Charm City and the Sailing Capital

On Sunday during my parents “visit to DC,” we drove from Perkasie, PA to Annapolis – Columbus Day weekend coincided with the Annapolis Sailboat Show.  When my parents ultimately retire in a few years, they want to sail around the world. In the meantime, they are preparing and researching what boat will be best for them.  I can’t wait until Emily and I can join them on their boat, though the show also made me want to learn more about sailing and try our hands at it.

On Monday my father had to return to Chicago for work, but Mom and I drove up to Baltimore while Emily wrote a paper. Mom is originally from Baltimore, and she took me around to some of the areas where she grew up including the church where my parents married.  It was very nice to see where she grew up and hear about a side of her I didn’t know much about.  After exploring her neighborhood we swung back downtown to eat scrumptious Crab Cakes at Faidleys.  This is a place we’ll definitely return to for some delicious crab cakes in the future – or maybe my dad can learn to cook it in the smoker in Ohio.

After dinner, we went to the Inner Harbor.  It was beautiful sunset and wonderful time to just talk with my Mom.  Here are some pictures from the day.

Randy’s Retirement

Over Columbus Day weekend my parents came to visit us ‘in DC.’  To our pleasant surprise, though, we found out that my dad’s brother, Randy, would be retiring from UPS and work with his wife Karen in other endeavors.  To commemorate this event he graciously invited all of us up to his house in Pennsylvania for a weekend pig roast.

It was great time to see and catch up with the extended family.  Some of the highlights included the toast to Randy (as well as his roast) and seeing Randy’s grandson Dylan growing up.  Most of the photos are below (with the rest here).  We wish Randy and Karen the best as they move on to new adventures together.

Rob goes to Washington… I mean Ottawa

At the end of September I headed to Canada to visit my sister in Ottawa for the first time.  It was the first time I had seen her and John since their wedding earlier in the summer.  Paul and Julie were also there so when I arrived, we headed out to a quick tour of the city and dinner downtown.  The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxing.  Heather showed me around Parliament on one of mornings before we came back to explore at night.

On Saturday, we all went out to enjoy the weather. Unfortunately, Julie and Paul had left, but the three of us headed over to Saunders Farm (Photos) to get lost in the corn mazes.  There were also several that made you solve puzzles to get through them (Such as making only right hand turns or have to follow the colors in order).  After playing pirates in the mazes and running the ‘obstacle course’ we headed to the Scotiabank Place for a hockey game.  We were excited to watch the Senators defeat the Bruins, but my personal highlight was when I grabbed a puck that deflected up into the stands.  Here are some images from the trip.

 

Covered Bridges of Frederick Maryland

Last weekend we headed out into the wilderness of Maryland to explore some old, covered-bridges.  We explored three bridges (Utica, Loys Station, Roddy Road).  They were all bright red and beautiful against the changing colors of autumn.  I was observant and noted that all of the bridges had creeks nearby before thinking about it what I said and realizing that the bridges were originally built to cross the streams.  Once Emily finished laughing, we made our way down to the banks to listen to the trickle of the water and watch a young boy explore the Roddy Road Bridge with his mother.  Enjoy some of the photos here or all of the shots from that day on SmugMug.

 

A Saturday in New York

In mid-September Emily and I traveled to New York City to visit with friends and enjoy a beautiful weekend up there.  About a year earlier, our friend Jillian got engaged. This weekend, her mother and bridesmaids were throwing her a surprise wedding shower. After spending an evening with Carly (Emily’s best friend from high school) in Brooklyn, I decided to let the girls catch up on old times. While Emily spent the morning with Carly and then went to Long Island for the shower, I headed into the city to explore Chinatown and Little Italy’s Feast of San Gennaro.

Early in the morning I had most of the streets to myself, but of course that didn’t last too long!  In a matter of hours the streets were alive with people and shops.  Once the streets were too crowded, I headed out across the Brooklyn Bridge. I hadn’t been on the bridge since 2004, when my sister and I walked across it. On the Brooklyn side I encountered a wedding party, which definitely made me look forward to Jillian and Greg’s wedding in November.  After my explorations, I headed back across the Manhattan Bridge to meet up with my cousin Kevin.

Kevin and I had a great deal of fun walking around the city. He has lived there for over two years now, and he showed me some of his favorite places in the city.  Later Saturday night, Emily and I met up with Mike and Stacey at a comedy club. We hadn’t seen them in a while and really enjoyed meeting up with them.  After the club we headed down to Union Square for a house party and meeting some of Mike’s friends.  It was a great night to catch up with friends and family.

More photos available at Smugmug

Kitty Cats

My sister recently married and moved to Ottawa to join her husband in their new house.  Having both grown up with cats around, John and Heather quickly decided to get two kittens to help them settle in.  I wanted to visit Heather shortly after she arrived and the kittens only added an extra incentive for me to head up there.  At the end of September I did and was able to play with these curious balls of the fur.

The younger one is Sophie and she loves people.  When I arrived Heather handed her to me and she immediately laid on her back in my arms (a couple seconds later she began batting at the icon on my breast pocket thinking it was a bug).  Later, when I was going to bed Sophie joined me, but this kitten likes to sleep under the covers – it has no fear of people.

Roxi is the other kitty, but is a little shier.  She reminds me a little of my cat Yuki, but is definitely smaller.  She was also playful and would lie on her back in my arms.

Here are some photos of them playing while I was at the house, but as always there are more hiding over at my photos site.

Visiting the White House

Last Wednesday night I had the opportunity to visit — I’d say explore, but the Secret Service kept the exploring to a minimum — the White House.   Our guide was very nice to provide us with detailed descriptions of the rooms in the West Wing including the Oval Office. He was especially informative about the Roosevelt Room.  Once we were outside, we were able to take some photos. We also met the country’s most famous dog: Bo.   Cady made sure she was able to pet him.

After that we headed over to the Press Room and made sure not to say anything on the record. My evening at the White House is something that I won’t soon forget. Head over to SmugMug for all of the photos.

Exploring New Harbor and Pemaquid

On our last day in Maine, the guys took off on bikes to explore the peninsula.  We went around the roads, dirt paths, and back streets near New Harbor and Back Cove.  While exploring, we discovered some old lobster boats out of the water for repair.  After thoroughly exploring those and making a quick stop off at historic Riley’s for some candy bars, we pedaled back to the Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.  To our surprise, there were wedding guests waiting for a bride to arrive.  The weather and view couldn’t have been any better than they were that day (though I wouldn’t have changed anything about our wedding day).  After hanging out and watching the bride process down the aisle, we biked back to the house. A delicious dinner of homemade pasta and pesto sauce was awaiting us, as was a spectacular sunset where rays of different colored sunlight reached into the darkening sky.  It was a great way to end the trip, and you can see some of our favorite images here.

Kayaking around John’s Bay

On our second day in Pemaquid, we went kayaking.  About a year ago, mom and dad purchased a tandem kayak.  On this trip they wanted us to share their joy of the water and took us out for a half day paddle.

We put into the water near the old fort, Fort William Henry, before heading along the coast and up further into the bay.  Along the way we passed many lobster traps (not sure which one dinner came from the night before, but it was delicious) before encountering a bird sunbathing on a large buoy.  We turned around at this point and headed back towards the mouth of the bay ultimately making landfall on Witch’s Island.

The island is where we settled in for lunch and fairy apartment hunting.  After paddling for a couple hours it was refreshing to have some nourishment.  We ate our sandwiches, and then went to explore the small island. We happened upon some local real-estate erected by children who visit.  They have some vivid imaginations and constructed elaborate structures out of bark and shells for the fairies that inhabit the island.  In actuality, the island is inhabited by a summer caretaker and is named after an old woman who lived there almost a hundred years ago.  There are still relics of the original structure on the island.

After exploring, it was time to head back.  We headed across the open bay passing by some much larger pleasure boats before approaching the old fort. Emily and I had fun imagining what it would have been like 200 years ago when there only a few structures along the coast.  Before we knew it, we were back by where we started.  Before you travel to your next site here are some images and the rest of our trip to Maine.

Sunrise at Pemaquid Point

Emily and I have now visited her parents a couple of times since their move from Chicago to Maine.  Each time the lighthouse has interested me, and I have wanted to be near it for sunrise.  However, in the past either my pillow or the weather has kept me from exploring Pemaquid Point in the early hours of the day.  On this trip, I finally made it and was rewarded with a sunrise that burned the horizon while warming the sky and rocks before completely eliminating the darkness.  Here are some shots from that morning, and the rest of our trip to Maine can be found here.