Chesapeake Bay!

This was one of our best trips ever. And for anyone who has been reading this blog awhile, you know that says a lot, since we've had some pretty fantastic family trips! This little 3-night/4-day mini-vaca was absolutely magical. We had been to Baltimore as a family a couple of times, and we had been to Assateague Island, but we had never been to the "real" Chesapeake Bay, and had been wanting to go there for a long time. We finally went, and we found there a magical place that we really, really love! We almost never go back to the same place twice, but we cannot wait to go back. Some highlights:

We rented a house that was situated right on the edge of a huge (75 foot) cliff overlooking the Chesapeake Bay. A 2-minute drive down the road was a virtually untouched/deserted/'private' six-mile strip of bay-front-beach. The beach was incredible. We did not know such places existed in the U.S. We took long walks on the unspoiled natural beach, utterly alone, everyday. In total we encountered only 7 people on the beach over the entire time we stayed there (which included a bunch of long walks). One of those 7 people graciously took this photo for us:
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The sunrises from the house were absolutely spectacular. We were, all five of us, up in time to watch the sunrise over the bay each morning. It felt like we were watching a magic show. Perched high above the bay, in the quiet and stillness of the early morning, it was incredible.


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Once the sun was up, we ate our breakfast, and then headed out to the beach.
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The boys swam in the bay everyday.
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The bay was very shallow in most places, and they loved it that they could walk out so far.
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On this trip Meera learned to throw rocks (and shells, and sticks, and whatever she found) into the water. This is a big deal because this has always been one of her brothers' absolute all-time favorite things to do in all the world. They loved to see her doing it. We all got a kick out of it. She was so proud of herself.
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There was a swing-set right on the beach, which was a big hit.
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The weather was awesome: fluctuating from high 80s/low 90s and calm/sunny all the way to mid-50s and windy/cloudy. (I love this picture, below, in part because way in the background you can see K & O far out in the bay.)

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The peacefulness that the water brings to our boys...
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...the joy that these times bring to us... is indescribable.
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A big Chesapeake Bay thing in the area where we were (Southern Maryland; Western Shore) is fossil hunting. Specifically, "Toothing" (this was new to us; "Toothers" are people who hunt for fossilized shark's teeth as a hobby). We were determined to find a shark's tooth while we were there (the area is famous for this). We found one! Kyle, especially, was so into this-- and so excited to have found it!
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And Blue Crabs, of course. The area is famous for Blue Crabs. We found a few of those too!
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Best of all: the time spent truly together.

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There was a telescope at the house. Braydon and the boys looked at the bazillions of stars in the pitch black night sky.
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Solomons Island was nearby. We had so much fun there. Including a boat ride which was, of course, a major high for K & O.
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Big highlight, as always, the food. Fresh, local, authentic cuisine is always a top priority. The boys are catching on to this and have come to anticipate (and look forward to) experimenting with whatever is the "real deal" wherever we are. They are always up for it (although, we are not bashful to admit that we always order hot dogs or mac-n-cheese to be waiting in the wings if need be). This time: Shellfish. Crabs, shrimp, and... oysters. Raw. On the half shell. One of Mommy's absolute favorite foods in the entire world. They did not love it (in fact, Kyle got very nauseous from it!), and described it (quite accurately, I must say!) as tasting like they were "eating the ocean," but... they did all try it. Which made their Mommy proud (I was also thrilled they didn't like them, because that way I got to eat most of them! Braydon likes them, but isn't the biggest fan.). Here's Owen eating his first oyster on the half shell:
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Here's Kyle eating his first oyster on the half shell:
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Here's Meera eating her first oyster on the half shell:
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The steamed crabs were a huge hit (mostly for the fun of cracking them open, picking the meat out, dipping the crab in melted butter, ETC.). But the biggest food hit of the trip, for sure, was our discovery of Owen's adoration of crab cakes. His new favorite food. The discovery was made during lunch on Sunday. We went to Broomes Island (which was gorgeous), explored the waterfront awhile...
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...and then went out to lunch at a great restaurant dockside. Braydon and I ordered crabcakes. Owen ended up eating the bulk of them. He couldn't get enough of them.
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Major high of the trip: We went to the Calvert Marine Museum, which was, on its own, great. But while there, we went to a toy-boat-making-workshop.
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And then we went back to "our beach" to sail them.

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The ride home was noteworthy because it was "Old School Style" (our portable DVD player, which we've relied so heavily on during road trips and plane rides for all these years) died during our drive down. So we had nothing but good old fashioned togetherness for the 4.5 hour ride home. We expected the worst. It was not all that bad.
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Final trip summary: It was a stupendous trip.

For all the pics, click here.