Where I Went on My Spring Vacation

The Trip to Maryland (continued).  

   You were undoubtedly excited by my last post which seemed to suggest I might tell you more about our first post-pandemic trip across the border, but I did not. The weather was too nice, as were the surroundings, and I find it difficult to jot down things along the way, let alone write about them. Now that I am back home and the weather again is bad, I will offer a brief summary for you loyal readers and for myself so that next year I will know what I did last year. 

   If I was more efficient and it was my intention to offer a blogging travelogue, I would begin with the things observed along the way, such as the "Adult Stores" mentioned in my earlier post. I first thought about the richness of travelling, for subjects to blog about, a few years ago when we left London,Ontario for Phoenix. Our first stop in Indiana was in the interestingly named "Terre Haute", which is the home of the "Clabber Girl." I am sure most people would be interested in learning more, but I never got around to writing anything about them, until now, but won't since they are from an earlier trip. On this one, I noted on the way down, such places as Fort Couch which is not too far from Intercourse and on the way back there were Panic and Punxsutawney and the Indiana University which is in Pennsylvania. In Ocean City we looked east over the Atlantic and in the afternoon saw the sunset on Assawoman Bay which is sometimes referred to as "Big Assawoman Bay". Obviously one could continue on about such geographical tidbits, but I said I would be brief and will say only that "Big Assawoman" is likely on someone's list to be erased. 

   Briefly, we stayed on the beach for week and used it as a base from which to visit a cousin, who lives near Princess Anne, Maryland. We went to lunch in Pocomoke and had it along the Pocomoke River which, according to local lore, is supposed to be the deepest river in the world for its width.

  From there we travelled to Easton, after a brief stop in Cambridge (birthplace of John Barth) for another river lunch. Easton is a less expensive base than St. Michaels, where we had yet another lunch. We were joined by the granddaughter of a fellow I wrote a book about back in 2021. She has just assisted in the production of the second edition of one of her grandfather's books and you should buy it if you want to learn more about the Pocomoke River just mentioned (Rivers of the Eastern Shore: Seventeen Maryland Rivers, Hulbert Footner. The first edition was published originally in the fine "Rivers of America Book Series.")

   A short geographical note: The water on the right below is the Atlantic and the Chesapeake is on the left. The peninsula between is known as the "Delmarva Peninsula," or the Eastern Shore.

   

  A crow would fly about thirty-five miles to get from Easton to our next stop in Solomons which is on the mainland in southern Maryland, but almost one hundred miles by car. Solomons Island is a quaint community at the mouth of the Patuxent River and it is near the place where the Canadian-born author Hulbert Footner chose to settle down and write. He is the subject of my book and at the Calvert County Historical Society in nearby Prince Frederick, a room has been dedicated to him. So in addition to meeting his granddaughter, Karen Footner, we were able to meet with some Footner fans who helped Ms. Footner and the Director of the CCHS, John Johnson, provide a space in honour of the author. To learn more, watch this video by Diane Harrison which was produced for the Grand Opening Ceremony back in September, 2022: "A Commemoration of the Life and Works of Calvert County Author William Hulbert Footner.

   If you made it this far you deserve a reward, as did my wife. On the way home we took a bit of a detour to Confluence, PA which is near Frank Lloyd Wright's FALLINGWATER.  Have a look at Fallingwater. 

The Bonus:
     The MD. legislators were hard at work and I am pleased to announce that RYE is the state spirit (MILK remains the state drink.) This from the Baltimore Banner: "Legislators Work to Make Maryland Rye Official State Spirit," Kara Thompson, Capital News Service, March 31, 2023. 
    The Maryland State Team Sport is the same as the national summer sport of Canada - Lacrosse. Maryland's State Sport is JOUSTING, about which Footner wrote in one of his books.
    While I am at it, you will be able to figure out what the state bird is (hint, it is not the Blue Jay) and the state dog, but you may not know that the Maryland State Cat is the Calico. 
    The state song used to be, "Maryland, My Maryland," the tune of which is from "O, Tannenbaum", but it has been cancelled. I wrote about this in another very long post and to save you from having to read all of it, here is the bit about the song controversies, both in Maryland and Canada:

Be Careful What You Sing
     It is interesting, and an indicator of our troubled times, that politicians, both in my adopted country and the ones back in Maryland where I grew up, had to be mustered to re-consider the lyrics of their respective anthems. In Canada, "Oh Canada," I am pleased to report, has been rendered gender neutral (from "true patriot love, in all thy sons command"  was changed to "in all of us command,"). The spectacle was rather a sad one since the MP who introduced Bill C-210 was wheeled into the House although suffering from ALS. 
     In Maryland, many more lyrics were involved and the excision needed to be much more extensive; some want the entire song to be abandoned. The issue in this case was about race not gender. You would recognize the tune of “Maryland, My Maryland”("O Tannenbaum,"), but the lyrics which include such phrases as “Northern Scum” may be unfamiliar to you. They are based a poem by James Ryder Randall and you can look them up. I am not sure if this dispute has been completely resolved, but it is clear that the words of the anthem which were adopted in 1939 are not appropriate now.
[As of July, 2021, the MD. state song ceased to exist.]