Laidley

So excited to finally share all of the pictures from a day spent exploring all that the township of Laidley has to offer, beginning with a meal at the Eagle Rock Cafe, a 50s style diner located in the main street that specialises in hamburgers, fries, hotdogs & milkshakes. What I loved most about the place was the ambiance - checked floor tiles, red-topped counters & tables, life-size statues of Elvis & Marilyn Monroe, Betty Boop memorabilia - all set to a soundtrack of "golden oldies" found in the real working jukebox. For anyone who's interested, here are my top 5 tracks from the 1950s:

Mack the Knife (1959) Bobby Darren

I Walk the Line (1956) Johnny Cash

La Bamba (1958) Ritchie Valens

That'll Be the Day (1957) Buddy Holly & the Crickets

Jailhouse Rock (1957) Elvis Presley

Guinness Pie with Fries & Vegetables

Nostalgia

Go-Go Mobile

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After walking around town & checking out the markets, we headed to Das Neumann Haus, a two-storey residence hand-built in 1893 by German immigrant Hermann Neumann. The house has been lovingly restored to its former condition, refurnished in the style of the 1930s & is now open to the public as a museum. Annie's Place Coffee Shoppe also operates inside the building, offering light lunches, devonshire teas, smoothies & piping hot coffee to guests, who can either sit on the balcony in the sunshine or in the shade of the 100 year old jacaranda tree in the park area behind, near the larger-than-life statue of a horse... yes, really...

Posing upstairs near the children's nursery & music room wearing a gorgeous floral neoprene fit-to-flare dress (cut very short for maximum impact) from Taking Shape's sadly-now-defunct event wear collection, cropped black leather jacket from Portmans, vibrant chartreuse puffer vest from Rockmans to ward off the chill of the morning, shiny black patent ankle boots with buttons (also known as my "Anne of Green Gables" shoes) from Wittner, 40 denier nylon tights from Razzamatazz & matte black leather handbag from Pigeonhole. Jewellery was minimal - a single silver & onyx cocktail ring from Georgini.

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Not ready to go home yet, we stopped by the Laidley Pioneer Village on our way home & decided to check it out for $10/person. Scroll down to see how it all unfolded...

The Pioneer Memorial Chapel

Once the Baptist Church at Mt Berryman, it was moved to the Pioneer Village in 2007

The Post Office

This was once part of the Miner's Union Complex in Booval, Ipswich

The Old Butcher's Shop

Originally situated near Warwick

The Old Gaol

These old cells were once part of the Laidley Police Complex

Desjardins Cottage

Originally the home of the Desjardins family who were pioneers at Gehrvale, now Mt Mort. Typical of the homes built by early settlers, readily-available ironbark was used for slab walls with a shingle roof on top.

The Old School House

Originally situated in Blantyre near Boonah, the school was built in 1896

The Mortuary Museum

An all-purpose building that was once used as a mortuary & now houses many artefacts from by-gone eras from a variety of local families & businesses