Thursday, October 8

Another beautiful day. After a skimpy Super 8 breakfast we headed out toward Dulles International on HWY 13 north to HWY 50. We crossed the Bay Bridge and headed into Annapolis for some lunch and historical browsing. Very coincidental, because our trip began here about 3 weeks ago. We arrived into Annapolis along with the annual Sailboat show. All those well-to-do shoppers gave the town a real buzz. We walked along Main street to the harbor, noticed the boats and ships; we were partially shopping, partially looking for a good place for lunch. We found an Irish tavern by the harbor and had a wonderful lunch of fresh seafood. Then we investigated the first capital building of the United States, the Maryland State House. One of the most fascinating parts of this statehouse was the acorn shaped cupola that had a rod atop it designed by Benjamin Franklin. I was so moved to be in a building where many great men had gathered to debate the good of our country.

Then it was off to DC. With some effort we found our non smoking Econolodge room. That's right, the one that is now killing my nose with its pervasive smell of smoke. All we noticed when we inspected the room was the brand new marble bathroom. Thank God this is our last motel room. We are ready to be home. We did find a delicious meal at a very busy restaurant a short walk up the road. I wish I could make French Onion soup that well.

We have much to be thankful for. The weather has been incredible We have had only 2 days when it rained. One of those was at night while we slept, and the other storm passed by noon. The weather has been much warmer than we expected as well.

The food has been different. We only had one horrid meal, a very good record for that many meals out. Of course we only bought one meal a day. Vegetables on the east coast are interessting. We found lots of canned vegetables. Often the fresh vegetables we did find were overcooked. We carried raw celery and carrots with us, or we would have been a long time without crunch. As the cook I have had lots of days off, so I think I am ready to go home and "put dinner on the table."