The Bay

Long time readers know that I've often reminisced about The Bay and my years living at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. There's been more than one post waxing poetically about saying goodbye, about wonderful weekends, about life in general and about the literal and figurative piece of my life/heart that I left behind.

Not a month goes by that I don't think about it or long to be back there, even just for a visit. It's been just shy of 4 years. I've been there for business trips of less than 24 hours in Baltimore but nothing more.

The top 10 things I miss about The Bay:

1. The aquarium, even though I finally refused to take anyone there on a weekend. Far too crowded but a fabulous place.
2. The inner harbor, this is what having a harbor at teh edge of a city is all about. More than a few major east coast cities could take a lesson. Nothing like watching a ball game from Camden Yards. Nothing like it. Period.
3. Annapolis on any sunny weekend in the summer.
4. The Eastern Shore in the fall, especially St Michael's and Easton Maryland.  Mason's, a restaurant in Easton, has fabulous sandwiches and desserts to die for.
5. Vaccaro's in Little Italy.
6. My friends in and around HdG.
7. The fact that there were 4 true seasons and the falls and springs were longer, the winters shorter and yet there was still snow each year ;-)
8. The lawn's of Fort McHenry on the edge of The Inner Harbor, on a weekend afternoon.
9. Riding the motorcycle through the back roads.
10. Visiting Longwood Gardens

The Top 10 things I wish I had done when I lived there:

1. Watched the Friday Movie Night in the center of Littly Italy, the screen is the side of a tall building and the seats are your lawn chairs in the street.
2. Took a boat ride on a large sailboat, docked in Annapolis and learned to sail.
3. Visited the new section of the National Aquarium.
4. Saw a game at Ripken's Stadium.
5. Raised a daughter and suffered far less loss in those 5 years.
6. Stayed at a posh hotel room in the Inner Harbor, went to all you can eat dessert at Vaccaro's in Little Italy and in the morning watched the sun rise over the water.
7. Learned how to make crab pretzels. And yes, I am dying for one.
8. Let people get to know me better, sooner. A lesson I've carried with me ever since.
9. Saw the symphony play more than the one time we went. 
10. Enjoyed my time there even more.

I admit it. I miss The Bay. It's the only place that continues to call me back over and over again. I love the neighbors I have right now, I love living on the lake, I love being in New England, but I miss The Bay just as much.

Will I ever move back? I do not honestly know, but for that matter, I have no real idea what the future holds anyway.

I hope no matter what I'm doing, or where I'm doing it, that I love what I'm doing and where I have chosen to live. But in life, going back to where you once came from isn't always what you thought it would be. The people you were close to have moved on while you were gone, the places change and you change. Coming back to New England has been great, but there's a part of me that continues to wonder if you can ever really recapture the things you love from your past.

I struggle with this from time to time, in a greater sense I mean, not just about The Bay.

Time will tell. For now, I enjoy reliving the moments, closing my eyes and feeling the warm breeze off the bay on a lazy summer weekend.