Home Sweet Home (Part 3)

Tuesday was our last full day in Maryland. Since everyone was working we took care of our souvenir shopping and some other things. The morning started with Buster waking Matt up. Buster is Charlie and Fran's dog/child. This is quite possibly one of the most spoiled dogs I have ever seen in my life (and I thought Katie was bad). He is cute though isn't he?

Jay (a native from AZ) loved the trees. He said that he wanted to go walking through them so we went to this path that I used walk on with my sister. Its a beautiful scenic path through the woods in Damascus. It was so serene. I am really glad Jay suggested it.

Next, we headed out to Mt. Airy to see my old neighborhood. I never realized it growing up, but Mt. Airy is a very small town (the population is somewhere around 6500 to 7000). It is nice to go back because so little has changed. I know its a little Mayberryesque, but I love the simplicity of this little town. We drove to my old house and got out and walked around the back so I could show Jay the hill that we used to sled down. As we were doing this the man who lived there came out. I told him that this was my childhood home. He proceeded to invite us in. After a little protest I decided that I would love to go in and see my old house. I mean, how often do you get that opportunity? I couldn't believe how small it seemed. Its weird how that happens. I loved that house down at the end of the road and I am so grateful that the man who lives there now let 3 total strangers come in to see it...even if he is a Cowboy's fan (I don't have the heart to tell my dad; a die hard Redskins fan). We lived in that house over 12 years ago and this is still the view from the backyard...gives you an idea of how little has changed in Mt Airy. I didn't take a picture of the house because it looks so different now.

We putzed around Mt. Airy for a while then we got lunch at J&P pizza where my friend Kelli was working. J&P is a popular pizza joint in town. I have gotten it almost every time I go back. After lunch where did we go...you guessed it...Jimmie Cone (trip #4). The first time Matt came with me to MD I made the mistake of taking him to Jimmie Cone. He got a chocolate malt and it was love at first sip. All the way up until the day we left Matt has talked about going again. Of course after night 1 Jay was hooked too and it was all down hill from there. They even talked about getting the Jimmie Cone logo tattooed. I intervened! I am pretty sure that everything else we did while in MD took a distant second to Jimmie Cone (at least with Matt and Jay). This time we visited the one in Mt. Airy so now Matt and Jay can say they have visited every Jimmie Cone location in the world (there are only 2).

After Jimmie Cone we went to New Market to do some antique shopping. Old town New Market is lined with buildings from the late 1700's to early 1800's. They are incredible. We got some presents for our moms and Jay got some for his friends. I was also able to get a necklace and earring set from this little shop! Later on, we met up with some of my old friends (Lindsay, Jason and Kelli) at Jason and Kelli's new house. I have known these guys since 2nd grade. Even though we don't get to talk that often we always pick right up where we left off. I actually had not seen them since they were out here for our wedding so it was nice to see them again. Jason and Kelli gave us the grand tour of their new house and then we went for dinner at The Green Turtle. Matt was happy because he could watch the game! Dinner was so much fun and I really liked Jason and Kelli's house. They have done some nice work with it. Here we are at dinner.

I had such a nice time seeing all my friends and family. I told Matt that we may have to make that a yearly trip because 3 years is just too long. Thanks Danielle for staying with Katie and Jack! That is such a huge help and thanks mom for making all the reservations. We had such a blast! I cant wait to go back next year :)