We had a fantastic weekend! On Friday, Dana, Janna, Renee, and David came over and we watched Bowling for Columbine. If you haven’t seen the film, you must do so immediately, no matter what you think of Michael Moore himself. Personally, I’m not a big fan of Moore, but his film is just excellent. It’s definitely had an impact on the way I view my life and our culture, and we’ll probably watch it again this week because there is so much to absorb.
On Saturday, we took Max to Quiet Waters park, out near Annapolis. It’s a nice park with lots of greenery and a dog beach and a couple of dog parks. Max is too neurotic to be allowed near the other dogs, but we took a nice hike and found a quiet place to relax. It’s just a beautiful place — we will be returning there soon.
Yesterday, we went on an adventure in Calvery County, Maryland. Amazingly, neither Danielle nor I had ever been there, even though it’s just southeast from DC. First, we headed to North Beach, about 40 minutes drive from our house, where we happened upon their annual BeachFest. It was a cute little community, although a little more rednecky than I expected, but the BeachFest was fun. We ate spiced steamed shrimp on the pier, and then sat on their beach ($4/person) and even took a dip in the Bay. Unfortunately, the bay was shallow and slimy, and the noise from 2 competing bands on the boardwalk made the beach less than peaceful, so we didn’t stay long.
The next stop was Flag Ponds Nature Park. This place is a hidden treasure. It took about 20 minutes to get there from North Beach, so in all it’s about an hour from our house. It cost us $6/car since we were not county residents. First we took a hike on their short trail through the ponds and tress. It was practically deserted, so we had lots of peace and quiet (a nice change from North Beach). We then ended up on their beach, which was gorgeous. The bay was cleaner, the beach was long and pretty, and there was only a handful of people there. We took a walk and resolved to spend a day relaxing on the beach on one of the upcoming weekends.
Next, we jumped into the car and went to Solomons Island, another 10 minutes down Route 4. This is a CUTE little beach community with a boardwalk. Much nicer than North Beach.
We LOVED the Tiki Bar there, and we each had an overpowering mai-tai. WELL worth the $6. The place was HOPPING and everyone was having a good time. It’s the kind of place where you would go out of your way to visit, and apparently everyone does.
Slightly tipsy after just the 1 drink, we headed to the Solomons Pier Restaurant and drank a beer on their deck as we watched the gorgeous sunset. This restaurant is a fantastic place to watch the sun go down. Simply breathtaking. Their blackened crabcakes were surprising good, too!
A successful adventure! We will definitely be returning to Solomons Island and Flag Ponds soon.