R and J in the USA

We started our journey in Maryland in a world that seemed as likely to come out of a fairy tale or Harry Potter book as anywhere else – the wilds of Assateague Island. We gazed at the island’s startlingly beautiful wild ponies and cursed at the equally as wild and untamed houseflies that decided to take up residence in the van. Julie’s typical mercy for bugs turned to bloodthirstiness, and many flies met their ends at her territorial hands. We breathed the fresh ocean air and were lulled to sleep by lapping waves just over the dune behind our campsite. Yes, Maryland had us at hello.

We found our way to Ocean City and were immediately intoxicated with its boardwalk lifestyle. We saw a vibrant boardwalk life that seemed more than a little overrun with the joys and energy of adolescence in the most wonderful of ways. We “ate” (read, inhaled) Thrasher’s French Fries in their greasy goodness and had the most delicious crepes on the boardwalk (yes – they had gluten free crepes for Julie!).

We visited a little town called Nanticoke hoping to see a museum of Native American history, but realized too late that we need to check the hours on small town museums. They are often open only one or two mornings or afternoons a week. 

We had crabs in Kent Island and learned a bit of history about the bay. We crossed the miles long Bay Bridge and took in the view from its heights.

We walked the cobbled streets of Annapolis. Having been there before, Ryan knew even before arriving that Julie would be smitten with the town. He looked forward to seeing the smit fall upon her, and it did. We visited the golden-domed capitol, where we learned new things about our nation’s history and the noble acts of our first president that took place there when Annapolis was the nation’s capital city. We window shopped, heard tales from a culinarily passionate shopkeeper about Italian and Spanish fresh olive oil, ate hot dogs by the water and took a boat tour of the harbor. We took a short, but informative, tour inside the Unites States Naval Academy, and later found out from an alumnus friend of ours what we were supposed to do when we passed the academy’s goat statue. And, of course, get used to this phrase, we stopped for ice cream.

We visited Antietam National Battlefield, a beautiful vision of rolling fields and wooden fences who’s stunning visage was made heavy by the memory of what happened there – the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Taking over 20,000 in it’s span, the battle was impactful in determining the events that followed. We took in the landscape and the history before taking a rest in yet another Cracker Barrel parking lot for the night. 

We saw yet another charming Maryland Main Street in Frederick where, we had only an hour to take in all the National Museum of Civil War Medicine had to offer. As with each stop, we learned so much.  We learned about the incredible medical developments that happened during the Civil War that changed wartime medicine, and medicine in general, and about the heroic players that made that so.

We finished our Tuesday with a hot, humid, hilly and beautiful “5K” in a park in Westminster, about an hour north of Baltimore. While it was the only “5K” we could find taking place in Maryland during the dates we would be there, when we arrived we realized it was not a full 5K, but rather a three mile trail race (that Julie’s watch clocked in at 2.85 miles). That means we’ll have to return to Maryland for an official check on the 5ks in 50 states club membership, for our purposes, we considered it a valid member of our 5Ks in 50 States, especially since, thanks to hills, heat and humidity, it FELT like much more than 5K indeed. Check out our 5Ks in 50 States section to read more about it.

We dipped into Baltimore only long enough to get the feel of the city and to visit Fort McHenry. Julie found herself brought to tears by the moving video presentation recounting, with dramatic flair, the story of how the Star Spangled Banner came to be. In her surge of emotion, she, gulp, made her way to the gift shop. Showing some restraint she returned with only a few postcards and a Fort McHenry hat to remember the emotion of the visit. 

From the shores of Fort McHenry we could see in the distance the Francis Scott Key bridge in its broken state.

We settled deeply into the paradoxical feeling of “wish we could be here longer” and “this is just right”. Somehow, moving quickly through each place was creating a feeling of deeper experience rather than shallower. Just as we had hoped it would.

While in Maryland we stayed at a State Park (Assateague Island State Park), a Cracker Barrel, and 2 wonderful Harvest Hosts. One Harvest Host, Redemption Springs, was passionately working to farm in a regenerative way. While there we had the most delightful outdoor shower after a sticky race and fell asleep to fireflies, turkeys walking by, and a beautiful sunset out the window. In the morning, Julie did serious damage (to our wallets, not to their store) in their gift shop. Elderberry syrup, kombucha, fresh meats, and other farm delights would be ours to travel with as we moved on from there.

As with the previous state we visited, we left Maryland more than a little entranced by its ways. And as with the last state, we found Maryland’s state motto to be apt – “Fatti maschii, parole femine,” roughly translated to “strong deeds, gentle words.” We were invigorated and enriched by both. Though the quick pace was starting to build up a little wear and tear in us both, we left in wonderful spirits and ready to roll forward to the next adventure.