Refresher

Ahhh - there's nothing like the mountains in the winter. Especially with single-digit temps and wind chills. Brrrr!!

Thanks to incredibly generous friends (two of our favorite couples), we had the opportunity to take three nights away over the MLK weekend. Despite our thoughts of warmer climates (Phoenix, Miami, Cancun (!) ), we determined that it would be best to stay a little closer to home. After looking around for ideas, I stumbled upon Berkeley Springs, WV, a spa town about 90 minutes from home. Berkeley Springs (officially the "Town of Bath" - don't ask) is known for its natural springs with supposedly healing minerals/nutrients in the water. George Washington frequented the town and his "bath" is still visible.

We found a wonderful B&B (Highlawn Inn) that offered a very comfortable room and incredibly filling and tasty breakfast. It was just "up the hill" in the heart of town, so we pretty much walked the entire time we were there. On Saturday, we hit the spa for a massage/pedicure (Ang indulged in the pedicure - I read in the corner). The rest of the day we wandered about town, stopping in the antique shops, bookstores, and hardware store (it was like a blast to the past - we need a good ol' fashioned hardware store in Ashburn!).

A quick interruption in the narrative - half of Berkeley Springs shuts down in January. The other half shuts down in February. :-)  So we didn't get to see every wonderful part of the town. This was particularly the case with restaurants, although we managed decent meals at each turn. The prominent restaurant was closed, and the other really good one was a few miles down the road. That evening we found a decent (okay) dinner and then had dessert across the street. Then, like all good fuddy-duddy old married couples, we were back at the Inn just after 8pm (and just in time to catch "Independence Day" from the beginning, which I don't think either of us had ever done).

Sunday started with the aforementioned breakfast, quiet morning, and a 1 1/2 block walk to the local Methodist church. We were going to go Presbyterian, but it was PCUSA, and not to say all PCUSA churches are bad, but we decided to try Methodist. And it was a home-run! We made it to the "traditional" service (because we didn't want to go to church at 8:15!!), but the singing was pleasant, the people were uber-friendly, and the message was outstanding. We were blessed, to say the least!

The rest of Sunday we traveled to Hagerstown (~45 minutes) and ate lunch at Red Lobster (high eating for Hagerstown), shopped at the outlets (spent more money than we should have), watched two movies (Valkyrie and Marley & Me, in that order, on purpose). Not to pass up the opportunity, we made a quick stop at Krumpe's Do-Nuts on our way back to Berkeley Springs - you're not allowed to be in Hagerstown without getting a Krumpe's.

As for Monday, we had breakfast, packed up our stuff, and then walked into town for one last relaxation - the Roman Baths. In short, a really big tub (mini-pool) in a really humid, private room - where the "healing" waters are a balmy 102 degrees. Very, very, very relaxing. Then, off to lunch and off to Frederick to what we thought would be a quick stop and back home. Ummmm - except for that 45-car pileup on I-70 - which was thankfully in the lanes of the other direction, but still brought our lanes almost to a stop.

Being one who would rather drive out of the way than sit on an interstate, we shot down through who-knows-where Washington Co. Maryland and had the most quaint/beautiful country drive I can remember. It had snowed ~1-2 inches that morning, so everything was surreal. We finally made it to Frederick, grabbed a cup of Joe at our old studying spot (Frederick Coffee Co.) and off to Barnes and Noble for a couple of books.

We finally made it home about 4:30. Our girls were ecstatic to see us, and we got to experience Maggie (M&S's dog) and Dido "play" (which you can imagine, is not really playing at all - Maggie barks at Dido, Dido hisses, Dido jumps on top of the chair and hisses, and Maggie keeps barking).

Two of the three nights, Addy had decided not to sleep for our dear friends. But there must be a kind of calming peace about Mom and Dad being back home, because for the last two nights, she hasn't woken up once during the night. Ahhhhh. So thanks to our friends for such a wonderful opportunity to get away. We love our girls, and missed them almost every minute. But there's something to be said for some quiet vacation time where you don't have to worry about nap schedules and feeding times.