The Plan:
Be completely moved out of my apartment by 3pm May 21st and on the way to Baltimore to spend Memorial Day Weekend with my dear friend Chrissy.
The Actual:
On the morning of May 21st, I woke up in my bed and looked around my bedroom. Everything was still intact. Not even the pictures had been taken down from the walls. It was 8:30am. Which meant I had about 6 hours to move everything. Plenty of time.
10am - Room is still intact
11am - intact
noon - you guessed it, intact.
By 3pm, my room was looking as room-like as ever, and it became apparent to me that I would not be leaving for Maryland as planned. I'll spare you the details. Just know this, I did my final walk through of the apartment to be sure I'd left nothing behind, at 7:30am, May 22nd.
And so with two and a half hours of sleep under my belt, I hopped into my little Isuzu Rodeo which was filled to the brim with clothes, shoes, toiletries, an electric kettle, bathroom mats, a wireless router -- you know, the necessities -- and set off for Baltimore.
Space Time Continuum
About four hours into the drive, I stopped to get gas and pick up a few things at CVS. Alot happens in four hours. For one, people are no longer dressed in their pajamas. And if they are, they're certainly not leaving the house to get gas and pick up a few things at CVS. Had I been of sound mind at 7:30am, I might have accounted for this and dressed accordingly....
I finally arrived in Baltimore at around 1:30pm. The sight of my friend Chrissy standing on the corner, holding the key to her apartment was like an oasis. I said a brief hello to the friend I hadn't seen in years, took the key, punched her address into my GPS and peeled off. Hours later, I emerged from my slumber a new woman. It was time to get ready for my dinner in DC.
Mussels Anyone?
My friend took me to Sonoma Restaurant. The food was amazing! I highly recommend the local pork porterhouse. I cannot speak to the mussels however, as they were out that night. You may want to call ahead if that would be a problem for you.
My friend and I were sure to touch on all the approved dinner conversation topics, health care and education reform, immigration laws, religion, race... Wait, that can't be right. Damn. I guess that's what I get for breezing through the etiquette book my mother gave me in middle school. Luckily for me, he hadn't read the book either.
After a wonderful dinner with great food, wine and good conversation, we set off on a driving tour of the city. DC has to be one of the prettiest cities at night. It was a lot to take in, seeing all of the landmarks I'd only really ever seen in movies and photographs. It was surreal.
I'm On A Boat!!
The next day my friend Chrissy took me sailing. Actually it was her father and mother who took us sailing. We just drank beer, ate chips and took pictures. I saw where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. Nice huh? As we passed the buoy that marked the spot, Chrissy and I broke into song, "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air; Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there..." It was at that moment I noticed something. That buoy was pretty far from Fort McHenry. Good thing Francis relied on the rockets red glare, because from where I was sitting, there was no way anyone would have seen that a flag was still there. Especially at night.
What a cool experience though! Much better than reading about this in a history book. Of course that could also have had something to do with the Yuengling. That certainly made the learning process alot more fun.
After a smooth sailing trip to the downtown Baltimore harbor, we headed back.... This time into the wind.
I thought I'd gone sailing before, but as I sat bracing for dear life, praying I wouldn't fall overboard, I thought to myself, I would have remembered this. I guess a trip to Catalina on a giant cruiser does not a sailing experience make...
Lucky for me, Chrissy's dad is an experienced man of the sea.
Absinthe Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Next stop on my road trip, Philly!! I stayed with my best friend from middle school and high school, Alice, where we got into all kinds of shenanigans. Actually we didn't really do much anything. I read. She knitted. We im-ed eachother from adjacent rooms. We weren't the "coolest" girls back in the day. What can I say? Old habits die hard.
I did manage to get out and meet up with my friend Greg. We went to see Star Trek... Good movie! Would not recommend seeing it at an Image MAXimum theater, however. Chris Pine is hot, but not worth having to crane your neck around the projector to see what he's doing on the far left side of the screen.
After the movie, we went to an Absinthe bar. Neither of us had ever tried Absinthe so we thought, why the heck not? The process of preparing Absinthe is so cool! The bar tender brings you a big contraption filled with ice water. Then he or she puts a sugar cube on top of a strainer that sits atop a shot glass of Absinthe and drips ice water onto it, slowly dissolving the sugar cube into your drink. It looked so cool I could hardly wait to try it.
Ever had melted black licorice that burned your throat?
No?
Want to?
************
Though it wasn't as enjoyable an experience as I'd hoped it would be, I am still happy I tried it. Because it made me really appreciate my first and only love, Vodka. What can I say? Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.
Afterward we took a drive through Philly. Drove by the nation's very first hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, founded by my man Ben Franklin and Dr. Thomas Bond. Now there's a name you don't hear... ever. I wonder what happened to him. Maybe he was on a $150 bill that was eventually phased out?
We also drove by the largest or one of the largest(?) masonic temples in the world. An especially fun sight for me as I was in the middle of reading Angels and Demons.
But what I was super excited about more than anything was getting to drive by the places in the opening credits of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, especially Boathouse Row. How pretty is this?! Thanks Greg!
Family Matters
Next stop on the list, NEW YORK!! I stayed with my cousin and her wife. It was fantabulous. They live in Fort Green which is this cool part of Brooklyn with funky shops, good restaurants and beautiful parks. After having a nice brunch with my cousins Ama, Joan, Abbey and Abbey's son Mason, we took a nice long stroll through one such park.
After chatting with little Mason I soon realized that Abbey, who used to make us homemade pancakes when we were little, play games with us, and take care of us when we were sick, was a horrible mother...
"You've never heard of superman?!" I asked.
"No," Mason answered.
I looked over at my cousin in disgust. I felt like I didn't even know her anymore.
There was work to be done. So, while my cousins sat around idly talking about God knows what... world news, education reform, art history... Mason and I began tackling the serious issues.
An hour later -
"...And what's the only thing that can kill superman?" I quizzed him.
"Pieces of his own planet," he answered.
"And what's that called?"
"I don't remember."
"Kryptonite."
"Kryptonite."
"Good, and what's his weakness?"
"People."
"Well done."
As far as four year olds go, Mason is by far the smartest and the coolest. Definitely way up there on my favorites list. Here he is as a baby. They grow up so fast. *tear*
Where Brooklyn At?!
I also got the chance to spend some time with my name twin. I met her at a party in Brooklyn Heights, where her friend was showcasing 365 photographs. Why did he have 365 photographs to showcase? I'll tell you why.
As a New Years Resolution, he decided he was going to take a picture every day for 365 days. However unlike my yearly promise to finally be on a first name basis with the people who scan my card at the gym, he actually followed through on his.... Every day for 365 days he took a picture. Some were with a camera, others with a camera phone. He had them printed and pasted them all over his apartment. Can you imagine? 365 days of your life documented by photography. How incredible is that?
He called it "Project 365" and here are his pics from 2008 -
Project 365 Photos
Kara and I took a picture on his roof to commemorate the evening. We called it Project 1.
Back to DC
My friend Jonathan took me to the Smithsonian one rainy afternoon. While walking through the American War exhibit, I stumbled upon an unlikely war hero, Stubby. Stubby was a military dog who became the unofficial mascot when he was smuggled aboard the S.S. Minnesota in an overcoat. He was a doggy legend. Served in over 17 battles! Meanwhile my own dog Gally is afraid of and will bark at anyone in a baseball cap... That includes small children on their way out of a t-ball game. True story.
I sent this picture to my mom with the caption, "Look at Stubby! He received medals for serving in the war of 1812."
She replied, "Gally would never fight in a war. She's a pacifist."
I probably would have used the words "lazy" and "cowardly", but I guess pacifist works too.
After our trip to the Smithsonian we walked around outside. Even though it was misty and overcast, it was still a beautiful day.
And so this pretty much concluded my journey. Only two weeks after I'd set off on what was supposed to be a 3 day trip to Baltimore, I head back to Durham.
Only Durham wanted nothing to do with me...
Here's a fun fact:
Turning on your windshield wipers when you have zero visibility does nothing aside from highlight the fact that you have zero visibility. This was the second time in two weeks I thought I was going to die...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It's funny how two short weeks can really change a person. I met up with old friends, was introduced to new friends, experienced new things, new places, and discovered new likes and dislikes... It was all completely unscripted and I loved every minute of it. I was sad to say goodbye to my life as a wayward traveler, but suddenly really excited to say hello to my new life post business school.
Special thanks to the following people:
Chrissy, Thank you for turning me on to those chocolate chip sandwich cookies. I really appreciate it.
Alice, thank you for letting Tony sleep on my luggage. Oh and thanks for taking me sight seeing...
Jonathan, thanks for the steak. No really. Thank you.
Seriously though, THANK YOU to everyone who was a part of these two weeks. I am forever grateful and hope to repay the favor someday. I'm lucky to have you all in my life.
Lots of Love!
2 comments:
hey! we got indian food and visited 2 H&Ms. and walked around looking for your car. that was DAMN exciting. especially when the trashman started talking to you.
fun trip! come visit SD :)
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