Results matching “Christmas”

One of my favourite places to visit in London during the festive season is Covent Garden, and I always visit it during the daylight since it's not all about the lights here. Although there are lights and a giant Christmas tree, there is much more to the Covent Garden Christmas experience. Despite the pandemic that we have all had to live through this past year, Covent Garden did not disappoint. Of course, it was not the same atmosphere as in previous years, and everyone was keeping cautious and careful, but the venue was decorated for the occassion.

The large silver reindeer did not make it back to the Covent Garden square this year due to an exhibition taking the space that it normally occupies, but the Christmas tree display was back. This trend started last year with each tree bearing the name and decorations relating to the various businesses in Covent Garden. It is a nice touch. 

The centrepiece was a Christmas tree made from Lego bricks. For several years in a row, until the giant Lego store around the corner in Leicester Square, Covent Garden always hosted a festive Lego creation - advent calendars, trains, Santa's sleigh with reindeer, etc. This year, Lego have returned to Covent Garden.

"A Really Cool World" is the name of the immersive creative experience that Lego have brought to Covent Garden this year. It is a free admission to be booked in advance, and it features several small stations with Lego creations that are brought to life. The creations are inspired by children and include a dinosaur, a sausage Christmas tree, dragons, a dance floor, and much more. Visitors to Covent Garden can see the displays and pass through the archway. 

I discovered three additional Lego sculptures in Covent Garden. One was the Christmas tree grouped with the other Christmas trees.

The other two were located in the floral display inside the covered market. This floral display is always updated for the season, and the mixture of pines, reds, deep pinks, and whites creates a magical wintery display. Inside the display are two Lego sculptures, and their facial expressions change. One is Mario from the Super Mario Brothers games, and the other is Santa.

The mistletoe light decorations with the giant silver orbs continue to decorate the market.

The giant Christmas tree also returns this year. New to this year is a snow machine that sprays snow into the air every so often so that it gives the appearance of winter and snow. It is quite a nice touch.

Ivy Market Grill in Covent Garden also always decorate for the seasons, and their display this year has been toned down to the entrance only. The entrance is flanked with silver branches and baubles.

For previous Christmas decorations at Covent Garden, see the following:

• Covent Garden Christmas 2019
• Christmas in London 2018 - Lights and Displays
• Where to See London's Christmas Lights 2017
• Lego "Let's Build Xmas" in Covent Garden
• London's Christmas Lights 2016: A Trail
• Where to See Christmas Lights in London
• Christmas Mistletoe in Covent Garden
• Lego Santa Express in Covent Garden
• London's Christmas Lights 2014
• Covent Garden's New Shiny Reindeer
• Santa and Reindeer Lego for Christmas in Covent GardenCovent Garden's Christmas Lego Snow Globe
• Lego Advent Calendar in Covent Garden
• London Christmas Lights 2012 and Window Displays

For general London Christmas posts on this blog, see:

• Where to see London Christmas lights and decorations (2019 Edition)
• Christmas in London 2018 - Lights and Displays
• Where to See London's Christmas Lights 2017
• London's Christmas Lights 2016
• Christmas Lights and Windows 2015
• London Christmas Lights 2014
• London's Christmas Lights 2013
• London Christmas Lights and Window Displays 2012

Each year, Carnaby Street light up a new set of Christmas lights for the season. This year, their lights are a collaboration with charity Choose Love, who raise funding for refugees by allowing visitors to buy blankets, mobile phone credit or shoes that are then donated. With the year that 2020 has turned out to be, the new lights offer hope, love, and kindness. 

Look up and you will see various gifts that describe how community have come together: gift, hope, together, brave, hero, thank you, kind, and happy are some of the words above the "Choose Love in Carnaby" banners. The design is a lot more subtle than in previous years where Carnaby Street pull out all the stops. This year's display features purple banners with simple words.

The side streets and the row of bulbs on Grafton Street are decorated with pink bulbs in keeping in the purple and pink theme this year.

 Due to the pandemic, the switch-on event at Carnaby Street (and all of the other streets) was cancelled, but the lights themselves are not cancelled.

To see previous Carnaby Street Christmas lights in my blog, see the below posts:

• Carnaby Street Christmas "One Ocean One Planet"
• Carnaby Street Christmas Lights Celebrate Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody"
• Carnaby Christmas Carnival
• Carnaby Christmas Revolution
• Carnaby Christmas Party
• Robins
• Santa
• Rolling Stones (rock and roll)

I wanted to purchase The White Company's advent calendar last year, but the release date for it was a day that I had non-stop meetings, and by the time I was meeting-free, the advent calendar had sold out. This year, I was lucky enough to purchase the advent calendar, and I am glad that I did not miss out. The White Company's advent calendar is always a sell-out and one of the most sought-after advent calendars. This year, it has a range of candles, bath, and body products in a range of different fragrances.

The advent calendar comes in a sturdy box with its simple "less is more" design featuring white and silver boxes. To see what I received, keep reading below. 

Midnight Votive Candle 65g: The 'Midnight' fragrant range is inspired by Venice and midnight fireworks. It is a warming scent with cardamon, nutmeg, and ginger. It's perfect for the longer winter days.

Spa Restore Bath Oil Shot 30ml: Bring the luxury spa to your bathroom with the essential bath oils to help rebalance and unwind your mood and nourish skin. The bath oil can be put into the bath, and there is enough to treat yourself to four relaxing baths.

Spa Restore Shampoo 75ml: The luxury spa scent is cool and rejuvenating and helps to mimic a spa day. The shampoo contains this scent to help you unwind while you nourish and clean your hair.

Spa Restore Conditioner 75ml: Bringing a luxurious spa into your shower helps to rebalance the mind while using the hair conditioner with the 'spa' fragrance. The product helps keep hair moisturised and nourished while giving the shower a luxurious overhaul.

Fir Tree Signature Votive Candle 75: The votive candle in the scent 'Fir Tree' evokes memories of pine forests covered with snow. The fragrance includes pine, eucalyptus, cedar and moss. It is an earthy scent.

Seychelles Body Wash 50ml: Bergamot, orange, coconut, vanilla, and jasmine are some of the fragrances that make up the 'Seychelles' scent., which reminds me of luxurious sunny days. The fragrance is used for the body wash to help transport you away while using it.

Seychelles Body Lotion 50ml: The 'Seychelles' scent evokes sunny luxurious days, and it is one of The White Company's popular fragrances. It comes as a body lotion.

Seychelles Lip Balm 15ml: This lip balm helps to add moisture to lips, which is useful in the dry winter weather. Making the lip balm using the sunny 'Seychelles' fragrance will transport the wearer to sunny memories to help get through the long wintery days.

Calm Bath Soak Shot 30ml: The 'Calm' scent contains calming juniper berry, geranium leaf, ylang ylang, tonka bean, and sandalwood to create a relaxing scent that evokes a sense of 'calm'. The fragrance is used in this bath soaking oil to help aid relaxation while winding down. 

Calm Pulse Point 10ml: The fragrance 'Calm' evokes a sense of calm using a variety of calming ingredients to aid in relaxation. Adding the fragrance to pulse points allows the user to wear the product as a perfume.

Fireside Signature Votive Candle 7: This candle uses the frafrance 'Fireside', which brings back memories of relaxing by the fireside. The fragrance has notes of smokes wood, fresh birch, amber, and vanilla. It is a warming scent and perfect for winter evenings.

Blanc Body Wash 50ml: The scent 'Blanc' is a crisp and floral scent with geranium and juniper berry. The user can enjoy a body wash in the shower with this strong, floral fragrance.

Blanc Shimmer 50ml: 'Blanc' is a crisp and floral fragrance with geranium and juniper berry notes. The fragrance is a strong but beautiful one. It comes in a body shimmer.

Spa Restore Body Scrub 75ml: The luxury spa can be brought into your skincare routine with the body scrub, which contains the 'Spa' fragrance to help rebalance and unwind and aid in removing dirt and dead skin as a scrub.

Spa Restore Intense Body Cream 75ml: When finished using the body scrub, the 'Spa' fragrance also has body cream in the fragrane range. It will help you feel relaxed while providing your skin with the moisturiser. It is perfect for the dry winter weather, which is less than kind to skin.

Pomegranate Signature Votive Candle 75g: The fragrance 'Pomegranate' is named after the fruit and is a sweet and fruity fragrance with an uplifting mood. The fragrance comes in a candle.

Pomegranate Handbag Cream 30ml: Additionally, handbag cream is provided in the fruity and uplifting 'Pomegranate' fragrance. This handbag cream is perfect for on-the-go when you need to give a bit of moisture and nourishment of hands and skin.

Noir Hand Wash 50ml: This scent 'Noir' evokes sophisticated evening events. Amber, mandarin, and sandalwood help to create this elegant grown-up fragrance. The fragrance comes in a hand wash.

Noir Hand Lotion 50ml: To pair with the 'Noir' hand wash is this hand lotion. This scent is a grown-up and sophisticated one.

Highland Escape Votive Candle 65g: A strong scent, the 'Highland Escape' is a wintery fragrance and is made with a blend of bergamot, saffron, and cognac. It is a woody and warm scent and can help transport you to a warm castle in the Scottish highlands.

Lime & Bay Handbag Hand Cream 30ml: The 'Lime and Bay' fragrance is a tropical garden scent that has been created with a blend of mandarin, grapefruit, orange, lemon, lime, jasmine, and bay leaves. It is a warming and uplifting scent. It has been created for this handbag hand cream, perfect for carrying around during the dry winter months.

Winter Signature Votive Candle 75g: The 'Winter' fragrance is a popular one that sums up the mood of the Christmas season. The fragrance includes cinnamon, clove, and orange. It is perfect in candle form.

Sleep Pulse Point Oil 10ml: The 'Sleep' fragrance helps to aid in sleep. It contains lavender, chamomile, and sage. The pulse point perfume can be used on the pulse points to help aid in relaxation for sleep.

Sleep Bath Soak Shot 30ml: The 'Sleep' fragrance helps to aid the wearer in relaxation and sleep with its blend of lavender, chamomile, and sage. This fragrance is used for a bath soak and promises to get body and mind into a relaxing state before going to bed. 

Rose Quartz Gua Sha: This carved rose quartz stone comes in a fabric pouch. It helps to tone, firm, and stimulate skin. It is a tool that can be used as a facial massager, which will aid in complexion. Before use, the wearer should use serum, moisturiser, or night oil to skin to keep hydrated. Then, gently glide the stone across the face from collarbone to underneath the ear to encourage lymph drainage. Then, massage from the centre of the face by the nose outward toward cheeks, then down the chin and outwards to the ear and then up to forhead. 

Have you ever received the White Company advent calendar? What do you think of it?

The Whittard Tea Advent Calendar comes with 94 tea bags with over fifteen different types of tea for two and an extra gift to enjoy daily. Each window provides four sachets of tea except for the first one, which had two plus an extra gift. I actually ordered the advent calendar as we started a second lockdown for a month. With working from home and colder nights, the Whittard tea advent calendar can make the days feel a little more bearable. Continue reading to see the flavours of tea behind the twenty-four doors in the Whittard Tea Advent Calendar. 

1 Christmas Tea: This black tea has flavouring of spices added to associate with Christmas. This is a good festive tea for the holiday season, but it's not one that I'd have outside that time.

2 Mango & Bergamot: This is a green tea with mango and bergamot flavouring for a refreshing and relaxing subtle floral taste. I would drink this when I want to relax.

3 English Rose: This black tea has rose flavouring for a spring or summery drink. I found it to be a good all-purpose tea with a floral twist.

4 Earl Grey: This is the classic Earl Grey black tea, and this flavour of tea is one of my go-to flavours. Whittard did not let me down here.

5 Afternoon Tea: This is a classic black tea from Whittard with a floral hint (containing jasmine and bergamot). I found this to be a perfectly acceptable black tea and a standard one.

6 English Breakfast Tea: This is a blend of black tea, a standard black tea that tastes better with a drop of milk. This was not my favourite.

7 Darjeeling Tea: This is my favourite tea when I go out to have afternoon tea. Although Whittard does not make the tea as strong, it still makes a good cup of tea.

8 Golden Camomile Tea: Camomile helps to aid relaxation and comfort, so this tea is best enjoyed after a long day and when you want to get some sleep. It has a fruity and floral taste and is a golden colour, and this one did help me to relax so only take it if you are ready to go to bed or need a long nap.

9 English Breakfast Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day three.

10 Chelsea Garden Tea: This floral white tea was easy to drink and perfect for the spring afternoons. I am normally not too big of a fan of white tea, but this one hit the spot and is one of my favourites in the advent calendar.

11 Liquorish Lemongrass Tea: This tea includes lemongrass and liquorish root, and it is a fragrant tea. I could taste the lemongrass but not the liquorish, so do not worry if you dislike liquorish. 

12 Peppermint Tea: This tea is made from peppermint leaves for a refreshing warm minty cup of liquid. I really enjoyed this one.

13 Piccadilly Blend Tea: The Piccadilly Blend of tea uses black tea with a floral twist and includes cornflower petals, so it's a pretty tea if you have it loose leaf. This was one of my favourites that I'd originally tried in-store and purchased awhile ago.

14 Mango & Bergamot: I received more of this type of tea on day two.

15 Super Fruits Tea: This tea is infused with a long list, including apple, rosehip, 1hibiscus, lemon, acai and goji berry. It produces a fruity cup of tea that was enjoyable.

16 Peppermint Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day twelve.

17 Lemon and Ginger Tea: This tea contains lemon and ginger, which is probably best for when you are not feeling your best or have indigestion. Ginger helps the stomach.

18 Darjeeling Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day seven.

19 Sleepy Tea: The name of this tea suggests that it helps to induce sleep. It contains a variety of ingredients linked to relaxation such as camomile and lavender. It also contains marigold, elderflower, and licquorish.

20 Chelsea Garden Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day ten.

21 Very Berry Crush Tea: This is another fruity cup of tea that is perfect for a summer's day, and I believe that this one could be served with ice. Hibiscus, apple, rosehip, elderberry, raspberry, and strawberry are a few of the flavours used.

22 Earl Grey: I received more of this type of tea on day four.

23 Apple and Elderflower Tea: This is another fruity tea that would probably make a good cup served cold with ice as well as warmed. The flavour is apple and elderflower, and it is a light and fragrant tea.

24 Christmas Tea: I received more of this type of tea on day one just in time for the holidays.

The Whittard 'Tea for Two' Advent Calendar is perfect for couples or room mates who enjoy a cup of tea in the colder months. It is perfect for hibernating or sitting in front of a warm fire with a book or Netflix.

One of the advent calendars for this year is the Yankee Candle advent calendar. Okay, so this one does date from 2018, and I got it as a Christmas gift and decided that the time was right to use it. The advent calendar contains a votive tea candle holder, twelve votive candles, and twelve scented tealights. All are for you to enjoy each day in the run up to Christmas. Note that you should open the candle holder first so that you can enjoy your candles safely.

I received one of each of the following candles in the Yankee Candle Advent Calendar in the votive candle size and also the scented tealight size:

• Frosty Gingerbread: This is a warm and spicy holiday scent of baking gingerbread to evoke the Christmas feeling. 
• Icy Blue Spruce: "Icy Blue Spruce" is a cool scent to place you inside a wintery pine forest. The scent contains juniper berries, blue spruce, and spearmint leaves.
• Christmas Cookie: This is a buttery vanilla scent that reminds me of sugar cookies. 
• Christmas Eve: This candle scent is of sugared plums and candied fruit that creates a warm and festive scent.
• Winter Wonderland: This scent reminds me of walking from a warm room to the snowy outdoors in the winter, and there is also a warming hint of vanilla to the scent.
• Christmas Magic: Christmas Magic is a natural scent of birch and pine.
• All is Bright: This is an uplifting and bright citrus scent.
• Crackling Wood Fire: This is a grow-up indoor fireplace scent, and this is one of my favourite scents from Yankee Candles.
• Spiced White Cocoa: This is a "food" scent with a cocoa and vanilla and warm nutmeg tone.
• Snowflake Cookie: This is a super-sweet scent that I feel is a feminine one with sugar-sweet icing on top of cookies. This is my least favourite scent in the advent calendar.
• Glittering Star: Sugar plum, sandalwood, and ginger creates a warming scent with evoking a traditional festive feeling.
• The Perfect Tree: This is a beautiful scent of a natural Christmas tree or pine forest, evoking memories of beautiful Christmas trees.

The list of candles is a different list than what some other websites mentioned online. Have you received an advent calendar this year or have you had a Yankee Candle one? Let me know what you think. 

Halloween was yesterday, but I went out for a post-Halloween Halloween afternoon tea earlier today with friends. This is the second time I have seen any of my friends since the start of February, so I was have been looking forward to it for a couple of months. The Halloween-themed afternoon tea was enjoyed at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. Continue reading about my Halloween tea at Waddesdon.

Waddesdon Manor is a very large mansion owned by the Rothschild family, and I previously visited here in August, but my first visit was last December. I had been planning to visit the house this summer, but that did not happen for obvious reasons, and I have heard that the house takes a long time to walk through as it is so large. I hope things can be normal soon so that I can visit it.

The afternoon tea was located in a room that appeared to be the old kitchen, and various gourds, squash, and pumpkins decorated the old kitchen cabinets and worktops. These made an excellent autumn display, and my photographs of it remind me of a painting.

All of the afternoon tea was served with a glass of Prosecco. I forgot to take a photograph of the tea pots, but they were unique and of Asian style. Visitors could choose their tea, and I choose the Darjeeling.

Next up were the sandwiches. Waddesdon offers a great selection of different types of sandwiches and bread with their afternoon tea. These included a selection of rolls, croissants, tarts, and flat bread. The sandwiches included: Pumpkin, spinach and goat's cheese tart; Haddock, leek and chive tart; Egg and cress slider; Beet root cured salmon and dill cream; Smoked chicken croissant; Roast beef and horseradish. I substituted for an avocado mashed on flatbread.

After the sandwiches, we had a miniature three-tier stand with two layers of pastries and a scone with clotted cream and jam. We moved on to the scone. I forgot to photograph the scone, but it came with a little pot of clotted cream and jam, which was just enough for it.

The pastries included the following:

Death by chocolate opera gateaux. This had a dark chocolate skull and dark chocolate coffee bean on top. It had a slight hint of coffee, but thankfully it was not too much as I dislike coffee.

Toffee apple cinnamon spiced panacotta. This was served in a tall glass shot glass and was a creamy apple and cinnamon treat that I enjoyed. I didn't really taste the toffee.

 Raspberry pistachio bat-enberg. This is a batenberg cake that came with a white chocolate bat. I enjoyed it, but I didn't really taste pistachio or raspberry flavours.

Mummy macaron. This was a vanilla macaron with a strawberry or raspberry jam in the middle.

Pumpkin and pecan cake. This little cake had a pecan on top and tasted like a spiced pumpkin cake flavour. (For some reason, they gave me a millionaire's slice instead of this, and I traded it.)

My favourites were the pumpkin and pecan cake, toffee apple panacotta, and the macaron.

After the afternoon tea, we had a quick walk around the grounds and saw a new sculpture with elephants being installed. These elephant sculptures were created in India by local people out of an invasive plant, which is wrapped around a wire frame. The elephants are a part of a charity work that will take place in London's parks next spring to draw attention to the endangered animals. There will be eighty of these sculptures placed around the parks.

The winds have been high for a few days as well as last weekend, so unfortunately, this has caused many of the beautiful autumn leaves to fall off the trees earlier this year; it has also been the wettest autumn for many years. However, there was still a bit of colour at Waddesdon. I wish that we could have enjoyed the autumn colour for longer, though, particularly as every weekend has been cloudy or wet weather while the weekdays, while I have to work, have usually been bright and sunny.

For more posts about Waddesdon on this blog, see the below:

Morning at Waddesdon (National Trust, Buckinghamshire): Lockdown Edition
Christmas and Winter Light at Waddesdon Manor (Bucks, England)

With being stuck indoors and at home for the majority of the year, I was happy to break out for my last visit to London for awhile and visit Peggy Porschen's cafe in Belgravia. The cafe is known for its Instagram-friendly floral displays on its pink fascade and its too-cute-to-eat sweet treats. Every season, the decor changes along with the themes of the treats. For autumn, new pumpkin-flavoured cupcakes have hit the shelves in various designs: pumpkins, maple leaves, oak leaves, and acorns.

The fascade of the shop has been decorated with pink and orange flowers and leaves with a white wheelbarrow filled with pumpkins painted in pastel colours. Pumpkins are also mixed with the foliage on the shop front. This is the Peggy Porschen "Pumpkin Patch".

As the chilly autumn days have settled in now with Sunday being particularly chilly, I ordered a hot chocolate and a pumpkin cupcake. The flavour of the cupcake was amazing; it was a pumpkin and spice flavour with creamy icing in good proportion to the sponge and cute embellishments.

More posts about Peggy Porschen on this blog are below:

Peggy Porschen Winter 2019
Summer at Peggy Porschen Cafe King's Road
Easter at the New Peggy Porschen Cafe, King's Road
February/March Heart and Floral Designs at London Shops
A Christmas Visit to Peggy Porschen Bakery

I had planned to visit Waddeson's house this summer. It was one of the items on my list as I had attempted to visit it last spring, but it was booked up, and I never got to return. Due to coronavirus, the house is unfortunately closed in 2020, and I doubt that it will reopen now. Visitors can visit the park and gardens at Waddesdon, and at present, they were putting together outdoor cinema. I did visit the grounds and the ground floor of the house last winter as a part of the Christmas and Winter Light at Waddesdon Manor (Bucks, England).

The entrance into the parkland from the house leads to the aviary or a walkway around the grounds. 

The aviary has some colourful and noisy birds on display. I managed to spot a few. One of the birds sounded like a small child making noises. We actually thought it was a child making funny noises until we got closer to the cages. I spotted the bird making the noise quickly, which was the one sitting on the rock in the image below.

If you enjoy spotting birds, you can spend awhile looking inside the cages to see if you can find the bird. Sometimes they move; sometimes they sing. Sometimes, they are up high in branches. Sometimes, they walk along the ground. Some of them blend in more than others.

After visiting the aviary and seeing the birds, I walked around the small rose garden.

The sun came out during the visit after a wet and dreary morning. 

I also noted that autumn seems to be making its way and summer is ending with the changing of the leaves.

I am hopeful to visit Waddesdon once things get back to normality, which I really hope is soon. I think it may be mid-2021, though, sadly. Let's just hope for things to get better.

The Whipsnade Tree Cathedral is an attraction maintained and managed by the National Trust near Dunstable. The project started in 1930 as a commemoration to soldiers who fought in the Great War; Edmund K. Blyth had the idea as he was inspired by nature and cathedrals and dedicated it to the memory fallen friends. The Whipsnade Tree Cathedral follows the footprint of a medieval cathedral; although it is not an official place of worship, blessings and outdoor worship has taken place here. The nave and chancel, created by trees, is taken from the measurements of the abbey at St. Albans, which is the longest in the world. Different trees are planted in different areas of the 'cathedral'.

The cloisters, which is pictured above, contains flowering trees and shrubs and a dew pond hollow in the middle. The different areas of the cathedral have different trees planted such as colourful maple in the 'autumn chapel', cherry in the 'Easter chapel', oak in the south entrance, Norwegian spruce in the 'Christmas chapel', and silver birch in 'the towers'.

The Whipsnade Tree Cathedral is maintained throughout the year and open from dawn to dusk to visitors. Entry is free to National Trust members, but the public can visit by giving a donation in the donation box near the entrance. 

Newark, Ohio, is located about an hour's drive east of the capitol Columbus. There are quite a few things to do in downtown Newark, Ohio. I've covered some of it before on this blog, but I have not included a post about everything to do in Newark. That's what the aim of this post is. Newark, Ohio has an attractive courthouse square with a range of small businesses and a farmer's market. Continue reading to see why you should visit Newark, Ohio in the future.

A visit to the courthouse from the end of November and throughout December is a treat because it is illuminated with colourful lights. For more photographs, see my post: Newark, Ohio's 2013 Christmas Lights

I've previously covered Buckeye Winery, which is located in a little shop on the square. It sells local wine and gifts, and visitors can order wine slushes (iced wines) and snack on cheese, meat and crackers or order food in. I've previously covered the winery here: A visit to Buckeye Winery and A visit to Buckeye Winery and watching 'Rogue One'. One of the restaurants you can order food from to bring into the winery is Christy's Pizza. The pizzaria is located a short walk away (about a block), and you can order take-out or eat in. The pizza is really good.

One of the other restaurants near here is called "1922 on the Square", and it seems to be an up-market restaurant offering traditional food. I visited with friends to dine in, and it was okay. There's quite a lot of other restaurants and breweries in this little area of Newark, and you can find something for everyone.

As part of the re-generation of the area, murals were painted on some of the empty walls to mimic traditional historical shop scenes.

One of the other shops located on the square is "Damn Good Popcorn", which specialises on popcorn, sweets/candy, and other items. You can literally get any flavour of popcorn here.

Market Street Soda Works is another shop, and it is a soda bar. It sells all sorts of different flavours of soda. You can take them away or have them at the bar.

Located near the soda shop is a sandwich shop and also an expansive bookstore. The bookstore is a little treasure of books and gifts.

Visitors on certain days of the week and at certain times of the year will also be lucky to visit the Farmer's Market, which takes place on Market and Canal Streets in a covered market area. Visitors can buy a little bit of everything here from baked goods to alcohol to sauces to gifts and to fruits and vegetables. 

In addition to the market, the historical county jail is a historical building here that can be toured at different times of the year. There's also a few historical places to visit here, and I have not visited many of them. If you have visited any of the places I have mentioned or not mentioned in this post, let me know in the comments.