Ewan and Sharon Visit - July 2016

Parry and Dodds Clan in DC

Ewan, Sharon, Lewis, and Madeline were on the East coast of the US visiting Disney and New York and came down to see us in Baltimore for a few days.

Ewan and Madeline Celebrating Their Win!

They arrived by train on the Wednesday and Keith was able to be home from his work trip in time to pick them up at Baltimore Penn Station.  We drove back to the house to get everyone set up in their rooms before heading out.  We walked along the path to the inner harbor where we rented paddle boats - Sharon skipped that one - with Ewan and Madeline on one boat and Keith and Lewis on the other.  We had a mini-race that team Madeline seemed to win!  The boats are exhausting to paddle, so it was definitely time for a beer after that so we walked across to the Cheesecake Factory and had a couple of beers while the kids chowed on a cheesecake each.  The next stop was at Looneys Pub on Canton Square for another round - and we decided to have dinner there where all of us ordered some type of taco dish.  It was then back to the house - where Shawna arrived at about 10pm as her flight was delayed coming in from Hartford.

Keith and Lewis

The next morning Keith needed to go to Virginia and Shawna had to work, so the guests spent several hours at the Science Museum.  Keith made it home by 7:30pm just in time to join everyone for a homemade pasta dinner - delicious!

Ewan, Madeline, Sharon and Lewis at the White House

Keith was able to skip work on the Friday.  We wanted to take the kids to a beach for a swim - and since the Inner Harbor has an "F" rating for swimming we needed to drive a bit!  We settled on Terrapin Beach Park just the other side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  It was cool to drive over the bridge and we were early enough that we didn't have weekend traffic.  The park is a "hidden gem" - actually pretty nice with only two other groups there when we arrived.  By the time we left at 2pm, there were maybe six groups - but still pretty nice!  We all spent some time swimming - the water was never too deep and had a sandy bottom a couple of feet off shore.  We did see a couple of jellyfish but nothing that bothered us (though Madeline was not excited about the possibility of getting stung!).  It was time to eat on the way home so we drove into Annapolis to see that as it was just of the road on the way back to the house.  Lunch was just a quick sandwich off Market Space and then we headed down to the dock to see the harbor.  We were there three minutes before a 40 minute harbor cruise departed so we made a quick decision to jump on the boat tour.  We then grabbed an ice cream at Annapolis Ice Cream Company before driving home.  For dinner, we opted for a crab feast on the deck at Captain John's - including a game of cornhole at the end!

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

We definitely needed to show the kids some history so on Saturday we drove down to DC to power-tour the mall.  We couldn't all fit in the 4Runner so Keith, Ewan, and Lewis Ubered to the airport to pick up a rental car and met the girls in the Atrium of the Ronald Reagan building.  We walked to the White House, Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, MLK, FDR, then World War II (while seeing the Washington).  It was a crazy-hot day: 100 degrees and super-humid.  We had lunch at Potbelly next to the Warner Theater and then decided to split up - Keith, Shawna, and the kids going to the Spy Museum and Ewan/Sharon over to the American History Museum.  However, the lines for both were almost an hour so we nixxed both and just walked over to the US Capitol.  Madeline decided she was quite unhappy about the heat - and we all seemed to agree with her!  So, we called it a day and headed back to the house for a desperately needed shower before heading out for dinner at La Tavola in Little Italy.  After dinner, we introduced the kids to Monopoly Deal which was a hit.  Madeline challenged Keith to a dance off (twerking included) and 'cuteness' won the day (aka Madeline).

Parry Clan at the Capitol

Sunday was a true day of Americana.  The first stop was Langermann's for brunch before walking over to Camden Yards to catch the Orioles vs Indians.  Ewan had got us super tickets - with the only downfall that they were not in the shade so it was a bit warm again!  Ewan sat next to a long-time Orioles fan so he was able to get the low-down on the nuances of the game.  We persevered in the heat and saw the Orioles win 5-3 with a walk-off home run at the bottom of the ninth.  We Ubered back to Fells Point where we had a couple of drinks at The Admirals Cup and then walked back to Canton - with Sharon, Shawna, and Lewis going to Safeway for food and Ewan, Keith, and Madeline stopping by another store for more beer.  Shawna and Sharon cooked fajitas for dinner and we played a final game of Monopoly Deal with Ewan taking the win.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Monday was the last day.  Keith and Shawna had to work while the Parry gang went into town to see the Aquarium and to do a last bit of shopping.  They returned to the house within a few minutes of Keith leaving for his business trip so they could say goodbye to him.  After packing and getting cleaned up, Shawna took them to the airport for their flight home.

Hottest Day but Awesome Game!

It was fantastic to see them all - and the kids in particular were a lot of fun!  We look forward to seeing them all next summer in England/Scotland when we plan to be there for Dick and Jean's 50th Anniversary.