Gathering of the Goddesses

An idea is born

The Gathering of the Goddesses’ weekend was born last year, when the four of us traveled to North Wildwood, NJ for a girl’s weekend in December.  The first weekend, last year, was supposed to be clear but cold.  Instead we ended up with a blizzard. The drive to the shore was treacherous.  The closer I drove to North Wildwood, the worse the weather and the roads became: blinding conditions, icy roads, and gusting winds.  It was really difficult driving.  Near the end of my commute, it was only me and the salt trucks sharing the road.

Despite the bad weather, we had an amazing and laughter-filled weekend. The experience was branded “Gathering of the Goddesses” – in honor of a gift Barb presented Marie (our  amazing host!).  It featured the four of us drawn on a plaque with our names, wild hair, and big smiles.  We loved it, and we loved our time together.   We adopted the phrase and promised to do it again very soon.

A tradition a born

This April was our second Gathering of the Goddesses weekend.  Our luck held fast. It was supposed to be a wet and miserable weekend, but instead the weekend turned out to be bright and sunny!  Apparently our travel plans thwart all predictions and result in opposite-world weather results.  But the fun never wavered.

A new tradition is born!

My three Favorite Things

Saturday we decided to go shopping.  After a leisurely breakfast, we piled into my car to go shopping.   That was when Marie asked if I planned to geocache this day, and Barb made the mistake of asked: “What’s Geocaching?”

And so Sue and Marie filled Barb in on Geocaching and the weird stuff I made them do on previous weekends. Naturally we had to find the nearest geocache to give Barb a first hand experience!  The first cache took us to the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary. We made a quick find and signed the log.

More Caching?

After the quick find, I thought we would return to our original shopping plans. But Marie kept pulling up the next cache and suddenly we found ourselves geocaching in the area for hours. We found a new playground for kids and adults, and the Lizard Tail swamp preserve park. Logs were signed and trails were walked.

Shopping

We then made our way to Teaberry Not Just Antiques and the Garden Greenhouse and Nursery shopping village, and the Woodland Village across the street. We strolled, browsed and shopped for a few hours.  We somehow managed to find something to purchase. I was lucky to land an olive wood cutting board on 50% discount. Deal!  And a lavender soap with a deep aroma I couldn’t resist. We strolled. We shopped. Weird fish spoon holders were purchased.  Bizarre giant can openers were acquired.  Who could ask for more? It is a good day when you struggle to fit everything into Nimbus.  =)

After posing before blooming trees and playing super-models with the portrait phone settings, we sought out sustenance. We found an adorable tiny Studibagel cafe. We grabbed some hot drinks and sweets and climbed up to the balcony seating.   I was charmed by the 50s theme of the building, and couldn’t resist photographing all the tiny details the store possessed.

Cold Brunch

The weather held off on the down pouring rain, but the cold winds were very present.  After a lazy Sunday morning, we all drove over to South Dock for brunch at the Surfing Pig.  I got an amazing crab cake sandwich while watching ducks rest on the boat dock.  The cold easily seeped through the garage door walls.  It was chilly!  I can’t wait until summer, when the late evenings will be relaxing and cool – and those garage doors are pulled opened – and the breeze off the bay is a welcomed treat!

 

 

The Four Nor’Easters

Barb has a penchant for nick-names.  She’s the one who gave us the Gathering of the Goddesses weekends, and then while remarking on the weird weather our weekends seemed to generate – she commented that we bring the Nor’Easters along with us.   Next thing you know, we’re nick-naming ourselves after Nor’Easter weather.

I’m inspired to do something with this new nick-naming invention.  It’ll be a surprise for our next Gathering of the Goddesses weekend.

 

 

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