Baltimore to New Jersey

After spending last night in Laurel, Maryland, I drove into Baltimore today.




My first stop was M & T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.  Most pro football fans in the DC area support either the Redskins or the Ravens, though I did meet two Pittsburgh Steeler fans at different times today.



A block up the road is Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the showpiece stadium of the Baltimore Orioles American League baseball team.  In the plazas surrounding the park, there are monuments to famous members of the Oriole teams of the past.  There is also a statue saluting Babe Ruth, who was born and raised in Baltimore (to the extent that he was raised).

Brooks Robinson statue
(Note the GOLD Glove)

About two miles away, at a point of the harbor where two rivers join, is Fort McHenry.  This is the place where Baltimore was defended at a critical point of the War of 1812.  At the close of the battle, in which the British attacked Baltimore by land and Fort McHenry by sea, Francis Scott Key wrote the "Star Spangled Banner."




I drove underneath one of those rivers in a bridge tunnel, then crossed the rest of Maryland into Delaware.  Delaware is a small state, and I crossed it at its thinnest point in a half hour or so.  I then crossed the spectacular Delaware Memorial Bridge over the Delaware River into New Jersey.  I followed the New Jersey Turnpike to East Brunswick, which is close enough to allow me to drive into New York City tomorrow morning.  That's where the Eastern Terminus of the Lincoln Highway was located.  I'll start driving the Highway tomorrow.

Our Nation's Capital - And Some Rain

After my late skyline drive on Monday, I slept in a little on Tuesday, then drove from the Shenandoah Valley into Arlington and Washington, DC.

The United States Marine Corps Memorial, the "Iwo Jima statue," is in Arlington, just across the street from Arlington National Cemetery and just across the Potomac River from the National Mall.  Bus after bus was dropping off school children to see the memorial, which is huge and inspiring.  Around the base is carved a list of the major battles in which the Marines have been engaged historically.




I recently read a biography of Theodore Roosevelt.  So, I was looking for Theodore Roosevelt Island in the Potomac River.  Roosevelt (like John Quincy Adams before him) is said to have skinny-dipped in the Potomac from time to time, so the island is an appropriate place for his monument.  It's not the easiest place to get to, but the impressive memorial in the center of the island's trees has a monumental statue of Roosevelt with four stone panels behind him.  These explain virtues that he thought were important in his personal life and the life of the nation as well.  I was glad I found this out-of-the-way site!

Just across the river in Washington, I stayed in the area of the National Mall and Tidal Basin.  I had never seen the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and I was so impressed!  I thought it was just one statue of him, but it is a progressing "story" which you see as you walk through a "maze" of walls and waterfalls.  The many bronze statues show scenes from the Depression, a young and older FDR (and the dog Fala), and Eleanor as well.  His quotes (and hers) are carved into the walls.  Wow!

Having just been to Monticello this week, the Jefferson Memorial was especially significant.  Jefferson's words are on the walls on four sides of him, and the walk up the steps from the Tidal Basin gives you a feeling of entering a temple.

After a long walk by the Washington Monument  [I don't go up into buildings damaged by earthquakes when I can help it] , I got my first look at the World War II Memorial.  This is a wonderful addition to the Mall, at the east end of the Reflecting Pool between the Washington and Lincoln memorials.  It has tributes to all fifty states, to soldiers in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, and to casualties on a wall of gold stars.  The centerpiece is an elaborate series of fountains.

The memorial to soldiers from the Korean Conflict is at the other end of the Reflecting Pool, near the Lincoln Memorial.  I was there at the same time as a veterans group, many in wheelchairs with caregivers.  It definitely added to the experience!






This blog will have a lot of pictures of monuments to Abraham Lincoln, since the Lincoln Highway was supposed to be a "living monument" to him when it was laid out across America in the 19-teens.  Still, it's great to see the expressions on the faces of people in this beautiful structure.

Unfortunately, it began to rain at this point in the day, hard enough to send me running for the car.  I had to cut the visit short, but it will be one I'll always remember.  I hope to return in fair weather someday!!