A weekend in Maryland

I flew to Baltimore with Dave on Friday so that I could attend the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. He had a business meeting on Friday afternoon and I spent that time in our hotel room getting organized, reviewing the festival map & vendor list, and taking a nice nap.

When he got back we walked across the street from our hotel and had drinks and appetizers on an outdoor patio. The weather was nice and the view was lovely.

That gray shark across the water is a submarine, and those little sea-monsters were paddle boats that could be rented. And of course, there's the Hard Rock Cafe sign. After that, we walked around a bit, then found a McCormick & Schmicks and decided to have dinner there. I had Atlantic salmon cooked on a cedar plank and it was delicious!

The next day we headed to the festival. Traffic was ok till we got close, then it was bumper-to-bumper. The parking area was a sea of cars. Imagine 10 shots like this side-by-side and you'll get an idea of what it was like.


Entering the Festival - the Boy Scouts were directing traffic and helping people and all of them were in good spirits. But it was early. *ha ha*

There were fluffy little sheep in pens

Sheep being groomed

Sheep being judged

Huge bags of fleece for sale

So much stuff in fact that I stopped taking pictures because I was so overwhelmed. But here's what we bought:

2 blankets for the cottage, lavender flowers, lavender soap, 4 colors of merino roving, corridale cross and bfl roving. I got a t-shirt, too. Not bad for newbies. ;-)

When we got to the rabbit barn for the Ravelry meetup there were only 5 people there. But it started filling up quickly and before I knew it, the building was packed and we were trapped inside. My friend Erin was helping out and asked me to whistle several times (I'm really loud!) to get everyone's attention. When Casey, Jess, & Mary-Heather arrived we applauded like they were rockstars. It was very exciting. I was right in front so when they started handing out buttons I was worried we were going to get trampled so we left, thinking we'd come back after it cleared out a bit. Over an hour later the building was still packed, so we headed out. I didn't get to say Hi to Jess & Casey, but I did meet several lovely Ravelry members though, so it was worth the trip.

We drove to Annapolis (aka Sailor Heaven) and headed straight for Pusser's where we enjoyed authentic painkillers (yay!) and lunch. Then we drove downtown, parked, and walked around. Later we checked into our hotel, got cleaned up and decided to try the Annapolis Yacht Club for dinner. We were able to get in with our other yacht club credentials and had a relaxing meal. Dave and I both ordered tuna steak over wasabi mashed potatoes, mmm mmm, one of my favorites!

The next day we drove around and checked out the boatyards, sail makers, and other nautical shops, then had a late lunch at a place called Jimmy Cantler's which is apparently the hot spot. There weren't many people there when we arrived but it filled up quickly. Somebody may have ordered crab. (Not me!)


The flight home was quick & painless. All in all, it was a great weekend and I hope to do it again next year!