While on my Bethlehem trip, Chip and I decided that stopping at Nazareth was a must.  Especially after we found out that we had tapped out Bethlehem the night before.  There really wasn’t a reason to go back there except to briefly do a drive by of the Just Born Factory.  Because it was Sunday Just Born was closed, even if it was open they don’t do tours.  Oh, the humanity! 

So the next morning we woke up early, said goodbye to the psychedelic motel room and went across the parking lot to the Dunkin Donuts.  The previous night we had found great amusement in the restaurants signs in the parking lot that our motel shared.  Yes, the parking lot near our motel was a haven for great signs.  But remember no strip mall is complete without a porn shop or two.  Yep, at the end of the strip mall were two porn shops because one is just not enough!  I couldn’t help but chuckle at the creativity of the owner and we snapped a photo.  It was called the Oh! Zone.  Good to be environmentally aware!

After snapping a few pictures and grabbing coffee and a few breakfast sandwiches, we were off to Nazareth. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, I mean, when would we ever be in this area again?  I was very excited, who wouldn't be!  The ride there was pretty uneventful; there were a lot of fields and a few houses here and there and that was pretty much it.  Several minutes later I began to worry that we had missed Nazareth completely. But soon that worry dissipated as a lone blue sign next to an orange big rig appeared before us on the right hand side of the road.  Nazareth! 

After we got out of the car to document this moment we continued on through the town to see what Nazareth had to offer.  There were churches on almost every street corner.  I guess I can say that I wasn’t all that surprised.  I mean, the place is called Nazareth, that is a big name to live up to!  In the middle of what appeared to be the town square was a nice nativity scene.  Oddly there was a cannon in the background.  I didn’t explore it as I was freezing and I still was wearing flimsy socks as I had been in Bethlehem the night before.  

After hitting a handful of churches we decided it was time to to do some shopping to exeprience Nazareth and headed to the downtown area. Apparently the churches are there for a reason as it was Sunday and everything was closed and nobody was on the street.  Nothing was open!  I mean nothing except for the hardware store. Apparently hardware store people are the rebels in this community!  This was frustrating because I hate hardware stores.  I just can’t get into them; the artist in me fights them.

But the artist in me loves the Dollar Tree!  Heading towards what appeared to be the main drag heading back to the highway we found a hidden section of stores and they were all open including the Dollar Tree.  For some reason lately the Dollar Tree has been my saving grace when going to smaller towns.  They are always open and you never know what you will find and each one has its own unique personality depending on the area.

As we went inside I was surprised  to see just how religious that Nazareth really was.  They had a 50 cent machine in which you could get a small cross and biblical books and Bible CDs for your car all for a $1.  I have never seen these items in a Dollar Tree before.  Heck, I have never seen the Bible on CD before, but I really have never looked, so I am not an expert or anything

I decided that I needed to take car eof some unfinished business and within two minutes I found the socks section!  Finally!  Socks!  That sad part is after Nazareth we didn't have all that left to do before heading home so these really weren't needed all that much.  But I figured why not?  So i picked the only warm pair they had which were ankle socks with Sport written across the top in white letters.  Okay, not my style, but I can be a sporty girl, so why not?  After shopping for 30 minutes more we decided it was time to go.  I was pretty happy with my purchases and bought more Christmas gifts in the Dollar Store than I did at the Bethlehem holiday market.  I can’t wait to see the looks on the faces of my family and friends when they tear open the Christmas gifts this year.  Dollar Tree really is a life saver!

As we were leaving the parking lot we noticed a smoke stack in the air spewing out a grey cloud.  Many parts of Nazareth and beyond apear to rely on farming and factories.  Almost everwhere you drove in Nazareth you were reminded of this.

We continued to drive around Nazareth for another 10 looking for anything to do, but as reported earlier, everything was still closed, so sadly, we had to move on.  I wish I could have experienced more of Nazareth, but it was not to be on this day.  Still I got some interesting photos, great gifts and the chance to say I was in Nazareth.  Life is Good!