Tea Party

I'll try to be a little more upbeat with this post.

Tomorrow Em and I are making the looong trip up to Delaware/New Jersey.  The reason we are going up tomorrow instead of next week is because this weekend is the Tea Party in Chestertown, MD. 

Ok- brief history ...My parents were born in and grew up in Chestertown, and I was born in Chestertown and lived there for a little bit, until my mom got pregnant with my sister and then we moved to Wilmington.  So, my entire family lives in C-town.  All four grandparents, all of my aunts and uncles (except for an uncle in Idaho) and all of my cousins live in Chestertown (or close-by surrounding towns).  There's a college in Ctown - Washington College, which is a private liberal arts college.  When I was younger, in the summer I would go to softball day camps there, and eventually, I had a friend who went there so I used to go to parties and other events. 

Okay - back to the Tea Party.  So, ever since I was little, I've been attending the Chestertown Tea Party celebration/festival/extravaganza.  Basically, everyone remembers the Boston Tea Party - well apparently, the same kind of thing happened in Chestertown.  Atleast, that's how the story goes..and they re-enact it every year, and the streets are lined with vendors and tents with craftspeople and fun stuff for kids to do.  Up until a few years ago, that was all we did.  But, when I got a little older, I started going to the Raft Race, which is the day after the big celebration.  People build these craazy themed rafts and race them around the river.  A lot of them end up sinking before they hit the finish line!  The last few years, we've gone out on my uncle's boat to watch the race.  I think this year we're doing the same, or maybe meeting up with a few of my cousins.  We'll see.

I'm excited for Em to see the Tea Party.  It's not so much about the actual Tea Party for me anymore.  When I was a kid, I was just overwhelmed with all of the toys and food and games.  But now, what I really enjoy, is just spending time out on the boat in the sun and getting to see all of my family.  

Time to pack...