Yankee Stadium

Although we are jumping ahead a city, we wanted to share the amazing thing our friends Bob and Barb did for us at Yankee stadium.  Just in case you don't know, Yankee stadium is referred to as The Cathedral.  After all, they do have 27 World Championships!!!

Nationals Park

In Jodi and Jack typical style, we had screwed up our Metro cards Because of all this, we ended up at the National's Park an hour before we intended to so had a quick bite outside the park before walking around the stadium and taking photos.

 This park was really fun and festive. There 37,000 fans at the game which was the largest crowd we have seen since AT&T. There were lots of red shirts, President mascots and a beautiful park.  The Nationals

 We enjoyed a band from Nashville prior to throwing of the first pitch and enjoyed the atmosphere. The Nationals defeated the Phillies 2-1. The Nationals are the only team in the National League that has never been to a World Series.  Mariners fans, I'll let you guess who the only other team in all of Major League Baseball who has never been to the October Classic.

  Jodi had written again to a beat writer for the Washington Post but with no luck. Finding sponsors is getting more difficult. Wilson of Guatamala was represented by Wilson Ramos of the Nationals.

Wilson is 10 years old and lives in Guatamala
Wilson enjoys drawing, coloring and playing soccer. He always does his schoolwork and wants to be a professional in the future. He helps his mother with some of the chores, like sweeping and running errands. Wilson lives with his parents and three older siblings in a two-roomed, block home. Their informal kitchen is a separate structure. Wilson's father is a brick maker, but also looks for other work to supplement his income.


For the first time, we left the game a little early due to the hoards of fans that would be taking the metro home. We didn't want to keep our hosts waiting any later than necessary even though they had insisted it wasn't a problem. Micah picked us up at the Glenmont station and we chatted with Elaine and Micah for a few minutes before hugs, sad goodbyes and a short night's sleep.

Washington D.C.

Friday, May 22

Day 45

Micah took us over to the Glenmont Metro station and we headed off to our nation's capital.

 We initially stopped into the Museum of Building , looked around and then headed to the National Gallery of Art. We enjoyed a quick hour of looking at wonderful paintings, It was a perfect day outside so we decided to walk over to the Washington Monument and the National Mall.

 We had seen a lot of DC when we were here 14 years ago but there was a lot of new things as well. The highlight was the World War II Memorial which was built in 2004. We briefly talked to a park ranger who told us there was a veteran there today! We walked over, took his picture and Jack talked to him and I to his daughter-in-law for awhile. He was 93 years old, had flown many missions from London to Germany as a navigator. There were only 2 men left in his company, all the rest had passed. He was 19 years old when he was doing these missions and they virtually learned to fly with a few lessons and then started flying missions. The cabins were not pressurized when they flew, so his hands were still affected with deformed nails as a daily reminder of his frozen hands.

 After a heart warming chat, we continued down the mall to the Korean War, Lincoln Memorials and then the Vietnam Memorial. There were many people and groups in town for Memorial Day celebrations and remembrances. 

Korean War Memorial

Baltimore and Orioles Park at Camden Yard

Thursday, May 21

Day 44

 We headed out to Baltimore and parked downtown and started out on foot toward the inner harbor. We had very little trouble getting to Baltimore on the 95 which was a pleasant surprise. We walked around the inner harbor, went to the visitor's center and decided to walk over to Little Italy to look for some food and explore the area. We ended up at Piedigroota Bakery which was a delightful find. The owners had run a large commercial bakery in Italy and immigrated here in the 1990's.  Some say he may have been the inventor of tiramisu. We had a wonderful sandwich with some wonderful ground meat served warm with cheese and sauce on the side. They had fabulous looking desserts and cookies. We bought some biscotti to share at the game. Great lunch.

Inner harbor Baltimore

Little Italy

 Jack had been calling Mark and he and Beth were going to meet us at the stadium, Oriole Stadium at Camden Yards. We walked over there and it started to rain. Luckily we had grabbed 4 unbrella bags at the Visitor Center. Mark and Beth have season tickets to the Orioles, and invited us to come with them.  How great is that? They took us on a tour of the stadium so Jodi could take pictures and then after getting some paper towels to wipe the seats, we headed down. There was a steady rain by now, too bad, as these were the best seats we have had so far on our road trip! 

Mark and Jack

 We sadly watched the Orioles go up 4-0 with a grand slam off of Mariner's pitcher Happ. In the 2^nd the Mariner's scored 1. The rain continued and at the end of the 3^rd they called a rain delay. We were cold and wet so went up to the covered indoor area to dry off and warm up. It was fun to watch them put the tarp on.  They seem to have it down to a science.

Jodi and Jack await the resumption of the game during the rain delay

 We chatted and met Mark's younger brother Bruce and his friend and told them about the travel club and Unbound.  After 2 hours and 5 minutes the game resumed. The Mariner's tied up the game and had numerous chances to go ahead. Once again Robi strikes out with a man on third and one out. It was sad to watch, a few innings of non aggressive base running, pathetic. Oh well, we are growing accustomed to Mariner's losses and self destruction and lost opportunities.

How many years will we Mariner fans have to wait for one of these?

 We didn't get out of the game until after 6, it had started at 12:30. Mark and Beth drove us to a pub and we finished the evening eating, having a beer and enjoying their company. Mark and Beth have been to the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Preakness on numerous occasions. At dinner, Mark showed us a photo of his new baby, a colt born recently that he is in a partnership with some others. They have another filly as well that is getting close to being able to race. They are headed to China in the fall in search of panda bears. Beth has a desire to visit places and things that are likely to soon disappear first.After a great day, we headed back to our bed in Wheaton.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania

Wednesday, May 20

Day 43

We visited the nearby Fredericksburg visitor's center and they kindly opened about 20 minutes early to help us. Wow, that was nice. We were glad we did as we really had no idea how to approach the several Battlefields in the area. We were directed to Fredericksburg Battlefield first where the National Park Service has a visitor center.

We watched a movie which explained how the region was devastated by the war not just in soldier loss of life but by the occupation of the area for many months. Everything was used up, trees, food, crops and homes destroyed. The people were forced out, many to never return. There were several horrifically bloody battles in this region. We stood on the ground where thousands marched straight into gunfire.

The Union troops crossed the river down below to march into battle up this hill where
the Confederates had established walls and  the obvious geographical advantage

There are 15,000 Union soldiers buried here in a National Cemetery. The Confederate soldiers were buried in a different location. Most of the Union soldiers buried were unidentified and several bodies placed in one grave. This battle took place 2 weeks before the Emancipation Proclamation came out and Lincoln was heavily criticized for the loss of life that took place here. The Confederate army was the victor in this battle by holding the high ground.

The top number is the number of the grave, the bottom number means
there are 5 unidentified Union soldiers buried

 Later in the war there were 3 other battles fought very near here. We visited the Spotsylvania Court House Battleground, again where thousands were killed with really no gain in ground. They fought in hand to hand combat.  Grant was trying to get the Courthouse and then take control of Richmond. What was accomplished was the continuous loss of life in which the Confederacy could not recover. The Union had more available troops but lost thousands. The Spotsylvania Battlefield was hallowed undeveloped ground that we were able to drive and walk.

The girl scouts come every year on Memorial Day to light 15,000 luminarias for the Union soldiers, while another group does the same at the Confederate cemetery.

We drove to Wheaton, Maryland to our next ATC hosts home. They were delightful and interesting people!  We went out for dinner at a great local Thai restaurant and then settled in for a big day in Baltimore. We explored all sorts of public transportation but the journey home after the game sounded complicated so by the end of the evening we settled on driving.

University of North Carolina and Duke University

Tuesday, May 19

Day 42

Headed out to Chapel Hill to visit the University of North Carolina. It was a beautiful campus with many brick buildings and wooded areas. 

 We went into the gift shop and made a purchase before visiting the football stadium first and then made our way over to the basketball court. 

 We were so happy we were able to get in. We were able to take many photos around the stadium and were lucky to witness a small portion of the Valor Paralympics for Veterans. 

Baby blue chairs

 We watched a volleyball game where all participants were sitting on the floor. These games apparently go on for 4 days in different venues, tomorrow will be at Duke. We saw a veteran in a track chair and met some people who were working the event.

Dean Smith Center - UNC Basketball court

Valor Paralympic Games for Veterans

 It was inspiring to watch. After UNC, we drove a short distance over to Durham and Duke University. Another amazingly beautiful campus. 

Duke University Chapel

The buildings appear very old, all of stone. Unfortunately the Duke chapel was closed for renovations for a year so were unable to get inside. We went into that gift shop  then went to discover the Cameron Indoor Stadium home of the Duke Blue Devils. We were amazed how old school it was, steeped in tradition. It was built in 1940 and holds 9300 fans. It would really be something to see a game there.

 It was really fun to go into their hall of fame and learn of their tenting traditions and rules for students trying to get tickets especially for the rivalry game of Duke vs UNC. 

 Their are 3 different categories of tenting in Krzyzewskiville. Black tenting is the strictest. You must have 12 people there at night and 2 at all times during the day for a whole week. After tent check there is a short break where people can leave but then must return. Blue tenting is less strict and white tenting even less so but fewer tickets are awarded. Grace is granted if the weather gets below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, there is more than 2 inches of snow or there is a tornado warning or thunderstorm. We were shocked how small the area really was that all these crazy students cram themselves into to get tickets for the coveted game.

Krzyzewskiville

 We were really glad we stopped in Chapel Hill and Durham to see these campuses. We drove on into Virginia and got to the south side of Fredericksburg in order to visit a couple of Civil War Battlefields in the morning before heading north into the feared chaos of the Northeastern United States.