Howard County

We don't have a picture of the Howard County sign, because it is impossible to find a Howard County sign. Once we get a good picture of the one on 70, I shall update this picture. However, we got five or six good pictures of Baltimore County signs.

 First to Ellicott City, on the border of Baltimore and Howard counties.

 The high water mark below the railroad where hurricanes have caused flooding.

Mary contemplating entering the B&O railroad museum. The Ellicott City station was the end of the first 13 miles of railroad in America.

The railroad station, which is now fenced off. There is a train that runs on the original tracks from 1830, but it is no longer a passenger train.

Inside the caboose, originally a Dutch word. They told us what it meant in the museum but I don't remember, it meant like cooking car or something. Something to do with a stove. Apparently they no longer have cabooses on trains anymore, which was a little bit of a downer.

St. Paul's Catholic Church, where Babe Ruth was married. Also my cousin Sarah was married there when I was sixteen and the driveway is pretty curved and steep and I almost punctured a tire on the car, but that is a story for another day. Just be careful.

Buying a ticket to board the train from the men's side. Originally men and women had separate windows. On the left was the men's window, and on the right was the women and children's line.

 The National Road, which they make a big deal of in the brochure and you spend a while searching for, but is actually just the road you're driving on.

We ended up in the one, the only, the stifling hot, the small, the creepy, the weird.... Enchanted Forest. Everything was small and grotesque and there were children everywhere.

 The whale, the only thing Mary remembers from her first grade field trip here.

 I'm very proud of this picture of the shoe, it looks like it has hairy grass coming out the sides.

 Baby goats!!!!

 Centennial Park, a very nice park in Howard County where there are walking paths and a lake.

The aforementioned lake.

 Drive-by of the mall in Columbia, which is a large and upscale mall. I think it's pretty nice, I could wander around and touch things in there all day. Plus there's a carousel inside!

Merriweather, where Mary has been to many concerts, and I went to the Mumford and Sons and the Decemberists concerts in June.

In our prime parking spot at the Howard County fair, just mere feet from the entrance gate!

The river in the road at the fair, which the convertible had to forge through. To Be Continued.....

At the Howard County Fair!

Look at these baby rabbits which were for sale!

A giant rabbit! There were several very large rabbits, like the size of dogs. Also for sale.....

This is the head of a chicken. I mean its a whole chicken, but look at its fancy headpiece.

The midway at the fair, where the delicious fair food is abundant and several of the rides are terrifying.

Final Thoughts: Although Howard County boasts that it's the 3rd richest county in the nation, don't let that discourage you. (Actually four of the top ten richest counties in America in 2010 were in Maryland, according to Newsweek). It's not all too fancy-schmancy for the middle class. There are many historical sites, weird wacky things to do, and many farms where you can pet horses and pick some fruit.

 

Washington County

The Washington County sign, even though I thought we had already been in Washington County for several minutes by the time we found the sign.

A quaint street in Boonsboro, that Mary made me get out of the car and take a picture of since pictures through the windshield are not up to par.

 This is it. The world famous Crystal Grottoes Caverns, the most naturally kept cavern in the world! We didn't know it existed till we saw it on the internet. But it is about to become the biggest cave in Maryland, as they are excavating new rooms all the time (though we didn't know there was one cave in Maryland, much less multiple ones).Also, the road outside the caverns is the first asphalt road in America.

 The reflection off a lake inside the cave, where frogs often come underground to winter.

The caverns were originally discovered when the government was drilling for limestone in the 1920s. After the caverns were discovered, the owner decided to make them into commercial caves for people to tour. Our tour guide was very informative, telling us about all the animals that live in the caves (bats, rats, ROUS, frogs). Also there are roots from plants above that grow all the way down into the caves and break through the walls, including a honeysuckle root. Our tour guide knew a  lot about how stalagmites and stalactites were formed, but the lights will get turned off on you if you do not keep up with the tour. Which is very green and energy conscious, but also scary.

The blanket formations that make the cavern famous. Also interesting was that a room was recently found that is bright red, which researchers discovered was caused by a carnival that was in the area for several years that left pieces of iron which seeped into the ground. Several rooms are being excavated by hand and are not open to the public.

Secret cow hideout in a tunnel underneath the road.

Its a restaurant....and a gun store.

The inn author Nora Roberts owns.

An alpaca farm near Hagerstown, which also includes an alpaca store with merchandise made from alpaca wool. Mary got a sweater, and I got a scarf. For Christmas.

These two gelded alpacas came galloping over when the hose was turned on. They looked very cute but also very hot. They were a lot smaller than expected.

The black one has to be kept separate, since he isn't gelded, but he can see his buddies over the fence. He also liked the water with the hose and washing his feet in his water bucket.

Antietam National Battlefield, site of the bloodiest single day of the Civil War. It's a pretty compact site, and it doesn't take long to go through, but its worth it to get the audio tour or a tour guide, or a knowledgeable Civil War enthusiast, such as my dad. Because we didn't have any of those and we didn't really get what was happening some of the time. But there are bike trails, and walking trails. Also, spring for the bug spray. As fun as it was to hear Mary flip out about the bugs, just do it, because the bugs will get in any facial crevice you have.

One of the vast number of monuments scattered all throughout the park.

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Me with the canon in front of the visitors center.

Burnside Bridge, where intense fighting took place. It spans over Antietam Creek, where visitors can go kayaking, although it isn't very deep. Graves were situated all along the river, with markers torn from the planks on the bridge. Also, we eavesdropped on what looked like a private tour, and the tour guide said that that big tree was there during the battle. Its in a photograph by the bank.

Bloody Lane, the center of Confederate territory during the battle. Originally called Sunken Road, the lane filled with so many soldiers as the Union advanced that it became known as Bloody Lane. That blue car kinda not in the parking spot is Mary's.

A Confederate solider being hit by a cannonball. The canon is being fired by a smiling Union solider.

A tense moment of short range combat between the Confederacy and the Union.

Two reconciled soldiers posing by a fence surrounding a local cornfield.

Final Thoughts: There is loads to do in Washington County, if you have a little money and know where to go. Washington County scores in regards to natural beauty, with mountains, caverns, rolling hills, and farms. Definitely swing by Antietam, especially since its one of the few battlefields in the North. The Appalachian Mountains are right there, and there's probably biking and hiking to be found. But no matter what you plan to do, if you're going outside, bring bug spray.