Our Thanksgiving Vacation – Thanksgiving Day Dinner
In my past six blog posts I’ve written about how we spent our Thanksgiving holiday. On Wednesday we visited Brandywine Park and zoo in Wilmington, DE. On Thanksgiving Day we visited Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, where we enjoyed the sights of “A Longwood Christmas”. We ate Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Concordville Inn Restaurant in Concordville, PA.
Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be a nice affair. We had our concerns at first. We had dinner reservations for 6:00 PM. We only had to walk across the parking lot from our hotel to the Concordville Inn Restaurant. We approached the restaurant at the closest access. Entering the restaurant, we were told politely that this particular entrance was not for the Thanksgiving dinner buffet. We were directed to a side door.
We arrived about 10 minutes early for our reservation. There was a long line. I ascertained that the people in front of us had 6:00 PM dinner reservations as well. After a few minutes we learned that the line that we were in was the paying line. We had to pay for our dinner, including an 18% gratuity, BEFORE being seated! We waited in the paying line for about 15-20 minutes. While in line we noticed two parties were seated immediately, ahead of others that had been there first. We learned later that there was a party in the “staging area” that had 5:00 PM dinner reservations and had not yet been seated!
When we reached the cashier, there was no record of our reservation. I had made our dinner reservation on line via the restaurant’s website. Apparently, there were two meals being served that day at the restaurant — an a-la-carte dinner and the Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet. I was only aware of the Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet when I made our dinner reservations. When I explained to the cashier that I had made our dinner reservation on line, she informed us that we were supposed to use the other entrance. We explained that we attempted to enter via that entrance but were directed to this entrance. The cashier then placed us on the 6:00 PM reservation list. We paid for our meals and entered the staging area, where we waited for an available table.
While in the staging area we noticed parties who had come in after us were being seated ahead of us. At the same time that we noticed that larger parties were being seated ahead of us, another couple made the same observation. We quickly decided to join forces and create a party of four. We informed the cashier of our decision. Immediately, a table became available. The couple that we joined forces with was Irene and Paul, who lived nearby. The food was bountiful and delicious. I am happy that we shared the evening with Irene and Paul. We didn’t exchange email addresses. That’s sad because it would have been nice to keep in touch with them.
The Beauty Around Us 
6 Responses to “Our Thanksgiving Vacation – Thanksgiving Day Dinner”
Linda,my husband and I love to have company for dinner. Happy to read that you enjoyed your “Thanksgiving Dinnner;)Your comment on my blog:”I see a black squirrel occasionally in NW Pennsylvania”. Perhaps an illegal immigrant from Canada?- Cheers Gisela.
I'm not sure my husband would have waited… He gets very impatient… Glad you were patient and met some new friends along the way. Glad dinner was worth waiting for… I don't understand though why that restaurant wouldn't have more tables for two available… Glad you were patient…Hugs,Betsy
They didn't appear very organized did they Linda? I'm happy to hear you finally got your Thanksgiving dinner and that your companions were such nice people. Do you think you would go back there again? Not sure if I would but you might have had great food and hopefully you did after all that lot.
It's nice that you were able to share your meal with someone else. It sounds like all's well that ends well.
Sounds like it was a confusing restaurant! I am at least glad that the food was good.
I enjoyed catching up on your blog today. I am glad that things worked out well in spite of the frustrating situation. It was interesting to see the snow photographs in your latest post. We don't usually get much lake effect snow here–just light snow showers that seldom accumulate more than 1-2″.