Homburg part one

Last year at this time, Kate and myself were in Germany visiting our friends Zena (who was stationed in Ramstein), Lorraine, Nicole, and Rick (who was my first Sunday guy here at the store form about 1995-1997). Their tour in Germany ended last July and even though they had a lot going on with their upcoming move and Lorraine graduating from high school, they opened their home to us as we took day trips around the Rhinelands in Germany (and we were glad to have their company when their schedules allowed).
Before last year's trip I hadn't been to Germany in 27 years. One of the things I wanted to do while I was there was visit the small town where I was born, Homburg (not to be confused with the much larger Hamburg, to the north), which I was surprised to learn was only about a half hour from Ramstein. So our second day in Germany we spent the afternoon in Homburg because Nicole noticed in the paper that they were having a town celebration, called Maifest (May fest, of course). This was on a Sunday, a day in which the shops are usually closed, but it was nice for them to open up for their native son (grin)!

Kate and myself in Homburg.








This is the Homburg town square, which as you can see was quite the center of activity. I was so happy to be back in Germany and amongst friends I hadn't seen in a long time (actually when I lived there growing up I didn't appreciate it as much as I was always thinking that everything was "cooler" in the U.S.).
This is me and Rick (Rick is on the left of course). This photo should give you some idea of what a live wire Rick is (and I mean that lovingly)! Actually while I made it a point to have at least one beer every day (which is a lot for me) while I was in Germany (because Germany = beer), the only thing I regret not doing during the ten days we were in Germany was going to one of the local bars (or hofbrauhaus as the Germans call them) on at least one of the nights and drinking with Rick and the local color. Oh well, that gives me an excuse to go back again, only this time I'm not going to wait 27 years!