We're back in Baltimore, this time for ten days. We're staying at the Ramblin' Pines Campground in Woodbine, MD. This is the campground that Rick and I lived in for about 6 months after our house sold while I waited for my retirement date. It's a decent enough place, though it's a long drive to most of the places that we need to be while we're here. It's pretty quiet except, of course, for the nearby train. I actually don't remember the train from when we lived here. There's a good bit of development going on around here, and I wonder whether there have been some trees cut down that have increased the train noise. In any event, the train noise is only part of the fun. On one side of the campground are some fields with livestock. On the other side, about 1/2 mile away is the town landfill. This makes for some interesting smells, depending on which way the wind is blowing!
Coming back to Baltimore is all about connecting with family and old friends. On Thursday night we had dinner with two of my old friends from the State's Attorney's Office, Sherrie Bailey and Debbie Hermann and their husbands Drew and Andy. We spent about three hours in the restaurant cutting up and catching up, much to the chagrin of our waiter. Unfortunately, we forgot to bring the camera, so I didn't memorialize the event.
On Friday night I was scheduled to join a group of high school friends for a crab feast. Crab feasts are very Baltimore and very messy. The crabs are steamed in vats with Old Bay Seasoning. The feast involves sitting around a table covered with newspaper and literally tearing the crabs apart limb from limb and hammering on the claws with wooden mallets. There's usually a good bit of beer consumed, and it takes several hours to clean and eat all the crabs. But being a messy affair means that it's usually done outside, and the temperature Friday reached 106!!! It was only 93 at home on Merritt Island.
So, in any event, the steamed crabs were replaced by crabcakes, and the party moved inside.
What started out as three friends meeting for dinner every few months has morphed into a group of about fifteen women that get together for dinner every now and again. All of these women, (except one), were in my graduating class at Bryn Mawr. It's a pretty diverse group with regard to politics, professions, and interests.
We've enjoyed several more dinners with friends since we arrived. We met my former colleagues Barbara Richmond and her husband Joel, and Mary Cunnungham and her partner Robert. No picture was good of everyone. Sorry guys.
We had another nice dinner with my former colleague Jeanne and her sweet daughter, Ashley.
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