Sometimes
I wonder if I’m just
crazy and don’t know it.
I might have mentioned
that our oldest son and
wife are about to have
their first baby next
month. My
daughter-in-law’s sister
was down here for the
holidays and mentioned
that she had a load of
baby clothes, furniture
and miscellaneous stuff
that she’d like to get
rid of, but it was too
bulky to ship down here.
I thought about the
situation for about a
minute or so and came to
the conclusion that I
could kill two birds
with one stone. I could
convince my oldest
friend that we should
fly to Baltimore, go see
Gettysburg, then visit
all of the museums in
Washington, take a train
to Indianapolis, load up
the baby stuff and drive
back home. An adventure
to be remembered.
That was
the plan. It worked like
a charm. Well, most of
it anyway.
We flew
into Baltimore, got to
Gettysburg with it
raining, snowing or so
foggy you couldn’t see
your hand in front of
your face. If this had
been the weather at the
time of the battle, no
one would have known who
won. The guide told us
that there were 1400
monuments in and around
the area. We counted
1406. Just kidding.
I would
be doing the place an
injustice to try and
describe this
battlefield. You must
take my word for it and
see it for yourself. It
defies description.
Enough said.
We then
head off to Washington
D.C. and try to cram as
much as we can in the
next three days. Don’t
even think about it. We
managed to see most of
the Air and Space
Museum, the National
Archives, some of the
American Museum of
History and a number of
parts in between.
Looking at Archie
Bunkers recliner and
George Washington’s
sword in the same day
will give you a giant
headache. By the time
you get to the plane
Lindbergh flew across
the Atlantic, you are
brain dead and numb all
over. You are a victim
of sensory overload.
Your brain just can’t
absorb anymore at that
time. If someone were to
drop the Hope diamond in
front of you, you’d just
look at it and think
…”another pretty
stone…let’s go home.” I
found the display on the
history of socks to be
fascinating. My feet and
legs were crying for
relief. I was looking
forward to happy hour
back at the hotel.
After
museum-ing ourselves
silly, we drive back to
Baltimore in a blizzard
to catch the train,
which takes us back to
Washington. Then we
experience the agony and
defeat of modern day
train travel. If you
haven’t been on a train
lately, think about it
again. I managed to book
a compartment, for two
grown men. and our
baggage. The baggage
wouldn’t fit, much less
the two grown men. I
asked the conductor for
an upgrade, if one
existed. I got a suite,
which allows room for
two grown men, and most
of their luggage, but no
room to turn around.
Take a shower on a
moving train… good luck.
You do good to brush
your teeth. These things
stop about every
forty-five minutes or
so, so you wake up all
night long each time the
train slows down and
stops in a station.
Perhaps I’m being too
critical, but it seems
to me there must be a
better way to run the
railroad.
Seventeen
hours later we arrive in
Indianapolis and find a
taxi stand. The only cab
driver on hand was a guy
who obviously had been a
pioneer in uncontrolled
substances back in the
sixties. We know he was
an American and spoke
English as we could
catch some of the words
such as ‘arrested, jail,
and Elvis Presley’. The
rest of his monologue is
lost for the ages.
By the
time we got the rental
van, loaded the baby
stuff up and started
back home, we were dead
on our feet. Only 1350
miles or so left to
drive. I don’t want to
say it was a long trip,
but we’d run out of
songs to sing about
Memphis and that’s only
half way. We were
getting very surly and
on each other nerves.
Home was looking much
better with each passing
mile.
Now that
a few days have passed
and I’ve gotten rested,
it seems a lot better
than it was at the time.
Lots of memories, but
I’m not in any hurry to
do it again anytime
soon. I’d be content to
just lie on a beach
somewhere and read about
socks.
My wife
hasn’t said anything,
she just smiles.
Your