Good evening. I’m Chevy Chase, and you’re…not.
So, Hubski gang, I have been somewhat out of the picture and not on Hubski almost entirely at all for the past…Well, it’s like five or six days. When I say “not on Hubski almost entirely at all” I of course mean in comparison to my regular standards, as well. It feels like I’ve missed so much! Where was _refugee_, not commenting on the Watchmen discussion at all? And I don’t know what else I missed because I wasn’t here.
Well, as it happens, I almost completely unplugged from the internet and I went on a little trip. I went to Baltimore. Before I went I asked wasoxygen for some recommendations and in lieu of recommendations he asked that I contribute to the #tripreport tag. Hence this post. It is no protest in Turkey but I thought I would share.
Baltimore is, to be honest, not very far from me. It doesn’t feel terribly exotic as a result. I went to Baltimore this weekend for the sole purpose of showing someone the National Aquarium at Baltimore. If you haven’t heard of it, the National Aquarium at Balitmore is one of only two National Aquariums in the US (the other is, perhaps of course, in D.C.) and it is positively wonderful. It is frequently top-rated among aquariums, it consists of five floors of exhibits, and highlights several amphibians and reptiles as well as fish.
We spent several hours in the aquarium. Please go, if you have the opportunity. My favorite exhibit is on the top floor of the Aquarium where they have a greenhouse which has been created to reflect a rainforest environment. There are no enclosures in this exhibit; birds fly freely, turtles swim in pools and streams that go around and under wood plank walkways, and there are other animals such as frogs and fish that are loose in the exhibit. Sadly, we were taking advantage of the Aquarium’s Friday After Five deal and as a result the rain forest exhibit was moon- and little-electric-light-lit, so not conducive for pictures. I found it terribly romantic but, true to form, could not bring myself to say the word.
There is also an on-going, changing exhibit of jellyfish. It is small but the jellies are beautiful. It is very easy to take what appear to be artistic, beautiful pictures of them. I don’t know how long this exhibit will be there.
There was some debate as to whether this skeleton was real and as to whether one could jump from the escalator onto the skeleton. I proposed that the additional weight of a body, plus the force of impact, might cause the whole structure to go tumbling down into the Blacktip Reef exhibit (first picture) below, to swim with the sharks and manta rays. Perhaps as a result, we opted not to attempt it.
The pufferfish was quite the camera-whore. He was very friendly and posed perfectly. On a side note, the aquarium was extremely crowded and if occasionally interacting with small children isn’t your thing, I would suggest you either go on an off-day mid-week(personally, that is when I prefer to go) or as soon as they open on the weekend. I also prefer to go in the morning as well.
A blurry lion-fish.
I don’t recall what kind of fish this kissy-mouth is.
I will leave you with a seahorse to close out the Aquarium.
We spent several hours there. Then we ventured over to the inner harbor’s Barnes and Nobles as poetry book sections are different at every bookstore – no lie – and checked into our hotel. My friend said, “Did you know, you get noticeable irritable every time we have to park?” (I drove down but asked him to drive from the Aquarium to the hotel. We had to get valet parking, by the way, and the cost was highway robbery. If you are going to stay in Baltimore make sure that you plan for parking accordingly.) I was rueful.
We only went to a chain restaurant for dinner, although somewhere I’d never been – Bubba Gump’s. I don’t know if that makes us tactless. It was almost 10 by the time we had dinner. Having improperly planned for our trip and not bought any alcohol besides a flask of Fireball, we did then avail ourselves of the local culture and go to a bar down the street from our hotel. It was wonderful. They were playing great stuff on the radio – Bob Marley and so on. There was a group of very drunk locals having a great time down at the end of the bar. [Lean On Me](
Since by now you may be curious, here is my companion. I am rather fond of him. Don’t tell, though. It’s a secret. I only write poems about him some of the time.
We stayed in Baltimore overnight and went to another chain for lunch – the Cheesecake factory – where even the lunch portions of their salads are huge. Then we went home. Never fear, though. Since this is also #weekendupdate and not just #tripreport, I am taking the liberty of telling you of the rest of my weekend. My friend had been away in Peru for Valentine’s Day, not that Valentine’s Day is anything but a silly holiday anyway ( cough, cough must maintain cynicism, must be true to self) and I had gotten a bonus which had mostly gone to debt and taxes, so this weekend was my treat to – well, us. I took a brief reprise to meet with my real-life book club and then we had sushi at the best sushi restaurant I know of for dinner. We had sake. We had raw octopus. (I know that octopuses are extremely intelligent and some would call this criminal. For the record, they are also extremely delicious.) We were stuffed.
(W.W. roll – specialty roll – and Volcano roll. We also enjoyed a wasabi roll, a Rainbow Ell roll, salmon and tuna sushi, yellowtail carpaccio, and a Spider Roll – not pictured.)
The next morning was an all-you-can-eat Brunch Buffet. It was worth it.
They had a raw bar with oysters.
I do not like raw oysters. It is not the texture that bothers me. It is simply that I find the flavor not worth it.
I had two plates of food and was stuffed.
Then we found the dessert table.
The white meringue dessert with fruit is easily among the best desserts I’ve had in my entire life. I am not usually a fan of sweet things. This hit the perfect balance between sweet and not. It was a meringue shell with a whipped or sweet cream on top, complete with the fruit, which was strawberries, blueberries, and I think raspberries. It was a perfect combination of tart/sweet, crunchy/smooth textures. Despite my bulging stomach I ate the whole damn thing. The other desserts were phenomenal too. In the back of the first plate you can see a gingerbread spoon with sweetcream and chocolate in the bowl. The whole thing was edible. I also used it to help me eat my crème brulee.
That was my weekend. It was rather lovely. And, since I have “rules” about “Facebook” and “pictures that are appropriate (or not) to post online”, this is the only place I feel comfortable sharing this photo. Please do not vomit. I think it is rather cute.
Between b_b and me, guys, it’s like another one bites the dust. And another one bites the dust.
That’s okay, though. It only lasts as long as it do. On a side note, mk , these 502s are getting pretty bad.
I was enjoying so much of this post and then you said you don't like raw oysters and now you killed the entire thing. But really, looks like you had a fantastic weekend! That aquarium looks like so much fun. I mean, hell, if an aquarium can be just as cool for a 7 year old and 20-something year old you know it's good.
Whenever I have the chance to go to an aquarium, I go. When I was a kid, my dad attended a week long conference in Mystic, CT which has an aquarium with a beluga whale tank. I went to that thing every day we were there, since it was free for the families of people attending the conference. I think one of those whales didn't like people much, since it would take big, cloudy shits in front of the viewing window whenever it had to go. Memories.
And in case you're all wondering, the DC national aquarium--for lack of a better term--sucks. The Baltimore aquarium is the aquarium. Ours is shutting down even because they, uh, don't have any marine animals. And no tourism. Anyway, this is awesome, Em! I miss seeing snaps from you so it's good to see your face. If you guys are still in Chevy Chase, you should come visit me! There's a cool bookshop on Connecticut at the edge of Chevy Chase near Tenleytown called Politics and Prose that you should check out.
Aw, I'll snap you more. Sorry. I've fallen off snapchat a little bit lately. Plus I don't know how much you snap so I try to temper that to each person so as not to get annoying. And yeah, the Baltimore aquarium is AWESOME. I am no longer in the area, sorry. Back to business and my own state today. I'll let you know the next time I am in your area though, I thought of you last time I was in DC - but I wasn't there long enough to pay any extra visits. Good to know about the DC aquarium, too. And that bookstore sounds great.
Cool! I live in the DC area and we love going up to The Aquarium (the only one that matters anyway) at least once or twice a year. We sued to actually have annual passes. Glad you had a good time. Baltimore has a lot of character and is a neat place to spend time.