Usually when I go east I hit the Baltimore/DC area and call it good. With all my college friends adding little ones to the family I thought maybe this time it would be a good idea to head up the coast and include New York. Plus, I had been in touch with a camp friend and we decided if I ever made it back out there that we needed to go canoe a portion of the Delaware River that we missed as campers. Then some friends and I found out that Straight No Chaser would be performing in Atlantic City for a couple months. We had never been to AC and it sounded like one of those places you should experience. So the trip started in Baltimore, with day trips to DC and Delaware before moving up the coast to Atlantic City. From there I hit other parts of New Jersey, the Catskills in New York and finished on Long Island. I learned a few lessons too. The most important being to put all the friends with kids at the front end and the relaxing portion of the trip at the back end. That way I have a shot at coming home somewhat rested. I also learned to do a better job checking the sports calendar before planning. I put my trip in the middle of the Tour de France and toward the end of the Women's World Cup. That last event worked in my favor though since I got to watch the last games with some actual fans. Live and learn.
I flew out Thursday afternoon after spending the morning with my dad who was visiting me and Katie in Utah. I arrived in time for a late dinner/dessert get together with Scott and Ally, both of whom were leaving the next day. So it was immediately or not at all for seeing them. I tried the night before to convince Scott he should meet me at the airport and take me to get the rental so we'd have more time together. Unfortunately, it turns out I didn't have his cell # in my phone and he didn't text me the #'s I would need just in case. By the time he texted to tell me he was there I was stuck in the middle of the rental car bus with no way off. I told him I'd meet him at the rental place. Somehow I beat him there and was already in line when he walked in. I had my arms open ready to give him a hug when the line started to move. I grabbed one bag and asked him to grab the other. That led to a lot of teasing about not hello, just ordering him around. I pointed out that if he had walked faster he would have gotten a hug first. I do so love to tease Scott. After I got my car we headed to Chili's to meet Ally. I had promised we'd do a dessert get together. Since I hadn't eaten much that day I decided to do dinner while Ally got dessert and Scott drank. If it hadn't been such a hike from there to my friends' house I might have joined him. Just did not think that the best idea since I'm such a light weight. It was a great time and I had fun joking around and catching up with both of them.
From there I headed up to Bel Air, north of Baltimore to stay with the Marklands. It was so late when I got there the girls had gone to bed. Sarah had left me a note and Anna had asked her parents to find out how early she could wake me up in the morning. (First indication that I should have put all the kids at one end.) I ended up staying up late talking to Amy and Tim.
Friday morning Anna was down there as soon as she could to wake me up. I do love my honorary nieces, they are just so much fun. We only had a bit of time together before they were going to go to Vacation Bible Camp and I was headed to DC. I got to meet "baby" Izzy for the first time and give Sarah and Anna their gifts. It was hard talking them out of wearing the new shirts that were too big or using the new bags I gave them. They were given the okay to wear the soccer hair scrunchies. Eventually they were out the door and I got ready to head to DC.
My plan was to go to DC to meet up with friends and play tourist. I didn't give myself as much time as I thought getting down there so I went straight to meeting the first group of friends. Unfortunately, both of them were running late. So I sat at a table at Uno's reading the Washington Post while I waited. Eventually Emilie and Kaira made it and we had fun catching up over pizza. I really miss the girls and outings for Uno's pizza. I tried to convince both of them they should come visit me in Utah sometime soon. After lunch they both had to head back to work so I walked up to the Dirkson Senate building with Emilie. I thought I'd see if Alicia was in at Senator Landrieu's office but I happened to pick the one time she would be traveling. Hopefully she got the note I left her.
After that it was time to go play tourist. Turns out, even after being gone for 9 years I don't do tourist well. The rest of the tourists annoy me. I started with the US Botanic Gardens. I did the inside but did not have time for the outside. That just means I have something more to see on the next trip. From there I headed over to the National Museum of the American Indiana. I realized very quickly I wouldn't have time for the whole thing. I started at the top, stopped for the film and then gave up. Again, more for the next trip. Then it was a sprint to the National Gallery to see the Metsu exhibit. I had read about it in the Washington Post and thought it sounded interesting. It was 15 minutes before closing time, so thankfully it wasn't a huge exhibit. I managed to enjoy each of the paintings and still make it to buy postcards at the gift shop before being kicked out. The first postcard I ever sent my niece Trinity was a hologram card of cats from the museum. I still had time before meeting friends for dinner but not so much that I wanted to try to figure out what might still be open. So I headed over near the Capitol and found a place to sit and people watch. I may not play tourist well since they annoy me, but I do love watching them.
Dinner was at the Capitol City Brewery (which was closing that weekend) with Sarah and Andrea. I have known Sarah since the 1999 Women's World Cup. I met her and Sonya outside a US practice in DC. We ended up becoming friends and going to games across the country together after that summer. I haven't actually seen her in awhile though. It didn't take long for us to catch up and decide we need to go the next Women's World Cup in Canada. We are inviting our moms since they used to go to some of the games with us. Then we decided that we would also pursue the idea of going to Brazil for the Men's World Cup. The bigger the group the more fun that trip will be. It was so great to see Sarah and meet Andrea. I'm hoping they'll come out to visit me in Utah soon. Especially since we have a great bike race out here that would be fun to go watch with them.
Me, Andrea, Sarah
Saturday I got up and had breakfast with the whole Markland family. Which was a lot of fun but probably not my best idea since I was meeting the soccer girls for an early lunch. I had requested that we meet at Bill Bateman's in Towson since I randomly had a craving for one of their crab dip pretzels. Not sure where that came from. I'm pretty sure the whole time I was in college I only ever tried one once. Due to schedules it was a small but fun group of us. Tina, Sharyn and Melissa were able to meet up. We caught up on events and watched the WWC 3rd place game. I love when I get to see my girls. And yes, even after all these years they are still my girls. After lunch Melissa and I decided to drive over to the Union to see what options we could find at the store. Right out front was a clearance table with Towson (TU) blankets that were 75% off. We weren't figuring it out exactly, but we knew it was going to be a good deal so we both got one. Later we discovered they were down to $12. Melissa said she felt like we stole them. It was hard not to buy every baby item in the store for Melissa's expected little one, but somehow we refrained. It helped that they didn't have much with soccer on it.
Sharyn, Me, Tina, Melissa
After the shopping trip at the bookstore I headed to Delaware to meet my college roommate Jennie. I also had high hopes that I might actually get to see my friend Michelle for the first time since we graduated from Towson. Jennie and I had picked Wilmington, DE as a nice middle ground since she was coming from north of Philly. We found a Brewery in a nice area to hang out and catch up. I hadn't seen her since she was expecting her first child and now she has two. I'm hoping on my next trip I can figure out the timing so I actually get to meet the kids. We had a blast catching up, trying some drinks and eating an amazing appetizer and dessert. (I adopted the drink, appetizer, dessert model from my mom and her best friend. It works.) The only sad thing about the Delaware hop was that I didn't get to meet up with Michelle after all. But I am happy that we are back in contact and hopefully she will be visiting me soon with her family.
Me and Jennie
Still on Saturday, and already I have eaten three times. But I wasn't done! Now it was time to drive back toward Bel Air to meet the Harkins family for dinner. I felt bad since it was getting late and tried to get them to go ahead and I'd just meet them. Somehow that didn't work so we all ended up pulling in at the same time. I felt bad for the kids, but I think they forgave me. No shocker here but Collin has outgrown me. I still have some time before Kiera hits that point. I'm guessing by the next trip though she will be taller. The only reason I'm amazed is because I've known these kids since Collin was a toddler. After dinner we had to make a stop at Coldstone for some dessert. That was four meals and a couple desserts all in one day. So much fun! I'm happy I was able to see everyone though.
Monica and Me
Kiera, Me, Collin
Sunday was my last full day in Baltimore and the final game for the Women's World Cup. I took the rental car back to the airport since I wouldn't need it going forward. The Marklands picked me up and we headed to a fabulous place to watch the game. To make it even more fun members of Sarah's travel team were all going to be there to watch. I also invited my friend Lisa from the TU soccer team since she had missed the get together the day before. She graciously agreed to watch with me and a group of 9 year olds. It was actually really fun. The kids painted their faces and had jerseys on. I had brought my new jersey and one of my old ones so Amy and I wore those. Lisa had on a men's jersey, but we let it count for the day. We had quite a large area of the restaurant side and got them to turn up the sound as loud as they could. Lisa and I kept yelling at the TV. Then we'd turn to the girls and say something like, "Always lean over the ball when you shoot. If you lean back it goes high." They would just nod at us. I think they have already learned the art of humoring the crazy adults. For those who have watched big games with me, I was definitely yelling, but there was no hyperventilating involved. By the time we lost on PK's you could see the writing on the wall. You can't keep giving up leads and miss kicks and get the win. Good job to Japan. (I have a theory, when we lose the WWC we win the Olympic Gold medal. Anyone want to go to London next year?)
Lisa and Me
Izzy, Sarah, Tim, Anna, Me, Amy
When we got back to the house the older girls agreed to help me do my rehab. We had to improvise on some of the items, which just made it more entertaining. For the warm up we went for a walk with me pushing Izzy in the stroller. That wasn't a bad way to warm up. Then we headed back to the house to see what I could figure out. Sarah caught on quickly to most of the items on my list, Anna worked hard to figure them out. For ladder work they had a twister game that used rings instead of the plastic sheet. We set the rings up in a ladder style and did it that way. We also all got out a jump rope and worked on my jumping. Sarah kept cheering me on. I wish I could have brought her back to cheer me on during the function test. We finished up by using the steps on their shed to do our step ups. I wish I had as much energy as them.
Before bed time we had to go catch fireflies since I don't have those in Utah. We weren't having much luck for awhile but eventually we caught a couple. Before bed the girls wanted to know how early they could get me up since Amy and I were leaving for Atlantic City in the morning. I finally agreed to 7:30am. They actually set their alarm.
Monday morning was the first time I actually heard the kids coming to wake me. I looked at the clock and it wasn't 7:30 so I told them they were early. They swore their clock said it was time. I told them I didn't care it wasn't time yet. So Sarah laid down on the floor next to me and Anna sat at the end of the couch. Eventually though I had Anna laying on top of me and Sarah on the couch right next to me. They are definitely getting too big for that. But it was nice to spend some time with them before I left. I can't wait for my next trip to visit them. (Although, I'd be thrilled to have them visit me so I could show them the west.)
To be continued...
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