East Coast Adventures

It's been a busy week and a half: back to work, sleep schedule all shot to hell from masquerading as a normal person, getting flowers and herbs planted. This is the first day I've had where I haven't had to dig in dirt outside all morning or go somewhere (work, volunteering, shopping). So I'd better write all this stuff down before it's beyond the recall of my middle-aged brain.

Monday

The drive to Silver Springs, MD wasn't bad at all. It didn't seem to be the long, boring drive I thought it would be. It normally takes us about 8 hours to get to John and Diana's in Chambersburg, PA, and our destination was some miles beyond that. A quick lunch of cold vidalia onion pizza was enjoyed in a Pittsburgh area Costco parking lot. The miles seemed to fly by, and before we knew it we were blowing by Breezewood on the turnpike, which is usually the 'almost there' point when we are visiting Tim's brother John and his family. It was a warm day, not as warm as the ones to come, and we saw some pretty spectacular thunderheads in the distance.

I was surprised at how green the Washington DC area is. Noise abatement walls covered in ivy, huge and numerous trees everywhere. There are the usual corporate urban sprawl of cookie cutter stores and office buildings, but the surrounding area was leafier than I thought it would be. Then we ran into post rush hour traffice, so it took a hell of a long time to make it the last 4 miles to the motel. We finally got there, dumped our stuff in the room. Watched some horrendous footage of the wreckage of Joplin, MO on the TV (including Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes almost in tears) while waiting for Tom and Josie to arrive at the motel from a day of sightseeing and visiting the Smithsonian in Washington DC. Then we walked the short distance to Five Guys and devoured burgers and fries.

Tuesday

A lesurely start to the day, and then drove into the town of Silver Springs to catch a train/subway into Washington itself. It seemed to take forever to find a convenient parking garage, and one with available spaces. We bought day passes at the station, and boarded the train. I can now say I've seen graffiti almost as colorful as downtown Berlin. Nothing had rivaled it until now. The people watching was even better than Chicago. Josie and I gaped at a woman with legs about as long as we are tall in a short sleek black skirt and towering high heels disembark from the train and walk up the flights of steps ahead of us to reach street level once we got into town.

It was hot already, but we had loaded our backpack with plenty of water bottles, and bags of high-protein toasted plain almonds and cinnamon 'street fair' almonds I'd made at home. Tim and I have long since gotten better about avoiding the quantities of sugary treats we used to devour on vacations, and the marriage-threatening glucose crashes that result. Cookies seemed to be out of the question anyway when we saw how warm and humid it was going to be all week. Such things wouldn't last until we reached John and Diana's without sprouting mold in every direction. We started our tour with the Lincoln Memorial, then wandered to the Korean and Vietnam walls. To our dismay, we discovered a major renovation is going on with the Reflecting Pool, so that was filled with bare brown dirt and equipment. It seems it's been leaking, and the plans are to pave the edges and use tidal basin water to fill it instead of city water. Should be nice when it's done, but it looks butt-ugly now. Oh well.







The Vietnam wall was cool, but the Korean wall was even more interesting. There's just enough etching in the mirror-like black granite to create ghostly images of faces. The new World War II memorial was quite impressive, too.










Then we walked through a long park to the White House. We admired the lawn through the bars and took the usual tourist pics. We saw Michele Obama's vegetable garden, and beekeepers smoking some beehives. The Obamas weren't even home, they were touring Ireland and the UK.

Washington monument itself was next. It's even more striking than the familiar images on TV. Taking the elevator up to the top is out of the question most days, as tickets need to be purchased far ahead of time, and the number is limited. So we contented ourselve with sitting an smooth granite benches in the circle of flags and taking in all the surrounding Smithsonian and administrative buildings.




We stopped to rehydrate and munch some almonds (and leftover peanuts from Five Guys) on a bench overlooking the tidal basin and Jefferson Monument. I wanted to see that specifically, just because it's round and looks cool from a distance. Plus Thomas Jefferson was a foodie and ahead-of-his time inventor and innovator.





































What is the deal with all the ambulances and fire trucks in that area? Is there some kind of accident or crisis going on every hour or so? I've never heard sirens screaming with the frequency of that afternoon. Maybe it was just that particular day. It seemed to be a very loud area.

Then we decided we had time to take the subway over to Arlington National Cemetery. I would have liked to spend a lot more time in there. I've always liked cemeteries, and I don't know why. This one was beautiful, so there was the obvious appeal. Gorgeous, huge trees and green hills. We took a break from the opressive heat and humidity in the Women in Military Service for America Memorial museum, and then hiked around the grounds. We headed up to Arlington House, dodging gangs of gradeschool/high school (I can't tell the difference any more!) class trip groups all the way. It was hotter than hell on the upper floor. A park ranger gave Tom and I some historical information, nearly shouting to be heard above the school kids. Tim and Josie had long since left the house and were out in surrounding garden.

It was getting dark gray and thundery, so we weren't sure if we were going to get rained on (unbelievably we didn't). But we made it to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in time to see one of the changing of the guards. That was a solemn and inspiring sight to seen. Spectators are asked to stand and remain silent. These guys were in full dark blue dress uniforms as hot and humid as it was. And they're there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 365 days a year, no matter what the weather is doing. And since it was 1700, we got to see the flag lowering as well. That's just as serious of a ceremony. Park rangers/attendants are on hand to herd us sheep-like tourists out of the path of the sentinels, and harshly rebuke kids from running.
























Then we wandered back to find John F. Kennedy's grave and stood admiring the eternal flame and the moss-like rock garden plants growing between each flagstone. By this time we were thinking of ending our day and heading back to our motel. We hiked over more marble and concrete to the most handy subway station. Tom figured we walked at least 8 or 9 miles that day, easily.

I'd never done the class trip thing when I was young. I went to a small gradeschool and high school, and there just plain wasn't the money or apparently the adventurous spirit for that. So Washington DC was a whole new thing to me. Better late than never. Not sure when we will get back there, but future museum tours and a revisit to Arlington would be great.

With the help of a friendly passer-by, we found a group of non-chain restaurants to choose dinner from in downtown Silver Springs. People seemed to be very friendly and helpful in the area, and on the trains. I watched a boy/young man reach down to help pick up a woman's dropped papers. Superficially, he could have easily fit a stereotypical image of an inner-city 'hoodlum'. Another time, a woman stuck her head into a train door and informed us and other passengers that it was going to go in the opposite direction, and if we wanted to keep going the direction we needed to go, we needed to get off the car and switch trains. Sure enough, it did. Later someone driving a taxi was making all kinds of motions and gestures toward us in Tom's rental car. I immediately went into 'Crazy person nearby, nonchalantly look straight ahead' mode. Turns out he was trying to tell us the headlights weren't on.

We devoured lettuce wraps and sweet-spicy-salty dishes and guzzled Yuengling beer at a Thai restaurant. The waitress brought out the special hot condiment tray for Tom and Josie. It was one of those times when I didn't know I was actually insanely hungry and thirsty until food and drink were placed in front of me.

We still had to drive to Baltimore that evening to join up with Jim and mom and dad Reinert (we'd packed up and checked out earlier that morning). Only an hour or so drive, but it took some time to find our downtown motel and get checked in. Baltimore loves its one-way streets.

Wednesday

Today is the whole reason for this trip: Tom's graduation from the Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University with his Masters in Mechanical Engineering. He's been working on this for 2 years, missing a lot of vacations, camping, etc. But his employer Raytheon is sanctioning the whole deal, so it's all a good thing. I can't remember the last time I've been to a graduation ceremony where there were caps, gowns, classic music and walking across a stage to collect your diploma.

But before all that, we hooked up with mom and dad in their hotel room (suite, actually). It had been decided that Jim would fly with them from Michigan and save them the stress of a long car ride. They'd arrived the afternoon before. It was decided that Jim would go with Tom and Josie to a luncheon at the university and a tour of the applied physics lab. Dad wanted to walk around the town/see things, so we kind of had to gently put a stop to the idea of an 80-something man walking around a big city by himself. So Tim and I took mom and dad for a subway ride.

Baltimore's subway is pretty simplistic. A straight line from Johns Hopkins Hospital to one of the outer suburbs. We were within about 2 blocks from the Shot Tower station, so we boarded there (senior discount day passes, a pretty cheap outing!) and rode to the end of the line and back. Unfortunately not much to see, since a lot of it was underground. But it got mom and dad out of the hotel room, and got them out where they normally might never have gone on their own.

Afterward, mom told me it was all quite 'colorful'. I knew what she meant, and calmly and directly said, 'Now mom, we are just going to be colorblind today.' For years she has referenced a long-ago wrong turn in Detroit that had her and dad driving around in some iffy neighborhoods around the Eastern Market as an, um, 'color tour'. Given the area of Michigan they come from, I totally get that there is a bit of...I'll just come out and call it like I see it: racism. Especially in that generation. During the whole subway trip, I kept watching them to see if they looked especially uncomfortable. They didn't, but this was all definitely out of their comfort zone. It certainly isn't something we do every day either, but hey: big deal. You just ride, try to not look too much like a tourist, be pleasant, and don't make a lot of eye contact and everyone gets along in the crowded commuter space.

After we dropped them off back at the motel room for naps, Tim and I hustled back down to the Shot Tower station and rode the subway two stops to Lexington Market to see what that was all about. Faidley's Seafood was there, as well as a whole world of delights for foodies. After traversing the streets crowded with locals ('Yelp' reviews are amusing and descriptive: 'sketchy', 'third world', etc.) we walked into a foodies' paradise: a building crowded with vendors selling all sorts of cuisine. Korean barbecue, soul food, local seafood, you name it (even muskrat and raccoon...but only in season!). Damned shame there wasn't time to try it all. But we wanted to scope out Faidley's for a future seafood and crabcake purchase.




With the help of Tim's smartphone, we found a nearby Starbuck's and had iced coffees. Then it was time to go back and get ready for the evening. I put on my new purple dress, and Tim put on a suit and tie (minus the coat: it was in the 80's)and we headed to a suburb for dinner at Macaroni Grill. Then to find the campus (and somehow find parking) and an outdoor graduation ceremony in the bright, warm, gradually cooling late May air. Took forever for Tom to finally cross the stage, but we gave him our best noise-making efforts when he did. Then we went to a reception afterwards (strawberries dunked in chocolate, cheese platters and mundane industrial cookies). We watched, shaking our heads, as borderline diabetic dad loaded up on the cookies. How anyone had room to eat after that big dinner, I did not know. It ended up being a late night. It was pushing midnight by the time we got back to the motel. Mom and dad held up very well for being such a long day. I guess afternoon naps are the key.

Thursday

Today's plans were to take in the National Aquarium. Naturally, and adding brother-in-law Jim into the equation, complicated recon was required that morning: driving mom and dad to the Aquarium and dropping them off; locating convenient parking facilities; adequate water and snacks (a quick stop at Whole Foods for a case of water and some bananas in the morning) and a wheelchair for mom. Now, she doesn't need one, but we sort of agreed it would be a good thing to conserve her energy. And she didn't put up any fuss about it, and let us take turns wheeling her around. Meanwhile dad used her cane and wore his back brace--his back was bothering him.

Tim and I have been to the National Aquarium Baltimore before in 1995. They've expanded since then: there is now a jellyfish and dolphin exhibit, and a rain forest habitat (hotter than hell!). My favorite thing is still the manta ray pool on the lowest level. I could sit and watch that all day long. It's like a relaxing screen saver.

By the time we'd toured the whole place we were sick of groups of yelling school kids, so Jim retrieved the car and took mom and dad back to the motel. Tim, Tom and Josie and I went off in search of beer and oysters. There are lots of touristy places right down there on the piers and the Light Street Pavillion. A couple guys directed us to Phillips, where we sat down at the big black piano (not the keyboard side, the other side) and ordered a dozen raw oysters and selections from local breweries (Evolution Craft Brewery, and their own Phillips Amber Ale brewed locally. Tim had some kind of Belgian white, can't remember now). As for the oysters? Now I see it wasn't much of a stretch at all. We like sushi. We like oyster stew. They weren't slimy, and actually the less sauce and schmear on them, the better. Next time we've got access to good fresh oysters, we'll be slurping them again.




The beer was most refreshing (it was 90 degrees beating off the concrete on the piers), but the artisanal flavored vodkas were very entertaining. A couple guys were offering Oliphant vodka samples, and we sidled over and tried some. And while this was slightly out of line, but probably not as bad as the ones taking their charges to Hooters for lunch, a group of 5th grade trip chaperones wandered up and we laughingly got out of their way. They needed the stuff more than we did.

We walked all the way back to the motel, and got ready to go out to dinner. A sit-down, normal restaurant was needed for mom and dad, so Tim found Obrycki's. Jim and I took the liberty of ordering a dozen large steamed crabs as appetizers and a pitcher of a Heavy Seas beer (the beer was my idea, not Jim's) while mom and dad were on the way separately with Tom and Josie. How we would have done all this with only one vehicle, I have no idea. It originally Jim's idea to cram everyone in our Traverse, and pay out the ass for taxis when necessary. Tom renting a car for most of the week solved that problem

Mom (Ellie) would have loved the waitress. Can't remember her name now (Juliana, Julie) but she was accomodating in a sweetly Southern way (she was originally from Cary. No, I didn't find out the names of all her kids, and her entire life history. My bad). She whisked everything off the table and covered it with brown paper when we said we were indeed considering crabs. Soon all seven of us were bibbed and smacking away at crabs with wooden mallets. Shells, juice and melted butter were flying everywhere.




The entrees were good, too. Mom and dad enjoyed the schmoozing/free desserts, courtesy of the waitress. She told us the place is closing in November because the owners have passed away, and the children don't want to take over the business. Obrycki's has locations in BWI and Cleveland airports, but no steamed crabs. Hopefully someone will take it over, in spite of the questionable neighborhood. It looked like a place you did not want to hang around after dark, and we noticed the open-carrying security guard talking to the hostess, and walking on the street.

And some things never change. After requesting more rolls probably twice during the meal, mom and dad upended the basket into their styrofoam leftover containers. Mom's was so full the closure tab broke. *Sigh*

Friday

Today was to be American History lesson day. Mom wanted to go tour Fort McHenry, the site of the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. We checked out of our motel and piled into two vehicles. Mom, dad, Tom and Josie headed to the fort, and Tim, Jim and I made a small detour back to Lexington market for a seafood run. It was decided we would bring shrimp and crab cakes to John and Diana's for dinner later that evening when we arrived in Chambersburg.

Friday morning was a good time in the market because there were very few customers around (the outside street was still teeming with locals hanging around). We bought 5 pounds of shrimp and 6 refrigerated crab cakes. And one deep fried crab cake to eat on the spot. It was second breakfast time, and I had to have one. While the ones at Obrycki's were very good, this one was even better. Soooooooo good. The three of us split it (me eating most of it) at the stand-up eating area. Then we got out of there and headed to the fort.

The whole thing was a relearning experience. I have to admit I am woefully ignorant of my own country's history. And once again, we were weaving in and out of school trip groups. By this time we had really seen a variety of people from all sorts of social backgrounds and occupations. There was a group of developmentally disabled children being pushed in strollers by a group of adults, and they needed help getting in and out of the doors in the visitors's center. Once again, a reminder that I don't really know the meaning of the words patience and selflessness.

Today was just as hot as before, so we made sure we were hauling plenty of water bottles. The fort is a very cool star-shape. I was looking for a souvenir coffee mug or something with the outline of the fort on it, but no such luck.

Mom let us push her around the perimeter and the soldiers' living quarters in a wheelchair without argument again, and once we left there, it was time to grab a quick light lunch at Quizno's and drop them and Jim off at the airport. Mom had previously decided she did not want to continue on with us to Chambersburg, citing lack of energy as the reason.

So we dropped of Tom and Josie's rental car at the airport and drove northwest into Pennsylvania. We drove through the countryside, answering (or trying to) Josie's many questions about the area and Gettysburg. Anything east of the Mississippi is a new adventure to her, being born and raised in Arizona. So the simplest thing seemed to just GO to Gettysburg and do a little historical side trip.

Tim and I had been to Gettysburg and the battlefields once before, but it was a dreary rainy day. This time it was hotter than Hades and sunny. We saw the new multimillion dollar visitors' center, and walked up to the Pickett's Charge area around Cemetery Hill (avoiding rampant poison ivy the whole way). School tours were leaving, so the place wasn't swarming. We read a few plaques, admired monuments and statuary, and stood in the balmy moist air, reflecting on all the terrible things that must have happened there. Were there still pieces of bullets and shrapnel in the ground, Josie asked. Yep, most likely. Along with a lot of blood. As in Fort McHenry, it seemed so odd to be reading about passionate battles against people who are now our close allies, or one and the same countrymen. One or two hundred years from now, what will the perspective be of the battles we are fighting today?




Then we walked over to the Soldiers' Cemetery. What is it about cemeteries that makes trees grow so large, and symmetrically beautiful? On second thought, maybe it's better not to think too hard about that. As in Arlington, there were gorgeous and huge oaks and other species. Josie noticed tall trees with an odd yellow and orange cup-like flower: it was a tulip tree. Those don't grow in Michigan or Arizona, so all four of us looked like tourists pulling the branches lower for a closer look at the flowers.



We got to Chambersburg ahead of the thunderstorms. The night before, the town had been rocked with a spectacular hail storm (downed branches, oak leaves, torn hostas, chipped/flaking paint all over the deck and picnic table were clear evidence), and nearby Franklin had been hit with an F1 tornado. Tim and John peeled and deveined shrimp for an hour so we could grill those, and broil the crab cakes. It dumped rain and thundered during dinner, but soon everything cleared out, making it fine for Tim and I to stay in the Suite On Wheels (the pop-up camper) in the driveway. This was far preferable to what Diana told us was a very uncomfortable sofa bed in the piano room.

Saturday

We drove to Caledonia State Park and hiked a very small section of the Appalachian Trail. The mountain laurels were in bloom, but the rhododendrons were still about 2 weeks away. We talked to a couple of hikers, one from New Zealand and one from New Hampshire while they were sitting in a trailside shelter. We used the same shelter ourselves when it started raining. We made it back to the house in time for me to quickly French braid niece Lorena's hair so she could dash off to a dance. Then we prepared a dinner of grilled venison tenderloin (nephew Benjamin's deer from last fall's hunting season), rosemary smashed potatoes, green salad and blackberry cobbler.




My right heel was about as sore as it's ever been (like, on FIRE), no doubt aggravated from all the tromping around on hard concrete and marble Tuesday, and then that day's hiking. Oh well! Having too much fun to get too worried about it. And it isn't like you can get immediate relief from plantar fasciitis anyway. Even if I took aggressive action now, complete freedom from pain would still be weeks/months away.

Sunday

Went to John and Diana's church for late service (woke up too late for early). We were sleeping shockingly well out in that camper, in spite of the firm mattress. We slept until the house wrens started singing each morning.

I always enjoy Nazarene/Brethren in Christ services, but they can be a little much sometimes compared to the traditional, stony, never-deviating Lutheran services. We should go to the contemporary service at ours and see if people rapturously raise their arms during the hymns.

Bikes were loaded on the back of John's suburban and we went for a bike ride on the C&O rail trail beside the brown, rain-swollen Potomac in Hancock, Maryland. Most of the 16 or 17-mile round trip was shaded, which was a good thing because it was hot again. Then we stopped in Fort Louden for ice cream (mmmmm, hot fudge brownie delight...).


































Monday (Memorial Day)

We waited until 10am to hit the road (we were going to leave at 9), but Josie still wasn't up yet, so we didn't get to say goodbye to her. We stopped at a couple of Plain Mennonite nurseries on the way out of town to buy some red Knockout roses (we'd seen them all over town, blooming profusely) and some other annuals for the windowboxes and planters. I had not planted much of anything before we'd left. A little farther toward home, we saw a bake sale/barbecue fundraiser stand along the side of the road and got a slice of shoo-fly pie and a whoopie pie (which was startlingly reminiscent of a chocolate Hostess cupcake...only better). So we did get to eat a little Amish country cooking, just not quite as much as we'd originally planned. Always reasons to go back...