Friends: so, the weekend...
Mar. 21st, 2006 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterbadgerFriday work continued in the tiresome trend of the morning. I got away later than I meant to, which meant I was late getting to A.'s. We hung out for a while: I had a beer while she finished packing and told me all about the excitement of her day (a nearby house had caught fire, and she'd been quizzed by the FC or PD investigator). We drove off about an hour later than I had hoped, and dodged some grievous traffic (sometimes slow, sometimes filled with really fast idiots).
We got to the B&B where we were to stay not *too* terribly late. It's lovely and somewhat secluded, but not too far from places to eat and drink. The only problem we encountered here was that the bed in our very cozy room (the "Country Room") was rather short and, erm, very squeaky! *sigh* The bath was lovely, though, and the gas fire (plus a space heater available in the closet) made it very warm and snuggly. We had a sumptuous dinner at the Milton Inn and wended our way back to the mansion to sleep.
Saturday we went out hiking at Gunpowder Falls State Park, then stopped at the Wine Merchant, a yummy deli, for lunch whihc we took back to the mansion. (I just like saying "mansion". :-) We lazed around in the afternoon, websurfing and reading. A. perused her favourite book of pastel artistry in hope of inspiration. I pretended to read while alternately dozing and playing with the mansion's charming cat, a Persiany looking fellow with the most alarming purr and a habit of turning himself into a standing O when you petted him.
We went out for dinner, which became the Great Dinner Saga when the directions from Gramercy couldn't get us to our first choice. We went back most of the very long way we'd come and went to choice #2. It turned out to be gone, turned into a catering service with its sister restaurant still operating next door. But when we went into that and sat down, it was like being ont he set of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Everyone was in dark suits and evening gowns. Mucho jewelry. (We were in comfortable clothes and tennis shoes.) Cheapest bottle on wine list? $50. Entrees? Mostly starting around $35. We scrammed.
Then ensued at least another half hour of travellign through darkened semi-rural Maryland, looking for choice #3. Several missed street signs and turn-arounds later, we arrived. Went in and waited for 5-10 minutes ungreeted infront of a chalk board reading "please wait to be seated". Eventually a bimbo arrived and said "Oh, for dinner? You can go straight through there *gestures* to be seated int he other half of the pub." Gee, could you maybe have put that on the chalkboard?
Finally seated, we go over the menu, order. Waiter comes back. The dish we'd both ordered was no longer available. Order again. Food finally comes. A. says hers is fine, but I notice she doesn't eat much. Waiter stops by with a water pitcher and, before I can say anything, fills her half-empty wineglass with water. I just stare at him. Without looking at the glass he says "Oh. That was wine, wasn't it?" Yes. "I'll just go get another glass, shall I?" That would be good, thanks. My salmon, encrusted with potato shavings and spinkled with nuggets of crab, is unexpectedly soaked in a strong, salty, lemon-flavoured sauce. I scrape as much of the sauce off as possible and eat the salmon. Waiter makes the mistake when we finish of asking how it was; I point out that the sauce is so strong and overpowering that it makes the flavour of the salmon almost imperceptible. To his credit, he says, "Well, that's useful to know. I'll pass it on."
The rest of the evening had its ups and downs, but I won't go into those here. :-) We did see a house on the way back to the B&B that has the sort of siding A. is thinking of for her place, so we went back the next day to look at it. After doing that, we drove back to DC and went up to the C&O tow path for a walk. A. jogged while I walked; we went a couple of miles, talking, then went our separate ways to unpack, tidy up, and get ready for the work week.
It was a very nice weekend with A., despite the headaches. She is such a sweet, lovely person; it's a pleasure getting to be with her uninterrupted for a while. :-) I'm still not sure where things are going with us, but we're both having fun finding out, so far.
We got to the B&B where we were to stay not *too* terribly late. It's lovely and somewhat secluded, but not too far from places to eat and drink. The only problem we encountered here was that the bed in our very cozy room (the "Country Room") was rather short and, erm, very squeaky! *sigh* The bath was lovely, though, and the gas fire (plus a space heater available in the closet) made it very warm and snuggly. We had a sumptuous dinner at the Milton Inn and wended our way back to the mansion to sleep.
Saturday we went out hiking at Gunpowder Falls State Park, then stopped at the Wine Merchant, a yummy deli, for lunch whihc we took back to the mansion. (I just like saying "mansion". :-) We lazed around in the afternoon, websurfing and reading. A. perused her favourite book of pastel artistry in hope of inspiration. I pretended to read while alternately dozing and playing with the mansion's charming cat, a Persiany looking fellow with the most alarming purr and a habit of turning himself into a standing O when you petted him.
We went out for dinner, which became the Great Dinner Saga when the directions from Gramercy couldn't get us to our first choice. We went back most of the very long way we'd come and went to choice #2. It turned out to be gone, turned into a catering service with its sister restaurant still operating next door. But when we went into that and sat down, it was like being ont he set of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Everyone was in dark suits and evening gowns. Mucho jewelry. (We were in comfortable clothes and tennis shoes.) Cheapest bottle on wine list? $50. Entrees? Mostly starting around $35. We scrammed.
Then ensued at least another half hour of travellign through darkened semi-rural Maryland, looking for choice #3. Several missed street signs and turn-arounds later, we arrived. Went in and waited for 5-10 minutes ungreeted infront of a chalk board reading "please wait to be seated". Eventually a bimbo arrived and said "Oh, for dinner? You can go straight through there *gestures* to be seated int he other half of the pub." Gee, could you maybe have put that on the chalkboard?
Finally seated, we go over the menu, order. Waiter comes back. The dish we'd both ordered was no longer available. Order again. Food finally comes. A. says hers is fine, but I notice she doesn't eat much. Waiter stops by with a water pitcher and, before I can say anything, fills her half-empty wineglass with water. I just stare at him. Without looking at the glass he says "Oh. That was wine, wasn't it?" Yes. "I'll just go get another glass, shall I?" That would be good, thanks. My salmon, encrusted with potato shavings and spinkled with nuggets of crab, is unexpectedly soaked in a strong, salty, lemon-flavoured sauce. I scrape as much of the sauce off as possible and eat the salmon. Waiter makes the mistake when we finish of asking how it was; I point out that the sauce is so strong and overpowering that it makes the flavour of the salmon almost imperceptible. To his credit, he says, "Well, that's useful to know. I'll pass it on."
The rest of the evening had its ups and downs, but I won't go into those here. :-) We did see a house on the way back to the B&B that has the sort of siding A. is thinking of for her place, so we went back the next day to look at it. After doing that, we drove back to DC and went up to the C&O tow path for a walk. A. jogged while I walked; we went a couple of miles, talking, then went our separate ways to unpack, tidy up, and get ready for the work week.
It was a very nice weekend with A., despite the headaches. She is such a sweet, lovely person; it's a pleasure getting to be with her uninterrupted for a while. :-) I'm still not sure where things are going with us, but we're both having fun finding out, so far.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-03-21 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-21 09:46 pm (UTC)