Baltimore and Luray Caverns

We have been enjoying Aimee’s last few weeks of summer vacation.  She goes back to school next week and the kids come back after Labor Day.  Her classes for grad school also start next week, so she will be going from lots of vacation time to crazy busy.  Last weekend Aimee went to Utah for a friends wedding.  She had a good time but I sure was glad when she got back home.   It is definitely more exciting when she is around.

To enjoy the time off recently we went up to Baltimore to explore the Harbor area.   It is a fun area and the weather was great.  We didn’t have time to go to the aquarium so we want to make sure and go back one of these days.  It is supposedly one of the best aquariums in the mid-Atlantic region.  One of the things that makes the Harbor area unique is the fact that most of the buildings are restored factories.  For example, this power plant has been turned into a huge Barnes and Noble that has an array of restaurants on the ground level.  I thought the Hard Rock Cafe guitar on the smokestack was a nice touch. 

Another example is this the building below.  It was originally a sewage plant and has since been turned into a museum.  It has such amazing architectural details that I could hardly believe that the city built it to handle waste water. 

This building also had a really cool old tractor in front.

Another part of the city we wanted to see was a section called Little Italy.  We are discovering that several large cities have blocks filled primarily by Italian restaurants.   When we were in Boston, Aimee went to the Little Italy neighborhood and discovered a treat that she has since become a big fan of – the Cannoli.  It is a chocolate dipped, pastry filled with ricotta cheese and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  They are pretty good.  The restaurant we went to also had Italian Ices that were quite good. 

We ended our trip by visiting Sherwood Gardens, an impressive park in a neighborhood filled with turn of the century mansions.  Baltimore is an interesting city geographically in that the slum areas are only a mile or two away from very upscale neighborhoods.  Below is a picture of Aimee with one of the homes in the background. 

For the last few weeks I have found myself with a lot more time on my hands than I have had for years.  Being done with school is great and I am really starting to enjoy having spare time.  I recently read both Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.  They are great books and one of the most exciting parts of Tom Sawyer is when he and Becky are lost in the caves. Soon after I finished reading this part of the book, some of our good friends Eric and Stephanie invited us to go with them to see the Luray Caverns.  The Luray Caverns are by far the most amazing caves that I have ever been inside.  They have no natural entrance and were not discovered until the 1860’s.  They are huge and are filled with colorful stalagmites and stalactites.  Dream Lake (below) is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.  The picture really does not due it justice.  What looks like stalagmites below is really the reflection of the ceiling above.  However the water is so smooth it reflects the image so perfectly you really have to look closely to realize that it is a reflection.  The lighting in the picture makes it more obvious but it is amazing in real life.  

Apparently stalagmites and stalactites take 120 years to grow an inch. Some of the ones in the caverns were huge and must have taken millions of years to form.  It is amazing to see a place that is so undisturbed by the passage of time.  One nice aspect of the exploration was a self-guided tour that gave us more information about some of the landmark formations. 

The caverns also contained  a wishing well.  They encourage people to toss in coins and each year it is cleaned out and the money is donated to various charities.  They have donated over $750,0000 so far.

We also saw this formation called Fried Eggs. 

Included with our ticket to the Caverns was a ticket to see an antique car collection.  They had a large collection of early cars that really make you appreciate our modern cars.  Here is a car that looks like it belongs in the Great Race. 

Some of the Custom cars had some really amazing details, such as solid mahogany, that you just don’t find on today’s cars.  They presented a fun opportunity to try out the new camera we recently got.

It has been a fun summer and hopefully we time time for more weekend adventures even with Aimee back at school!