When we first arrived in Annapolis after a 10-hour and 15-minute drive from Campbellsville, we went first to the local grocery store Giant to check it out and to get provisions. We were surprised to find out that our rented townhome at Mariner’s Landing townhouse complex was only a 2 minute-drive from Giant. It was also only approximately a 10-minute walk from a CVS and a Starbucks where David and I walked to for a drink one morning.

Upon entering the townhome, we were so unexpectedly delighted because the interior looked just like in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. After a long drive from home starting at 4:30 am that morning, we felt a morale boost when seeing the decor of the rooms in our temporary home at Mariner’s Landing.

The living room

David and the boys spent a lot of time here reading and resting. Our hostess provided us with many plush pillows and throws to snuggle into on the couches. David would come down here early in the mornings to read his book, which he had fallen out of habit of doing at home. We would play our board games and watch The Return of the King here. David introduced us to the board game Clue one rainy afternoon.

We had found an extended version of all the Lord of the Rings movies on HBO Max at home and had started watching them some months ago. Since we generally don’t have a lot of time for TV, it took us a few months to watch the three movies in extended version with each one lasting more than 4 hours and a half. We could usually watch a show or movie for 30 minutes at one sitting. We finally finished The Return of the King in Annapolis.

The sitting room

I spent a lot of time here studying French and Spanish. I would also go here to take a break from being around all the boys. Their conversations were at times really not fit for a lady’s ear. While here, to take a break from my books, I enjoyed looking out into the backyard at the Bradford pear trees in bloom and at the lovely real house plants in the room.

In fact, real house plants made this townhouse my favorite place to stay so far on our travels.

The kitchen and laundry room

My favorite thing about the kitchen is that it is very well-lit and looks out into the backyard at the Bradford pear blooms. Staying in places with a kitchen and a fridge while traveling has allowed us to enjoy sampling fresh food and local produce from local grocery stores in different regions and to have easily-assembled meals together at “home.” At Giant in Maryland, we found delicious fresh-baked sourdough bread, French baguette, green beans, so many kinds of domestic and imported cheese as well as French country liver pate’ (made in Canada). Having laundry facilities on our travels has helped us to not come home with many dirty clothes.

The boys ate their breakfast at the counter on the bar stools every morning.

James in his bathrobe

James found this bathrobe on his bed and immediately put it on. He stayed in his bathrobe for a long time, which gave us all a chuckle.

The bedrooms

Two short flights of stairs led to the three bedrooms upstairs. Jacob and James shared the master bedroom. There were two and a half bathrooms. The half bathroom was downstairs.

We especially loved this interior design feature in the master bedroom.

The backyard

There was a charming fountain, lit up at night, in the backyard where we enjoyed sitting in sometimes when it didn’t rain. There were also four strings of lights that would automatically light up between 4pm and 10pm. When David took the boys to the national zoo while I stayed home one morning, I enjoyed sitting out there by myself to eat. Such a serene experience to sit among the pear and fern trees while listening to the birds and the fountain!

Curtains would have made this townhouse unit cozier, but we were very satisfied with our stay there overall. We would never decorate or furnish our own home in this sharp fashion with so many mirrors on the wall (a cozier style would be preferable), but we found this house’s interior features interesting and enjoyable nonetheless. We were always glad to come back to Mariner’s Landing from our stimulating but tiring excursions in Annapolis and Washington D. C.. On our outings in Maryland, we would walk a lot (3 hours at a time at least) and suffer the traffic going in and out of Washington D.C., for this city “boasts” the third worst traffic in the country after Los Angeles and Chicago. Therefore, returning everyday to a comfortable, thoughtfully-furnished home designed with care really helped us recover from our strenuous sight-seeing activities.

Thank you for reading! May all travelers always find interesting and comfortable stays away from home.