Hope -

Wineries are known to get ‘bad wrap’. They are fun. There is alcohol. It’s what people do on the weekends. Ok. I get it. But, I have to tell you that over the past several years since we have been ‘hitting a few’ from time to time have met some really great people. Have found some really cool places. AND I say it all the time but EVERY winery has a story.

A few years ago on a Friday evening, we stopped by Doukenie in Hillsboro. We hadn’t been there before so wanted to do a tasting. Unfortunately they don’t do tastings on Friday night. Hmmm.. so we chose a bottle of Mandolin based on the employee’s description and it was very good.

While there, we noticed an older lady, full of spunk walking around, greeting the customers. That’s when we met Hope –

We hadn’t been back for a while but a month of so ago, went on a Friday evening (they are open til 9 yay!) and had a great time Everyone was very personable and even broke the rules by letting us taste a few =)

Two weeks ago, we went back. Todd Brooks was playing and he is AWESOME! The place was packed so we ended up inside. This caught my eye –

And ya’all know how much I love books. Books with meaning. Stories of people’s lives that I feel like I know. We bought the book and Saturday morning in between chores, I read it. Wow. This woman is awesome. Her Mom’s name is Doukenie. Her life has been full of challenges and this is somewhat of a memoir. Some of her favorite sayings, she talks about her children and her grandchildren, she talks about her husband of 52 years that died a few years ago and she talks about how she once again is playing the piano. She named her golf cart, computer and piano. Such a unique, inspiring person.

 Anyway, it was one I couldn’t put down and it just goes to show that good people open wineries. Good people keep the good coming. And, it’s not always bad to enjoy local wines, meet great people and relax for a while. Just sayin’…..

Happy, Happy Anniversary -

To my sister and bro-in-law!  THIRTY FIVE years - awesome!

What a fund day that was back in 2010.  I hope you have a wonderful anniversary =)

The hills of Cumberland -

Chase participated in the Soap Box Derby for hmmmm 4 or 5 years, winning two of the Ray Miller Memorial races which allowed him to advance to Akron, Ohio.  

Once there, it was clear that Cumberland was in the top ranks for participants and winning cars.  Now that I've been to Cumberland, I can certainly see why.  There are soooo many hills to practice on.  I'm not sure where they have their actual race because I am not certain we could find that 'perfect' hill from a grade and smooth perspective but.....they obviously did.  

Anyway, this picture was hanging in The Bruce House.  It is a really cool pic and took me back to those days.  

Chase has certainly kept us entertained through the years =)

Maybe one day Kayden, Brooklyn or Kendall will want to run.....I'm sure Poppy would be willing to help with building the car, ha!

I think this was her first SBD =)

And Kayden's Daddy even knows how to line the streets for safety, LOL!

Speaking of the Soap Box Derby - we went to see this guy today in the hospital =(

He played a key role in Chase's involvement in the sport and says he's getting better every day but definitely has a long road ahead of him.  He had a 'cart' accident at Summit Point Speedway on June 28th.  Keep him in your prayers for a speedy recovery.

Welp - that's all for now.  Check back tomorrow....

Happy, HAPPY Birthday!

I'm pretty sure this is our 13th birthday celebration with you and I'm VERY sure you are going to be mad but......

I will never forget the day J brought you to meet me at work in this -

And when I hugged you, you totally smelled like fumes =)

But you always went right along with tons of pictures on our vacations, even the very first =)

And through the years you have become very photogenic, ha!

We hope you have a wonderful day filled with all the fun stuff you enjoy =)

ORGANIZED...

PERFECT....
LOVE IT!

So, getting old definitely presents challenges.  Like....I can't remember if i have a certain color, haha!.  And since luckily I haven't changed in size, that means I end up with a lot of tank tops/camis....LOL.

But, I recently saw something that sparked me to get organized -

So....this looked really cool but the hooks were VERY expensive.  So, at Ronnie's request I searched Amazon.com and found 150 for $16.00 - ha!

And now, I can find exactly what color i need PRONTO =)  Gotta love Facebook and Pinterest.

Signs -

Anyone remember that song....Signs by Tesla?  I used to love that song, lol.

And, I always find it funny to see the sign as you exit Ocean City that says California 3,000 (or something like that) miles.

This sign caught my eye a few months ago so the last time we went through town I had Ronnie stop so I could take a picture.  

Yep, Boonsboro, Shepherdstown, Frederick, Williamsport, Hagerstown, Washington DC, and then of course - Midsomer, England just 3,804 miles away =)

Saturday???

Yep, it was Saturday but it seemed like Sunday since we were Friday was a holiday and NO work for us =)

The humidity was gone.  The sun was out.  Not a cloud in the sky.  It was bike time!

We hit the road and headed to find Route 11 North and about an hour later we found it, LOL!  We were on roads I didn't even know existed.

Greencastle was our destination, with food on our mind.  The 'old' Antrim House was a really good find and from the looks of all the 'members mugs' hanging, lots of folks agree.

I had the club with sweet potato fries and Ronnie had the Reuben.  As soon as he took one bite, he thought of Nanny.  It was EXCELLENT.  Very competitive to her favorite in  Salisbury at the Market Street Inn.

We walked through the town....such a quaint town with lots of these signs -

Good thing we weren't there for the shopping, hehe.  Below are the scrapbook pages from our afternoon.  Such a perfect day!

Last Stop - Part 6

After our train ride, we checked into The Bruce House Inn -

We stayed in the George Washington Room -

And we finally got to meet Pam -  Both places were very accommodating to Ronnie's surprise weekend for our anniversary.  

The house was lovely and breakfast..... I'll let you decide =)

The Bruce House Inn is also within walking distance to the train station and downtown area.  Perfect location.

So there you have it, we checked out and headed home on Sunday morning.  In my little opinion, it was a PERFECT weekend!

Part 5 - The RIDE...

After breakfast it was time for the main reason for coming to Cumberland - the TRAIN ride!

I was like a kid.....so excited! I couldn't wait to take pictures but we had to pick up our tickets first -

Then to snap some pictures before we board -

our car was 851 -

I didn't realize the engine required water.  This big spicket filled her up!

Time to board-

And find our table -

We found just a little bit of humor in the 'emergency' sigh -

We had lunch on the way up - For some reason I didn't take pictures of our food.  Seriously.....FAIL.  But it was good.  Chicken Caesar Salad and Orange Roughy.  Of course I did get a bottle of water with a pretty cool label -

And we're off - the front....

And the end -

Then into a tunnel -

Then about an hour later we arrived in Frostburg -

The diesel was pretty hot - check out the coals...

And now it's time to turn the engine around - 

This was the coolest thing - the train drives on,  then the table turns completely around.  We had an hour and a half layover in Frostburg so we could go shopping but we opted to hang around and watch.  So cool!

The interesting part is that the engine that pulled us there, decided to bring up the end this time.  So here's the front on the way home -

On the ride, Ronnie chatted with the Conductor to confirm that he and Dad (many years ago) actually saw #734 being refurbished when they made a trip to Cumberland.  Sure enough, after discussing the timeline it was confirmed.  Amazing.  That made it all the more special.  

Dad sure loved his trains - it would have been fun to share this story with him.  And he too, would have wanted his picture with the Conductor =)

Oh, I can't forget our dessert on the way back.  It was a spice cake with cream cheese frosting.  Good stuff!

So there you have it......the story about our Ride.  Definitely going to be something we do again.  Maybe in the fall.  Can you imagine the pretty colors then?