Sam and I just returned from our eight-day Baseball and History barnstorming tour of the East Coast. We started in Boston, and spent two days taking in some of the city's rich history and two nights watching the Sox at Fenway Park. Prior to the second game we watched as the team retired Jim Rice's jersey, while many of the Red Sox greats from the 70's and 80's joined in the ceremony. Sam was virtually uncontrollable at the Fenway souvenir store and spent hundreds of dollars (of hard-earned butcher-money!) on jerseys, hats, bumper stickers, etc. Walker Texas Ranger has been replaced by Red Sox Man!We flew to Baltimore and drove up to Gettysburg for a day, which was fantastic. The battlefield has been very well preserved and you are able to get a feel for how the fighting progressed over this wide expanse of geography. On the way back to Baltimore we messily devoured a dozen steamed Maryland Crabs at a crabhouse in Owing Mills. The next day we took in an afternoon game at Camden Yards in Baltimore, a beautiful stadium but blazing hot in the full sun and humidity. Before the game I took in a very enjoyable tour of Babe Ruth's birthplace and after the game spent a few hours at the lovely Baltimore Harbor.
The next morning we hopped on a train to Washington and spent the day in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Then another train to Stafford, Virginia where we spent the weekend with our old friends Mark and Kay Dudenhefer. Mark is a Civil War historian so on Saturday and Sunday we visited battlefields--Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Wilderness. Being on the battlefield and understanding the strategies and tactics was quite an experience. Along the way there were various museums, walking tours and monuments. I learned a ton and found it all quite fascinating.
Monday Sam was burned out so I took an early train to DC and went to the Holocaust Museum, which was powerfully sobering, and then walked to the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool, the Lincoln Memorial and the WWII and Vietnam Memorials. I tried to squeeze in the National Archives as well but there was a 45-minute wait to see the Bill of Rights and Constitution, so I passed. Monday night we flew home both tired and ready for our own beds.
Over the course of our trip we we were on planes, taxis, trains, light rail, busses and subways. (Now I wish we'd taken a ferry and rented bikes to round out the list.)
Sam is a terrific traveling companion--capable, responsible and good-spirited. It is amazing to me that he spent as much time as he did on battlefields and in museums, but he seemed to enjoy it.
I suppose I have had more exciting vacations, but this was quite a treat for both of us. It instilled a surge of patriotism, a visceral revulsion at the horrors of war and a reverence for those that have died on battlefields.
And of course the highlight--watching the Sox play at Fenway.
