Maryland - The Beach

After a quick stop by the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Memorial, we headed out 295 for Laurel, MD, where our friends Brett and Terra Gargano live. Ms. Terra, as Emma calls her, was the Assistant Dean when we sailed on Semester at Sea and her husband Brett was along for most of the voyage (due to his super-secret job he was not able to travel to Cuba with us). The Garganos hosted us for a couple of wonderful nights. On the eve of the first, the five of us plus Tony Fiorini (SAS photographer who we met for dinner in D.C.) went out for Vietnamese food. While it couldn't surpass the dinner Wade, Diana, Brett & Terra had shared in Ho Chi Minh City (it would take something spectacular and cheaper than $8 to do that), the food was fabulous and the company even better. Terra took the day off on Monday and chauffeured the Watki to Baltimore, where we spent a few hours in the National Aquarium. Highlights there included "Play" -- which is their dolphin show, giant stingrays, and an Animal Planet sponsored Australian exhibit. When we finished at the aquarium, we joined Terra for lunch at Chipotle, a "build your own burrito" adventure. She then took us walking around the pier and we might have darted into a Barnes and Noble for a bit. It's housed in a building that used to be a power plant and still contains the smokestacks throughout the store, so of course we needed to go in for the historical value! Now it's back to Laurel to beat the traffic and meet Brett for dinner. Graciously sharing their Italian heritage, Terra and Brett served us a variety of antipasta (they'd planned to make pasta, but our 3pm lunch didn't leave room for that), including a hommade olive spread that is to die for. If you asked Emma to give the highlights of Casa Gargano, we believe she'd put Woody, their Golden Retriever, atop the list. The two girls enjoyed some quality time together. This was a super stay for us. And not just because Terra made pancakes and we got to do some free laundry.

Tuesday morning we began our journey to Ocean City. Lunchtime found us on Kent Island at the Crab Deck, a Gargano family recommendation. Emma enjoyed feeding the ducks from the pier and saw jellyfish and a sea snake -- cool! The first raindrops of our trip began to fall about seven miles outside Ocean City. Nothing but blue skies until we hit the beach! Still, we managed to have a good afternoon. While we waited for the rain to blow over, we worked a new puzzle that looks like Marco when she was a sweet kitten. Almost anyone reading this knows that was eons ago. After the drops subsided we went for a walk along the beach, flew an octopus kite and then hit the indoor (HEATED!) pool. The forecast called for more of the same on Wednesday, but God smiled upon us and we were able to play outside for a good bit of the day. Emma's indoor time included an hour with "Miss Laura" who told stories, helped the kids make a mermaid craft, and taught them a couple of tricks to try on their parents, including how to make a dollar disappear. She was already good at that one Miss Laura; thanks for the added incentive! Since it was 65 degrees out, we hit the beach in sweatshirts and long pants we didn't mind getting wet, except for Dad who only has nice long pants along. He was smart enough to wear his swimsuit and a T-shirt. We all got a bit wet, but Dad and Emma got soaked. She was singing and playing in the ocean for a couple of hours. Dad dug a large hole and then we buried him in the sand up to his shoulders before the waves overtook his hole -- and our sand castle! A quick snack and some dry clothes were in order before our trip across the street to play minigolf. The outdoor 18-hole course had a dinosaur theme and a couple of roaring volcanoes. We allowed Emma to hit the ball first at hole #1. HER VERY FIRST SHOT EVER WAS A HOLE-IN-ONE!!! [Note: Mom and Dad both scored a 2 on this hole] She had to make a quick call to Uncle Garrett before Hole #2. Boy did she have fun! And, at the close of the game (which Dad won by five strokes), Emma was given a free golf pass for her hole-in-one. She was thrilled. Next Mom & Em took a quick dip in the pool while Dad ran to the grocery store for dinner. It's been nice to have a stove, microwave, toaster, fridge, etc. here so we can eat "real" food for a change.
Thursday morning Emma had a bad dream around 5am and didn't want to go back to sleep - at 5:30 she and dad got up and went outside on the east-facing balcony - in less than a minute the sun peaked over the Atlantic horizon - it was indeed awesome, something unseen since our days on the ship. Emma 'ohhhh'-ed when that first glimmer of the morning sun made it appearance...pretty cool. Then, while eating breakfast (Peanut Butter Captain Crunch and Fruit Loops) dad gazed out the window and saw several dolphin making their way up the coastline only about 75 yards from shore...again pretty cool and not something we get from our back porch on Peaceable Acres! The packing begins...

Those of you in possession of an itinerary should know we're making a couple of changes. We'll be in Easton, PA tonight (6/8), Philadelphia on Friday & Saturday nights, and Langhorne on Sunday night. Showers are to fall today & tomorrow so we're saving Sesame Place for the weekend.