A weekend away - Part 2

and a little knitting news...(warning picture heavy post)

So Sunday morning we head out to Baltimore to meet up with our cousin Jan. We parked at a hotel at the Inner Harbor and met up and had lots of fun. I didn't really have any memories of Jan as the last time I saw her I was a baby, but within five minutes we were fast friends.

We walked around for a few minutes and guess what we did -yep had to decide what to have for lunch. We decided on a Irish Pub type of restaurant, and the four of us decided to split two Corned Beef Sandwiches. I was quite surprised when the waitress told me they didn't have any russian dressing for the sandwich. The waitress looked at me like why would they have russian dressing. It wasn't until the following day when I was whining about this to MFB and he said something like, "Honey, did they call it a corned beef sandwich or a Reuben". Oh ... yeah. Sorry.

So we sat there outside eating our passable sandwiches and getting to know one another. I found out that Jan lives about 4 hours away from me, and trying to narrow down where she was I asked if she was near a town called Chadds Ford. She said sure and asked how I knew of it and I told her I had been to a yarn store back in March 2006 and she said oh Garden of Yarn? Sure enough, that's the store and she's a knitter too. Something else we have in common. Mark took off for a couple minutes while we were sitting there, I assumed he was making a personal call of some type and about five minutes later he returns and hands me some sun screen. He had noticed I was taking on some sun and went in hunt of some sunscreen. How great a guy is that? Mark you're the best!!

After a couple of hours sitting and chatting we decided it was time to check out the USS Constellation and tour the warship that is docked in the Inner Harbor as a museum. The picture shows the beautiful weather we had and why I needed the sunscreen. Here is a shot of the ships wheel, I loved the wood so smooth and polished. Since I'm a retired cop it's natural that I'm interested in armament and so here is some of the ships 38 guns. We toured this boat assisted with listening devices which brought history to life and while below decks I could picture the ships crew working the guns and living their life on the seas. Every bit of space on the ship had a purpose and life must have been very cramped in the close quarters. Here are the officers quarters ... and here is the crews sleeping hammocks. These ropes looked extremely heavy, but they were deceptively lightweight. I'm glad we took the time to explore this history.

All too quickly my cousins and I had to go our separate ways. With hugs and promises to get together soon, I headed for home to meet up with MFB who was on his way home from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

On the knitting front - yes occasionally I actually finish something!!

Pattern: Perforated Edge Scarf from The Little Box of Scarves I picked up a couple years ago.
Yarn: Berroco Cotton Twist color 8464 70% Mercerized Cotton 30% Rayon purchased at Knitters Dream with Jessica back in March
I had to get used to the yarn as it enjoyed splitting, but the feel of it and the drape are just lovely.
I started this the beginning of March and finally finished it a couple weeks ago and sent it off.

The scarf was a surprise for Lonnie as I wanted to give her a remembrance of our time in Arizona. She lives in Texas but travels a lot and sometimes planes can be cold so I thought I would make her a scarf she could tuck in her carry on if she needs it. The colors of this remind me of the desert and I think the colors suit her.

I hope you all had a safe and happy Memorial Day and took a couple minutes to remember our men and women of the many branches of our armed forces who protect our freedom.