Sturgis Falls Weekend

I am one happy Mama!! Here I am back at Sturgis Falls Celebration after being gone for six years and I have my entire family with me. One of my reasons for moving back to the Cedar Valley was because all of my kids were here. When we all gathered on a blanket under a tree in Overman Park to enjoy Sturgis Falls festivities I was thrilled. Big thanks to Dale for taking the photo. No, I am not getting shorter. . . my family just keeps getting taller!

June Garden

 After being gone so much in June it was time to get reacquainted with my gardens. My "Mollie Garden" out front has lots of new blooms including these gorgeous daisies. I am serving lots of salads at my house and harvesting spinach and lettuce most days. The spinach is almost gone so I planted more seeds in a big pot on the deck to see if it would work. My lettuce pot is overflowing as well as the lettuce bed. The cauliflower and broccoli have been harvested and I look forward to the new broccoli that is growing. I probably will not plant cauliflower or cabbage again. They take lots of space and just produce one head for the season.

 I came home to some nice garden surprises including the fact that everything survived my absence, thanks to Ashley's watering. Another surprise was petunias, growing in the cracks of my brick sidewalk. They were volunteer seeds from the former owners petunia bed in 2011. Fortunately there has been a brief break in the heat and humidity and I was able to spend most of the morning working and enjoying my gardens yesterday. Thanks to Jay's mowing and the lack of rain I have not had to mow since before vacation. That's a very nice surprise too!

Family Visits

This week I have been lucky to have some fun family visits! I was so busy with a houseful on Wednesday that I didn't even get my camera out so on Thursday I got just a few shots of Lincoln with his Great Grandma Nonnweiler. You cannot tell by the photo but they had fun together. Lincoln was blowing bubbles, smiling, talking and squealing for Grandma. It was a fun visit with my parents, nice to catch up and have a nice meal. On Wednesday I had Kaley, Brecken, Drew, Molly, Ashley and Lincoln all here. It's so much fun to have the house filled with kids; little ones and adult "kids." Brecken was so much fun and so sweet. He is just 14 months older than Lincoln and it will be fun to watch them grow and play together for years. On Tuesday I start my real job, so I was thrilled to have the time for visits this week! I so love it when family comes! Thanks for the visits!!

Homeward Bound

 After about a week and a half of exploring and driving 3375 miles it was time to head back west into the sunset. We fueled up at the Wawa, our new favorite convenience store. Wawas were everywhere and had no-charge ATMs, local snacks and it was just really fun to say, "Wawa!" It was a good trip. Now that I have been home for a week and a half I am getting rested. As much as I love to travel, I do love sleeping in my own bed and being near family.

Pittsburgh and the Pirates

 When we paused briefly in Pittsburgh on our way east someone told us that it was the "City of Bridges." We did see lots of beautiful bridges on this trip since we were exploring areas filled with rivers, bays, harbors and creeks but Pittsburgh is certainly notable. I loved the yellow bridges. No doubt it's a nod to the bridges themselves as well as the Pirates and the Steelers. They seem to like their teams in Pittsburgh.

 This town takes baseball tailgating to a new level for me. There were lots of city lots filled with music, coolers and sports fans before the game and during the game. Along the river there got to be quite a crowd of boats doing the same things. We didn't do much in Pittsburgh but I was impressed by the bridges and team spirit. It was a nice ball park with some great views.

Baltimore

 Baltimore was one of my favorite cities on this trip. We spent most of the time at the inner harbor and Camden Yards but what I saw would make me want to go back. If I were spending more time in Baltimore I would go into some of the museums and see more of the city but this was a great one day visit.

 Of course there is lots of history in this area and Baltimore is no exception. We walked up the steep hill to the fort overlooking the harbor where there are cannons and statues commemorating the defense of the harbor.

 It's set up so well to walk around and I love the contrast of the old ships, new boats and high-rise buildings. There were so many things to see and do in a relatively small area. I thought it would be fun to do the paddle boats on the water but we stayed safely on the land. It was a great visit.

Camden Yards

 Oriole Park at Camden Yards deserves it's own post. We visited four major league baseball parks on this trip and Camden Yards was my favorite. They are celebrating twenty years at this park and it seems like the perfect blend of some modern conveniences with lots of old ball park charm. Dale and I got tickets in the very top row. It was a packed house with almost as many Phillies fans as Orioles.

 One of the most unique features was this "alley" that was between the ball park and the brick building, all within the park. The people were wonderful, the crab cakes were delicious and Baltimore is a great city. This was a great addition to my own personal list of major league ball parks.

Annapolis

I truly enjoyed our visit to the Maryland State Capital in Annapolis. Often we just walk around the building, take a few photos and enjoy the opportunity to stretch our legs and move around. This setting was so beautiful that I enjoyed strolling around the neighborhood and just soaking up the sights and history. This State House is the oldest in the nation still in legislative use. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson conducted business here. When Dale went into the building I sat outside on the steps to enjoy the atmosphere and gorgeous day because I was not carrying the required photo ID with me, but it was very nice.  

As much as the State House was interesting it was really the neighborhood that captivated me. Spokes of narrow streets with quaint stores, coffee shops and small homes went out in all directions. We went into several shops and enjoyed the walk. I do have some buyers remorse about what I did not buy. I should have purchased a piece of pottery at the Annapolis Pottery shop pictured below. They had gorgeous pottery and the setting was so perfect. I took this photo from the grounds of the state house.

Chesapeake Bay

 I was very excited to explore the Chesapeake Bay! It was my first visit and certainly a place that holds lots of charm and history. I was not disappointed. The photo above is from a park overlooking the Chesapeake Bridge.

 We found several small communities on the shoreline that had the charm I had hoped to see. The lighthouses were all part of the tourism and museums but it was still fun to see them. Although I had not considered the miles and time it would take to drive down each peninsula and back inland before finding the next one it was worth it.

 Rock Hall had this quiet little beach with just a few people, mostly little ones with mommy and grandma. It looked like a wonderful place to unpack your bags and spend a week. St. Michaels had a cute main street with antique shops, souvenirs and ice cream. I won't always remember the names of these little towns but I will remember the feeling of Chesapeake Bay.

Baby Cuteness

 "Seriously, Grammy? MORE vacation photos?"

 Even I am getting overloaded with vacation photos. It's time for another baby cuteness break. Nothing like a baby's face to brighten my day!

 Lincoln had some avocado for lunch when he came over to my house last week. It was fun to feed him, watch his expressions and enjoy the little green mess!

Crab Vacation

 Although we ate plenty of cheese steaks and ball park hot dogs, it was the crab that I was most excited about when we decided to travel to the Chesapeake Bay. Above is a yummy crab dip with bread sticks from a local place we found on the eastern shore of the bay.

  This was our view from the patio while eating crab cakes at Fish Whistle on a river near the bay. Below are the Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs that we saw on the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay. I had never seen anything like them. They were kind of creepy while strolling the beaches but they were also very interesting. This is not the kind of crab that we ate (as far as I know!)

 We only tried one Roadfood.com option and it was a very simple and local crab shack. The interior is pictured below. The cases are filled with fresh seafood (as far as I know) and it was soft shell crab season so we ordered one. That's Dale taking a bite; legs, pinchers, head and ALL. It's a unique experience. I had it once on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi too. I think twice may be enough for me!

The crab cakes served at Camden Yards in Baltimore were as good as the other crab cakes that we ate. It was certainly a unique experience to order crab cakes at a major league baseball game. We brought back a few crab souvenirs, even one for the Christmas tree. It was a "crabby" vacation for sure.

Jersey Shore

 After race day and a day in Philadelphia I was ready for less pavement and more water. Although it wasn't on the agenda we knew that the Jersey Shore was close by and it was obvious that we had plenty of time so we headed east toward the Atlantic Ocean. It was a wonderful change of pace and so good to see the ocean. Atlantic City was our first stop. We didn't do the casinos but they were very prominent on the shoreline.

 The woman at the visitor center told us that Ocean City was more family-friendly and that we might enjoy that also. I loved the boardwalk in Ocean City; great energy, people, sea gulls and fresh taffy! We also decided to try the Crabfries which were a big deal at the ball parks and on the boardwalk. We liked them but so did the sea gulls. One brave bird took one right out of the container that Dale was holding!

 We also stopped in several little seaside communities south of Ocean City to peak around and enjoy the atmosphere. I got to walk in the ocean too which always adds much to vacation pleasure for me! It was a good day trip from our main destinations. I have spent lots of time in New Jersey in the past when visiting Randy in Union City but never ventured to the shore. It was good to see another side of Jersey!