Maryland/DC trip day 4: July 6th

On the last day with my Aunt Rita, Kate and I accompanied her to Annapolis. The weather was absolutely spectacular as you can see from the photos. We first went on a harbor cruise which gave details on the city, and gave a sort of aquatic tour of the Naval academy. Following the hour long boat ride we went to lunch at a pub called "Middleton Tavern" that had some side walk seating that I was eager to take advantage of. The state house can be seen through the trees in this shot. We tried going in, however it appeared to be too late in the day to get inside. After walking around the town for a while we headed towards the Naval academy in hopes of getting to see the campus. After passing through a security check point we strolled the grounds which were very beautiful. The green scapes of the grounds with majestic trees, paths, fountains, and gazebos was nothing like the cold granite-bricked campus of my imagination.

The two photos above are the chapel which is one of the more dominant structures on the campus.

It was a special treat to see hundreds, if not thousands of cadets march in formation. We assumed these drills were the end of some field exercises. This was exactly like something out of a movie, complete with the occasional politically incorrect marching chant.

After a beautiful day of walking around we rewarded ourselves with some ice cream from the Annapolis Ice Cream Company, which gave gigantic portions. My Aunt Rita, unaware ordered two scoops much to the amusement of Kate and I.

We had a nice walk to close out the evening and we exchanged goodbyes. Kate and I were now headed back to Baltimore for the last leg of the trip.

Maryland/DC trip day 3: July 5th

My Aunt Rita was a wonderful host for Kate and I, getting some great fruit ready for breakfast in the morning before we ultimately got on the road to the Metro. Below is my Aunt Rita and my cousin Hope's handsome son, Justin. In his arm is Pengy, a stuffed penguin that my Mom bought for him for Christmas this past year.

We decided to go to the Air & Space museum because Kate had not seen it, and we thought Justin would probably enjoy it as well. I went when I was probably in Junior high. It seemed much the same as I remember it, however Hope who is able to go more frequently pointed out several new exhibits. Snoopy above was part of an exhibit detailing flight and its impact and portrayal on the entertainment industry. (I'm a big Peanuts fan... I went through a few stuffed snoopy dolls as a kid). Below is Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, which embarked upon the first non-stop flight from NYC to Paris.We had a light lunch at the food court there which is something that has changed since I went. Gone is the cafeteria, replaced with several chains anchored by McDonald's. I can't complain, Kate and I split a ten piece chicken nugget meal, and Justin was really enjoying his first nibbles of Mickey D's cheese burgers (with his Mom, Hope below). He's going to be an addict now.

After a nice day in D.C. we returned for a relaxing evening in St. Leonard. My Uncle Fritz cooked up some tasty steaks and crab balls and Aunt Rita had baked some fresh bread. We also had some sauteed mushrooms, green beans from the garden, and home made bread and butter pickles which were really nice.

Hope had to work the next day, so we said our goodbyes to her and Justin. It is a shame I did not get to spend more time with them.

After dinner we lounged out on the front porch for quite a while watching the fire flies, and my Aunt and Uncle's cat Friday walk around indecisively... as cats do.

To close out the evening Aunt Rita, Kate, and I headed downstairs to their home theater and watched Gran Torino. It was the second time I've seen this movie, and it really is one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

Another great day had gone by and we were looking forward to our next day in Annapolis, however a little sad that it would be the last to spend with my Family.

Maryland/DC trip day two (the 4th of July)

We began our day by leaving our La Quinta Inn outside of Baltimore and driving our wee Kia Rio to Huntington Station which is the end of the Yellow line on the D.C. metro. We parked the car there and took a bus to Mt. Vernon, the first attraction of the day. The was a substantial line, we were probably in it for a half an hour (which honestly I didn't was too bad, not to mention it was gorgeous out). I told Kate I was going to take a picture of her being put off to capture the experience, however she couldn't help but smile.

Mt Vernon was very active for the fourth of July. There was a band playing patriotic tunes a couple groups of revolutionary squadron "reinactors" (not sure what to call them....) were marching around the grounds. While we waited to enter the mansion we had some free birthday cake (for the U.S.A of course!).

This unusual tree was on Mt. Vernon's back lawn. The view is spectacular and the location of the house is perfect.

After touring the house which in many ways was surprising quaint compared to some mansions I've seen, we took the bus back to Huntington to go to Old Alexandria. The city center is absolutely gorgeous. Situated on the banks of the Potomac, rows and rows of picturesque brick row homes are accented with tree lined streets, brick sidewalks, and occasionally paved with cobble stone. The main drags in town are lined with boutiques, cafes, bars and restaurants. The scene appears classy with a touch of Bohemia. At the water front lies an attractive collection of parks, boardwalks and piers. Kate is seen below striking a pose in front of an old river boat.

The picture below is a fine example of a side street. Here the homes are colorful clapboard. Take note of the American flags, and the pattern in the brick side walk.
This next shot is on King St. Some of the old brick buildings are painted over, however the selections from the color palette may perhaps be even more striking than their original appearance.

One of the items on our to do list in Alexandria was to get some good grub. Being the cheap eats connoisseurs that we are, a guide suggested "Five Guys" which, unbeknown to us is a local chain. Chain or not, this place is rated as having one of the best burgers in D.C. for a reason. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a thick juicy gourmet burger. However for that diner style patty, loaded up heavy with cheese and toppings, this place can't be beat. And the fries were damn tasty.

Before leaving Alexandria I snapped this shot of the George Washington Masonic Memorial. I had just watched a great documentary about the influences of the the Freemasons on the founding of our country so it was of particular interest.Kate and I next hopped aboard a train to L'enfant plaza station next to the D.C. mall. We had a couple of hours before we really needed to be situated for the fireworks so we walked around a bit and checked out the various cultural exhibits that were set up. There was a large section of the mall that was devoted towards Indian culture that was interesting. They were giving out free tastings of Indian food, but we had stuffed ourselves far too much for it to be worthwhile to wait in line.
The mall was packed with people, however it wasn't too tough to find a nice grassy spot to plop down on.


Kate had the camera work down for snapping photos of the actual fireworks. I'm not sure what she did different than me because all of my shots look like big blobs of light. As it got darker the dust that is kicked up from the Mall's gravel pathways became really apparent in the shots.
Following the fireworks we went back to Huntington and drove to St. Leonard MD. It was a bit of a hike from Huntington, probably taking over an hour. I had my mp3 player hooked up to the auxiliary jack which helped make the drive go by fast.

My Aunt Rita and my cousin Hope were awake to greet us upon our arrival. We talked excitedly for a half hour or so, but Kate and I were beat so we were eager to hit the hay once we were shown our sleeping arrangements.

I went to bed looking forward to the next day, anticipating seeing Hope's 17 month old son Justin, and spending the day with Kate, and some of my family who I don't get to see often enough.

2 for 1

MGMT is supporting McCartney at Fenway, which gives me high hopes that Macca will perform a good deal of his newer material from "The Fireman" which was has some of the electronica backup, not unlike that used by MGMT. Apparently McCartney is a fan of the band, which suggests a personal invite. It sounds like they are quite popular in NYC, and I have heard the song "Kids" myself (See video below). The video is actually quite good (as well as the song) and perhaps would have done well if MTV still played music videos. I guess that is what youtube is for.

I'm not sure how well the hoards of baby-boomers who show up for Beatles and Wings tunes will receive MGMT, however, hopefully there will be enough younger fans, perhaps some MGMT fans, that can make it there and give them some deserved love.

Far out ideas!

Exxon Sinks $600M Into Algae-Based Biofuels in Major Strategy Shift

Check out the above article... an evil oil company investing in an evil biotech company (sarcasm intended of course... I work in biotech). If this technology can be made to be economically feasible, it would change the world as we know it.

The big question is... will the left be happy with their enemy Exxon collaborating with their other enemies, biological engineers?

If genetically modified algae can produce sustainable fuel that balances the CO2 intake and output will they be happy or come up with doomsday scenarios like they do for GM crops?

As I've stated in the past, we of course need to be careful when potentially impacting the environment with GM organisms, but to treat them like abominations is incredibly ignorant when our survival and continued existence may depend upon it.

This company's website is very interesting, it is worth checking out.
http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/index.html
Man, I'd like to figure out how to get in on these guys before they go public!

And more far out technology from one of the most famous evil geniuses around (again I'm being sarcastic):

Hurricane-calming technology? Bill Gates has a plan

You just have to read this one for yourself, it is just too cool... and it isn't just about Hurricane control either.

I'll finish up the trip posts soon... this was just really interesting. I thought it was a nice change from my negative interpretation of our political climate as well.

Trip Day 1: Baltimore

I thought I would take some time to post some of the photos that Kate and I took during our D.C./ Baltimore/ Maryland trip over the 4th of July weekend. On the third we spent the day with two of Kate's college friends, and her former roommates in Baltimore. We started by meeting up with them in their trendy neighborhood "Hampden" in North Baltimore. They have a small, but spacious town house apartment on a street abutting "The Avenue" or 36th street. The feeling of the area is both quaint and bohemian, and it is surprisingly serene for such an urban setting. After some hot dogs for lunch and chips and salsa we headed out on our tour.
This first picture is "The original Washington Monument". It is deemed the original by Baltimoreans because it predates the D.C. monument by 20 years. We didn't make the hike to the top because ironically it was closed for the one holiday that it perhaps should have been open for. Next to the monument is the attractive church seen below, Mt. Vernon Place Church. I believe I'm getting the name correct, however I'm not 100% sure. Internet links lead to two churches with a similar name, this one, and a church that has a more Romanesque type of architecture. Perhaps one is new and the other old? Regardless, it is a pretty building.

The next picture looks out at Baltimore from Federal Hill Park. A point of note is how the cannon appears to be aimed towards downtown. Common sense would suggest that this was to guard the inner harbor, however apparently history dictates that it was intended as a threat to Baltimore to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

This next picture is a walking bridge in the inner harbor that is rather flexible. Adam seen behind me, was bouncing to make the bridge wobble as we passed over it. The building behind the bridge is the National Aquarium.

Kate striking a pose in the inner harbor in front of the USS Constellation, a Civil war era boat.

Next is seen the Seven Foot Knoll Light, an interesting looking light house that has been moved into the Inner Harbor, and is now a museum.... which was of course closed.
This is a look out across the harbor, note the Domino Sugar plant across the water, and the dragon shaped paddle boats.

This weird looking fountain near the water front is rather interactive, in that you can walk through paths and cat walks that meander through it. I'm not sure how I feel about all of the blue paint. The strong chlorine smell coupled with the paint had me anticipating a waterslide appearing around a corner.

Our tour guides Adam & Sarah within the unusual fountain.
Last on the tour we went to a site that Adam & Sarah themselves had not yet seen. Edgar Allen Poe's grave. The grave yard was very old and rather unusual looking. Strangely a church was built on top of the pre-existing grave yard. The neighborhood was a little rough around the edges, however I'm glad we made the decision to check it out. Note the bottle of liquor on top of Poe's headstone.

After a healthy dose of walking and riding Baltimore's light rail system, we headed back to Hampden. Adam & Sarah brought us to The Golden West, which is an eclectic eatery with miss-matched furniture and a bright colored decor. It reminds me of Portsmouth NH's The Friendly Toast, or Portland ME's Silly's (although it is tough to reproduce Silly's "patio"). The food was great at the Golden West, however the staff was really burnt out. First of all, the hostess acted like a ten minute wait was going to be a huge inconvenience when we walked in, almost seeming to suggest that we might not be able to hang in there until we got a table. The weirdness did not end there, when our waitress could not figure out why we wanted another chair when 3 of us at our table were all squeezed into a booth bench, while only Sarah sat in a chair on the opposite side. Then later I approached one of the staff to ask where the rest room is and she gave me a look that said "who are you, and why are you talking to me?" When she realized that I wasn't coming on to her, or whatever it was that she thought I was there for (I can only speculate), she paused and said "Oh..... umm ok, its like around the corner?" I only put the question mark, because it is the best way I can conceive of to replicate the upward lilt in her voice. Our hostess and our waitress both had these rather painful looking tattoos on their wrists, and were dressed in the standard long flowing patchouli stink attire. They had to have been stoned on the job, either that or they have done some serious irreparable damage to their noggins.

The staff were more entertaining than anything, and the food was great. I had a turkey burger... which was much better than I can potentially describe it as. I'm not sure I can make a turkey burger sound really good, but it was, you'll just have to trust me. Additionally I had a vegan cole slaw which was in a nice spicy vinaigrette in place of mayo.

After eating our fill we headed back to Adam & Sarah's, talked for quite a while, and enjoyed watching their goofy cats frolic around.

By 11:00 we were en route to the hotel to prepare for our trip into D.C. on the fourth.