For the last few years my family has been going back to our Native homeland Canada the first weekend in August for a family reunion.  After the family festivities we have been taking little side trips on our way back down to Jersey and this year we decided to check out upstate New York.  One of our stops was in Historic Saratoga Springs.

Obviously this quaint town is known for horse racing which is event everywhere you go. The main street downtown is really great to just park nearby and take a nice leisurely walk checking out the little shops along the way.

One of those great little shops was called Impressions of Saratoga.  This had tons of great souvenirs and the people working there were very friendly.  Just inside the front door near the checkout area was the only pressed penny machine in town (what are the odds we would stop into this place?!?!).

I have used this type of machine a few times in the past and it can be a little confusing if you are used to the other more standard style machines.  Most of the ones like this always have a hand written sign from the merchant trying to clearly explain how it works as I’m sure they get a lot of refund requests because the customer didn’t read what to do.  Unlike most other machines there is only 1 (ONE) button and you press it first to highlight the little light beside whichever design you are interested in pressing.  Once the selection is made you pop in your change and the machine does the rest.  My assumption is people just put in their money and try pressing the light beside their design which does absolutely nothing and they end up with whatever design the previous user had requested.  In any case it’s not difficult just different so please take this “life tip” and read the darn instructions before using it.

The first image says Lucky Penny and has a Jockey and Horse in mid-race, next is the Columbian Spring, and lastly the Battlefield Monument.  With my new pennies safely stored away we picked up a plush horse for Hanna and headed outside.  It was a beautiful day and I wish we had more time schedule in Saratoga Springs it really was great to check out.  But we had other places to visit and not a lot of time.  Check back soon to see where we headed next.