We left Williamsburg on Thursday, May 25, with Deb and Mike and Drove to their home in Lutherville-Timonium, which is a few miles north of Towson, which is a little north of Baltimore.
May 25
That afternoon, Malarie and the two great-grandkids came over for a visit.
This is almost-two Sloane, although she acts like she's two already.
Big sister Olivia, who is six, takes good care of Sloane!
Great Grandpa Jack and Liv
Liv and Great Grandma Lorri!
Video of Liv and Sloane playing on the lawn
May 26
On Friday, we had a family outing at Inverness Brewing.
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It has a beautiful setting in the countryside somewhere in the middle of nowhere, MD
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They make good beer and have a permanent "food truck" that sells pretty good pizza and the like. There is something for everyone so its a good family place.
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Looking at the main tasting area from where we were sitting.
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Looking at the sky from where I was sitting. The nice sunny weather was very welcome.
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Beth and Jake, Mal and the kids arrived at about the same time. Here, Beth is massaging Olivia's feet. Not quite sure how or why that happened, but I think Liv enjoyed it.
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We moved to a shadier area after a while. It was nice to see everyone except Colin because he was working.
May 27
Saturday
This is Deb and Mike's "new" dog Sam. His favorite things are lying in the sun, lying in the shade, lying on a couch, and getting scratched. Not necessarily in that order.
It was a perfect day for a backyard family gathering here at Deb and Mike's place.
Sloaney and Liv enjoyed the inflatable pool.
Had to include a photo of our jalapeno poppers, before...
...and after
Sloane and GML
I took this one
Lorri took this one
Sloane getting a ride in the neighbor kid's mini Mini
Jake and Beth showing Sammy some love. I think they missed their own doggies.
May 28
Sunday
We had a private lunch/brunch spot on the deck at this place called Gunpowder Lodge.
Jake joined us there
We had a relaxing repast!
Cardinal at the feeder. This reminds me - the Cardinals are in last place.
May 29
Memorial Day. No photos! What did we do? I should make notes.
May 30
Dinner food photos. Tomahawk pork chops with foil-wrapped potatoes and onions on the barby.
Dinner is served!
June 1
Thursday
Deb, Lorri and I met Malarie and Sloane at a playground over near White Marsh, maybe, and we had some fun chasing Sloane around!
Sloane really liked the swing set.
When she got bored with one swing, she just switched to a different one (which was exactly the same as the first one) and extended her swing session a little longer. Here Grandma GiGi is supervising the activities.
After the excitement of the playground, I'm afraid our lunch outing was not quite as stimulating for Sloaney. After totally nailing the tic tac toe challenge and demonstrating her considerable artistic talent, I'm afraid she was ready to move on, most likely to nap time.
Speaking of nap time, looks like GPJ and his best friend Sammy also needed a little rest
Of course, since Thursday is Martini Night for the Encinitas Yacht Club, we had a toast to all our happy hour friends in San Diego who were stuck in that cold cloudy June Gloom. Nice here in Baltimore!
June 2
Friday evening Mal and Colin hosted a family gathering at their lovely Bel Air townhome. And here are a bunch of photos from that occasion, in no particular order.
GML, GPJ, and Sloane, almost 2!
Add Olivia, 6+
And here we all are!
Jack, Lorri, with the grandkids, Mal and Jake
And their spouses, Colin and Beth
GPJ and Liv, working on an artistic masterpiece, no doubt.
Mal, Beth and Sloaney
Beth and Jake kicking back
Mal and their doggie, Izzie.
Mal and Colin with the Blackstone flat top. Wish I had one!
Liv and her daddy.
Jacob and Malarie!
The Rayburn family
And another - i couldn't decide which family photo I liked better.
Jake the dog whisperer
Four generations, like it or not, Sloaney!
4 generations with Liv too!
June 3
Marshy Point, Middle River, MD, the Weiskittle Retreat!
Thanks to Austin and Sarah for having the clan over for a relaxing afternoon
Their daughter Lily and dog Piper, maybe.
The boathouse
Great friends and partners in Baltimore's best hair salon, Sarah and Debbie
Lily and Austin
June 4
Sunday we made an excursion to the Hampden area of Baltimore to check out the funky shops, restaurants, and soak up the ambiance.
Baltimore in a Box, the MD flag motif next to the Baltimore Art Gallery
Not quite sure of all the references in this painting, but it reminded me of some of the "locals only" issues I've heard about among surfers here in CA. Are there secret breaks somewhere on the Chesapeake that only the locals know about?
Ran in to my buddy Cal and hung out for a bit.
June 5
Our last day and last hike/walk on the NCRT, a great rail trail that stretches from Hunt Valley, MD, to somewhere in Pennsylvania.
The trail here is going left to right (and possibly right to left!) across this country road.
An old signal - three lights straight up means "go", straight across means "stop" and on the diagonal means "slow down now, Casey Jones, and get ready to stop!"
Just off the trail, a small little country retreat.
Much of the trail is shaded by a lush canopy of greenness,
Big Gunpowder Falls Creek runs parallel to the trail in many places.
An old one-lane bridge.
I immediately thought of Picasso's "Three Musicians" but this is less abstract and includes a martini glass, a nice touch.
And lastly, this is a composite painting of the dogs: Sammy, Izzie, Kano, Willow, Piper, and the other Skittle dog.
It was a great trip!!!!