basingstoke2

ninasdream, It was wonderful meeting you, when I read your posts you will no longer be an abstract. The hotel is:

http://www.hoteldanube.fr/en/

It has four classes of rooms. IMO the superior rooms are the best, I like them better than the higher priced class - they have more charm and are a good size.

YankyGal

One squash salad recipe coming up. (You can either sign up for a free trial OR try the other variations in the sidebar, which aren't blocked!)

https://www.cookscountry.com/recipes...ated_content_1

What a pleasant afternoon! Thanks to santamonica and santamonica's DW for hosting. As people have already said, it's so much more conducive to conversation than a restaurant would have been. And yes, the food was fantastic! Great to see the GTG regulars, and to meet new ones. I love what a wide variety of travel (not just places, but styles) we get to hear about at these gatherings.

Thanks to Fodor's for the stuff!

basingstoke2

ninasdream - we also spoke of apartment rentals and the experience I had using VacationinParis.com

TDudette

Ditto to everything above. It was a wonderful GTG. I agree, it is so much easier to visit in a home. And the food was astounding. Thanks, YankyGal for the recipe. If anyone else wants to share recipes please do so. I only wish we'd thought to make labels for the food!

Here's the group shot:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/32219995@N07/

MarnieWDC

Photos notwithstanding, it was a delightful GTG and an oh so yummy lunch. My thanks added to those above to the Santamonicas, Yestravel and DDudette. And to Fodors.

So great to meet (or meet with) you all.

Elizabeth_S

It's been fun to read of the event (and see pics) - so wish we could have been there. Next year! (MarnieWDC - so sorry to miss you!)

TDudette

Forgot to mention, ninasdream, Snow Hill and Princess Anne are nice County Seats in your area as well as Cambridge and Easton that I mentioned on Sunday.

If you travel even further north on the Shore, add Denton and Chestertown (especially Ctown) to your visiting list. Elkton would be the most north but I'm not familiar with it. In the early 1900s, it was a place where folks eloped as there was no waiting period.

Again, nice meeting and talking!

Dyer

The "group shot" of the attendees was fun to look at. It shows that fodorites are a fun, interesting and good looking bunch of people. I know I sure like to read the lounge and learn, so I want to thank Fodors for providing the Lounge.

ninasdream

Thanks basinstoke, for some reason I kept typing in dedublin, I couldn't remember "danube", thanks also for the apt rental site. I can daydream of choosing between France/Belgium and Italy!

Tdudette - thanks a bunch for all the exploration ideas. I have been to a Chamber of Commerce function in Snow Hill, and met 3 B&B owners, which was fun. I haven't been to Princess Anne yet, but have applied for positions at the University there. Thanks for the other towns, I circlec them on my glovebox map!. And it sounds like Maryland has its own Gretna Green!

On the yummy desserts - the almond cake, the cherry pie, so good...and who made the choc. chip cookies? just how I like them, flat and crispy. I've long given up on baking them.

And who made the savory pie that looked like sweet potato but tasted like curry? that was a nice surprise.

ninasdream

dropped a "g" there, basingstoke2, sorry.

basingstoke2

No problem Nd. Why not do some of both France and Belgium? The ViP apartment we rented is #176 and although not fancy was comfortable and a convenient location, steps from all kinds of public transport and an easy walk to Notre Dame.

ninasdream

yes, Basingstoke, that's exactly the plan! But still, for 2016 may decide to explore some part of Italy that I haven't seen.

basingstoke2

It is hard to go wrong with Italy!

bankbabe

Yes, indeed you do have my mom's salad bowl,Santamonica. I had it in that Chico's bag and set it down before we took the photos and just left without it. Oh well. You can have it, or I can get my sister to go over to your haouse and pick it up. I would have contacted you while I was still in town, but Sunday flew right by with my mom - (minor trip to ER for a fall).

She probably cannot even lift that wooden bowl anyway, so you are welcome to keep it.

I had a fantastic time and agree with all the above reviews! Great people, great food and great fun on a dreary day! Thanks again to santamonica and Mary, TDudette and Yestravel for arranging. I made it back to Charlotte OK yesterday.

glover

Mr Glover and I had a great time as well - reconnecting with some and meeting others!! And eating all that great food.
Thanks to the Donnas (dona and donna) for organizing and to Mary and Greg for hosting - a lovely new DC Metro area we'd not explored before!

Plus - I love my Fodors Italy book and luggage tags!
Perhaps we will be inspired to get back to Italy - only one trip for one of us wwwaaayyyyy too long ago.