Random Bits of Easton 2026 Trip

Here's some stuff from our trip out to Easton, Maryland, that did not make its own post...

On the way out to Easton, we hit heavy traffic crossing the Bay Bridge and decided to stop for some ice cream and a bathroom break on Kent Island. We went to Sugar Doodles, which has some delightful custom flavors. I had Cow Cream, which was a delightful blend of vanilla ice cream with chocolate and peanut butter ribbons and some peanut butter cup chunks. 

Yay, ice cream!

In Easton, we went to Bonheur Ice Cream and Pie. Since we had ice cream earlier in the day, we got some slices of pie for dessert--pecan and cherry.

The slices were the same size, despite the above optical illusion

The local library was a pick-up location for a geocoin that I qualified for on the trip. The library also has a seed library, so we took some home. It also had a cool fountain.

Talbot County Library

Cool like an avacado!

The next morning I got up early to do some geocaching and got breakfast from the Bagery. The bagels were fresh and delicious and eaten before a picture could be taken!

Here's the store, at least

Part of geocaching was finding this statue of Frederick Douglass

Across from our Airbnb is Idlewild Park. It has a huge playground where our kids played for a short time. The heat was already getting to be too much at 9 on a June morning!

Playground gates

Play village?

Forts and slides

We were in town just before Flag Day and saw tons of flags up in the park.

A patriotic town

After kayaking in the morning, we got lunch back at Bonheur Ice Cream and Pie. I had the ham and potato crepe, which came with a salad. I was surprised to see the salad served on top of the crepe.

Crepe and salad

Food on the Spring 2026 NYC Trip

On the way up, we stopped for pizza in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. We drove a little further for dessert at The Shoppes of Premise Maid. We found a geocache, had some ice cream, and bought a treat for our NYC hostess. I had their Shoo Fly Pie ice cream in a pretzel cone. My wife called it the most Pennsylvanian thing I could order.

Entrance to heaven

"Educational" part of the store--how they make stuff

Me and my ice cream

We made it to New York in time for the dinner rush. We got ramen at Ramen Ishida Chelsea, just north of where we were staying. I had a bowl of the Plant Based Shoyu, with broth, bamboo, bok choi, corn, bell pepper, bean sprouts, and other delightful bits. It was delicious.

Fancy bowl at no extra charge!

A happy client

The second day, we had breakfast and lunch at Google NYC, so no pictures there. Then we made pasta for dinner at our home away from home, which was not very photo worthy either. The next day we had bagels for breakfast from a nearby bagel place, Sofia's. They were great. I had a cinnamon raisin bagel.

Sofia's Bagels

We were in the theater district for lunch and had to rush so we had some McDonalds (no pictures of that). For dinner, we tried out a very popular hot bar at Tashkent Market (a supermarket in the Village). I got the Kutabi with Spinach, an Azerbajani flat bread stuffed with spinach and other good things.

The store spells it "kutabi"

For dessert, we went to Salt and Straw, a local ice cream shop with custom flavors (along with classic flavors). I had the Coconut Cherry Pie with Almond Crust ice cream (two desserts in one!). They were making special salted brownie waffle cones, so I couldn't resist getting that. It was amazing. If I lived here, I would go at least once a week, if not more often. Maybe I would get a job there?

Coconut Cherry Pie ice cream

The next day was our final morning in the city, so we got bagels again (had to finish the leftover cream cheese!). If the ice cream shop had been open, I would have gone there again!

Maybe they will open one in our hometown?

Bagel Making

One Saturday we tried a new experiment in cooking, the home-made bagel. The dough was pretty standard bread dough made by our faithful servant, the bread machine. Then we had to shape it like doughnuts, which was fun for the kids. Basically you poke your finger through a lump of dough and spin it around to make a bagel. Don't spin too hard or you might wind up with rim pizza.

Raw product

The next stage was boiling the dough. We had a pot ready but it could only take two or three bagels at a time. The kids were fascinated by fishing them in and out of the boiling water.

Setting the timer for the boiling bagels

After coming out and cooling a little, the kids did the next step, putting a little raw egg glaze on the bagels so they would have that nice, chewy exterior.

L is careful

Children are care-free!

Then we put seeds on some of the bagels. We had sesame and poppy seeds.

Goopy fingers!

Ready for the oven

After baking, they came out looking okay.

Finished product

Some of the bagels seemed a little doughy in the middle. The whole process is more work than it's worth. According to the foreman (Mommy), we won't be making them anymore!