The award-winning photo of Pony feeling the Christmas spirit
Our first destination ended up being a small somewhat dirty motel. An America’s Best Inns I believe. It had a free breakfast, old coffee, very stale muffins, fruit loops and brownish-orange juice. Nothing too appealing except for the Fruit Loops :) But hey it was cheap and allowed dogs so it all was good.
Norwood, Ohio:
Arriving at our first real destination we were happy to find that our good friend Trish had bought a nice and cute old house recently and had a room just for us…the living room. She had just moved in and it being her first house she did not have the spare bedroom set up yet. To our surprise though the pull out couch was very comfortable. We had dinner with my brother and niece in Newtown at the Main Street cafe. Good chili and nice beer selection. It was nice, i wish i could see my brother more. I think we could really bond, and become close if we spent more time together.
Next night we met up with Sean, Gina, Kelly, Alex, Trish, Randy at Pat Vicky Costellos who are Sean and Kelly’s parents but are more like just one of the gang in our minds. We ctually had carolers come and sing at the door. A great tradition that goes on at the Costellos is to get the largest tree possible to fit into the house and decorate it. The tree this year must have been 12 tall and 20’ in diameter!! Yes that is huge! A must see to behold :) We all stayed up until 2:30 in the morning talking and reliving old times. It was a special evening. I love being amongst my friends. They are ALL special humans. I got the chance again a few nights later, and this time we added Skippy, Becky, Dave, Gary and Jason to the mix. The night ended early but it was nice. We got to catch up a bit, but nearly enough. Thanks Trish for the hospitality and the Skyline Chili dip :)
We took my mom out to Lunch at a thai restaurant. This was to be her first time ever eating Thai food. She went mild and got their sweet and sour pork. At one point in the day I found a shoe and its mate. They were perfect condition Airwalks! Size 13. Just my nephews size. This was one of the first times I ever found a pair of shoes, and actually picked them up. Overall we had a nice day with my mom. We did not do much, just shopped and ate but it was nice. I love my mother and wish I saw her more.
Another notable event was seeing an old school mate, Chad Borke, whom I had not seen in around 10 years. Growing up we were pretty close. Best friends at one point. We are both freelance designers now. He lives in Connecticut and we will try and see him this summer if we get up to Maine. Just another list in a long line of people I wish i could have spent more time with. I feel very blessed to be able to say I have so many friends and so little time. Oh yeah, speaking of that. I am sorry Tom. I will catch you next time. If you get a chance and are bored check out Tom and I’s CuriousWords.com.
PS. Always grab a jar of Frisch’s tarter sauce if ever in Cincy area.
Baltimore, Maryland:
After a long drive from Cincinnati we got in to Sharon’s aunt Glenda’s in Baltimore. We timed it perfectly because just when we arrived Glenda had just finished making dinner for us. She always makes such good food for us. We did not stay long, but we would be coming back shortly to spend time with Nanny.
Deal Island, Maryland:
It felt like we just left that place. We celebrated Christmas there at Sharon’s parents. It was nice, felt great to spend christmas with them this year as last year we stayed in Florida with Rachie. The sad thing was that neither Rachie or Michael could spend it with us so it just was not the same. The puggles love it on that farm as they get to run free in the fields. They run and tackle each other then run some more, they love cool weather. Overall the weather was pretty good on the whole trip. Only one time in Cincy did we really feel cold.
Baltimore, Maryland:
We got back up to Baltimore and got to spend some really quality time with Glenda and Nanny, we love you guys so much!!!. We pretty much just stayed at the house and hung out. What a christmas present it was to get to see everyone. Thanks to everyone who contributed to our gift, we appreciated more than you know.
Fredricksburg, Virginia:
After what was a great trip it was time to head south back to Pensacola but we had a few scheduled stops along the way. The first was in Fredricksburg to visit with Sharon’s “new-found” sister Elise. (To read about the internet reunion go here, it is quite a story) We had a great time with Motts (her fiance) and her. We went out to a Japanese steak house for hibachi food and ate til we burst. The next day we hit Perkins for breakfast with them, found a shoe to photograph and we were off. Seemed I was still hungry throughout the day, like I had munchies all day for some reason :)
Charleston, South Carolina:
Our final stop was in Charleston to spend the New Year’s Eve with Kevin and Jason. We hit a couple of cool pubs, the Griffen, the Brick, Tommy Condon’s and Blind Tiger. My favorite being the Griffen. I like its small intimate atmosphere with a hint of hole in the wall dive bar feel. Good selection of import drafts as well. Condon’s is alright but not much in the way of an authentic Irish Pub. Blind Tiger has a great outdoor courtyard and was quite lively. The Brick was dead but it was early, would have been fun to see the band that was setting up but Jason saw no chic’s in the place so wanted to leave.
While in Charleston We also got a chance to play some more disc golf. (frisbee golf for you old-schoolers :) The course was very technical and gave us fits! It was fun though when I wasn’t bouncing discs off the trees and not getting bloody from walking through palmettos searching for my errant throws!
Pensacola, Florida:
Upon arriving back in Pensacola we were greeted with temps in the 20’s headed down into the teens!!! The motorhome was sooo cold. Grande Burrrrrrito as we like to say. We bundled up under, no lie, 5 blankets next to the puggles to stay warm while being fully clothed in sweats and sweaters. Sometime in the night the heat from the furnaces took hold and chased out the cold as I woke up sweating, but it felt so good not to be cold. I was kinda sad as that may have been our last road trip for some time :( :( We will keep you posted.