Annapolis Band Competition

Our main reason for visiting Maryland was because of Elle's participation in the band.  She has been a member of the band for 3 years.  The GWA marching band has won  numerous awards for excellence and this year was no different.  They were invited ot the USSBA National Championship Competition in 2010.  The band left GWA on Friday night after performing at the football game and arrived in Washington, D.C. on Saturday morning.  The kids and chaperones spent Saturday on the National Mall having a great time.  On Sunday evening, they performed their show entitled Maestro and won the national title for their division. 

Elle and Nathan

Elle and Joseph

Baltimore Inner Harbor

 



While in Maryland we decided to visit the Inner Harbor of Baltimore.  Pops wanted to see every sea worthy vessel possible (that is how I hooked him on taking this trip).  The harbor has been a major seaport since the 1700's.  Sometime in the 1970's it began to develop as a cultural area of Baltimore.   This area is home to the Maryland Science Center,  The National Aquarium, Port Discovery Children's Museum, and Baltimore Maritime Museum.   We found the area to be bustling with people even though the day was chilly.  We were particularly impressed with the redesigned Power Plant that now houses a Barnes and Noble book store and Hard Rock Cafe.   Unfortunately we had only a few hours to spend here and could not visit each of the sites individually, but we did give Baltimore a thumbs up for a place to visit in the future. 

Oyster Festival on St. Michaels

Back in November, Pops and I had the opportunity to visit the small village of St. Michaels in Maryland.  A friend gave me a Paula Deen magazine highlighting Paula's visit to Annapolis.  In this magazine Paula recommended  a restaurant called The Crab Claw for the best crabs.   Since Paula recommended this restaurant, we decided we had to go.  Much to our surprise the village of St. Michaels, where the restaurant is located was having an oyster festival.  The central  venue for the festival was at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  Vendors were on every street corner giving away oysters straight out of the ocean.  The oysters were delicious and the village was charming.  We made it to the Crab Claw and were not disappointed by Paula's recommendation. 

After eating at the Crab Claw (which by the way does not take credit cards--much to our surprise--they will take a personal check) we decided to meander over the the Chesapeake Bay Maritimie Museum.  The museum has a working boat yard which we found very interesting as well as a floating fleet of historic Chesapeake Bay watercraft. 

 

After the museum we visited the shops of downtown St. Michaels.  We had a delightful time discussing antiques with the shop owners and hearing their stories of their quaint village.  Still curious about the area we  got in the car and drove toward anothe village named Claiborne.  It has a sign boasting population 147.  Between 1890 and 1952 Claiborne was the location for a ferry service across the Chesapeake Bay.  The ferry service was stopped when the Chesapeake Bay bridge was built in 1952.

On our way back to St. Michaels and then on to Annapolis, we passed the Inn at Perry Cabin

Bridges of Maryland

On the way back from St. Michael's I had to play with the camera and take pictures of the bridges we crossed. 

Taking the Plunge

Last summer was the summer for jumping off bridges.  We spend alot of time at our lake house-with friends and family.   I guess that everyone decided to just go ahead and take a leap off one of the bridges passing over the water.  We had been talking about it for years and I suppose all the kids were finally old enough for it to seem moderately safe to experiment. 

Emma Jane

Pops and Elle already down waiting for EJ

My personal favorite--when I get the courage, I too will be holding my nose. 

Uncle Sam's Plantation

I recently read Uncle Sam's Plantation by Star Parker. Parker is an African American woman who is conservative politically. The subtitle "How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It" grabbed my attention immediately.

Parker defines poverty and shares her experiences while dependent on welfare. The author cites historical events that made it possible for the impoverished of this country to become dependent on the government for employment, health, education and more.



Parker takes the view that while the welfare system may have been started with the best of intentions to take care of the impoverished of this nation, the system does in fact legally enslave these individuals. Parker discusses the moral decline in the country and the impact this decline has had on individuals becoming dependent on government. Parker sheds light on the change in family responsibilities as affected by the definition of marriage, abortion, and planned parenthood. Leaving no stone unturned, Parker also addresses the education system in the United States and how it has changed from a system which involved in character building to one that is now based on decision making.



Parker does not make light of any of the situations in which people find themselves dependent on welfare or another government agency. She is not heartless or uncaring. She simply believes that the solutions to the problems faced by the individuals do not lie within a government agency. She eloquently writes that more government is not the answer.

Adults say the darndest things

Have you ever had the situation where someone asked you a question or made a comment to you that was so insanely intrusive or ridiculously rude that you were completely dumbfounded?  My friend Bonnie had this situation and wrote about it at her blog Five kids, a dog and a blog.  Bonnie is a teriffic writer and had me laughing out loud.  I even read her post out loud to my husband who was also laughing.