I have been dying to post on my fabulous trip to Charlotte, Baltimore and Ocean City! I cant even tell you what a great time I had. I have mentioned before that in November Shanny and I began cooking up a surprise to take me along on a planned visit to Baltimore. Long story short, the trip had to be cancelled a couple times due to sickness and eventually we were OUTED accidentally. A little disapointed about not pulling off the surprise, but not daunted we went on with our plan!

Thursday pm.

Our plan was that Steven would take me to Shanny near Charlotte and then the two of us would road trip up to Lisa in Baltimore. Thursday afternoon after getting the Things ready for thier softball games and preparing my honey for 6 (SIX!) days without me, we headed to Shanny. We made really great time and I dont even think it took us 2 hours once we got on the road. I loved the area surrounding the town where she lives so much. It was so pretty and reminded me so much of Washington State where I was born.

On the way I was SO excited. It kind of felt like a “first date” you know where you have been talking to someone for a long time and then finally meet. I was so afraid I wouldnt live up to her expectations. I was so relieved when we arrived and Shanny was the same wonderful fun person I had been talking with all those months. We were so happy to meet her and see her GORGOUS house. Girls let me tell you, this chick has a sense of style that I LOVE. Everything in her house has a certain whimsy and charm that made me feel so comfortable. Not to mention to wonderful smooshy wet PUG kisses we recieved from her girls!

After greeting the puggies we headed out to Dinner, where Shanny treated us to an AMAZING thai dinner at a great place called Mai Thai. If you are ever in Charlotte be SURE to stop in. The resturant is sp pretty you almost eat more with your eyes than with your mouth! It was a first for Steven and we enjoyed ourselves a LOT. (Thanks Shanny!) The food was almost as good as the company.

After Dinner, and Steve-o pouting a little about the races going on without him at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (just blocks from where we went to dinner!) We went back to Shanny’s where I bid Steven goodbye. Its always wierd for me to do anything without him, since we so rarely do it. But I was in good hands!

After Steven left Shanny and I enjoyed a good chat and watched Grey’s Anatomy together. I had forgotten what it was like to have a real live girlfriend! It was so nice to just hang out and be together in the same room! I stayed up as late as I could hang, but just missed meeting CSP by a few minutes when I went up to bed. I was treated to sleeping in a BEAUTIFUL guest room and crashed so hard I barely woke up when Steven called at 3 to tell me he was home safe.

Next morning I was up early. Since I am up so early day to day, sleeping until 7 was sleeping LATE.  I had been warned that Shanny is on a different sleep schedule than I am, so I was perfectly happy to make myself at home. I  watched Good Morning Mmerica (a luxury I dont have at home since I am usually working during that time) But it wasnt very long before Shanny was up and we bid goodbye to the pugs and were on our way north!

I love a road trip. I love to see new places and the scenery was so pretty. Having never been north of Charlotte on the East Coast I was enthralled in every new place. Shanny has a blackberry phone that had a GPS and we were able to track our progress on the little mapy thingee on her phone! It was so neat to see our little blue blip moving along the map. SO fun.

It was also so neat to get all that time to visit with Shanny. No interuptions and no worries about phones and all. We sang and played music. Let me tell you, the soundtrack to THAT trip was varried and fun! Who knew we both loved Grease 2 that much?

About 130 we stopped for lunch in Virginia at Cracker Barrell. You cant go wrong with that place really. They have such good food. After a stop to fill our tummies, and Jorge’s (Jorge is Shanny’s car. He is a good little guy) tank. We got back on the road. I was really surprised at how fast the miles sped by, but with good music and great conversation I barely noticed that we were in the car all that long. I did worry a little about Shanny’s knee being all cramped in the car all day. But she seemed to do pretty well.

We didnt run into a LOT of traffic until we hit DC. I was very excited to see the capitol building and the washington monument from the road! (just wait till you see what I got to see later in the trip!) But we chatted and played more music and talked some more (with piriodic check ins with Lisa) and it didnt seem to take that long.

At about 6 pm (after a quick scenic tour of some tunnels in Baltimore) we got to Lisa’s house! It was great to meet her and Pete and to put faces with the voices and all. Shanny and Lisa are best friends and it was so sweet to see how happy they were to see eachother after so long apart. They are perfect friends and bicker at one another like an old married couple. I caught myself giggling at them more than once that weekend! I am convinced that they might have been married in another life. SO cute.

So, we pee’d really quick and loaded into Lisa’s car (she doesnt have a name that I am aware of) We headed out of town and chatted the whole way. Again the time went so fast. The three of us barely took a breath as we chatted. I really feel like I have known them both for years and years.

When we arrived at Ocean City (about 2-3 hours from Baltimore) we went to find dinner right away as it was getting late and all of us were really hungry. Lisa has been going to Ocean City since her childhood and of course had a lot of fun places to show us. It was so special to have a little look into her childhood.I cant wait for Shanny and Lisa to come here and let me show them my “places”. We went to Harborside Bar and Grill to eat. On our way in we were CARDED! How often does THAT happen to three 30 somethings? That bouncer gets a PRIZE! YAHOO

It was a neat little place, clearly a favorite of locals and tourists alike. The decor was fun and we were seated in a section of the place that looked kind of like a back porch. LOVE THAT. Harborside is famous for a certain adult beverage and we of course each ordered one. The Orange Crush as it is called is.. wonderful. SO good. But POTENT. It has orange vodka, grand marine’ and the juice of a fresh orange.. as well as a spritz of sprite for sparkle. Needless to say, I dont drink much at all. If ever really. I was all buzzy before I even finished it! Cheap dates we are! All three of us were flushed and laughing quickly. For dinner, I discovered OLD BAY. And these steamed shrimp that were as big as my head. I love love love seafood. Really. There isnt anything I like more. I have never had shrimp steamed like this. They were so yummy. With that dinner I went in search of trying just about anything that comes with Old bay on it! LOVE it. I am totally hooked.

After dinner, and letting our drinks wear off a little we drove through ocean city and went to Lisa’s Dad’s beach Condo. It was so nice of him to let us use it for the weekend. And so comfortable. We unpacked and enjoyed the cool evening on the veranda. The condo faces the BAY side of Ocean city and if you sat in the livingroom all you can see is the water and boats running right past the window. Beautiful!  It wasnt very long though before we konked out. I didnt realize that I was so tired until my head hit the pillow.

The next morning both Lisa and I were up early. I was so excited to be there and to get to know my girls! I made some coffee and enjoyed it as I watched the boats. As a Mom, its not very often that I get to enjoy that kind of peace and quiet. It was wonderful. Before long Shanny was up and we all got ready and headed out to begin our day!

For breakfast we went to a fun bakery/eatery called BagelsNBuns. They have the best NY style bagels. I hadnt had one that was really good in a really long time. I ordered one with Lox cream cheese, tomato and onion. As well as a chai tea. We enjoyed one another and our yummy bagels. I was happy to just sit and talk, but we had places to see!

First for the day Lisa took us to Assetauge Island. It is a Maryland State Park, and She and Pete have a annual pass. They have camping available and on the island a herd of wild horses roam everywhere. We saw TONS of them. They come right up to the car and are SO SO pretty. We went out to the water and took come really great pictures of the scenery. They have these HUGE seagulls and they were so white and pretty. We even got to see some people putting out crab catchers. That was neat to see. Definatly different than the KIng Crab fishing I am used to seeing in Alaska!

After we took it all in we headed to the boardwalk in Ocean City. I have never seen one like that. They had all kinds of cool stores and fun stuff to look at. There is a tram available to ride from one end of the boardwalk to the other and back. It was such a great way to see everything without walking your tootsies off. The weather was perfect and we got to chat and enjoy it together.

Shanny, who is waiting patiently to adopt from Guatemala was encouraged by meeting a tiny Guatemallan girl angel. It was once of those perfect moments. We had JUST (litterally) been talking about the adoption, I have all kinds of questions about the process and I could tell that Shanny was getting a little emotional about it. I cant imagine having to be as strong as she and CSP are having to be though this. If my struggles with infertility are hard, thiers are infinatly magnified. BUT anyway, we were talking about it, and there she was. A little reminder that its all worth it, and that eventually those angel babies will be in thier arms (and ours! Cant WAIT to be an auntie!) Love how God works out those divine meetings.

Anyway. After our tram ride we met up with Lisa’s friend Nikki and her family and got to meet the famous Ms Riley! She is all kinds of cute. Seeing her made me the teeniest bit homesick for my babies in Carolina, but it passed quickly. After we chatted with them we headed back to OC to find BOOTY’s. Its a PIRATE bar and grill. How fun is that? I am a BIG fan of POC and loved the decor. Shanny is a pirate lover and it was especially neat for her. They had a neat little gift shop that we explored and enjoyed a good chicken sandwich with Crab salad on it. It was yummo!

After lunch we headed back to the Condo for some RnR. Shanny had a nice nap and Lisa and I spent some time lazing around and chatting. We talked wedding stuff and got to know one another better. Its so rare to meet two people that you have so much in common with!

After Shanny woke up we headed out to Bed Bath and Beyond to purchase a new toaster for the condo and hit a Bath and Body Works outlett! I love that place. I found a few deals that I couldnt live without and discovered a new scent that seems to make Steven’s liver quiver. Velvet Tuberose smells SO good. LOVE IT. I wish I’d bought more than just the bubblebath! My birthday is coming soon though *wink wink*

After our shopping we visited a local place called “coconuts” and enjoyed some drinks on the beach. As well as some fries with what else? OLD BAY!!! yummy. One more thing I can sprinkle that yummy stuff on! After chillin’ on the beach we headed to drumsers for icecream. I had a really great chocolate shake. (made with vanilla ice cream and hershey’s syrup and not chocolate icecream just like I like it)

By that time eyes were getting heavy. What a busy day!

tommorow… more about OC and petting a one horned goat, more OLD BAY and crab cakes. Beach babes and getting to know Nikki a little.