Mid-Atlantic Explorations

While marooned here in Annapolis, we’ve been trying to make the most of the time and learn more about the area. So for the past two weekends we rented cars and explored. This past weekend, we set out for the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay and saw some interesting harbor towns, visited the Museum of the Chesapeake, ate some good seafood, hiked around a wildlife sanctuary and chilled at a local café.

Last weekend we explored Baltimore and Washington DC, both less than an hour away. In Baltimore on Saturday we explored the inner harbor and spent the day at the National Aquarium. The Aquarium had some great exhibits including a re-created rainforest and the dolphin show, which Amelia loved.

In Washington, Amelia and I went to see Congress in session. Explaining the three branches of government to a six-year-old was a little complicated, but I think that she got it based on a lot of fantastic questions. We also visited the National Zoo and the Museum of the American Indian. Last week, we rounded out our visit to the Smithsonian with a day at the Air and Space Museum, where we saw wonderful exhibits on the origins of flight and ate lunch in the McDonalds where the staff didn’t believe we were really Americans because we didn’t know the menu by heart.

We have also had a lot of time to read over the past few weeks. I’m reading The Sea by John Banfield, a beautifully constructed novel about memory and loss. I just finished (and Dave will soon start) Beautiful Swimmers, which won the Pulitzer Prize twenty years ago for its nonfiction account of crabbing in the Chesapeake and the families who pursue a traditional way of life as watermen. Our visit to the Museum of the Chesapeake this weekend helped to reinforce the challenges of scraping out a living from the Chesapeake Bay waters. Before that I finished Water for Elephants, a story of a depression era circus, and also read Eat, Pray, Love, an autobiography that chronicles a young women’s search for meaning post-divorce. Dave and I are regularly reading together with Amelia. We are currently reading Matilda, and just finished James and the Giant Peach as well as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, all by the same author (thoughtful gifts from Dan and Pam). Dave is reading technical manuals for the boat (in hope of channeling the repair gods to complete the repair work) and chart books (plotting our course southward once we are set free).

So best wishes to all and, with luck, the next blog entry will be from somewhere south!

Amelia, Carole and Dave