Annapolis Part Deux

Yesterday was a lovely, warm day. It was a nice break from the freezing, rainy days we've had lately and so Paul and I loaded the girls up and headed to Annapolis. We had two motives...to sightsee and to shop! And let me just be straight up, I was more excited about the latter. I really like to shop. I do. It's a sickness. I don't always buy things when I shop, sometimes I'm merely making mental notes. This was the case yesterday.

We went to Crate and Barrel. Angels sang as we walked through the doorway. Why? I'll explain...

Paul and I are polar opposites. He likes warm, I like cold. He likes salt, I like sugar. He likes to watch sports on TV and I like to be where the action is. He likes to stay home and I like to go out. He likes all things modern and I like traditional.

photo by Apartment Therapy

That's why Crate and Barrel is the PERFECT store for us. It's traditional, yet modern all at the same time. The pieces would work well with a really contemporary motif as well as something a bit more classic. So, Paul and I found that we have one thing in common...Crate and Barrel. We will hinge our marriage on this fact forever more. Well...not really, but at least if we're mad at each other we can hit up a C and B and mentally redecorate our home to put us back on the same page.

After our revelation at the Annapolis Mall, we headed downtown in search of cupcakes and good photo ops. The cupcakes were a bust because the little cupcakery I've been dying to try was closed but we got some icecream instead and ventured out in search of lovely things to take pictures of. And there were lots...

I love Annapolis. It's a quaint little town on the water with brick laid sidewalks and cute, colorful townhomes all in a row. It has a colonial feel along with it's obvious nautical aspect. It's a family oriented yet trendy city where people are out with their jogging strollers and dogs. Dogs everywhere. There's old taverns in the buildings that are a century old and cute coffee shops. You're bound to run into a dozen midshipman on any given weekend as the Naval Academy is right there on the water thus giving the whole experience a subtle patriotism as well.

The air is crisper in Annapolis. Walking down the back streets all lined with 100 year old townhomes takes my imagination to a different place. A place where people still get around in horse drawn carriages and women wore long dresses and bonnets when venturing out to Mainstreet Market. Men worked on the docks and came home smelling like fish and the children ran down the brick streets with home-made sling-shots while they're mothers called to them to keep their knickers clean.

I could seriously sit on a bench by the water all day in Annapolis, watching people go by and taking in the salty air.

Paul likes Georgetown better.

Naturally.