Of Ice-cream, Smithfield, and Friends :)

My big brother, Daniel, turned 21 last weekend! :) We had a huge surprise party for him and then went ice-skating. But it was also an ulterior motive...ahem... ;) Because we share many of the same friends, the Taylor family was invited, and since the Taylor family was invited, that meant that I would get to spend a chunk of time with Abigail, one of my dearest friends. I felt like it was my birthday. *smile*
Monday, I passenger-seat-drove her to downtown Historic Smithfield. No matter that most of the shops are closed on Mondays--we were determined to have a blast.

We began by discovering that small, historic towns don't wake up till at least 10 a.m. So we wandered down through a lumpy maze of "beautification projects" [another word for road-work] to Smithfield Station, and it was there I fixed the flash settings on my sister's camera and stopped looking like a ghost. 

Me attempting to look confident while trying to fix the said flash settings...

There are some stinkin' gorgeous homes in Smithfield, and if it were not for the fact that on the way down there all the pictures turned out phantom-like and eerie from the lighting, you would see more than these two:

An acquaintance of ours used to live in this doozy. :) I am vicariously rich, apparently.

The Mansion on Main B&B...

After spending all that time down at the Station we wended our way back to the main street. I had to teach Abigail what maracas were since she isn't the niece of a talented percussionist, but after I taught her, she was jammin'. ;) 

We wandered, therefore, for much of the morning, in and out of antique stores, up to doorsteps only to find the shops closed, into a pricey art gallery, into the Christmas Store, down back alleys...into old courthouses... ;) We stopped into the side-garden of the Olde World Tea Company and took some photos...

 

I have inherited the talent of not knowing what to do with my hands in pictures...

A Harriet Smith in the making. All I need is a Grecian dress and an ancient jar to hold.

She makes me laugh. :)

There was something incredibly dead and stiff laying on a bench, but I revived it by pulling it over to the Ice-cream Parlor. ;)

Soon it was very perky indeed, and ate a BLT with Great Relish. ;)

Afterward we got ice-cream and collapsed on a sunny bench, feeling the after-effects of the ice-skating and the morning's walk keenly. 

Sunny benches are also almost always sleepy benches. We had to squish to take a self-portrait. :P

I went for the double-scoop, this being the first time I wasn't broke and depending on Daniel to buy me ice-cream. It was chocolate and strawberry cheesecake. :) 

She stuck with Muddy Sneakers. :)

We talked about everything under the sun (literally, since we were sitting in a puddle of warm autumn sunlight) and we giggled over being asked where was a good place to buy pantyhose, and we ate our ice-cream, and made faces at chihuahuas who were raging mad, but stuck in a car. 

Abigail tried to woo Ben Franklin....

But I won him. ;) 

The sunshine was very bright, thus my scrunchy face, and Abigail's tolerating smile. 

A rather interesting picture of me kissing a toad and hoping he'd turn into something handsomer...but it didn't work out so well, because the owner of the shop came upstairs after us and stood there, and suddenly it didn't seem like such a great idea to be kissing her bejewelled amphibians in case she got it into her head that we ought to buy them. ;) 

Yes, be impressed at my attempt at artistic photography...and thank Abigail for crossing her ankles so sweetly. ;) It was my own effort at being like Sarah. But since I can't be a photographer and a writer and a butcher and a baker and a candlestick maker, that was my Swan-Song. ;)

Thanks for the loan of your camera, Sarah, and thanks Abigail for the great times we have together! :) 

        ~Rach

Family Outing to Williamsburg!

Yesterday we did *not* go to the Rendezvous reenactment because it was cancelled. We have had well over 20 inches of rain in Hurricane Irene (I'm beginning to think I live in Ireland!) and the field in which it was held was simply too flooded. They visitors' day might end up rescheduled for later this week--we'll see. :)
But of course we couldn't simply stay home after getting our hopes dashed like that, so we decided to go across the river to Colonial Williamsburg! It takes us about and hour and twenty minutes including the ferry-ride. (It's about an hour of driving) Our favorite ferry is the Pocahontas because it is so much larger than the others and it has a second level deck. But it was not to be. We found ourselves riding on the Surry. "A ferry is a ferry. But a large ferry..." to misquote Mr. Elton. ;) When we got to Williamsburg we found there was an art show going on. We watched some potters at their wheels (One little old man had such a cute British accent! :) and saw the wet-off-the-easel paintings of artists who had spent the morning in Plein Air--painting outdoors. One was so scrumptious! I dabble in painting but I'm not very good--my landscapes lack emotion. Actually, they lack the ability to look like more than scribbles and splotches. :P
We wandered around Duke of Gloucester Street for some time and my love of history was revitalized by actually standing on the ground that George Washington, Patrick Henry, and so many others had walked upon years ago. It is such an awe-inspiring experience!

(The governor's palace [!] and another random building)

We chased a fife and drum corps to no avail, for they were encamped at the end of the D.O.G. Street at the Capitol, and didn't feel obliged to come up our way. :P *Boo-hoo!* Fifes and drums inspire me with the feeling I would guess bagpipes would inspire in a Scotsman. I feel invigorated, inspired, and full of enough patriotism to burst. :) We were vexed and appalled at being bereft of the privilege of hearing them, so we put the children in the stocks. It was their fault after all. ;)

 

Isn't that a precious face? She looks so guilty. :P

 Abigail is rather *too* happy about being in the stocks. ;)

 Somebody's sleepy! *swoons and runs to kiss him* ;)

Then we rambled around the more modern shops...we passed the Fat Canary but hadn't the gumption (nor the money) to go in. :'[ That place has the best cheese and bread I've ever tasted! So we contented ourselves with the Wythe Candy Shop, and I cured my disappointment with a block of European Dark Chocolate made with all natural ingredients. Oh yes. :)

 Sarah and Anna sitting on a bench in the marketplace.

 

Gracie must be tired of waiting for Dad and I to get out of a store. :P

 We also visited Williams and Sonoma (GAH!) and I swooned over all the amazing kitchen things. Dad bought me a set of six miniature cheesecake pans for the bakery side of our business! YES! I think mini cheesecakes (about the size of a Texas muffin) will sell better than the full 9-inch cheesecakes.
My heart also pitter-patted and skipped a beat or two when I saw a store of all things Scotland! Now, girls, I know I haven't confessed this yet, so I guess now is the time. But "Scotland is my one weakness."

 

Oh, to be small enough to fit into these delicious clothes! (Or to have 3-800 dollars to buy them! :P)

 Wear plaid and you are my bestest friend. Know Scottish folk songs and I'll love you forever. Say you have Scottish blood and I'll burn with envy. (My family wasted a whole MacWilliams by being from the Irish strain! >:[ ) And I have always had a pet wish and hope that I'll marry a Scottish lad with the thickest of thick accents and a crop of chestnut colored hair. :) Well...it might seem too good to be true...but I met him yesterday.

He wasn't *quite* as handsome as I'd pictured him, and he seemed a little cold and distant, but he was Scottish, and that's all that mattered. ;)

We finished our day by driving 'round to all the spots Mama and Dad haunted as a young couple, and then took the ferry-boat home and crashed. It was a good day out as a family, though I felt like a *large* family...everyone was staring at us as we passed....haven't felt that way for a while...maybe it's because we scarcely ever go out as a complete family! (As it is we were missing Daniel who is only returning tonight from a posh stay at a 4 DIAMOND hotel in MO. :P) Ahhhh...we ought to take family outings more often.