Small Town USA – Yes, I live here

This is an Arial shot taken from a drone of our town, Oxford, PA.  I love how picturesque it looks!

Every month, on the first Friday, my town shut down the main streets around our Borough.  It’s never postponed or canceled. Rain or snow, the show will go on!  This is one of the joys I’ve found living in a small town.

Main street row of cars

My new home!

For September’s First Friday, our town did a car show. We had well over 150 cars come in. The picture above is on the main strip of our town. This isn’t including the side roads they were on as well. The second picture is my new home! I’ve always said I want to do tiny home living.  I think it qualifies, right?

This month, they started to close the roads at 11am to get ready, instead of the normal 5pm closure. But, having to park all those cars, it made sense!

With First Friday, the stores stay open later. Most of the stores close at 5pm. On our main street, we have a few antique and second hand stores. What small town doesn’t?  We have a coffee shop, a wine cellar, a couple of pizza places, a Rite Aid, Chinese restaurants and a more rustic restaurant that serves the best food!  These events are great for the residents to get out and mingle, but, also good for our stores to bring in more money for their businesses.  And people who do crafty side businesses, have fundraisers, or anything else to raise money can buy a table for the night. They get to set up on the sidewalk and watch the goings on as people walk by, talking and laughing.

A friend of mine came up to go to the car show with me and we had a great time looking at all the cars! Here is a small sample of what was there:

I love these old cars 🙂

We then topped of our night at the local wine cellar. Flickerwood Wine Cellar has such a great atmosphere. You can sit there at tables, or, they have side chairs and couches to sit back and relax.   Tables outside too! They even have book shelves for their guests and board games.

The crew there?  Absolutely fantastic!  My friend and I gave Tammy free reign on what drinks to give us during our Wine and Chocolate sampling.  And she did NOT disappoint!  Check out the set up!

The chocolate came from a candy store a few doors down from Flickerwood, called The Candy Case. These two complimented each other nicely!  I will admit. I haven’t really been out since March. The wine went to my head!  My friend and Tammy had a great laugh at that! LOL.  I told Tammy I need to get myself up there more often. I just don’t because I’m a recent transplant and don’t really know anyone in the area.  She told me not to be crazy. Come on up and usually, if they see someone sitting by themselves and someone else comes in alone, they make introductions and the guests can have fun chatting with each other.  So, if you’re ever in the area?  Make sure to stop by! They are located at 33 S 3rd Street in Oxford, PA. Who knows, you may see me curled up on a couch reading a book and sipping some wine :).  They recently started selling beers too. Mostly beers brewed in Pennsylvania :).

Here is a little history of my town from our Borough website:

In downtown Oxford, at what is now the site of the Union Fire Company No. 1, is where seven roads came together. It was an old Indian trail, and a natural meeting place for those traveling from the Delaware River to the Susquehanna. Oxford had level ground and springs of good water, and made for a good resting-place.  Third Street in Oxford was part of the Nanticoke Trail. Indians followed this trail from the Poconos to the Chesapeake Bay.

In 1797 this area was divided into Upper and Lower Oxford Townships with Hoods Crossing falling within Lower Oxford Township. Hood’s, as Oxford was first known, remained a meeting place and stopover for travelers as stagecoaches from Philadelphia and Baltimore traveled through three times a week and used the town as a rest stop.  It grew slowly, at first only as a crossroads with a few stores, but with the advent of the stagecoach line, the number of stores increased as goods moved freely in and out of Oxford.

So, that’s a little something about my home town and one of the fun events and stores that they offer.

Do you live in Small Town USA? Even if you don’t live in Small Town USA, what fun events does your hometown offer?