When my husband and I were first married, we moved to Kansas City. From the moment I got there, I knew we weren’t staying. It’s not any one thing, it just wasn’t for us-just an overall feeling that I could never put down roots there. I’m from PA and my husband is from NJ, and I really wanted to return “back east.” After about 18 months of living there, we started to plan to come back to the mid-Atlantic some place. After a few months of searching and phone interviews (remember, the internet was brand new!), I found a great position in Kennett Square, PA. We moved here in 1998.

My family is less than two hours from here and he has family that lives close by, so the area wasn’t totally foreign to us. At that time, we knew that Kennett Square had two things-mushrooms and Longwood Gardens. When we moved here, it wasn’t really in our minds that we’d stay here forever or move on in a few years. Now I always tell people “We’re here to stay, never leaving.” There are so many reasons we love this region, I don’t know where to begin, so I’ll begin with downtown Kennett Square–because it has so much more than mushrooms and Longwood Gardens!

Wine, wine gifts and other cute things are at Flickerwood.

When I first visited Kennett Square in 1997, Genesis wasn’t completed and the YMCA was still down on Cypress Street across from McDonald’s. Still, it seemed like a cute enough town and we rented a home in the borough. I loved it there-I loved walking to shops and restaurants, because it’s such a quaint area. Some of the other store fronts have changed since then, but it’s always fun to visit the new shops. It feels like it’s always growing and evolving, and since now I am an Avondale borough resident, I miss being able to walk to so many great places. Thursday night I got together with a bunch of other bloggers from the region to walk around downtown Kennett Square. It was fun being included because I love this area, I’m always promoting it, and I love supporting local merchants–definitely smart spending!

Visit the Sunrise Cafe for coffee, breakfast or wonderful homemade biscotti.

I remember being pregnant with Kevin and visiting The Growing Tree for the first time. That store has now moved downstairs from it’s location, but the addition of The Mushroom Cap upstairs was sorely needed. Before The Mushroom Cap, there really wasn’t any place to go buy mushrooms and mushroom-themed gifts in town. I just learned last week that 65% of the nation’s mushrooms are grown in this area, I had been quoting the 40% statistic. (And no, I really don’t smell it, I swear, you do get used to it.) You should plan on trying to attend the world famous Mushroom Festival in September, but even if you can’t, you have to sample some local mushrooms.

These smelled wonderful!

In Kennett Square, there really is something for everyone. There are green and eco-friendly stores, high fashion boutiques for women, several options for both fine jewelry and fashion jewelry and so much more. Thursday was my first time in Scout & Annie’s, and I instantly fell in love with them. I love vintage kitchen pieces, particularly the ones I got from my grandmother. They sell such an eclectic mix of items.

Those candles not only make cute souvenirs, but they had a wonderful pine/evergreen scent to them. ~At Scout & Annie’s

The owner there is a lot of fun and will help you make the right choices for your own home or for a gift. I didn’t get down to the Resale Book Shoppe, but I think they still do the offer, if you’re in the store and the fire alarm in town goes off, you pay half price. Double check that one, but that used to be the deal.

After walking around town, we congregated at La Tavona where enjoyed some tasty appetizers. The bar there was also crowded and lively for a weekday night, even without all the bloggers. I’m actually in Kennett Square at least three times a week to take my little guy to preschool, but it was enjoyable to be on my own and not trying to look in a shop with him. I’m always afraid he’ll break something. It’s also cute because if you ask him where he goes to school, he says “my new school is in Kennett Squa-yer.” He makes Square two syllables.

There are so many great shops and merchants in Kennett Square, I couldn’t possibly list them all. But having such a fun little town just a 5 minute drive from our home, it’s one of the many reasons we are here in southern Chester County to stay!

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