Weekend Shenanigans

Linking with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday hop today. 

What a fun weekend! 

Ours started on Wednesday (hey, we're retired) when we got on the road pointed north. I had booked a hair appointment that morning so we got a little later start than normal, but we made good time and arrived at hub's brother and sister-in-law's house in Richmond in time for dinner.

We hadn't seen them in person in a long while and it was fun to catch up at one of our favorite spots there-Joes Inn The Fan for anyone who knows Richmond. Once upon a time, pre-children in fact, hubs and I lived in this town and we still love visiting there.  

We got up Thursday to drive the rest of the way into Annapolis, yet another place we used to live that can still make our hearts go pitter pat. 

Wait! I'm leaving out something important. Before we pulled away we had to hide the family lizard. Every family has one, right? 

This lizard has been in hubs family for more than two decades and has traveled here there and everywhere with various family members. If the lizard ends up in your possession you have to very discreetly pass it on to another family member without their discovering it until you're on the road out of town. 

Success! 

We took the back roads into Annapolis as opposed to the interstate (95 is possibly the worst one in America) and we made a stop en route at a little antique shop we always enjoy browsing-

It's an eclectic collection to say the least. 

We pulled in to Annapolis and went straight to another favorite spot (McGarvey's Tavern) for a light lunch. Well mine was light...hubs had a crab cake sandwich because when in crabtown...

Now that's a crabcake. 

I had their delicious Maryland Crab soup and just like that it felt like we were back in 1998 raising pony-tailed little girls beside the Bay. 

We love this town. 

We met some friends for dinner Thursday evening (O'Leary's since I'm sharing all the best places) and enjoyed dining on their lobster special (delish!!) and hearing what's new in their lives. 

After dinner hubs and I went over to a little spot in the west end to meet up with the bride and groom and their friends and family for a little pre-wedding welcome celebration. 

The Little Tykes gang as I like to call them.

The groom (that's him in the center back) and his sisters (also in the picture) lived across the court from us way back when. Together with our girls they logged a lot of miles on the Little Tykes cars, drew a million chalk houses on the driveway, played 'Pioneer' in our side yard, and lived the best day of their life in 1996 when the blizzard to beat all blizzards struck the East Coast and we had a party to celebrate in our court. 

There was a snow mountain courtesy of the plow, a fire in the middle of the street using metal struts from our basement remodel as a platform, and neighbors young and not so young bundled up in beach chairs sipping cups of mulled wine. It was a happy place to be a kid. 

A happy place to be a mom too. 

Hubs and I began our Friday with breakfast at an Annapolis institution called Chick and Ruth's. The pledge is still recited there every morning, which is such a fun tradition. 

After breakfast we took a long walk. We trekked over to the Naval Academy and across their extensive grounds, stopping for a moment beside the sea wall to picture our girls when they were girls and not grown married women with girls of their own, in their hula hoops, waiting on the July 4 fireworks to splash across the sky. Time marches on...

Pictures and geography wing you back.  

There's a new (to us) spot on Ego Alley called The Choptank, and we went up on their rooftop for the downtown view and to sample their orange crush. Our hometown lake cabana makes an orange crush and we like to compare when we can. 

This one was good, a little sweeter than ours, but still yummy. 

We walked up and down the cobbled brick sidewalks of this old town saying hey remember when...we popped in shops and then of course indulged in the world's best crab dip courtesy of McGarvey's. This was daughter2's favorite food when we lived in Maryland and we had to order one so we could send a picture. Yes, they give you an entire loaf of warm bread for dipping. 

Two actually, which is why this is not a dish to have on the regular-ha! 

The wedding was Friday evening in a beautiful venue on the South River called London Town and Gardens. It's actually an historical site, but they host events and weddings too. The rain held off and the whole evening was lovely.

And then suddenly it's Saturday morning, time to reload the car and aim it south. 

Home. 

We've had more than a few, you know. We've tucked people and places and precious memories in our pockets all along the way. 

We carry them with us wherever we may roam.