I’m back from my family vacation! My family traveled to Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, and wrapped up our trip in Washington DC. We enjoyed nature, history and culture- but an added bonus when I was traveling was meeting some of my blogging friends in real life!

My family and I met Michael of My Comic Relief and Kalie of Just Dread-Full , who are romantic partners, for lunch as we traveled between Cuyahoga Valley and Gettysburg. They traveled close to two hours to meet us!

Kathleen, my writing partner, wanted to meet them too- but a photo of her would have to suffice.

As we arrived at the restaurant first, my daughter asked what would happen if they didn’t show. Was I going to be catfished? But they were there soon afterwards and there was no awkwardness and our conversations flowed as they do on-line.  I had been so nervous about meeting them- they both are so funny and write so intelligently, would I be super lame in comparison? But both were authentic to their blog voices and Michael was as verbose as I had expected (and hoped) he’d be. Two hours zipped by, and my entire family enjoyed meeting Michael and Kalie, but eventually we had to finish our drive to Gettysburg.

After we spent a few days in Gettysburg, my family headed to Washington DC. On our first day there we visited Mount Vernon and Arlington Cemetery. Between those two locations, we planned to meet Jeffrey from The Imperial Talker, who lives in the area. He was also accommodating to my family’s schedule, and modified his day to meet us.  He and his wife Jen met us for lunch, and he too was as awesome in real life as he is on his blog. Jeff and Michael are best friends in real life, so it was neat to be able to talk about one another, now that we all had met. We even planned for a possible meet up next year in Chicago if something we are working on is approved (hint- it has something to do with Star Wars).

Kathleen didn’t photo bomb this picture, instead our spouses did!

One of my favorite parts of blogging is the on-line friendships that I have established. Until I started to blog myself, I had doubted people’s claims that real friendships could be made without meeting one another. But it’s true! That I truly have met Michael, Kalie and Jeff is icing on the cake. Thanks to Jen and my family who were all amazingly chill about meeting people they didn’t know for lunch, so I could meet my FRIENDS!

-Nancy

(Header picture borrowed from WebDev Studios)

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