The Bridge, the Bay, and the Bride

That title sounds like a story should follow, doesn't it?

Alas, no story, but I do have my usual Monday morning collection of assorted which I like to think is story-ish so here ya go.

We spent the weekend by the Bay, the Chesapeake in case anyone is confused. Not just by it but also on it. Few things make the hubs and I happier than a boat ride on the Bay on a sunny day in June. Add old friends and one daughter to the mix and it's close to perfect.

We were in town for the bridal shower of the boat captain's daughter. Ha-that's a round about way of saying that the bride and daughter1 are childhood friends. We met when our girls were seven and we've been friends ever since. They have a son who is a year younger than Daughter2 but daughter2 was working this weekend so she was missed.

Friday night the six adults ate at my absolute favorite restaurant in Annapolis-Carrol's Creek. If you ever get to Annapolis eat here. The view, the service, the food-always always excellent. And I say six adults meaning the three sets of parents. Technically our 'kids' are also adults but we'll just pretend they're still living under our roofs and sitting at our dinner tables every night as opposed to living in their own apartments, working in big cities, and getting married, okay?

Hi Bride! Hi Daughter1! I know they will be so happy to see this photo on my blog-ha. I love the baggy too big shorts and the looks on their faces. Apparently soccer was serious business in the late 90's.

Back to my 'story'...Daughter1 drove over from DC on Saturday morning to join us for the weekend and we immediately headed to an Annapolis institution for breakfast. I promise I will talk about more than what we ate but when you go back to a place you more or less consider home you want to hit all your favorite spots. Chick and Ruth's Delly would fall into the category of favorite spots.

It's a hole in the wall really, a super popular, well-known hole in the wall that has a wonderful family history associated with it going all the way back to the early 60's. They have a fun tradition here of saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. If you're dining at 8:30 on a weekday or 9:30 on a weekend you'll see everyone in the place stand for the pledge.

As a side note-my hair is crazy in every picture. It was a windy weekend, add a boat to the mix and it was kinda hopeless. It looked great for the shower but I don't have a picture so you'll have to take my word for that.

How can you not love Annapolis? Sigh.

When we lived here way back when, we spent lots of time with the bride's family. We all love boating and we did a lot of rafting up in a cove near their house, a lot of sittin' under their awesome tree, and even a little jumping off their boat house when the kids were really kids.

They have a big boat that goes super fast (trust me on this) and also a ski boat. If we ever wanted to cross the Bay for lunch on the Eastern Shore of Maryland we'd all load up on their big super fast boat and Bam-you're there. Wind blown hair and all but oh my word it is FUN!

We had plans for a crab feast on Saturday but it was kinda gusty in the morning so we decided to go by road instead of water. The weather was positively gorgeous and we sat outside and ate the world's most perfect food-the Maryland Blue Crab (which actually are blue before you steam them).

Picking crabs is a messy business...you can make it last for hours and we did. If the weather hadn't settled down enough to convince us we needed a boat ride we might still be sitting there covered in Old Bay and crab shell.

Even with the wind blown look she is adorable....and celebrating a birthday this week-whoohoo! Wait, we're pretending the kids are still kids so forget I said that.

The day had become completely gorgeous so we loaded up the boat for a zip around the Bay...first we needed petrol.

And the world's largest splinter.

The hat did not last long. A hat doesn't stay on when you're going more than 50 mph on the water. I know I'm something of a wimp about a lot of things, but I do love to go fast on the water.

Really fast.

We went really fast.

I ask hubs how fast and he just grins.

We left this freighter in the dust. Silt?

I think it's a freighter.

We flew up to the Bay Bridge...

and under...

back past the lighthouse....

and into the sun.

People who say they dislike boating should try this just once.

So.much.FUN.

Oops, we still have a shower to discuss.

I think I'll do like all good writers and leave you wanting more-ha.

Tomorrow we'll talk mothers and daughters.

And the crazy trick of time that allows little girls to go from baggy soccer shorts to wedding gowns in the blink of an eye.