Birthday's in Baltimore

I celebrated my 29th birthday on Friday (February 1) and in celebration of my day Eric and I snuck off to Baltimore for the weekend. We got up early on Saturday and made the drive up. Traffic was very light which made for a nice drive. We checked into the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bwish-renaissance-baltimore-harborplace-hotel/ and when we got to our room we were greeted with this amazing view.



After unpacking and admiring the view we headed to the National Aquarium. http://www.aqua.org/

We first went and checked out the Australia exhibit and then made our way towards the sharks, into the rainforest and finally to the dolphin show. This is what I was looking forward to the most.





Sadly my battery died right after this photo. I was so upset about this. I tried to enjoy the show but was mad at myself because I didn't charge the battery fully. Oh well I guess.

After the aquarium we wandered around Inner Harbor and then went and had lunch at J Paul's.
(http://www.j-pauls.com/) This place was very good. What was neat was they serve you FRESH soft pretzels while you wait for you meal. I ordered a rueben and it was the BEST rueben I have ever had. After lunch we headed back to the hotel to rest and relax. We had plans to go to Morton's (http://www.mortons.com/) that night for dinner but decided that we just wanted to enjoy each other's company in our room and have a quiet dinner. We went across the street to one of the pavillion's and picked up sushi and burgers and fries from Five Guys (http://www.fiveguys.com/). What a combination. But hey...it's what we wanted. :)

We enjoyed dinner while overlooking the city.



Sticking with the quiet theme we ordered room service for breakfast (plus we just couldn't leave that view).

After we checked out we headed for Ellicot City, MD and the Ellicot City B&O Railroad Museum (http://www.ecborail.org/).



We enjoyed walking back in time and learning about the history of the station and the B&O Railroad. We got a bonus of a CSX coal train heading EB. :)

It was an amazing weekend, with the most amazing man I know (aside from my dad ;) ). I always dread my birthday but Eric always seems to go above and beyond to make it a special day.

Full album of our trip can be found here:

Baltimore 2008

You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person. - Alec Waugh

Point of Rocks, MD and Shenandoah Junction, WV

When you read the subject line you would think that we did a LOT of driving today. We drove less than 100 miles and covered a lot of road in 3 states. Ah yes...the 3 state tour. Eric and I both stayed home from work today....a little R&R or what have you. We slept in and then decided around 10:30 to head out for Point of Rocks. We picked up some blunch (breakfast/lunch) on the way and got to Point of Rocks a little after 11. We heard some chatter of an EB train and headed over the tracks to park. We climbed up the bank to get in position and got what I think is my best railfan picture ever. The shot I was talking about with Eric and my parents of hoping to get one day....yes friends...I got the train coming through the tunnel.



I told Eric that all we need now is a cam corder so we can get audio AND still shots. hehee....it would have been awesome to hear the sounds of the whistle bouncing off the tunnel walls.

We hung around to catch 2 more trains after this one and then got into that lull where there isn't a lot of movement on the rails. We decided that we would head out and started back towards home. All of a sudden I got an idea to head up to Shenandoah Junction, WV to a hot spot for railfanning. We turned around and headed back towards Point of Rocks up through Lovettsville and Brunswick and into WV via US - 340.

When we got to Shenandoah Junction there were a couple of other railfans there already so we grabbed a spot and waitied. Not long after we got an EB train and then a SB on the Norfolk Southern line. It was a busy day.

SB NS.


We stood outside with the other railfans and had a good time talking with them and getting info on different sites, webgroups, etc.

It was an awesome day and a much needed one. Here is a link to all of our pictures from January 21 and January 28. I'm working on captions so you have the feeling of actually being there. :)

Railfanning

Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. - Miriam Beard

Monday is Maryland Day.

Eric and I were both off of work today for the Martin Luther King Holiday so we headed up to Maryland to visit Barnes and Nobles and take in a little railfanning. We had heard on the local news talk radio station that there was a closure on Route 15 north of Lucketts so we took a detour through Loudoun County by way of Route 9 to Route 287 and then through Lovettsville. We hit Brunswick, Maryland and then got on US - 340 from there. We went to Fredrick and the Francis Key Mall to hit up B&N. I got a couple of books from the bargain table and I think Eric picked up one of my birthday presents. :D After we were done there we headed back towards Brunswick, MD in search of some trains.

We saw 2 engines with a lumber car heading WB towards the 84 Lumber there. After awhile the 2 engines came back EB towards the yard. From the chatter on the radio it sounded like they were doing some track testing. Not long after we got a WB of mixed use cars (coal, box, intermodle). Things got quiet after that so we headed down to Point of Rocks, MD.

When we pulled into Point of Rocks there was an EB Amtrak waiting for clearance to continue through. Come to find out they were waiting for a CSX work truck to clear the tracks. The radio was pretty quiet so we decided to drive down towards the west end of the tracks where the signal towers are to see what they read. All red. Bummer. I remembered an entrance to a park just after you turn onto MD-28 from US-15 so we went down there to wait for some action. I saw a bridge that went across the tracks and the old Canal so we got out of the car and started walking towards it only to realize that it was a vehicle bridge. So we jumped back in the car and drove over there. Boy was I happy to have found that. I was finally able to get a picture of the Point of Rocks tunnel which we always see from the bridge but can never get a good picture of.
It's not a straight on picture as I dare not cross the tracks. But I'm happy with it. :D



A couple minutes after we got to our new found spot we got a WB train. It was such an awesome spot to capture the train moving along the tracks. Here is the train on approach.



And moving along the tracks. Yes, that would be snow on the ground. On January 17 we got about 4 - 6 inches in Leesburg. Most of it has now melted (aside from the areas that don't get direct sun).



I love this photo a lot. The shadows from the support pilar of the bridge we are under and from the surrounding trees. I just like it a lot. heh. :)



After the train passed we moved down from the tracks and headed back to the car (since it was colder than we like). Soon after we headed home and called it a day. We had a lot of fun and wish we had more 3 day weekends to do some railfanning.

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware. - Martin Buber

The 3 state tour.

Our first road trip of the year took us in search of a train museum I remember seeing multiple times on US - 11. For some reason I thought that is was in Pennsylvania, but lo and behold it was in Maryland. We hit the road late that day but made the best of our time (and what little day light we would have left). We headed up US - 15 to US - 340 and then to US - 40 before jumping on the interstate (our last resort of travel).




We got into Hagerstown and found a Sheets to grab a bite to eat before we headed over to the museum. When we pulled into the parking lot at the museum there was a lot of train activity in the yard.



We headed into the museum and were a little disappointed to find that it is mostly geared towards model railroads.


(click on picture to see full view...for some reason it is getting cut off)

While we don't mind watching the model trains for a few minutes we were hoping to find a museum along the likes of New York Central depot in Elkhart, Indiana. Though we were met with disappointment we talked with some of the gentlemen there and they gave us some pointers on places that are decent for railfanning.

We headed back to the car and back down US - 11 to Shenandoah Junction, WV to locate and mark on our GPS a possible railfanning spot. It is usually pretty quiet in our neck of the woods as far as train travel goes (on the weekends that is) so we hope to make it out there on a week day at some point.

After we got the place marked we headed towards home with a stop in Brunswick, Maryland as we heard some chatter on the scanner of a possible west bounder. Not to long after we heard whistles and the arms went down and we were met with Amtrak 29. Though it was a train it is never as exciting as your old freighters.

After the Amtrak went through we went full steam ourselves towards home.

Another good day on the road, another 3 state tour* and a couple trains to boot.

It is not down in any map; true places never are. ~Herman Melville

*editors note: The 3 state tour is when you hit Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland all in one trip. ;)

'Tis the season....

For 55 degree nights in December, dinner with great friends and Christmas carols with the Santa band.



Eric and I spent the weekend leading up to Christmas in Virginia Beach with his mom and sister. We got to have dinner with our dear friends Bryan and Meredith (and soon to be babygirl Lewis). We met them for dinner at Bravo Italian (http://www.bravoitalian.com/) which is located at the Virginia Beach Towne Center. We had a wonderful dinner filled with lots of conversation, laughter and my opportunity to give them the gifts I made for babygirl. We gave them the crocheted blanket that I made an a breast feeding reminder bracelet. They were both totally blown away by the thoughtfulness of the gifts and the fact that they were all hand crafted.

After we ate we headed outside and were greeted by this 4 man Santa band.



They filled the warm (but breezy) night air with sounds of Christmas. It was so fun listening to them play (and made me want to dance).

The court yard that we were in had all of these fun sculptures of reindeer. They were all shaped differently and some were holding shopping bags from various stores there.



It was such a good evening and one that I didn't want to end. It is so hard being a good distance away from those that you want to surround yourself with. Eric and I are blessed to have Bryan and Meredith as friends. I love the friendship that we have with them because it is more like being with family with them and that to me means so much.

"In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures." -- Kahil Gibran

Reflections on the Ohio Turnpike

** backdated entry **



I love how the sun breaks the clouds both in the early morning and during a storm. This is a shot of the sky and the traffic behind us along the Ohio turnpike. I've always seemed to have a love/hate relationship with the Ohio turnpike, but today I have a love for it as it is taking me home. Though our journeys this weekend will have some good times the purpose of our trip is to join my family in a celebration of my Uncle Tod's life. When we went to Michigan in September it was to visit with my Uncle who was battling cancer. Little did we know it would be our last time with him. On the morning we were to head home he passed away. So today we are on our way to be with my family and to have a memorial service for him and celebrate his life.


But before we get to Michigan we are making a pit stop in our new found spot for some serious railfanning, Deschler, Ohio. We'll be meeting my parents there for some train watching and who knows what else.

Can I just say that one thing I love about my parents (and one of the things I love that they taught me) is that it is never too cold to do anything. That's right my friends...we had a cookout in the park right along the tracks.



This park is for all railfans and you will find people camping and just hanging out at all hours of the day to catch some trains. It was windy and cold at times but it was so worth it. We built ourselves a perfect fire and it kept us very toasty.

We had some good train action and even caught some engines and trains from lines/companies we've never seen before. I think my favorite (behind Norfolk Southern and BNSF) is Union Pacific. I can't give you a real reason as to why they are one of my favorites but they just are. :) Here is a shot of 3 UP engines heading East through Deschler.



After a full day of train watching we headed towards Michigan to my parents to get ready for Saturday and my Uncle's memorial service.

"We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way." - unknown

Amish Country, train watching and some soft serve to go.

Shipshewana buggies September 2007
Originally uploaded by jobean98

We woke up early this morning and got a start on the day. Holy cow was it chilly. I was beginning to think I should have packed differently. :) We headed out to Indiana today - Shipshewana and Elkhart to be exact. The road took us first to Shipshewana were we stopped in at Bread Box Bakery & Cafe for some homemade goodies. Everything is so good and just like I remembered when we visited as kids. We strolled around town a bit and then piled back in the car to drive over to Elkhart and the New York Central Railroad Museum.



As soon as we pulled into the parking lot we saw a train sitting on the tracks and then realized that he was actually moving along at a snail's pace. We waited for it to go through and then headed into the musuem. This is a very good museum for families as they have some interactive areas for kids (of all ages) and a playroom with toys and train videos. After strolling through the museum we headed out to the train yard to take a look around.



Not to long after we got into the train yard a few more trains came rolling through for us to see. I always find it interesting to see the various graffeti on the train cars. Some will say that it is defacing someone's property, which yes it is, but I like artistic side of it and wish that those that did the defacing had a place where they could do it in a legal way to display their talents.

After awhile we headed to Middlebury, Indiana and Das Dutch Essenhause for an Amish style family dinner. This is very similar to the Bavarian Inn or Zehender's in Frankenmuth (for you Michigan folk). the food was so good and well worth the trip. After we filled our bellies with some seriously delicious and homemade goodness we headed back towards home.

On our way back through Jonesville, Michigan we stopped in to the Udder Side for some soft serve ice cream which I think is hands down the best I've ever had.



Stay tuned as we take on Ohio.

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." –- Henry Miller