Recently, I went away for a weekend with three of my friends! My husband was going on a four day backpacking trip to the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in Ohiopyle with three of his friends from college, so this was a perfect excuse to take a ladies trip! We all live in pretty different places at this time in our lives, but everyone met by being bridesmaids in my wedding a few years back. We live in Pittsburgh, Latrobe, Mountain Top (near Scranton), and Virginia. I wanted to find something central, fun, and on a budget. We ended up in Walkersville, Maryland at an Airbnb. If you haven't used Airbnb before, you should seriously check it out! It's the only way we get to go see and do so many things in so many places!
Walkersville is only about fifteen minutes from Frederick which was adorable and had a ton to do. I started my journey to Walkersville by meeting my friend Brandi so we could drive together. We arrived at the same time as our friend Ashley, and about an hour later Chelsea arrived! We all did the thing that girls do when they haven't seen each other for a long time.. order pizza, drink wine, and talk, a lot. Are we the only ones? We tried to catch up on so many things from each others lives in a short period of time. Once it got late, we piled into one bedroom to share a bed and an air mattress. Mind you, there were enough sleeping spots in the Airbnb for probably five people not including floor space, but what's better than a sleep over!
The next morning we woke up, couldn't figure out how to make coffee, made a Dunkin Donuts run, ended up with coffee and donuts, and chatted as each of us took turns getting ready. We eventually made our way to Thurmont to visit the Springfield Manor Winery & Distillery. None of us are really "wine people", but three of the four of us have never been wine tasting before, so we figured this was a prime opportunity. We tasted wine just long enough for the rain to clear up so we could eat pretzels with beer cheese outside with sounds of the live folk band playing on the porch. Before heading to our next location we walked around the outside of the manor scoping out the gorgeous fields leading into mountains that met the insanely blue sky. I of course grabbed my camera to snap photos of the girls since I don't usually get an opportunity to photograph them! You can learn a little more about each friend and our story below!
Ashley is bubbly, emotion-filled, and enthusiastic. Her free-spirited soul and jovial demeanor always puts a smile on my face, even now as I write this! Ashley and I were supposed to be roommates freshman year of college, but wasn't really the case, but we were throwers on the college track team together! We spent an absurdly wonderful amount of time together freshman and sophomore year, and Ashley transferred to a school closer to home before junior year. Despite the distance, Ashley and I have remained close, and she holds the titles of honorary roommate and Maid of Honor. I am thankful for her presence in my life.
Brandi is logical, mature, and calculated. She's caring, honest, and realistic even in the toughest of moments. When she was a sophomore in college, she was my freshmen Bible Study leader. We ended up being on leadership for our campus ministry throughout the rest of college, and lived together in a house full of seven girls my junior and her senior year. She has been the sturdy ground in many situations and I am truly grateful for her and her spirit.
Chelsea is young at heart, fearless, and has an incredibly impressive skill of remembering things. She has always had a responsible, but care free way of living and exploring new ventures. Chelsea and I met on the bus before kindergarten, and have been friends ever since. We didn't have class together very much, but we spent a ton of time together outside of school. She is my longest standing friend, spanning around 20 years. We went from talking about beanie babies and school, to discussing adulthood and grown up people things. I've always appreciated her consistency in character and greatly value who she is.
