After a late Friday night - staying up to 2am talking with Lil' Merrill and the Gardner's it was up and at 'em early Saturday morning, as Mike's parents were driving up from Salem. We knew we needed to be showered and fed before they got here so we could get on with the day's activities - whatever they might be. So, to provide nourishment for our long day we ate a
nutricious breakfast of buffalo chicken dip and tortilla chips - Breakfast of Champions!!! Mike's parents arrived as scheduled at 11:30am. We helped them unload their car and planned our afternoon. Thanks to some complimentary tickets from work we knew we were going to spend some if not all of the day at the
Maryland Renaissance Festival. If only we knew...more on that later. But as the afternoon was quickly passing we decided to stay in for lunch rather than go out - hoping it would be quicker. And it was, not only was it quick, but it was free and delicious. Mike's sister Lauren had baked some quiches the night before and we stuck them in the oven to reheat. Oh my gosh....
deliciuos. She made a sour cream chicken chili quiche. It was out of this world. Thanks Lauren!!! After eating we loaded up in the car and head into Maryland. It wasn't a far distance to travel, but as we got about a mile outside of the festival there was traffic as far as the eye could see. Mike's dad doesn't have the most patience in the world (not that I can talk - I drive the "Rage Mobile") so that made the drive even more interesting. But we finally parked in a field and were ready to get inside. Only we had to walk about a mile to get there...fun, fun, fun. Once inside we realized that none of us had any idea how big and popular this festival actually was.
There were people dressed in costumes that you could rent, but I would guess that 80% of costume wearers were owners rather than renters. There were some serious
Ren peeps. And then there were just some that needed not to wear costumes...of any sort. Everything was great. Do you prefer that your food be on a stick - then the Renaissance Festival is the place to be: cheesecake on a stick, chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick,
deepfried cheesecake on a stick, steak on a stake, chicken on a lance, etc. We didn't even touch the surface of the Festival...but we were able to toss some axes, go through a maze and be hypnotized.
I would love to go back next year, but allocate more time to enjoy it! Saturday night for dinner we decided to stick with a safe but delicious menu at
Faccia Luna. While waiting for our table we ran into an old family friend of the Merrill's. Mike
Jeffreys, graduate of Salem High and
UVa, now lives in
Arlington with his wife Holly, but back in the day he was apparently the premier babysitter for Karen Hills. It was such a pleasant coincidence to run into them. We caught up
briefly then made our way to our table. We enjoyed the fresh pizza and
bruschetta. After gorging ourselves on pizza we came back to our apartment to play Shanghai Rummy. Fun!!! Lauren - the first timer - beat us all, but I was a close 2
nd. After a couple glasses of wine and a little
tv we went to bed, knowing Sunday would be another long day. But how long - well, breakfast at
IHOP went a little longer than expected but the unplanned house hunting was even longer. When we finally got back to our apartment at 2pm we showed Patty how to use her new
Ipod Shuffle (an early birthday gift from Lauren) and put a couple of songs on, just in case she doesn't before we visit Salem again (October 31-November 1). It was a great weekend full of friends and family. We enjoyed it all and will cherish the memories for many years to come.
There were people dressed in costumes that you could rent, but I would guess that 80% of costume wearers were owners rather than renters. There were some serious Ren peeps. And then there were just some that needed not to wear costumes...of any sort. Everything was great. Do you prefer that your food be on a stick - then the Renaissance Festival is the place to be: cheesecake on a stick, chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, deepfried cheesecake on a stick, steak on a stake, chicken on a lance, etc. We didn't even touch the surface of the Festival...but we were able to toss some axes, go through a maze and be hypnotized.
I would love to go back next year, but allocate more time to enjoy it! Saturday night for dinner we decided to stick with a safe but delicious menu at Faccia Luna. While waiting for our table we ran into an old family friend of the Merrill's. Mike Jeffreys, graduate of Salem High and UVa, now lives in Arlington with his wife Holly, but back in the day he was apparently the premier babysitter for Karen Hills. It was such a pleasant coincidence to run into them. We caught up briefly then made our way to our table. We enjoyed the fresh pizza and bruschetta. After gorging ourselves on pizza we came back to our apartment to play Shanghai Rummy. Fun!!! Lauren - the first timer - beat us all, but I was a close 2nd. After a couple glasses of wine and a little tv we went to bed, knowing Sunday would be another long day. But how long - well, breakfast at IHOP went a little longer than expected but the unplanned house hunting was even longer. When we finally got back to our apartment at 2pm we showed Patty how to use her new Ipod Shuffle (an early birthday gift from Lauren) and put a couple of songs on, just in case she doesn't before we visit Salem again (October 31-November 1). It was a great weekend full of friends and family. We enjoyed it all and will cherish the memories for many years to come.
1 comment:
Who is house hunting??
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