Where the Old Things Are

Slide show of Calvert Cliffs State Park

What a glorious day! There is so much to see in MD and the surrounding states that I decided it was time to get started. Of course, having perfect weather doesn’t hurt.

A friend suggested Calvert Cliffs State Park. About 50 miles form my current home, Calvert Cliffs feature was once covered by a shallow ocean. And by once I mean 15 million years ago, give or take a million I suppose.

Anyway, what was left behind is a great beach, swamp and cliffs with fossils imbedded into the strata. Very cool! I walked along the cliffs (the safe side that didn’t have the warning, the cliffs are unstable sign) but still kept my eyes and ears open. Watched the ground as I walked, even sifted through the sand, and I found...not a damned thing.

Although I did see an adorable snake--if one likes snakes. Which I do. Kinda surprising when you read about my fear of mice, huh?

Even without finding one freaking sharks tooth (curse you fossil gods!!) I have no complaints. The beach was quiet. The water was cold. The sun was warm. I had a foccacia sandwich with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, and I spent a significant amount of time lying on a red rock listening to the waves. All-in-all, a good day. How can one complain when you have a rock and the beach all to yourself?

Word of advice if you plan to visit on a Saturday, get there early. When I walked back to my car, I passed numerous people walking to the beach. I left in the nick of time!

Update on Annapolis

Slide show of Annapolis-Streetcars, Sunsets, and Cherry Blossoms


Life has been a little chaotic since I moved to Annapolis. New job. New place to live. New people. You name it and it's been happening. Whew! But there has been some fun along the way. First stop--the streetcar graveyard. Okay, I'm not sure what the real name is. There is a streetcar museum, but this was not it. I was tooling about Baltimore with a friend and we happened to drive past this place when we were trying to get back to the highway. It was on the side of the road and was a mishmash of falling-apart streetcars, giant gears, etc. I had to stop. The light was good and there's something about pieces of the past that interest me--must be the archaeologist in me (she's screaming to get out but I shut her up with beer!)

Cherry Blossoms: Same friend. Different day. We went to see the famous cherry blossoms of DC. Well, kind of famous. We didn't go into DC since it’s a NIGHTMARE during that time with every tourist in the vicinity coming to gawk at the blooms. Instead, we went to a neighborhood called Kenmore. Tons of trees and a fraction of the tourists. Gorgeous! There was a cute kid/entrepreneur selling lemonade and cookies. Of course we bought some.

Sadly, there are no pictures of the DC yet. Not nearly enough time by the water. No sailing. I blame it on the weather. Tues, it was 80 degree. Friday, it snowed. But soon...really. I swear.