Anniversary Trip

This year's anniversary trip was a three day, two night getaway from home, seeing a few things we'd never seen before in Virginia and Maryland.   We started by driving south on 95 to Fredericksburg, then east along Highway 3 to Stratford plantation, home of the Lee's of Virginia.   It is the birthplace of Robert E. Lee, the civil war general, but he never owned it or lived in it after the short time he spent there as a child.   It was nicely restored and preserved mostly because of the connection to him though.  

We had a beautiful, although a bit chilly spring weekend to enjoy time inside and out of this large plantation home.

There were some interesting looking chickens wandering around on the grounds.

Skip tried to make friends with one.

It was a short drive down to the Potomac River.   It was quite cold then, and we were tired and ready to be on our way, so we just got out to take a picture.   The cliffs in this area and all around are full of fossils from a time when this area was an ocean.  

 Our destination was Solomon's Island, Maryland.  We had reservations at a Bed and Breakfast there called the Back Creek Inn.   It was a beautiful location with a boat dock near the water.  The owner name is Carol Pennock, and she's an artist that had many of her paintings on display and for sale around the different rooms.   The first night we had a suite on the ground floor, then an upstairs room with a view of the water for the next night.   (Same room was not available both nights.)   Solomon's is located where the Patuxent River meets the Cheasapeake Bay.   We got checked in and had time to rest before heading out to dinner.

Here we are at the restaurant - specializing in seafood of course!   I had crab cakes, and Skip had surf and turf.  

The sunrise at the Inn was incredible.   So glad I made the effort to get up and enjoy it!   There's a river walk in town along the river with signs every few feet that talk about the history that happened there.  That made for a nice morning walk.     

We spent the later morning at the local marine museum, enjoying exhibits on local boatbuilding, wildlife, the prehistoric aspect of the area, a playful otter exhibit, and a ray and skate pool.

We tried another local restaurant for lunch and then went to check out a local sculpture garden.   You don't usually see anything like this outside of a big city.   It was a beautiful setting and featured several large and some smaller sculptures or art installations - mostly modern.

It was a half mile loop to see everything.   The evening we spent at the Inn and ordered pizza.  The next morning brought another spectacular sunrise.   We headed out around 11:00 and made a stop at a nearby park, where we could wander the bay shore and look for fossils and other treasures.   I enjoyed getting my feet a little wet too!  (Sporting my new pedicure.  We both got pedicures the day before too!) 

It was a fun weekend, full of relaxation, beauty, good food, learning about where we live, and enjoying time away from our routine to celebrate the two of us!