Sweet Baby in Baltimore

We took off last Saturday morning, March 29, 2014 to see my grandson and kids in Baltimore, Maryland.  It was an early morning flight and we only encountered one traffic light on our way to Dallas Love Field Airport. We got there and stowed our bags at the curb with the Skycap. I was lucky enough to get selected for TSA Pre, which meant that I didn't have to take off my belt or shoes.  This was great since I have a broken ankle and was wearing a boot!

We boarded Southwest Airlines Flight 672 and it took off  towards Baltimore.  The flight attendants were very nice but the bathroom in the front of the plane smelled like an outhouse that had been sitting in direct hot sun for about a week! One of the flight attendants said that it always smelled like that on morning flights, but I've flown many times and have never encountered such stench on a plane! I'm sure that it was left uncleaned for at least overnight.

We were greeted in Baltimore by dark grey skies and cold rain. What nasty weather!  We claimed our luggage and went to get our rental car, which was a GM Captiva with wonderful heated seats! We drove to the Hilton Garden Inn in Owings Mills, MD and checked in. We went to our room and relaxed for a while, then went to the Red Robin at the Restaurant Park a block down from the hotel to get some late lunch/early dinner.  We got an appetizer of onion rings on a tower with some dipping sauces, which was delicious!  Tegan Marie got a big burger and fries and I got a BLT with avocado and a bowl of chicken tortilla soup.  Tegan enjoyed her meal and I liked the soup, but wouldn't order the BLTA again.

After we finished eating, we went to visit with Nicole, Brandon and Branson at their townhouse in Eldersburg.. Branson is so chubby and adorable with his square face, big blue eyes and pouty little lips!  He has thick, light reddish-brown hair and big pink cheeks!  He looks like one of the Campbell's Soup kids!

We held him and he "talked" to us.  He smiled and cooed a lot.  I just loved rubbing his chubby little feet and kissing his chubby little cheeks!  Here's a cool set of animated pictures of me giving him an never-ending kiss on his chubby little cheek:

Love Those Chubby Cheeks!

Here's a picture of Branson sitting on Tegan's lap blowing bubbles:

Branson blowing bubbles with Auntie Tegan

We visited for a few hours and then headed back to the hotel. Since our last meal was much earlier, we went back to the Red Robin and got a large order of Towering Onion Rings and some dessert. Tegan got a Gooey Chocolate Brownie Cake and I got Double Berry Cheesecake.  The food was good but the service not the greatest due to the fact that it was late and the people working there wanted to go home.

We finished our dessert and headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed.  I have to say that the cold and rain truly had a bad effect on our trip this time. Unfortunately, Tegan Marie only brought some canvas flat shoes with knee high hose and her feet got soaked and were freezing. Understandably, this made her feel miserable!  I also wasn't feeling well and kept hacking due to my LPR. I hate getting my clothes and hair wet and had to keep putting my coat over my head to get back and forth from the car, which was not a pleasant experience!

We turned in and slept to around Noon, which was great!  We got up, showered and then went to the IHOP on Liberty Road right next to the Rite Aid where I used to buy Justin's diapers. The service and food were excellent!  Sarah, our waitress took really good care of us!  Part way through our meal we noticed that the rain was starting to look thick.  Next thing we knew, it was snowing outside!  Yes, snowing on March 30th!

We finished our meal and then went to the Payless Shoes Store next door to get Tegan some warm shoes.  Next was the Rite Aid for some drinks and warm socks. Then we headed over to Nicole and Brandon's place to visit.  Here's a really cool animated picture of Tegan in .the snow outside of Brandon and Nicole's townhouse:

The Snow-globe Princess!

She looks like she's standing in a snow globe in this picture!

We visited with Brandon, Nicole and Branson until my son Justin arrived at 6:30 PM.  He gave me a beautiful bouquet of red roses and a card as a belated birthday present, which was very sweet!  Here's a picture of the roses:

Birthday Roses from Justin

We chatted for a while and then Nicole, Justin, Tegan and I headed to the Osaka Japanese Restaurant for some dinner.  We invited Brandon but he didn't want to go, so he stayed home with Branson.

We enjoyed visiting over our meal!  Here's a picture of Justin, Nicole and Tegan and I siting at the Hibachi table getting ready to eat dinner:

Family Hibachi Dinner

We finished our meal and then headed back to Nicole and Brandon's house and dropped off Nicole and Justin and then headed back to the hotel.  We stayed up for a while and talked and ate some ice cream bars, then we fell asleep.

We slept late the next morning again and then headed back over to the IHOP.  The bad weather and exhaustion of being away from home so much really started taking its toll right around this time!  We were just worn out and frazzled and everything was getting on our nerves!  We finished eating and then headed over to Nicole and Brandon's place. When we got there, Dave and Colleen Holsey, Nicole's in-laws were there.  They had stopped by to visit on their way home from Ocean City, MD.  We visited with them for a while and then they went home.  

We stayed a little while longer and then headed back to the hotel for a while and then went to have some Dinner at the Ruby Tuesday's down the road, then we turned into bed at the Hotel.

The next day Nicole called to say that the Holseys had invited us all to Dinner at their house. We met Nicole and Brandon at their place and followed them to the Holseys. Here's a cute picture of Branson all packed up and in his car seat and ready to go:

Branson is Packed Up and Ready to Go!

We had a nice visit at the Holsey's, especially with Dave's mother, Miss Bobby.  She is one of the sweetest ladies that I've ever met and reminds me somewhat of my own mother.  She's just recently recovered from a bad bout of C-Diff, which put her in the hospital several times.  I'm so glad that she's feeling better and is able to hold Branson now!

Dinner was a yummy lasagne with garlic bread and a glass of wine, finished with a delicious strawberry shortcake for dessert! We finished dinner and visited for a while, then headed back to the hotel to go to sleep.

The next day we packed up and moved to the Hilton Garden Inn at the Baltimore Washington International Airport.  We did this to be closer to the airport when we flew out the next day.  We drove back out to Eldersburg and visited with Brandon and Nicole and to play with Branson for the last time before we left. Then we returned to the Hotel and then went to Dinner at the Ruby Tuesday's about a mile down the road.  There was nothing special about the food there, to be honest.

The next day we got up and showered, then had a nice leisurely Breakfast at the Bob Evans right in front of the Hotel.  Then we dropped off the rental car and enjoyed our flight back to Dallas.  Over the course of the flight home, two different women gave us two drink coupons, so we each got two free drinks!  I guess we must have looked like we needed a drink, LOL!

We were very glad to get home.  I guess our visit must have tired out Branson.  Here's a picture that Nicole sent of him after we left.

Branson is Pooped from our visit!

Boy does he look pooped!  Just like Mimi and Auntie Tegs!  All in all, it was a very nice visit, despite the horrible weather and not feeling well!