8/10/2012
Anniversary time again! One happy couple, two people in
love, three funny kids, four wonderful years – and a fifth trip to Marietta, of
course.
We started our day at the Antique Mall. We didn’t buy anything,
but the owners gave Daniel and Philip lollipops for free. Thanks!
I thought that by now we had seen everything there is to
see in Marietta, but thanks to a quick flip through a visitor’s guide we
discovered a whole section of town we never even knew existed. In fact, “Old
Harmon” is technically the historic district. It’s a little more rustic than
the rest of town, and features a walking bridge hanging over the Ohio River. An
old train has been converted into Whipple’s Whimsical Toys – a store that sells
old-fashioned toys. (No batteries required, they proudly claim.) I’m not sure
who had more fun here, the kids or the parents.
As we were leaving Whipple’s (presumably named for
Abraham Whipple, by the way – the amazingly-named local Revolutionary War hero)
an unholy downpour began. This was the kind of terrible experience that is
magically transformed into a fun one when accompanied by a couple of kids
who’ve never been caught out in a storm like this. Soaked to the bone, we
weren’t really able to explore more of Old Harmon. (I really wanted to take the
kids out on the bridge.) This “new territory” gives us something to look
forward to next year.
By now, it was almost time for our reservation at
Austyn’s. (We learned our lesson from last year, when we couldn’t get a seat.)
When we arrived the waitress informed us that their air conditioning was
broken, so they would have to seat us upstairs. That sounded good to us. We
didn’t even know they had an upstairs.
As usual, the service was impeccable. We got an appetizer
(crab eggrolls. Yum!), two of the pricier meals for us, and a meal for the
kids. The bill was less than $50, and the meal was as amazing as ever. (Wasabi
mashed potatoes! Yahoo!) I gave Daniel a bite of my ahi tuna. He said, with a
big smile, “Yum! A woof woof would like that!” By his tone, it was clearly
supposed to be a compliment, but I didn’t repeat it for the chef.
Strangely, when we entered the restaurant Daniel
immediately asked for pizza. I’m certain we hadn’t mentioned to him this was
the first place he ever had pizza. That was years ago now. Could he possibly
remember?
When we left Austyn’s the rain had stopped and the
“Artists and Merchants Walk” festival we attended last year was beginning. All
the stores were open late and free popcorn and water was readily available. We
strolled around, taking a break only to buy the kids some ice cream and listen
to a local bluegrass band. Tensions were strained between middle-aged woman and
teenager working the ice cream stand. When I ordered a cup of ice cream, the
boy accidentally gave me a cone. Woman got mad, but boy insisted she said cone.
Woman then reminded boy to hold the spoons the right way before he gave them to
me. The next guy in line then ordered a cup. “A CUP, NOT A CONE!” says woman.
Kathleen needed some milk, so we stopped into a coffee
shop. It was empty except for the guy working there and one customer. The
customer was playing with her phone, talking excitedly to the coffee shop guy
about what she was doing and saying weird things like, “I just tricked this
thing into thinking I was born in 1897!” Coffee shop guy never said anything,
but just stared in obvious horror.
The bouncy castle was back, but this time it was free.
Laura gave the people $2 anyway. Daniel bounced through with little trouble.
Philip got confused getting started, so the lady said I could go in there to
help him. He had great fun, and luckily got the hang of it – at least, he did
better than me. I could see people on the street staring in at me with disgust.
(From their perspective, it must have looked like I was just in there on my
own!) Before I got to the end I slipped and bounced through a hole in the side
and unexpectedly onto the grass, flat on my back. Not my proudest moment.
Meanwhile, the local paper had interviewed Laura about why we were at the
festival and took a picture of Daniel. My wife, the celebrity. My son, the
model.
We explored all of our usual haunts, although the town is
starting to change a bit. “My Favorite Things” still has the creepy dolls. (I
heard another guy talking about them, so it’s not just me.) However, when we
got to “The Tin Rabbit” we found the building closed and empty. This made us
pretty sad. The crabby old lady we loved did not look in good shape last time
we were here. We hope she’s ok, but if not, we’ll remember her. Barking Dog
Books has moved a little down the street into a bigger location. This must mean
they’re doing well, but the new space doesn’t have the same charm. (Don’t
listen to me. They deserve a nicer store – I just don’t like change.) The
owners recognized us. I told them that the insect book they gave us last year
is still the boys’ favorite book. The kids have a lot of books, but they have a
special love for that one, for some reason. They ask for me to read it
constantly, and when we’re playing outside and they see a bug they want to get
the book to see if it’s in there.
We ended the evening by walking down the riverfront,
watching the boats glide by. Laura fantasized about living in that one house
across the river. Kathleen started at the sloshing ripples, while the boys and
I climbed rocks on the shore.
It was getting late, so we loaded the kids back into the
car. When I put Philip in he started a strange soliloquy. It was mostly
baby-talk, so I’m not sure what he was meaning to say, but he seemed deadly
serious. At the end of his speech he said, “Thank you, Daddy. Thank you,
Mommy.”
Goodbye, again, Marietta. You’ve changed a little, but
then again, so have we.
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