Friday, June 2, 2017

sea bugs + a wild duck chase

Baltimore kinda gets a bad rap for.... idk, lots of reasons I guess. I've lived here my whole life tho and love this city pretty well. So it's always fun for me to get to show off its charms when folks come to visit!

get it?? bc of the chesapeake?? lol...
So when Megan from A Enter Spooking let me and Austen know she was coming east for a conference, obviously we had to crowbar a visit into her schedule!

We had each all met each other separately in the past - Megan famously gave me a pony ride on the sainted Rico last year, and of course Austen did the same the year before (apparently July is my month for riding fancy dressage horses??), and Austen got to meet up with the West Coast contingent earlier this year during her own travels.

charlie: a supremely huggable horse
So naturally the first order of business was meeting all the ponies! Including our favorite be-starred bay tb Charlie! I swear, basically everyone who meets this horse ends up giving him hugs. It's like this uncontrollable force from within Sir Chuckles - those giant shoulders and that soft coat just lure everyone right on in. I'm certainly not immune myself, and neither was Megan haha.

And I promise - if you come to visit Charlie? You'll find yourself somehow going in for the pony hug too haha. He's a magnet for snuggles lol.

"'scuse me, megan? uh, my other ear - plz to scratch it like austen??" - charlie, probably
Charlie, for his part, soaks up every little drop of attention and affection thrown his way (even if he was moderately grumped and exhausted from a 16 hour day at Loch Moy the day before.... I feel ya there buddy!).

"mmmmm apppples"
It didn't end up being the day for playing musical ponies with everyone taking a turn - between tired ponies and tired travelers and general humidity and hunger haha. Next time tho for sure!

fells point
Bc for this particular day, we had an agenda. Gotta get downtown to see some water and drink some beers and sample the local seafood, amirite?

there is absolutely a method to this madness, i promise haha
Idk if you've ever had the opportunity to pick and eat steamed crabs - esp in the Maryland style, covered in Old Bay.... But damn, it's tasty. I will basically never ever turn down an opportunity to split a dozen with anybody - even if that somebody is not particularly convinced that dinner should be dismembered at the table lol.

"What's that yellow stuff under the shell?"

"Mustard. Definitely mustard. Yup."

"Uh......"

beers, bugs, and buddies. what more could you want?
Such good times tho, all around. There's something really cool, imo, about getting to know folks through this wonderful blogging community and finding out about all the other commonalities in our lives.

Like obviously there's always tons to talk about when there's a shared love of horses (infinite conversation there is guaranteed) - but I've also just been really impressed by how wonderful every blogger is that I've had the opportunity to meet in real life, or even just gotten to know through text, chat or email. Y'all. You're cool ppl! A good crowd!

wild duck chase!
Later in the week we got to do a little repeat adventure, just this time in downtown DC for happy hour and dinner. This time with the opportunity to find out that Megan and I actually have fairly similar areas of work professionally, which is always cool to learn. Data and stuff. It's apparently a pretty big field!

And naturally there was more wine and food and wandering of the streets haha (muggy and rainy tho it will always be here in May, bleh). And tacos. So many tacos. Mmm....

oh yea, tacos. needs tacos too!
Kinda made it a bummer to actually go do work stuff the rest of the week, to be honest lol. Would have rather gone sightseeing and food tasting and beer sampling all through the region with fun blogger friends instead.

Maybe next time :) At least for now tho, it's Friday and the longest-short-week-ever is finally coming to a close. Here's to another great weekend for everyone! Blessedly a quiet one on our end (no more shows for a month!). What about you? Any big plans? Horsey or foodie or blogger-meet-up-y? Or maybe you have some ducks of your own to chase? lol...

25 comments:

  1. This was such a fun visit! It's always fun to see the two cities through the eyes of a tourist (though I'm still a tourist in Baltimore, lol). Always happy to share a bucket of sea bugs with you. We should do that again soon!

    It's funny because my weekend has pretty much all those things: horse shows, blogger meet-ups, and always Lyra chasing things. Haha

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    1. more sea bugs. all the sea bugs!!! moar chasing animals!!! (but Lyra, plz leave bambi alone, mkay?)

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  2. Ha ha - I love introducing people to steamed crabs. They go from 'what?!?' to 'yum' so quickly!

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    1. haha i'm not sure megan got all the way to 'yum' -- but that just means more for me!! lol

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  3. I wanna meet Austen...and Pig sometime! :) Great times it looks like were had :)
    I love Baltimore. I grew up on the ES of VA so know of the yellow stuff you mention re crabs HA HA HA ....i love steamed crabs but wayyy too much work for very little return. We used to pay my mom extra money if she would pick for us all (Bless her heart she could have worked at the crab docks she was THAT fast) :) Good memories.

    How far are you from Baltimore Emma?? Maybe one day I will drive down and meet you there.....I havent been in years (BWI Does NOT count LOL)

    This weekend: Lesson with Dressage tomorrow, Combined training event on Sunday a.m. (EARLY). Riding time this week - 1....sigh...At least Jess hopped up on him yesterday and jumped him for me....:) WORK schmork!! Hate....

    Charlie looked tired in the photos. Poor guy i am sure he bounced back fast :)

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    1. i'm sure one of these days we'll all end up in the same place - maybe the fair hill 3* later this fall? and yea i live basically right smack in the center of the city.

      sounds like you've got a great weekend planned - good luck at the CT!

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    2. it is a date. My cronies from TX are going to Germany in Sept so doubt they come to FHI so unofficially you all get me to hang with you (SORRY IN ADVANCE) :) I have a friend who lives in a rowhouse in the city and she LOVES living there....

      how far is Charlie from you?

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    3. cool! fair hill it is! i always have a lot of fun there :) and yup, row house living has been my life since.... oh about 6th grade? lol... charlie's barn was chosen specifically for his proximity to home, it's about a 15min drive

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  4. hahahah i love the pictures. megan looks so cute like shes meeting a celebrity (which she is, of course).

    ill never forget the first time i had crabs (incidentally at a place on the chesapeake that you had to use to a boat to get to). my friend got rather violent with the hammer and i was like since when does dinner include this much bashing??!

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    1. i keep telling charlie he's internet famous but he always seems kinda happily surprised when ppl fawn all over him.

      and yes -- crabs for dinner. more violent than you might imagine!! but so good..... :D

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  5. Ahhh I'm so jealous I want to hang out with you guys :( pout pout

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    1. we missed you for sure! and had an extra taco for you :)

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  6. Sounds like a fun meet up. I have family in Baltimore and visited a lot as a kid, but I still don't like crabs.

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    1. ha yea you're definitely not alone there! personally tho, i can't get enough of 'em!

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  7. Fun! I've been to Baltimore one time and really enjoyed it. My crazy friend called me and said we were going, so she picked me up and 6 hours later we were drinking and hanging out. We rented those dragon shaped paddle boats too. The. That same night we drive back! I miss her.

    Anyway.

    This weekend is my first CT as you already know. Ready or not English world, here comes Team Gem.

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    1. ha that actually sounds like a blast! baltimore can definitely be a fun town! and wishing you and Gem so much good luck this weekend!

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  8. Aw so fun and sad I missed the festivities! Though munching on crabs is not my favorite.. just can't embrace the flavor of seafood, though I've tried! The GIF of Austen chasing the duck with "LET ME LOVE YOU!" arms is the highlight of this post, LOL!

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    1. we definitely missed you too! next time for sure!! and yea seafood (especially shellfish) definitely isn't for everyone. i love it tho!!

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  9. Blogger meet up!!! I would kill for some crab. Yum.

    Looks like tons of fun! I would only pass on the humidity (even though I lived in Stafford, VA for 3 years!). I'm such a desert flower lol

    It's busy, busy this June for everyone but I might squeeze in a blogger hang out or two.

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    1. oooh i hope you can! and yea the humidity here has been a little killer lately, mostly bc omg it's never gonna stop raining. we make do tho, i guess haha

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  10. So much fun!!! I've already started currying TC more after petting/hugging your horse. Seriously his coat is amazing! I wish I had come just a day earlier to see you guys compete but I'm SO glad I got to meet him. He's definitely a celebrity.

    And yeah sea bugs are a bit odd, they are yummy though! But maybe not worth the work for me lol I'll order my sea bugs dismantled next time.

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  11. I do love me some crabs with Old Bay.

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  12. I went to college in Lancaster PA, and we went to Baltimore where one of my dearest friends lives often. I love the city. Not sure why it gets such a bad rap either... And crabs (that you eat) are the BEST. lol

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