the red caboose.

Noah has been obsessed with trains since he turned two, and I am loving this phase of his. When Jill told me about a place called the Red Caboose in Pennsylvania I had no idea what this place was about. All I knew is that when she commented on my post about Noah going through a train phase she mentioned the word caboose, and I was sold.  

After looking it up online I knew this was the perfect place to take Noah for his third birthday, and we did.

Well, the Red Caboose is actually a motel with train cars redesigned into guest rooms, and let me tell you...it was interestingly fun. 

It is such a nice, laid back place in a quiet little corner in Lancaster County. All the kids had a grand time walking through the motel, and because its peak season there wasn't a lot of people which made it easier to take a few pictures of all of the cabooses.  

It was also a benefit for Noah since he was running all over the place, and on the train tracks. Don't worry...they don't work. 

I hardly ever see cabooses anymore. It's almost as if they have become obsolete. This one caught my eye, and since Lexie and I are the only ones in the family born in Texas I just had to take a picture of us in front of this train car.

I have a huge amount of respect for is the Amish. We saw buggy cars all over this county, and it amazes me how they live. Sometimes I wonder how life would be without technology. Probably chaotic, but there are some of us who can live without it. I'm sure I'd be going through a little withdrawal since I've been blogging more, but if I had to give it up I know I would. We were without electricity for almost 24 hours last year when Irene hit, and that wasn't so bad! 

 This was such a beautiful, quiet, place with a lot of space to run. I wish I could live here sometimes!

They also have a toy train museum in the back of the motel as well as a restaurant & gift shop full of vintage train cars to add to a train set. I wish I had a lot of money to have bought a few train cars.

The gift shop also has a huge train display in which you pay 50 cents to have it run. Luckily there was another person in there who paid to get it started, (and made sure it worked!) Then I paid to have it run again. Noah was in awe!

We had dinner on a train cart, and the food here was delicious. If you like Amish cooking then you came to the right place.

 The girls had so much fun sitting inside a train car eating their dinner.

Noah's birthday weekend has been so much fun, and I really don't want it to end! We sure did love this place, and next time we come we are going to spend the night here! So if you have a kid who loves trains, and if you're into vintage train cars...I totally recommend this place.

See y'all!