Chase the Brighter Days {1}: Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
Leave a commentJuly 30, 2015 by Bernadette ~ The Bumbling Bookworm
Welcome to my new feature, Chase the Brighter Days! The title comes from my favourite Taylor Henderson song, Brighter Days, which is all about chasing those brighter days in your life, and I equate that with travelling. What I love about reading is the way it allows me to travel to many different towns, cities, countries and worlds, all from the comfort of my home. I love to travel but I don’t get to do it as much as I’d like, and reading helps to fuel that.
Reading also inspires me to want to travel to all the amazing places I’ve read about, fictional and otherwise, and that’s what this feature is about. I’m going to share with you guys all the wonderful places I’ve found in books that I really want to visit one day. Hopefully I’ll make that a reality some time soon, but until now I can live vicariously!
The first location I’ve chosen to feature is the Pocono Mountains, also known as the Poconos, which is the setting in the amazing Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson! I recently reread this book and it reminded me that there’s still so much I have to explore in the good old USA. While this might be a place regularly visited by Americans, it’s not something many Australians have heard of I don’t think… At least not this Australian!
Specifically, I want to visit the Poconos in summer – I’m not a winter girl and snow is not my friend. Besides, I like to travel overseas during the Australian winter, so I can get away from it all! So, summer it is! Here’s some of the things I’d love to do:
Rent a Holiday House on the Lake
The Poconos has many lakes, and Taylor’s holiday house in Second Chance Summer is set on the lake in the fictional Lake Phoenix. It’s such a huge part of her childhood, her friendships and her loves, and the scenery sounds AMAZING. And I’ve found the perfect place…
How cool is this view! This house is in the Bear Creek Lakes community, in the heart of the Poconos, and it’s so beautiful. If you’ve read Second Chance Summer, you’ll see something pretty amazing if you look closely…
That’s right, it’s a deck! No place in the Poconos would be complete without a deck, especially for that real-life Second Chance Summer experience. Now to find my own Henry…
Eat Copious Amounts of Ice Cream and Sweets
Ain’t no summer complete without ice cream and baked goods, and lots of them! I really wanted to find a place like Sweet Baby Jane’s, the fabulous ice cream parlour in Second Chance Summer. Also, Borrowed Thyme sounds like an amazing bakery, I was practically drooling! OMG, it’s rare for a book to make me hungry but this one totally did!
I’ve heard nothing but good things from Coutts Ice Cream, it looks divine! Also, an edible waffle cup, that’s my idea of heaven. I love eating ice cream out of a cup but will get the waffle cone if I can. Waffle cup is the best of both worlds!
I couldn’t really find a bakery like Borrowed Thyme, with it’s amazing sweets and awesome staff – if you know of any let me know! I’ll happily add it to my to-do list!
Go Hiking in the Woods
The woods is another big part of Taylor’s story, particularly with Henry, and I’ve heard that the woods in the Poconos are simply amazing. I love hiking, and I think I’d have an amazing time exploring the woods in the Pocono Mountains.
Known as the “Niagara of Pennsylvania,” Bushkill Falls is most definitely on my to-do list. The scenery looks absolutely amazing, and I’m sure it would look even more spectacular in real life.
A Day at the Beach
For those of you that haven’t read Second Chance Summer, Taylor gets a job at the beach kiosk of Lake Phoenix. It wasn’t until I googled the Poconos that I realised it wasn’t a beach in the traditional sense, but more so a beach on a river or lake (at least, I think so, give that the Poconos are inland).
As a person who loves going ‘down the river’ (as we say in my country town) rather than to the actual beach, this looks like it’d be right up my alley!
There you have it, that’s my Second Chance Summer adventure! I’m determined to make it a reality one day 🙂
The Bumbling Bookworm 