In contrast to yesterday today started mild and sunny and stayed that way all day. We started from Lancaster, PA and headed southwest toward Baltimore and Washington DC. Our mid morning destination was the Baltimore Museum of Industry in the harbor district. Gloria drove and I navigated. Here is a shot of the Washington Monument in the distance. Highway driving is a drag, but there are few viable options in this region.
We have visited the Capitol area exhibits and museums in the past and didn't plan to stop today. The trip to Baltimore went smoothly and after a winding trip through city streets we turned into our destination. This is the view from the harbor of the not so modest sign for the Museum of Industry.
Several outdoor exhibits were also plus size. In the picture below that is me on the left, not trying to figure out what this machine was supposed to do, but if it will fit into my garage (sadly, no).
The exhibits inside covered a variety of industries important to Baltimore, past and present, including food processing, textiles and sewing, transportation, printing, communications and a clever hands-on exhibit on video game development. Gloria is standing next to a pot for the cook who has everything. This one is about four feet across and extends another three feet below the floor.
My only complaint about the museum is that they could have done a better job of telling the history of their artifacts. Many of these were stepping stones in trends that made America and industry what it is today, but we read little of the social dimensions of the industrial revolution, the rise of labor unions, the displacement of workers by new technology and the like. Good collection, marginal curation.
We finished with the museum around noon and asked TRIP ADVISOR to recommend a restaurant near by. Two blocks away was the Southside Diner (5 stars) which served a number of tasty meals including the Greek salad with broiled crab cake pictured below. Obviously I started on it before taking the picture.
On the way to our destination, Emporia, VA, we detoured off I 95 and using route 1 which was a longer drive but much more interesting. BTY,our past experience was that Emporia is so boring that we found ways to extend our wanderings by nearly six hours to avoid getting here earlier. Little River, SC and a visit with our friend Ernie is the destination for tomorrow.
Keeping our daily progress to 300 miles per day continues to be a good choice. This allows us to get off the Interstates, and see more of the people and our country. Lots of short stops have confirmed that most people are pretty nice and hard working. I can't think of any other reason why the system works as well as it does.
See you along the way tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment