly and drove the 3 hours to come have dinner with us and were staying the night in town so they could visit the art museum and see my piece while it is up! We left from our hotel & a really shitty continental breakfast around 7 AM. It is now 5 PM and we are still an hour away from our house BUT we have our kids and our pup & we are looking forward to decompressing and getting some rest before a busy Monday starts back up. This week I hope to finish Edna and the Bee’s and take a look at what Halloween inventory I have! I hope you all have an incredible week! Be good to yourself!
xxx-Kanda ✩𓃦☽⋆⁺₊✧
Photo Captions-Alright, I apologize: this one is going to be long! Photo cover- Old building off of the Lincoln Highway. Photo 1: A picture of the girls we recieved while they were with my folks. ♡ Photo 2: Ozzerboi on the way to gramma’s. Photo 3: Giant Coffee Pot! Photo 4: Funky mannequins while out antique shopping! Photo 5: Bedford Fort Remnants Photo 6-8: “Old Log Church circa 1806” Photo 9-12: Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art featuring MY ARTWORK (and us in the bank vault!!) Photo 13: Jean Bonnet Tavern Photo 14: Cute tiny boob-shaped mushrooms covering a long in the forest. Photo 15: GIANT QUARTER! Photo 16: A scallywag bunch of patriots! Photo 17: Edna and the Bee’s wrapping up.
