A surprise trip...

Two weekends ago, Patrick scooped me up and took me away. He left a note telling me to pack a bag for the weekend and to be ready by 11:30am, we were going to go out to lunch. I had plans to meet with a friend at 2:00pm, so I figured we were leaving after that. Ha. It wasn't until we were an hour away that I asked if I should call and cancel (she was in on the whole thing. Thanks, Al!!!).

We eventually did stop for lunch and after we left the restaurant I was allowed to ask one question every 30 minutes. I tried to make the most of my questions, but my brain just isn't working as well as it use to. Lucky for Patrick, I'm pretty naive and clueless most of the time :)

We ended up in Gettysburg. He knew that I wanted to go back and see more than last time. He also knew that I didn't want to go back by myself! We stayed at a beautiful B&B right in town. While we were at the B&B, we met a couple from Richmond, TX. Over breakfast, we bonded with our new Texas friends about our favorite places to eat in Houston!

For dinner, Patrick had gotten us reservations for an old house turned into a restaurant. The house was built in 1776 (can you even imagine my excitement?!) and was, in fact, the oldest building in Gettysburg! Dinner was incredible. The food, the ambiance, the company... it was really wonderful. Luckily the house was close to our B&B, so we were able to walk around and check out all the old houses and buildings.

The next day we drove around Gettysburg. We stopped to see the site where Abe gave the Gettysburg Address. We did part of the driving tour so Patrick could see Little Round Top and Devil's Den. We went to the Visitors Center and walked through the Civil War museum before getting an awesome view of the Gettysburgs Cyclorama, painted in 1884. It's a 377 foot long, 44 foot high painting depicting the battle of Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863. You can read more about it here. It was INCREDIBLE!!! Lucky us, it just re-opened after being touched up for several years.

After a fun day touring the battlefields and such, we headed to Frederick, MD. We stayed with Jason, Cindy, Cassidy and Jenna. We had a great dinner and just enjoyed being with family. We left Sunday afternoon and stopped at Hagerstown for some shopping before coming back to Indiana. It was such a great weekend. We had so much fun and just enjoyed being together. I LOVE how well my husband knows me!!!

An excited me in front of a building built before (and survived) the Civil War...

The Dobbin House, in all it's old and beautiful glory!




Do you like my bonnet?
Patrick standing beside the window (to the right) where The Dobbin's hid slaves during the Underground Railroad. The "window" was a sliding shelf. Clever, those Dobbin's.
After dinner...


Me and the big landmark sign...The cute ice ceam parlor we found. Actually, I spotted it and made Patrick turn around so we could get ice cream. Random cravings...
Us at Little Round Top...
Uncle Patrick and Cassidy...
Cassidy and Jenna playing in the rain. They also decided to go swimming, since they were wet. Funny, girls.