Have A Little Faith in We

Hello Wednesday….. happy September…. happy end to summer…its all happy stuff here on HALF because we are soaking the last little bit out of summer by heading to the beach! Danny’s parents have been going to Atlantic beach in North Carolina during September for the last few years and this time we decided to join them! Danny and I love the beach- Cape Cod, North Carolina, the Caribbean – when we think relaxation, we think the beach!  We made these reservations back in May, but with the summer’s unexpected medical needs we weren’t sure if Dan would feel up to it, if I would have the time off, and quite honestly if we should spend the energy and money. Part of the last two weeks away from the blog have been due to learning to adjust to the changes in managing our life, and if that went well – then seeing if we can get ourselves together enough to make this trip. But we are on the road and I am back to my blogging – so we have made it work and thanks for understanding the silence (a little more on that later).

As I have said many times before, we are summer people – we just love it. So the chance to soak up a little more of the season with a beach trip during last call is the perfect way to celebrate another Bessette Summer.  Today’s vaca has me thinking back to our other adventure this summer – our overnight in Baltimore!

In my recent post celebrating 11 years, I shared some memories we have from running around Charm City, so when wanted to celebrate the fun still not running out an overnight in Baltimore was an obvious choice! Danny had a check-in with Hopkins already on the books for the week of our dating anniversary and we had a bed and breakfast gift card that has been burning a hole in our pocket ever since we had to cancel on them during the Jonas storm this past January. So it was set and we headed North!

There is no doubt that a big trip is a blast. Our honeymoon to St. John was the type of trip we planned for a year and it was a huge treat. But I do love a little mini trip, because then you really appreciate the little things. For instance this getaway I loved that we were away on a Tuesday and Wednesday. When the rest of the world is at work and doing the same old routine, we were shirking our responsibilities and just having fun!

That Tuesday Danny and I took our time getting up… walking the dog… getting coffee…..packing… and suddenly before we knew it were nearing the early afternoon and we were still home!! My in-laws were watching the pup so we still had to get him to their house…. and Dan started to get frustrated. Had we wasted our day of having fun just hanging at home??? By the time we got in the car we ran into early DC rush hour – which was only made more wonderful by a summer thunderstorm. At this point nerves were frayed and our trip that should have only lasted an little over an hour was going to take over 2 hours! Sigh….. suddenly what was supposed to be a schedule free, fun escape – was turning stressful! So what do the Bessette’s do when things get stressful and we need to shake it up? Head to the movies! Yup – Danny pulled off the highway and headed right for the closet theatre! The movie we saw was sorta dumb “The Nice Guys” – but a chance to wait out the traffic, have our favorite movie snacks, and literally escape the potential stress – was perfect.

After our movie pitstop we were off again to our Bed and Breakfast – The Gramercy Mansion. This house was really unique with pretty grounds to explore, a wealth of antiques to enjoy, and a very sweet staff!

That evening we were one of the only guests and were upgraded to The Ambassador Room – a suite!

After unpacking, we ventured out to find a little bite to eat. The B&B was a few miles from downtown Baltimore and it was already a little late – so we settled for a local pizza joint and took our dinner back for an in-room picnic followed by quite the restful slumber in this huge, plush bed!

Wednesday we woke up to a pot of coffee outside our room to enjoy in our robes….. before making our way down to breakfast. On the property is an organic herb garden so all of our courses were freshly seasoned (Danny’s favorite was the basil). A tasty start to the day, followed by a little exploring of the gardens and then we were off to Baltimore city!

First up – the aquarium. Danny LOVES learning about the world under the sea and the Baltimore Aquarium is one of the best!

Over the years it has become one of our favorite places to just wander around – usually enjoying the people watching as much as the sea life.

After a few hours of fishy behavior – we had finished the whole museum but still had some time to kill before Dan’s Hopkins appointment. What to do …. what to do…  one of my favorite parts about hanging in a city is just being part of the hustle and bustle. It is one of the things I miss most about working in DC. It is always so busy and full of life and I love a chance to observe it. Since Danny needed a little break…. I wanted to just be part of the city… and we were hoping for a little snack – a milkshake at a cute little corner soda shop right in the heart of the inner harbor was just the ticket.

Hopkins was fine and we enjoyed catching up with our wonderful team there….but after was what we were were really looking forward to: the Orioles game! Another common date night for Danny and I 11 summers ago was to head to Camden Yards and cheer on our O’s! We both grew up routing of them and knew this was true love when neither of us had any interest in pledging our allegiance to the Nationals  (I hate #NATITUDE) .

Time to get game ready at a local Brewery restaurant ……

And then on to the O’s game!

They beat San Deigo and we had a great summer evening soaking up the sights, sounds, and baseball!

It has been a fun 11 years doing life with Danny and I am grateful that we got to celebrate with some of our favorite things from then and now! And now cheers to our beach getaway being just as much fun!

Thank you so much for reading and remember to make it a great day!

Jackie