Penguin Summer: Lake George

About halfway between where I live and Montreal is Lake George, N.Y., which makes the resort town a good place to stop for a break or lunch . . . or a penguin shopping spree. I’ve stopped at A Christmas to Remember a number of times, but I never bought as many ornaments as I did at the end of summer 2009. The bag full of penguins brought my total for the summer, starting with the trip to Germany, to 96 ornaments.

Two gold glittery penguins on glittery icicles

Acquired: September 13, 2009, A Christmas to Remember, Lake George, N.Y.

Number: 0711 0712

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Price: $9.99 each

Sledder, snowboarder and skier with red glittery hats and sneakers

Acquired: September 13, 2009, A Christmas to Remember, Lake George, N.Y.

Number: 0713 0714 0715

Size: 3 inches tall

$9.99 each

Little “rough-hewn wood: penguin with wreath around neck

Acquired: September 13, 2009, A Christmas to Remember, Lake George, N.Y.

Number: 0720

Size: 2.25 inches tall

$4.99

Penguin balanced high over a snowboarding polar bear’s head

Acquired: September 13, 2009, A Christmas to Remember, Lake George, N.Y.

Number: 0721

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $12.99

Penguin Summer: Montreal

I was in Montreal for a journalists’ convention in September 2009, still summer for a few more days. The conference hotel was just a few blocks from Noël Eternel where I found a few more penguin ornaments, including the beautiful Ne’Qwa ornament painted on the inside. I also bought a duplicate of an ornament that I had bought in Hershey, Pa., on the summer RV journey.

Roly-poly glass penguin with red Santa hat and red snowflakes on its belly

Acquired: September 11, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0706

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: 8.99 $CAN

RAZ Holiday Imports molded glass parent and child with fuzzy backs

Acquired: September 11, 2009, Noël Eternel, Montreal, PQ

Number: 0707

Size: 4.5 inches tall

Price: 12.99 $CAN

Acquired: July 24, 2009, Incredible Christmas, Hershey Park, Pa.

Number: 0669

Price: $9.95

Penguin Summer: New Mexico

I found a number of penguin ornaments on my visit to New Mexico where a large group of friends had gathered for the Santa Fe Opera. One was my 700^th penguin ornament. You can read about on my post of Feb. 3, 2010.

Roly-poly porcelain Santa holding a tree and star on a hook with body punched full of star-shaped holes and big circular cutout with penguin

Acquired: August 16, 2011, The Shop, a Christmas Store, Santa Fe, N.M.

Number: 0699

Size: 3.25 inches tall

Price: $6.50

Puffy little knitted penguin with wild, fuzzy white hair, brown beak and feet

Acquired: August 16, 2009, Susan’s Christmas Shop, Santa Fe, N.M.

Number: 0701

Size: 4 inches tall

Price: $9

Big emperor penguin with a green Merry Christmas sign

Acquired: August 18, 2011, The Christmas Shop, Old Town Albuquerque, N.M.

Number: 0702

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $6.95

Ceramic “rough-hewn wood” penguin with orange feet and black toenails

Acquired: August 18, 2011, The Christmas Shop, Old Town Albuquerque, N.M.

Number: 703

Size: 2.5 inches tall

Price: $3.95

Penguin Summer: Rehoboth Beach III

This was the last of many ornaments I accumulated during the two-week RV trip with my nieces, nephew and sister that had taken us from Pennsylvania to New England to North Carolina to Delaware. We went our separate ways the next day near Middleford, Delaware, me back to Pennsylvania and the others back to Florida, all of us with a lot of memories.

Fired glass penguin with metallic eyes, red cheeks and a Santa hat

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Kennedy Studios, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Number: 0698

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $18

Penguin Summer: Rehoboth Beach II

Christmas Spirit has a wall of Christopher Radko ornaments. Three of them had penguins.

Christopher Radko “Dapper Ding-Dong” tuxedo bell

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Christmas Spirit, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Number: 0695

Size: 5.5 inches tall

Price: $50

Christopher Radko “Winter Working Pals” three penguins building snowman

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Christmas Spirit, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Number: 0696

Size: 6 inches tall

Price: $55

Christopher Radko “Cozy Crew” snowman and snowwoman with baby penguin

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Christmas Spirit, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Number: 0697

Size: 5.25 inches tall

Price: $50

Penguin Summer: Rehoboth Beach I

Our last stop on the two-eek RV trip was in Rehoboth Beach where I found a big cache of ornaments at Christmas Spirit.

Merck Family Old World Christmas three-piece “Penguin Band”

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Christmas Spirit, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Number: 0685 0686 0687

Size: 2.25 inches tall

Price: $7.99 each

Two sets of heavy lifelike penguins, one with a tree and shovel, the other with birdhouse and cardinal

Acquired: July 29, 2009, Christmas Spirit, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Number: 0690 0691

Size: 3.5 and 3.75 inches tall

Price: $4.75 each

Acquired: September 13, 2009, A Christmas to Remember, Lake George, N.Y.

Number: 0716 0717

Price: $8.99 and $9.99

Penguin Summer: Chincoteague

We were falling a little behind schedule again, partly because of my penguin ornament shopping, but we made sure to stop at Kitty Hawk where the Wright brothers made their historic flights. We were supposed to make it to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware that night, but it was clear we wouldn’t make it. Our plan B was to get to Chincoteague. The RV campground directory I had bought came in handy for us to find a place and call ahead. That gave us time to stop for dinner at a homey diner a few hours away. During our meal, the waitress asked us where we were from, where we were heading, etc. When we said we were going to stop in Chincoteague, she said, “You’re lucky, tomorrow is the pony swim.” Without even planning it, we were going to be in Chincoteague for the annual wild pony roundup and swim across the channel from Assateague Island. We even found out our campground had a front row view of the swim and the parade to the fairgrounds where the ponies would be auctioned. I even found a penguin ornament, one that matched a pair that I had bought a few days before in Hershey, Pa.

Small felt penguin with red ear muffs

Acquired: July 29, 2009, The Brant, Chincoteague, Va.

Number: 0684

Size: 4.75 inches tall

Two small felt penguins with flat orange beaks and green hats

Acquired: July 24, 2009, Incredible Christmas, Hershey Park, Pa.

Number: 0674 0675

Size: 5 inches tall

Price: $3.99 each