Maryland/Virginia 2023

Intro, Travel

Day 1

We’re back on the road again! This time Faith, Walker, and I are headed up to Maryland to visit Faith’s sister Anna, her husband William, and their kids. They live in Havre de Grace, MD.

Spraying // Leaving

We woke up around 05:30 Saturday morning and began loading the car. I decided I’d spray our annual preventative bug treatment in/around the house before we left, so after we’d loaded the car I made the rounds with the sprayer. We finally left the house at exactly 06:30, and started our journey north.

I’d decided we’d take the slightly longer route up I-95 instead of taking I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley. This was partly because I wanted to have more options for stopping with Walker if we needed to. This was also partly because we will be meeting Mom and Dad next Friday in the Shenandoah Valley to spend a couple nights there.

Eating // Drinking

In Winston-Salem, we stopped for breakfast and coffee at Waterbean Coffee, an NC-based chain. Faith got a latte and I got a pour-over, and we both ordered a breakfast croissant sandwich with ham, salami, cheese, and some kind of mustardy aioli. It was a very good breakfast, and I would definitely visit one again.

Unfortunately, we realized that even though we’d carefully planned our itinerary to align with Walker’s eating schedule, we were going to be off because he wasn’t hungry at his normal breakfast time. Faith attempted to feed him, and I even walked around in Academy Sports for a while because I was distracting him, but nothing worked. Oh well; onward we went…

Resting // Eating

We didn’t stop again until we reached one of Virginia’s famous rest areas, where we stopped to feed Walker and let him move around for a while. After a quick stop, we were back on the road again.

On the north side of Richmond, we stopped at a Chicken Fiesta (a local Richmond chain famous for their charcoal-roasted rotisserie chickens) to eat lunch. We both got combo plates with chicken, rice, and tortillas – a delicious meal.

Driving // Eating

Because traffic in DC looked terrible on our map app, I decided to swing east and take US-301 around the city. It turned out to be a very scenic drive, and even though it might not have saved much time, it certainly prevented some stress. We crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, and stopped at Landon’s Ices & Creams in La Plata to get some dessert, and to feed Walker again.

The flavor selection at Landon’s was very interesting. I got sweet potato pie and triple chocolate cookie dough, and Faith got pumpkin pecan and honey vanilla. However, it was one of the only ice cream shops I’ve ever been to where they refused to give free samples, so they definitely lose points for that. And, it took an eternity to get four scoops of ice cream, even though I was probably the only customer they’d had all afternoon. Nevertheless, the ice cream was very tasty.

Arriving // Sleeping

App was playing football at Georgia State while we were on the road. Faith slipped in some noise-cancelling headphones, and I stayed on the phone with Dad, who gave me a play-by-play of the game over the phone. At 18:30, we finally arrived in Havre de Grace, exactly 12 hours after we’d left Boone. For dinner, we had leftovers from a Thanksgiving gathering Anna and William had hosted with some of Faith’s siblings who’d visited the week before. We visited for a while and then headed to bed, exhausted from the long drive.

The Best Things we Saw Today

Isaac

The best thing I saw today was… “the scenery in southern Maryland”.

The best thing I ate today was… “the breakfast croissant at Waterbean Coffee”.

Faith

The best thing I saw today was… “finally getting to the Pinkertons’ house”.

The best thing I ate today was… “lunch at Chicken Fiesta”.

Conclusion

Tomorrow, we’ll explore some of the area around Havre de Grace.

– Isaac

One Response

  1. Enjoyed seeing the leaves that were changing. Looks as if you had good food again.

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