I love my city

If you have never been to Marietta, Ohio before, I suggest you come to visit. It is beautiful, historic, comfortable, family friendly, and did I mention beautiful? Scott and I took our babies for an afternoon and evening having fun outside, and it just made me remember why I love this place. The storefront-lined streets beckon you, and the rivers that line the town will entrance you (just don't swim in them, or you'll grow a third arm). This is a place where people live because they want to. Where at any time of day you will see people walking along looking in stores; or running, walking, or biking along the bike trail and through the park. Where you can go and have a picnic at the gazebo and watch the squirrels run. Where you complain about the intense humidity of a river town, but know you love living here anyway. This is not a hot spot beachy ocean town. It is not a lake town with multiple canals and river-front multi-million dollar houses lining them. It is a historic, river lined, sleepy cozy friendly town. Here was our fun time in pictures. First, if you look past the big cars, you can see a small snippet of the store fronts that line the streets.



After playing in the park (which I will post pictures of later, in order to keep this post semi-short), we came downtown to walk around. Libby couldn't resist playing in the fountain, trying to touch the water. Inevitable, every summer, someone will put soap in this fountain and it will overflow with bubbles.

Next, we went down to the water to get a closer look at the geese. Libby has a love-hate relationship with those things. She got as close as she was comfortable with, and didn't go any further.

There is something about watching the water that is so relaxing. There is almost always a person or two sitting down here, just watching the boats and birds on the water.

When we were ready to eat, we ordered a couple of burgers from a new little bar and grill on the river. Libby decided to sit in the grass while we waited for out food. Once we sat down and started eating, the birds came and hounded up for scraps. I couldn't believe how bold these little guys were! They even snuck up under the bench we were sitting at and got a fry or two that had fallen.

Just as we were finishing up with our food, a couple came up in full Scottish garb and starting playing music. The guy was wonderful with the bagpipes, and the lady did alright with the drum. It seemed that she was more interested in swinging her sticks around than keeping a beat. Still it was nice to listen to, and immediately drew a crowd. But, the very best part, and the part that made Scott say, "Boy, this is quite a town.", was right before we left. A muslim looking family (I don't know their exact origin, but they looked Muslim) came up to listen to the music. One of the guys went up and stood in between the kilt wearers and had another guy in his family take a picture. We had a chuckle as I snapped a quick shot and we headed back to our car. I love this place!

What about you? Tell me what you love about where you live.