Maryland, day three

On Sunday the weather was similar to what it was on Friday - cooler and rainy. When we got home we found out that it rained the entire weekend up here, so we are very thankful that we didn't see any rain on Saturday and actually saw the sun for part of the day that day. On Friday night we stayed in a room at a hotel in Ocean City, Maryland, but due to the rain we never ventured out to the beach. That night our room had a sofa bed, and unlike the vast majority of hotels, this Best Western actually provided bedding for the sofa bed! The complimentary breakfast was very nice at that hotel. On Saturday night we stayed at Red Roof Plus. Nadia had to use our air mattress that night, and they didn't provide any complimentary breakfast, so we used a gift card to get breakfast at McDonald's instead. I wasn't even allowed into the lobby to check in or check out at that motel. I think that was a first. After eating breakfast, we drove to Oxon Cove Farm. We've been to 113 NPS sites so far, and I think this one was the least impressive to me. I left there wondering why it was made a National Park. However, despite the rain, the kids were able to feed some chickens and earn a Junior Ranger badge while we were there. 

Our second stop was Fort Washington. We watched the ancient movie (I'm guessing it was made in the '60s), had a private tour with a Ranger, and the kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge. Our final stop was at Thomas Stone National Historic Site. Stone was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He stepped out of politics shortly after that because he was caring for his wife for eleven years after she became an invalid as a result of her smallpox vaccination. He died shortly after his wife died. There wasn't a lot to do at the Visitor Center. I thought we'd be attending a talk at 1pm and taking the house tour at 3pm, but we showed up at 1:01 and the other four guests who were at the site at that time all preferred to have a house tour at 1pm so the talk was canceled. We joined the tour a few minutes late because we had to walk from the Visitor Center to the house. The Ranger had MANY Junior Ranger booklets available. Many of the ones he had on display were ones that either our kids had already earned OR were ones that don't result in the child being given a badge or patch. The boys each earned three badges (the extra ones were for Junior Paleontologist and George Washington's Birthplace), and Nadia earned four because she hadn't done the Eclipse one which the boys had done previously. So at this point, Oliver has earned 172 badges, Nadia has earned 176, and Ian has earned 179. The kids know that when they earn their 200th badge I will give them $50. I think they can achieve that goal sometime in 2023, but if not, they definitely can in 2024. 

We had dinner at Denny's on Friday night. In general, I've noticed that restaurant prices have gone up on average by about 20%. Thankfully the prices at Denny's were not nearly as high as they were at the IHOP we went to in Kansas City earlier in April. On Saturday night we had dinner at Panera Bread. That is a place where we can still get dinner plus a few cookies for a $50 gift card. At other places, I usually have to pay a little part plus the tip as a $50 gift card doesn't cover three adult entrees, one soda, and two kids' meals. I love their strawberry poppyseed salad. Unfortunately, Paul didn't like the flatbread pizza he ordered.  On Sunday evening we tried a new restaurant - Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. The prices were similar to Denny's, and most of us really liked the complimentary croissants that they serve with the meal, just like we enjoy the breadsticks at Olive Garden and the rolls at Texas Roadhouse. I imagine it won't be the last time we eat at Cheddar's. 

Thomas Stone's home

The last time we were away, Milo had to spend the first six days of the trip at the kennel. This time we asked a girl in our neighborhood who is one year older than Nadia to watch Milo so that if our other neighbors aren't able to care for him during an entire vacation, between the two neighbors, he can avoid the kennel. Madeline charges $30/day which is more than we pay our other neighbor, but most of the time that would likely be less than what we'd pay the kennel because she's more flexible with the definition of what constitutes a day. Also, Milo was able to sleep with her, which definitely doesn't happen at a kennel. A dog is expensive to own, but I sure do love our dog. The next "getaway" is scheduled for the end of May into early June with Yvonne's family at Great Wolf Lodge. Paul won't be joining us for that trip so although we might need a little help from a neighbor with Milo, Paul will be able to at least partially care for him.