October 12-October 31, 2020   Masks on Maryland-and not just Halloween Masks!

   October is one of my favorite months! Usually. Starting the very first day of October, all of the scary movies come out on tv and cable. And for the past 10 years, The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead start up their season-my favorite zombie apocalypse show that set off a whole lot more shows just like it. This year the show branched out and added 'The World Beyond' which I have not yet embraced. I have also been enjoying lots of spooky movies that I have seen a million times, as well as trying some new shows. Tom and I watched "Dystopia" on Amazon. It stars John Cusack and although started out a bit slow, about a young couple that find a rare comic book series that seems to be predicting the future, full of plagues, wars and devastation. Not to be confused with our current realty. Turns out we really liked the series. And Allison recommended a British story, called "Good Omens". Rather strange story about an angel and demon that are good friends. A cross between The Exorcist and Monty Python. A bit long and slow, but clever ending. 

And usually our family schedules a visit to Busch Gardens HowlOScream event in Williamsburg in October. For the past 2 years, Scott has flown home over his Fall School Break from Western Michigan to attend the event, full of Haunted mazes and houses, lots of spooky decorations and great food. He didn't have his Fall Break this October, and Busch Gardens did not schedule HowlOScream because of COVID. Instead, they decided to host a Halloween Harvest with Trick or Treating for kids dressed in costumes during the day and spooky, scary stuff scheduled for the evening. They had 4 hr scheduled reservation times on the weekends only during the month of October. On line reservations opened up in September. Allison was able to make reservations for Tom and I, our neighbor's Dan and Gloria, herself and her boyfriend Gabe whom we invited along(in lieu of Scott). Sorry Scott. Tom dropped off Cookie at our friend's house on Friday while I was at work. We all headed down in separate vehicles on Saturday Oct 17th. Tom was able to make hotel reservations without any problem. Tom and I arrived before lunch, actually checked into our hotel early and had lunch at a new BBQ restaurant next to our hotel. We were able to sit on the patio and eat and had a fabulous, tasty meal. Afterwards we walked around a local General Store while waiting for Allison and Gabe to arrive. They drove straight to olde town Williamsburg for lunch and some shopping. Gabe has never been down to the area, so Allison was acting as tour guide. She also finally got her ice cream at Kilwins(been trying all year in two different states!)but usually there was a long line. Since it was a bit colder out, there was no line for ice cream and she introduced Gabe to a family favorite. Meanwhile, Tom and I tried to find a parking spot to join them in town. We could not believe how crowded it was and finally Tom gave up and left after driving around the streets and few public parking lots with no open slots. There are also a lot less parking spots available since they closed off several streets to put out tables. I think Allison and Gabe got the last paid parking spot in the parking garage! We are guessing that the local University of William and Mary may have had a Homecoming Weekend event since there were so many college age kids out. 

Since Tom could not find parking, he took me over to a bike shop to check out an electric bike. I have been thinking about getting an electric bike since I am having so much trouble pedaling and keeping up with the rest of the family on the bike paths. They did not have a small enough bike for me to try out, but it was nice to see one in person and talk to the salesperson. We then headed to the hotel to catch up with Gabe and Allison. The Busch Gardens event did not start until 8pm. We had a few hours to fill, so I suggested hitting a few distilleries and breweries for taste testing that I noticed in a tour guide. There are a lot more microbreweries and wineries popping up in the area.  Gabe mentioned wanting to try Meade and there was one distillery that just made Meade(like beer with honey) and that's all they make. Plus you can buy just honey. So we stopped in and sat in their newly opened patio seating area and did a flight of meade for sampling. Definitely not Tom's favorite-too sweet for him. We just hope his comments did not overly offend the owner who was busy waiting on the guests! But it was fun sitting outside and trying something new, and Allison picked up some honey for herself. Then we tried a distillery that served rum, gin, whiskey and beer. Tom and Gabe tried the whiskey samples and I tried the gin. This place was a bit dingy and no seating outside, so we did not stay long. And their alcohol was pretty strong but not very tasty. And they were out of hot chocolate mixed drinks,  so after a few samples,  it was time to eat. We decided to stop into Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner since they had an outdoor patio. The meal was terrific and quick and we headed to the Amusement Park full of excitement. 

Sadly, the event was not what we hoped. First they really did not put up any of their decorations and they kept the park very dark. They did not open the park up fully-just half, and not our favorite half. Tom and Gabe managed to ride one of the favorite roller coasters but in the dark-they did not even bother turning on the lights. And they only had two coasters open, one with an incredibly long line. The darkness made it even harder to walk around the park with masks on too. They had scary characters in one area only, not spread throughout the park like usual. They did not even play the spooky music. Our friends Dan and Gloria had planned on eating dinner in the park, but the food choices were limited. We even had a hard time locating a pumpkin ale that Gabe was interested in and this is a park that was built on beer. They usually have multiple bar areas open with lots of choices, fun glassware, awesome Halloween desserts and meals, and lots of scary souvenir shopping including my favorite Halloween jewelry lady. She was not there, but our friend and painting artist, Carolee was set up. Dan actually bought one of her funky animal paintings-a small cow portrait for a coworker retiring from the FDA(they work on cows!). So we finished walking around half of the park and ended up chatting in a small bar area in the Ireland section where we found a pumpkin ale for Gabe. And we discovered that we were getting a 50% discount on any shopping items, so Allison was able to buy her Dragon coaster set. (she has picked up quite a few dragons for her collection at the little store in Ireland). So hoping next year we won't have COVID ruining our favorite holiday event. On Sunday after breakfast we all headed our separate ways. Tom wanted to get home early to pick up Cookie and get the yard work done. 

The following weekend Tom and I headed out on the road to continue research into electric bikes. The weather was terrific and I wanted to do some fall color touring. I mentioned a drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. We have never gone since we usually have activities scheduled. Tom talked to a coworker who said they spent a weekend doing the fall color drive on the Parkway which turned out to be a 4 hour traffic jam because of all the people. Definitely not worth it. The color is OK this year, but nothing spectacular. Most of the trees seem to be just dropping their dried up leaves before turning all the brilliant colors. Instead we checked out our local bike shop, then drove down to DC to check out electric bikes, and finally over to Frederick, MD for another electric bike shop. I was not having much luck finding a proper fitting bike, plus my hip is bad so I still have a hard time pedaling. And the prices are amazing, from $800 to $4000. I guess I am really looking for a moped! Although my bike shopping was not terribly successful, we did enjoy our drive from DC to Frederick along the 270 through western Maryland. We still got our color tour, and after shopping in Frederick we headed to the historic downtown area for lunch at a table out on the closed off streets. Don't think we have much more time for outdoor eating as it gets colder and darker when we fall back. 

Since Scott did not come home for his fall break last weekend, I did not have my Halloween decorating assistant. I  put out some decorations, but Tom did not want me to go all out since we did not plan on passing out any treats. Our neighborhood is planning on giving away prewrapped goodie bags, but Tom feels that even putting out goodie bags is risky, and worries about kids making a mess or taking too much, or spreading COVID. So no Trick or Treating at our house. Turns out, 120 houses in our neighborhood pre planned trick or treating at the curb. There were lots of tables set out and candy shoots to keep social distancing. I had to work that Saturday, but got home in time  watch the trick or treaters make their way through the neighborhood. I took a quick shower and helped prepare dinner for our neighbor's Dan and Gloria who came over for a more formal Halloween dinner(minus the dining room). We tried to keep the house dark and hide in the back, but we still ended up with kids coming to the door. Guess we have a good reputation for passing out awesome candy! Tom even put up a sign in the yard on Friday to let people know we would not be passing out candy, but it was too wordy and you couldn't read it when driving by. I told him a big note saying "Wife has COVID! No Candy" would have worked. Especially since I had to evaluate a COVID patient at work that day. We have been pretty lucky and COVID free since August, but it seems to be picking up a bit again. 

Decorating for Halloween actually started way back in September as well as the stores stocking up on candy and selling spooky stuff. Many people were still going all out with decorating. I am surprised they haven't put their Christmas decorations out yet since the stores are busy putting up Christmas trees and lights already. We enjoyed our Halloween meal with our neighbors, complete with chocolate martinis for dessert. And then we sat down to watch "Antebellum"-a new movie release. It was quite confusing for the first hour and 45 mins. Tom and Dan were falling asleep. Gloria and I were just trying to figure it out until the very end. Not as clever as "Get Out" which I recommended for the night time entertainment. Tom thinks that would have been a better choice. I would have been happy with a bowl of chili and a movie and bonfire outside, but it was pretty chilly that evening, and as Scott pointed out, we needed to lay low to keep the trick or treaters away. 

I did however buy a new fire pit just in case. I was surprised I even found one online for a good price. Most have been sold out all year for people staycationing at home in their backyards all summer. My previous fire pit was purchased back when I had my Girl Scout Troop during their high school years. It finally rusted through with one last bonfire in the backyard. Tom had been trying to schedule an outdoor dinner party for his work friends, Nishay and her sister. They had Allison and Tom over for dinner outside their house last month and Tom wanted to repay them. He was having trouble finding an evening during the week when everyone was available and the weather was still nice. He finally scheduled a dinner date-mainly carry out kebabs and naan bread with brownies for dessert! And a very nice bonfire, but it finished off my fire pit. 

We usually schedule a trip to college as well for Homecoming and Parents weekend mid October. The past two years we have been visiting Scott at Western Mich. Last year it was just Allison and I since Tom was traveling for work. We drove up on a Friday and returned on Sunday. We had a wonderful time visiting with Scott with a very full day of activities. We dragged Scott to the Western Homecoming football game. I especially loved the entertainment before the game by the marching band as they headed onto the field and we followed along. Allison and I were enjoying the game, Scott not so much. We agreed to leave after halftime(of course when our team started scoring!). But we promised Scott a trip to a local apple cider farm which was a whole lot of fun-picking apples, eating donuts and drinking cider, and then a night ghost tour at a local cemetery where we learned alot about the history of Kalamazoo. So not this year, but hoping for next year!

For now, Scott just has to enjoy my weekly care packages. He is keeping up with his mostly online classes and wrapping up the labs. He was supposed to visit a local manufacturing plastic plant as one of his lab assignments but the company is closed to visitors during COVID. And enjoying his Halloween decorations. He actually carved one of the tiny pumpkins and drew an incredible Disney Haunted mansion with a computer program. He's also enjoying an early birthday/Christmas gift-a new bifold phone/computer/camera. It's come in handy for his schoolwork on the fly. His D and D club has still not opted for an online weekly gaming or in person so he does end up spending a lot of time cooped up in his dorm room. So its nice to have some extra distractions to stay busy besides school. And he's atually looking at the Spring schedule already!

Allison seems to be keeping busy with her group of friends, even when they don't actually get together as much as they'd like. Plus her new job is time consuming as she still learns the new position all from home. She did take a weekend after getting back from Busch Gardens to visit her college friend Jen in Salisbury. She stayed at her apartment with her fiance and they had fun visiting the Salisbury zoo, carving pumpkins and catching up on spooky movies together. She even stopped over to take Cookie for a walk and give her a bath before we headed to Williamsburg. Wish she could do it more often since I usually have to work late and don't get a chance to get Cookie out for her daily walks. 

Tom however has started going into work since he is assigned to a high security project, with a small break when someone tested positive for COVID. He also finished up his last class but was hoping to spend more time working on his own thesis. Instead he had to review other students theses for the class. During his down time however he is focusing on his own work.  

I've done a few things online myself. Not by choice. I skipped our virtual Girl Scout choir practices. Just not my thing. I don't mind showing up in person to help out with the newbies, but its just not the same singing in front of a computer screen. I did have a virtual meeting with our broker from his house one evening. He has not been into his office since March. I need him to switch over another 401 K since I have switched employers again. We won't start working for the new company until January but we are slowly winding down with this company. I was a little annoyed to hear that they may not allow us to have the continuing education money we are supposed to have each year. I was looking into purchasing an expensive cognitive assessment that I have wanted for a long time. Now they are trying to pull out on that deal. We also continue to be very busy at work with me spending about 9 hrs a day since we are low on staff and the facility keeps pulling in extra patients while the COVID numbers are down. One of our Physical Therapists has had enough and decided to quit and return to her family in the Philippines. We had a lunch buffet to wish her luck, as well as celebrating Bosses Day with a breakfast buffet. It's nice to do some normal activities. 

I finally got a day off during the week while working Saturday. Tom and Allison were also off that day, so we had lunch outside with Allison at a nearby burger place. Afterwards we discovered a newly remodeled German restaurant in an old house around the corner from her place with a coffee shop upstairs. We stopped in for coffee to go since we already had lunch, and then went to Allison's place to watch Disney's release of The Mandalorian's new season. We'll have to give the German place at try. Especially since we missed Octoberfest!