small.town.girl

Sunday morning came far too fast. We woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking, and when I emerged from the bathroom, my birthday presents were waiting for me on the bed. Dan, of course, did a fabulous job. He framed a picture of us before our He Said Beer / She Said Wine dinner and one of my favorite pictures that he took on one of our outings (and he got frames that were my style, too). He also got me the Dandy Warhols vinyl that I had drooled over–and it’s signed! The mix CD that came as part of my gift beat the mix I’d made him in August, but I wouldn’t know that until the drive home from his house that evening.

Breakfast was delicious again, and Dan found the berry bread pudding particularly enjoyable. I’m not a berry person, but I appreciated that it was a treat for those who were. Neither of us are really outgoing around strangers, so we mostly listened to conversations at breakfast rather than starting them. Sure, when someone spoke to us, we would answer, but we didn’t go out of our way to be chatty. This was, after all, our first bed and breakfast experience. We’ll work on that. People automatically assumed we lived together and were somewhat perplexed when we independently answered the “where are you from?” question.

Before we left, we wanted to try our luck with the dock again. We grabbed our books and headed down to the bay. The chairs on the dock were still damp with dew, but we sat on the platform and read in the peaceful morning sunshine, savoring every last moment we could. We watched swans and sailboats in the distance, and noticed bald eagles flying overhead. We were alone, but surrounded by the warmth of nature. The beauty was practically spiritual. Sounds kind of corny, but to me, it was surreal. I should note that Dan is part of the reason I appreciate nature so much. Around the time we started dating, I was going hiking a lot and I’m not sure if it was subconsciously done to try to impress him or because I was stircrazy from unemployment. He’s also done wonders for me to stop hating bugs. So to be sitting with him on the edge of the Chesapeake was wonderful, even when I knew there was a huge spider living on a web below the dock.

Of course our vacation had to end eventually… We hauled our bags out to the car after coming back from the dock with rosy sunburned cheeks. We shyly approached our innkeepers to pay our bill and were greeted warmly. I’m not really a “hugger,” but I accepted hugs from Joann and Jim with only mild awkwardness. They chatted with us a bit, and–like people at breakfast–were surprised that we don’t actually live together. I guess to a girl like me, it seems nice that I can be mistaken for someone who’s engaged or married or at least living with someone. It does help me feel as though I might actually be 25. Our hosts asked us to write about our stay on TripAdvisor, and I’ve been drafting a post for quite some time. I genuinely want to promote their establishment because the atmosphere was so much warmer than anywhere else we may have considered staying. We said our goodbyes to our hosts, and as we walked out to the car, we paused to say goodbye to the dogs.

Since I hadn’t given Dan a glimpse of anything in Chestertown save a quick walk around campus and my friend Sarah’s yard, we made a few stops there before heading home. We drove through the downtown area where a lot of change had occured since my time as a student. The biggest change being the closing of my favorite bar, which is another story for another time. One of our stops included campus so I could see my “little sister.” She was laying on the green with her friends and while we talked, the awkward feeling came back. At 25, I didn’t belong on that college campus anymore. I felt like I’d outgrown it. Lunch at one of my favorite strip mall restaurants, Luisa’s, was also a little bit awkward for me, although I definitely ate a ton of my favorite seafood marinara.

The whole experience, in retrospect, was bittersweet. Mostly sweet. Every moment spent with Dan in Rock Hall was special, even when we walked back to my car after our sunset cruise to see that we’d left my headlights on. I can truly say that every moment we were there was a happy one. However, being with him also made me realize that my life is completely different now. It’s not even the milestone birthday, it’s just who I am.