Visiting B&O-Themed Places

I have been out and about visiting places this past week or so. The weather has been great lately, like even hot. However, this shall soon come to an end as Frankenstorm AKA Hurricane Sandy is on her merry way to the eastern seaboard. We are stocked with more than enough toilet paper, but I really hope our power does not fail as my freezer is full of food. We are going to need some good neighborliness (hint, hint neighbors) if, no when, we lose power.

Sigh.

Anyway, back to the fun stuff. Last week a friend and I visited Evergreen Museum and Library on Charles Street in Baltimore. It is situated smack dab in between Loyola and Notre Dame Universities yet it is owned by Hopkins. Go figure. At first, I was wary because it needs a serious paint job and the grounds are just so-so, BUT inside IT IS A TREASURE: gorgeous art, books (the books!), glassware, Tiffany lamps, furniture, wood floors, all of it. The docent who showed us through was ever so kind. Really worth the $8 tour price. "Evergreen Mansion was built in the mid-19th century and bought in 1878 by the president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, John W. Garrett.  The home grew and became both luxurious and famous." (Wikipedia) It has a gold bathroom - 'nuff said. It was John Garrett who was the instigator to persuade Johns Hopkins to donate money for the university which bears his name. Evergreen was donated to Hopkins in 1942 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

If anyone wants to go, I would gladly return.

The canopy of the new main entrance

 

 What it looks like underneath

 

Roof ornaments

 Moi

We had lunch with another friend at Miss Shirley's Cafe where I could probably eat everyday if given the chance and a bottomless wallet. Everything sounded so delicious.

Then this week, I went to 

 

Savage Mill 

to do a mini-shop but really to see 

 the Bollman Iron Truss Railroad Bridge. 

It is a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark because it is the "sole surviving example of the first successful iron bridge design widely used by the railroads from 1850-1875. It was invented by Wendell A. Bollman, a prominent Baltimore civil engineer." The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad built about 100 of these bridges over 25 years. This one spans the Little Patuxent River in Savage and is located right next to Savage Mill. It's a nice afternoon visit. One can walk along the river, shop and have a yummy meal at the Ram's Head. What more can one ask for?

 

 

 

 That is a lot of iron.

 

Negligence & Fall

A whole month has gone by since I last put fingertips to keyboard. One whole month! Must be because I have become the taxi driver to the Clan. Oh, and chief organizer of the college applications. Ugh. I do not even want to go there.

However, I do want to say that there is a ridiculous amount of acorns in our Oak Crest neighborhood.

So many that I am considering scraping some of the acorn mash off of the street to feed to the chickens. When cars drive down our street, a cloud of acorn dust settles after their wake. I have been all stuffed up and sniffly and while a friend suggested it was because Mitt Romney was in the air, I actually think it's from the acorn dust. Oh well, at least maybe the squirrels

and the deer (art by Finn)

 will leave our pumpkins alone this year as there is plenty of nuts to eat.

Fall is here. It's my favorite season by far. Too bad the mornings are so dark, We (meaning the kids) are having lots of trouble getting out of the door in time for school buses.