My new go-to relaxation spot

I spent this weekend in Annapolis with the cousin and his wife. I officially love going to visit them, and, despite my initial hesitation about Annapolis, Annapolis has become one of my favorite places to visit. There are a few different reasons why I enjoy it so much, but mainly I always have a great time there. And now, whether the cuz and his wife like it or not, they are stuck with me. :)

1.) Annapolis is close enough for a weekend away but far enough so that I can forget all about home and the stuff there. It only takes about 4 1/2 hours to get there (when traffic is ideal), and I'm able to completely bypass DC traffic. It's a super easy drive, and, since I love driving, it works out well.

2.) The cousin and his wife are awesome. Well, the wife is more awesome, but the cousin isn't so bad. This weekend, the wife made brownies at 9 at night simply because we wanted them. And before that she made an amazing dinner of fish and mushrooms and asparagus. It was awesome.

3.) Visiting the cousin means drinking and usually drinking a lot. This weekend, we were in the pubs by 10:30 on Saturday morning. We indulged steadily for the rest of the day, and, surprisingly, I went to bed totally sober. Which was a very weird experience, but whatever. We also made vodka gummy bears (which were awesome!), smoked cigars, drank whiskey, and played parchesi (or however its spelled).

4.) Crepes. Going to Annapolis means going to this amazing little crepe shop down by the water. It is ridiculous. I had a banana and peanut butter and granola and honey crepe this morning. Wow. The cousin had a reuben crepe, and the wife had something with sausage and cheese and egg and avocado. By all reports, they were amazing. I want to go back to Annapolis EVERY WEEKEND just to have one. Yum.

5.) Speaking of yum, I had two firsts this weekend end. I enjoyed my very first Irish coffee on Saturday morning followed by an amazing bowl of tomato whiskey soup. Wow. First, the Irish coffee. I hate coffee. I like the smell of it, but I've never liked the flavor. But add a some whiskey, brown sugar, and heavy cream and the coffee suddenly turns palatable. VERY palatable. The whiskey tomato soup was the best soup I've ever eaten. It was chunky and creamy and had the most amazing flavors. I've found a recipe online and will DEFINITELY be trying it out in the near future.

6.) Annapolis is pretty. And quaint. And I always take pictures while I'm there. In fact, I have some from this trip, but I haven't offloaded them from my camera yet, so they are forthcoming. Hopefully I'll get them posted tomorrow. We'll see. For now, I need to go to bed. It's been a long weekend, and tomorrow morning is approaching far too quickly.