10-12.06 - Day 147-149 - Annapolis to York
Monday 10th, Tuesday 11th & Wednesday 12th June -
Annapolis, Maryland - York, Pennsylvania (Day 147, 148 & 149)
Monday
Our last three days and two nights in America. We say our thanks and farewells to Team Thompson in the morning before they start work for their shortened week, their being due to fly out to the UK Wednesday evening. We take ourselves back to Westfield in Annapolis to get the week’s school work underway as well as return library books.
By late morning it’s a 90 minute drive north to the town of York beyond Baltimore. Lunch is across the road from our Tru Hotel at Cheddars where we’re inexplicably given four croissants smothered in honeyed butter as a pre-starter. They form both our starter (just because) and our dessert.
Check in at Tru by Hilton a “trendier” offshoot with bright colours and a lobby with a pool table, giant Jenga, board games and colouring books - this entertains the kids (and adults) for an hour or two.
We pop ten minutes into the town of York itself - although it has a large ring road the town centre is very small; on the edges - that we found - many houses were rundown and there was little activity in town with the rest of the world being at work. We do find a block of large detailed murals and then an arcade game hall and library which we assure the kids we will return to.
After stopping by a Giant supermarket for dinner bits and also some food for Iceland it’s more games back at the hotel including light dinner and journal writing, beer in hand.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning I got up for a 3 mile walk along a Heritage Trail beside a river, spotting amongst others, three more groundhogs. To the delight of the kids, breakfast contains not just an automatic pancake maker but chocolate and caramel sauce, chocolate drops and sprinkles - they’re finishing this trip on a (sugar) high.
School work in the room, though Seb struggles, so Sienna and I pop out to Perrydell Farm in South York, a dairy farm where several dozen adult cows mill in a barn and a dozen or so one and two month old calves are set on straw, happy to be patted by a thrilled Sienna, even when they are trying to eat her jumper. Having bought milk and ice-cream from the farm shop, I introduced Sienna to the idea of food miles - total distance travelled for this ice-cream is about 150 metres.
Meanwhile Seb has surged through his schoolwork so we all drive into York, Kate and Sienna spending time in the library. Three floors of it, with an expansive kids section. Not sure we’ve hit a dud library yet.
Seb and I invest $10 each for an hour in Timeline Arcade, two rooms filled with arcade games from the 1980’s to today. Seb takes a shine to car racing and snowboarding, the only shooting game he wants to try is GhostBusters, plus a few rounds on pinball machines and air hockey. He is bouncing with happiness as we leave and I think Sienna is just as happy with her time in the library.
After some giant Pretzels at Maggie’s Soft Pretzels it’s down time in the room and more pool in the lobby along with dinner and a final game of giant Jenga.
Wednesday
Our final day in America and like yesterday I went on an early walk along the river - no groundhogs today, but several deer in the woodland and a pair of large bald headed eagles perched atop a tree.
It’s another plate of pancakes for the kids loaded up with chocolate drops. Sienna powers through her schoolwork while Seb…. stumbles through. Eventually we checkout and jump in the car to visit a house that is in the shape of a shoe - like something out of the Mr Men books, unable to go in, but yours for $450 / night.
We drive onto a playpark where one of the current favourite activities is running around part of the park whilst being timed; lookout little toddlers if it’s Seb’s turn. Lunch is back at Cheddars next to our hotel for a large rack of ribs that is easily enough for Kate and I to share.
Whilst we’re already checked out of Tru Hotel that doesn’t stop us spending another hour or so in the open plan lobby playing pool or colouring in.
Around 4 pm we finally leave for good, driving down to Baltimore Airport, where after a brief play the kids are allowed their first McDonalds of the US trip, happily munching on a triple cheeseburger.
We briefly see Dave, Lauren, Charlotte and Olivia who are there to catch their own flight to the UK, say our farewells for a second time and then we’re clambering aboard our IcelandAir aeroplane - which much to the delight of the kids has TVs in the seats. As the cabin lights dim down and people drift off to sleep all we can hear is Seb laughing at his movie as we leave America behind.
