Race Weekend on the Eastern Shore (Warning: LOTS of pictures)

How is your geography? Do you know that the Chesapeake Bay separates Maryland into two parts, one being the Eastern Shore and the other being, uh, the other part, you know, the one people care about? Kidding. All us "other parters" need the Eastern Shore because that's where Ocean City is. And Ocean City is where you go if you're cool. Or not and you just want a beach getaway. Or if you can't get a beach house at Rehoboth.

Anyway, the western part of the Eastern Shore is actually not on the Atlantic Ocean, but on the Chesapeake Bay. There are some awesome little towns that are very old (well, America-old). I've been reading James Michener's Chesapeake for months now (I'm slow, don't read enough, and it's 1,000 pages long) and have been dying for a trip out there. Even before reading this book, I wanted to check out a small town named St. Michaels.

Imagine my glee when I saw this very town was having an inaugural running festival! Hey, I like running! Hey, I want to visit your town! Even after some crazy scheduling and loss of friends being able to go with us, we decided to go it alone. No matter if the longest I've run since forever is nine miles. I can run a half marathon, right? Suuuure! Let's go!

What we did:
Well, run, duh. I didn't do that great. I was slower than I hoped. But here are my excuses. (1) The longest I'd run in training for this was only nine miles. (2) It was super hot and sunny. Super hot. (3) I need new shoes. I only registered for this race last Monday and by then it's too late to get new shoes. But, hey. I finished. I ran 13.1 miles. And let's be honest: one of the reasons I run is because I like to eat. And when I run that much, I eat whatever I want, like peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone. And maybe, just maybe, the littlest member of our family tried his first ice cream, and definitely, just definitely, he loved it.







We visited the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. We made (and played with) sailboats and paddle boats. We found oysters. We saw some super cool model sailboats.  We visited a lighthouse.  Rhett made a new friend, Bea, who gave his little friend Madeleine a run for her money.























We took a boat ride. Rhett got to steer. Ollie ate the railing. We saw many beautiful homes and rested weary legs. Rhett also played "King of the World," much to the delight of onlookers and much to the embarrassment of his parents. He would not leave this position until the boat docked.













We hung out at the house. We enjoyed sunrise through the master bedroom. We kayaked in that gorgeous sunrise. We learned about crabbing from our resident Marylander, Chuck. We enjoyed super non-humid weather with open windows and doors at all times.









What we did not do (and so why we will go back):
Have friends come with us. (So sorry E and J!)
Bike ride all over with kids in a trailer.
Go crabbing.
Kayak enough.
Shop.
Fishing tour.
Enjoy a fire in the firepit.
Barbecue in the awesome screened porch.
Star gazing.
Relax enough.

I'm not lying when I say we'll go back. Most of the time when we travel we think, "Oh that was good and we saw about all we want to see. Let's try somewhere else next time." That was not the case here as there was much more to see and do. It was such a beautiful weekend filled with beautiful sites and super nice people. Plus, spending time with my three favorite boys is just good times.