Vacation Collages (ICAD Challenge)

Hello! I knew that the June/July ICAD (index card a day) Challenge would include the week we would be on vacation at the end of July. So, along with clothes, tourism info and other necessities, I packed some index cards, a glue stick, and scissors. 

Since I'd already enjoyed doing collage work on a few index cards, I thought it'd be fun to continue this during the trip - I'd grab brochures, newspapers and such to create collages representative of the areas we visited. 

I ended up doing four such collages, and I think they turned out pretty well! See for yourself:

#1 Pittsburgh, PA

My collage pays homage to the Pittsburgh Steelers (their fans are among the most devoted sports fans I've ever seen), Kennywood (an amusement park founded in 1898), the Strip District (popular restaurants, ethnic grocery stores and nightlife), the skyline along the river (there's rivers all over the place) and the historic neighborhoods. 

#2 Winterthur, a museum near Wilmington, DE

Since we only toured the Winterthur gardens this time, I didn't get to see the ongoing Downton Abbey exhibit. But since we used to be Winterthur members, I'm confident that the exhibit would have been worth viewing. Winterthur is a top-notch place; anything they do is worth viewing! 

My collage shows off other Winterthur highlights, such as one of the lavishly-decorated rooms one can tour, an example of garden statuary, and the Enchanted Woods, a fanciful children's garden. The upcoming "Truck & Tractor Day" is also geared toward kids. 

#3 Williamsport PA and surrounding area

The Little League organization got its start in Williamsport. The Williamsport Crosscutters, an A-level minor league affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, play at historic Bowman Field. 

For us, no trip to Williamsport would be complete without a trip to Wegmans, which is an upstate NY grocery store chain. For one thing, it's a short walk from the hotel we use (the downtown Hampton Inn), and has a good food court perfect for a quick meal. When we want a sit-down meal, we'll head to Bullfrog Brewery, also a short walk from our hotel. 

We didn't go to Woolrich's flagship store this time, but have been there frequently. It's a short drive from Williamsport. 

Also a relatively short drive away is the Pine Creek Rail Trail. Supposedly USA Today ranked it one of the top ten trails in the world. I don't know what the other nine trails on their list are, but I do know that the Pine Creek Rail Trail is very nice indeed. We walked along a short segment of it a few days ago. The scenery is wonderful!  

#4 Ithaca, NY

A two-hour trip from Williamsport, Ithaca isn't exactly a hop, skip and a jump away, but we like the funky college town vibe. Our visit began with an early lunch at the Ithaca Bakery, where I had the sandwich shown, Augie's New Spiedie (spiedie is a marinated meat preparation from Endicott, NY). 

For me, no visit to Ithaca is complete without a stop at Sew Green, a fabric/craft supply thrift store. This time I left the store with a craft book, two current craft magazines and a bulging bag of fabric scraps (pick and choose from several baskets, so I got just what I wanted). I paid a grand total of $4 for all. The price of those two magazines would have been almost $23 alone! But they were each 25c. 

Social justice and sustainability are important topics in Ithaca. Thus, a local business is "Food Justice Certified" and the county runs a Food Scraps Recycling program. 

Green Star Natural Foods Market is the local food co-op. We always tour food co-ops when we come across them. Health food stores just aren't quite the same.

"Hot Truck", I've gathered, is a local food truck beloved by Cornell University students. It's known for its pizza-like creations on French bread. 

And there you have it, mini-tours of four of our vacation stops, each with its own local flavor captured on an index card. I admit, it took a bit of time to make each collage, since I could only use small-scale images and copy. But it was fun to do and now I have four souvenirs, free of charge!