Yankee Candle Dandy

When Mom and I left for vacation, it was on a Monday morning. We headed to Williamsburg, VA, got settled into our hotel, The Quarterpath Inn, and headed out shopping for the day. Now, our hotel was this cute little hotel and it was cheap but I have to say, it rocked. It was more clean than some Marriotts and Hiltons I've stayed in and the service was fantastic. Not to mention the fact that we had a swimming pool to wind down in at the end of the day.

So we headed out in the town of Williamsburg to scope out the place and figure out where we wanted to go the rest of the week. We spent the first day shopping to relax and just enjoy the fact that we were away together with no husbands, no kids, no pets, no jobs, nothing but me and Mom. It was fabulous.

Our first stop was the Williamsburg Pottery Factory. This place is over 200 acres of buildings that you can shop in but to be honest, it's not the most impressive place. It's full of dilapidated buildings and most of the places we weren't impressed with the selection of things that we saw. The building that we loved the best and spent most of our time is was called the Solar Building. Remember that if you ever go there. It's clear in the back and one of the last you will get too but Mom and I decided to walk back there and I'm glad we did.

We didn't have anything but time on our hands so it really wasn't any big deal whether we found things or not, it was just fun to be away. The Solar Building is huge. You can get lost in there. As a matter of fact, we didn't get lost in the building itself, but we did get lost from each other and it probably took an hour to find each other again. The bargains in this building were outrageous and silly me forgot to grab a cart so when I got separated from Mom wandering around, my arms started going numb from all the things I was carrying.

We went from the Pottery Factory to the Outlet Malls to the Yankee Candle Store. Now, I had read about this place online but the description that I got online is nothing compared to the place itself and the description I give you and the pictures I show you will pale in comparison with the experience you will have if you ever go there. It is definitely a MUST when going to Williamsburg. This is the outside of the building. It looks like three huge houses hooked together but in all actuality there is a mall inside there.

When you walk inside, this is what you see. The ceiling actually looks like the sky.
It is set up like a mall and you walk through, going from store to store if you want, all Yankee Candle related. There are over 250,000 different scents in this place in every kind of shape, size and item you want them in. It's really neat! You can even find all the retired and discontinued scents there too. This is the room with all the tarts. There is nothing but rows and rows of tarts. I kept my nose clear of them for fear I would get a headache. Instead, I wandered around taking pictures while Mom burnt up her sense of smell trying to find the ones she wanted.
This is another one of the stores. Another view from inside at different shops.
This clock opens every so often and the stuffed animals walk out and do a little show for you. When it's finished, it closes back up and business goes on as usual. There is a train that runs constantly on the track you see below the clock and it goes in and out of the shops. Of course they are going to throw in a candy store in the midst of everything. :) This was my favorite spot in the entire place. It's called the Holiday Park. When you walk into this area, it opens to a whole other area filled with various holiday shops. And the best part is, every so often while you are walking about in the Holiday Park, it starts snowing! Yes, we had snow in July. It was awesome!
This is a bridge that you can walk over inside the Holiday Park in the middle of all the various shops.
This is a pickle tree, which got Mom's attention immediately. She loved the pickle tree. And yes, that's my mother caressing a pickle.