It feels like I hit the ground running since my return home to New England this past weekend after a brief stay in Delaware and Maryland. I had gotten on the road early on Friday morning, beginning the long drive through New York, New Jersey, and parts of Pennsylvania while in route to meet up with Andrew and the kids – and although there were plenty of gorgeous and interesting places I had been tempted to stop and check out/photograph – the on-off torrential downpours and wind gusts (an effect of Hurricane Helene’s recent path) kept me mostly in my car!
But I eventually reached my destination in Millsboro, Delaware, where I had arranged accommodations for everyone for the weekend – and it was so, so good to see the kids again since it’s been such a long time. They’ve grown so much over the past few months, and are still as funny, curious, and quick-witted as ever. They are definitely Kelsey’s children through and through- and I adore them!
On Saturday, the skies briefly cleared and the sun emerged for most of the day, setting the perfect scene for us to make the short drive over to Ocean City, Maryland for the Ocean’s Calling Music Festival. With two main stages situated off the boardwalk and along the beach in a fashion very similar to last year’s Sea. Hear. Now. Festival in Asbury Park, I’m glad I wore knee-high boots this time around to avoid sand getting into my sneakers.
But one of the coolest things about the festival was that all attendees had free and unlimited access to the amusement park between the stages, which meant the kids (and yes, the adults sometimes. I definitely got into the bumper cars!) got to go on rides in-between catching sets from The Hives, The All-American Rejects, Young The Giant, The Beach Boys, The Offspring – and finally – The Killers! It was the perfect way for the little ones to get all of their energy out so that they’d be able to listen to the music throughout the day without going stir crazy.
And although traffic getting away from the festival at the end of the night was nothing short of a bumper-to-bumper, standstill nightmare for quite some time – I think we all had a great weekend. I’d definitely go again (but I’d probably go hang out on the boardwalk after the show before I attempted to get to my car to leave to give the place a chance to fully clear out, first!)
On Sunday, it was time to say goodbye to everyone before we headed in opposite directions to go back home, which is always sad – but I’m looking forward to making plans in the immediate future to head down to visit them again soon! The holidays are coming, after all!
The drive back to Massachusetts wasn’t much different than the one I’d made on Friday – full of clouds, rain and plenty of traffic jams – but I managed to make it home with enough time to catch some sleep so I could get back to work bright and early on Monday morning.
And I’ve actually got some time off planned a little later on this week for some spooky activities with friends, which I’m excited to write about and share photos of in the coming days.
Until then!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 