Some Gillilands and a Ferguson go east
Some Gillilands and a Ferguson came to visit Mandi and me last week. They’re gone now, so I figure it’s safe to post some embarrassing photos of them. John came for the first weekend - Mike, Bette, and Nancy stayed about 10 days. The weather was perfect for that first weekend, as you can see in these photos from down on the Mall and on our deck:
After John went home, we hopped in the rented minivan (our 325 is a bit tight with 5 passengers and their luggage) and hit the road. It promptly started raining and didn’t stop until their last day here. Of course, there’s been a drought and we really needed some rain, but what luck! So, we drove to Lewes, Delaware, to stay in a house near the beach. The major attractions in the area are the beaches and the malls. A little rain wasn’t going to deter hardy Alaskans from going to the beach, so we drove down to Assateague. Maybe you haven’t heard of Assateague, but you’ve probably heard of the barrier island to the south, Chincoteague, from books such as Misty of Chincoteague. Ponies! Yes, there are ponies there (at least Nancy and Bette claimed it was a pony - I still think it was just a dirty, wet horse). The beach looked something like this when we opened our eyes, which wasn’t often with the wind blowing rain, sand, and salt into our eyes:
After that we mostly stuck to the malls and collecting pirate garb. We had a couple of shootouts with the Nerf-like guns we’d collected. Mandi claimed there’s some rule about shooting toy guns at faces but I’m pretty sure she made that up. We went to the beach again at Cape Henlopen, saw some crazy surfers, and got very wet when it started raining sideways. You’d think we’d have learned our lesson the first time. After Lewes we’d considered taking the ferry to Cape May but decided to drive up to Philadelphia instead. We had a nice lunch at Rouge, where you can find the best burger in the whole wide world. We wandered around Old City and ended up at this historic alley:
If you ever have a photo that you don’t think looks very good, try making it black and white, it never fails. Our final stop of the tour was a costume party at our friend Aliza’s house in Yardley, Pennsylvania. The whole family dressed up as pirates, which I figured would be fairly easy and fun for all. I think Captain Hook here pulled it off the best:
Happy Halloween and thanks to the Gillilands and Ferguson for visiting!
October 31st, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Hey Isaac and Mandi:
A finer post I have not seen in a bit. You guys are the master-posters! Really appreciate the report of the visit and the great photos. WOW, that looks like a storm! Debra says it was blowing 30 in Homer this morning. I guess that makes me feel good to be up here and working down in the “cave”. Anyhow, glad your visit with Bette and Mike and Nancy and John went well. You all look great and your friend Aliza, well, looks okay, too. The girls and Ben and Jess are out trick or treating and I am keeping the goblins from soaping the windows. Happy Halloween to all, Love, Pete
October 31st, 2007 at 8:38 pm
Hey Isaac and Mandi! Looks like you had a great visit from the Gilliland/Ferguson clan…..I love the Pirate picture.
Take care and hope you had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN night….
Love Mom
November 1st, 2007 at 6:36 am
That’s not Aliza in the middle - those two are the other pirates who showed up to the party. I added a shot of Aliza (cat woman) with Mandi and Ann. Ann’s husband couldn’t make it so she strapped a dummy onto her shoulder and taped on a print of her husband’s face, truly a classic.
Halloween was pretty quiet, either because it was a weekday or because the word’s out that we hand out fruit roll-ups instead of candy. I noticed there’s a pile of broken eggs in the street this morning but there’s no residue on the car or house so maybe they got dropped on the way to egging someone else.
November 1st, 2007 at 7:02 am
Awesome post. Sounds like a great visit. We had a fun Halloween. We will post some pictures of our pirate crew and princess soon. We had the most kids out in our neighborhood ever. It may be the unseasonably warm weather. None of us wore coats trick or treating. I don’t ever remember a Halloween this warm.
November 1st, 2007 at 10:13 am
isaac…i for one would really like to see and hear from you more often on the org. it’s always interesting and fun when you DO make an appearance! and, what you lack in frequency, you certainly make up for with quantity and quality. that’s another epic post…it’s like a Garrison Keillor episode. we were boarded by pirates last night, too…wedin-burpees pirates swashbuckled their way over here, along with a princess they had captured earlier (marina). well, back to it here…nuts day…sam’s football banquet is tonight, and we’re doing a 262 pic slideshow, plus a few other odds and ends. for good measure, sam’s parent-teacher conference is today, too. yikes. as a final note here - a BIG one - JAKE GOT HIS LEARNER’S PERMIT THIS WEEK! i’d love to regale everyone with horror stories about riding with him so far, but he wheels the truck around like he’s been driving for years! totally amazing, and i may start catching up on sleep during our driving sessions. l, j/d/gp P.S. lisa, if you get in a jam on posting your halloween pics, let me know. i’ve got some good ones of you guys and would be happy to post them (or email you the best of our pics). l,d