Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Homeschooling Hot-Spot Rockford



Hello my friends! I have been wanting to add a local flair to my blog for years now and I have finally figured out how to do it! Once a week, I like to break routine and leave our classroom behind for the open world. Okay, not quote the world, but to discover more of our town. Once a week we like to pack up our backpacks (WHAT?? Homeschoolers have backpacks??) and head out and about. I would like to make this a weekly edition to my blog, that will begin full force in October as most of our September is being spent exploring a whole other world!! The idea is to explore the place as a homeschooler:
1) Can we stay long doing work and not be a nuisance or made to feel like one?
2) Price. Is it cost effective for budget-minded homeschoolers?
3) Atmosphere. Is it clean (bathrooms, eating area), comfortable (temperature, seating)
4) Any other observations
Today, we are at the Banana Cherry Bakery on Alpine Road. This place is fairly new to the area and my kids have been dying to try it for some time. It was a rainy morning and everyone was having a difficult time getting into the groove of learning as their brains are on VACATION already!! (So is mine!!), so I decided to surprise them with a bakery trip. They were ecstatic when we parked the car, but I was a bit nervous, the open sign was not lit up on the main road and it looked so dark. I sent my son ahead of us and he pulled on the door to find it locked. He was bummed, but tried the other door, OPEN! YAY! 
The Decor and furnishings were quite sparse but the eating area and restrooms were clean. The staff was incredibly friendly and happy to be there. Our baked goods were absolutely delightful! They have free wi-fi, which is a bonus as well. The place was quiet and a virtual ghost town at 10:45am, so this allowed us some nice time alone to get work done. Around 11:15 it started seeing more  business, but there was no need for our table. 

I found the prices to be on the expensive side, spending just under 20,00 for the 4 of us to each have 1 sweet and 1 drink. (2 berry muffins, 2 banana cakes, 3 waters and 1 cup of tea)  The Muffins were absolutely delicious but could easily be split by 2 people. The Banana Cake was large enough for 2 people as well. I did find it strange that a bakery had no milk. When you think baked goods, you think cold glass of milk! I did ask for just glasses of ice water, but they gave me bottled water. I did not realize it until after I paid, if I had known that was the case, I would have just ordered 2 as they never finish a complete one. All in all we would go back, due to how empty it was and we would most likely order food to split and either bring our own milk or order just a couple of bottled waters. That would bring our price to a more tolerable level for becoming regulars of an establishment. For this price, we could have gone out to a local diner for breakfast.
All in all it was a good morning with just a hiccup. Not all of our locations will cost money and not all of our opinions will coincide with yours, this is just something I decided to start and hope you enjoy the ride. At the end of our visit, they even brought us out a free cookie to try and they are ENORMOUS!
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