Road Trip

Steve had a meeting in Baltimore first thing yesterday morning, so he decided to drive the night before so he wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive.  I've been wanting to take the kids to Delaware to see some of our old stomping grounds, so Steve agreed to let us come along.  On the way we stopped for dinner in Gaithersburg.  I got to try their seasonal Tweason'ale, which I would marry if I could.

Olivia loves to stay in hotels.  In fact, she woke up at 5ish to play and talk, which meant Steve didn't end up getting any more sleep than he would have if he had gotten up to drive that morning.  Bless his heart.

Small world moment: At breakfast there was our next-door neighbor Kent, also in Baltimore on business.  Olivia was so excited, even though I don't think she fully understood the irony that we were a couple hours from home.

We dropped Steve off at the office and headed up through the harbor tunnel and on to 95.  I do not miss driving on 95.  I do miss our sweet little town, old New Castle.  We stopped in to see my dear friend Bertie at Bertie's Bags and Sew On.  (Get it?  Sew on?  She does monogramming, and put Olivia's name on her little green bag.)

Bertie and her husband just returned from celebrating their 50th anniversary in Savannah and Beaufort, and I have since added Beaufort to my bucket list.  (Visited Savannah in 2010.)  The kids played with Bertie's toys while we visited, and then we walked down to Battery Park on the Delaware River.  I explained to Olivia that the geese used to see Riley coming and would swim out into the water, nervously honking, "Dog... dog... dog..."

While we lived there I never paid much attention to the osage orange tree dropping fruit right on the walking trail, or the wonderful playground in the park.  Funny how life changes my perspective.

We walked back up to Bertie's shop and while we were saying goodbye one of her neighbors offered to make a peanut butter sandwich for Olivia.  This is the kind of town New Castle is.

Next we headed to Newark to visit Lisa at Sparkles Bead Shop where I used to teach classes.  I didn't get a single picture, but I do have some pretty new beads.  I always need more beads.  And I always need a cupcake, so after that we went by Sweet 'n' Sassy Cupcakes on Main Street.  They are my favorite, being about equal parts uber-rich icing and cake.  I wrapped and froze them to enjoy as long as I can.

Then it was time to head back to Baltimore to pick up Steve.  We stopped at Wegmans for dinner on the way home, and we passed through Harper's Ferry just after the sun went down.

It was a fun trip and the kids did really well on the go.  I miss Delaware and could fill several weeks going to visit friends and shops, but I was happy just to have a little taste.