From the Baltimore Sun: The Ravens scored 27 first-half points, tying the most ever in the John Harbaugh era, and kept pouring it on from there en route to a 55-20 blowout over the hapless Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon in front of an announced 71,339 at M&T Bank Stadium. The 55 points set a franchise record. So I thought I would dedicate a blog on shopping for Raven's Gear!   Baltimore Ravens Light Up Glass Ball Ornament Celebrate the holidays while supporting your team ... Read More

Sunday after church we organized to go to Baltimore's Aquarium. Doing it this way, Miquel and Jenny wouldn't have work and could go too. In fact, Miquel did the driving, which was perfect for me. He put on Queen radio, and a few Queen, Journey, and Bon Jovi songs later, we were into Baltimore. Most Marylanders love our Aquarium and most outside visitors are very impressed by it. It's showcase of more than 16,000 animals including sharks, birds, dolphins and jellies. What ... Read More

It was time for tearful good-byes. My heart was never going to be ready for it, but I wasn't mentally prepared either. The day to leave came so fast. This is going to be my life. 5 More hours and the total travel time give or take was 38 hours. I slept nearly the whole next day! I am thankful for a boring  and uneventful trip...for loved ones around the world...and to my husband who is patient and does all he can to make ... Read More

“I met hundreds and thousands of people, and none finer than the midgets and the Siamese twins and the caterpillar man and the bearded woman and the human seal with the little flippers for hands. I never asked them any embarrassing questions and they never asked me, and God, it was a great adventure.” (Johnny Eck) Mom was surprised that I remembered him. When you're 4 years old and a little older, it's hard to forget a man who sat outside his ... Read More

We came through Hurricane Irene ok. The yard is a mess and so is the pool, but we are just a little tired from being watchful and perhaps a little stressed after a week and a half of weird happenings around here. Perhaps some rest today and clean-up if the rain stops. We weren't without some incidents, but most of Maryland is spared. I did hear that 200 roads were closed, many trees were down, and 500,000 were without electricity. Ocean ... Read More

This is John's 3rd visit to Maryland, and so, his third visit to Baltimore's Aquarium. He likes it a lot (especially the Australian section). Since it was raining, we had to look for an indoor activity. John I don't think would ever say no to a visit to the aquarium. This time they had as an extra exhibit, Jellyfish. (Last time it was frogs). It's fun to see the sights of Baltimore... ... Read More

There doesn't seem to be an agreement on why Pepsi will shut down in Baltimore, be it the economy or the city's tax. I do think it's fair to conclude you just shouldn't start taxing everything in a BAD economy. It doesn't help anything. At least, ask the 75 people who lost their jobs. "Pepsi is packing up production after deciding to stop making soda in Baltimore City, and they’re blaming the new city beverage tax. Pepsi will continue to transport ... Read More

Christmas is almost here, in terms of shopping that is, and I thought I would put together a few things for the Baltimore Raven's Fan on your list: ... Read More

Naturally one of the places I had to take Georgie was downtown Baltimore and its Harbor. We lunched at Phillips Seafood and had some of their award winning crab cakes. Georgie liked both the crab cakes and the local beer. The dessert cart looked good, but we were stuffed. Georgie was interested in seeing the Aquarium, so after lunch, we were off to the National Aquarium. The first place we headed was the Australian section of course! We got to see wonderful creatures ... Read More

Today, John's sister, Georgie arrived from Penn Station in Baltimore to spend some time with us. Silas loves her already, and it looks like so does Rubí! Today we spent the who day shopping at Arundel Mills Mall, and tomorrow we have planned a day outing at Harper's Ferry! It's very sweet to have John's sister here! ... Read More

Today Chris and I with our girls and Cammy went to Baltimore Harbor to pick up some souvenirs to take to Australia. I noticed when we were upstairs in the Pavilion that we had no view of the Harbor, only  something big and gray. I figured it had to be a great sized ship. Wow, when I got outside, I finally saw how BIG! Apparently the Brazilian Navy was in town with their U27 docked in Baltimore's Harbor! It was a hot ... Read More

Uncle Meek and Jenny went to the Baltimore Aquarium and got Silas this neat t-shirt! Not Star Wars, but SEA Wars! I think Silas likes it! ... Read More

After visiting the ships at the Harbor, we strolled around Baltimore Harbor in the evening.... ... Read More

The Santa Maria was a small nao, about 70 feet long, used as the flagship for the expedition for Christopher Columbus in 1492. She carried 40 men. Interest in reconstructing the Taylor Santa María started in the 1890s for the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage. The 1892 reconstruction depicted the ship as a nao. A subsequent replica built in the 20th century depicts the Santa María as a caravel. Commissioned as part of the 500th Anniversary Jubillee of the Voyage of Christopher Columbus, ... Read More

While going over our home movies, I found this clip I thought would work well for a small video tour of Baltimore's Aquarium. It truly is a wonderful aquarium, but the video only shows a small part of it. Since this was created in 1992, they've added so much to the place, like an Australian section! The National Aquarium in Baltimore is a public aquarium located at 501 E Pratt St. in the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was ... Read More

Like last year, we went to the Baltimore Harbor for fireworks. This year had some differences, we had Enric, Miranda, Silas and baby Rubí with us! However, this year, Miquel had to work, and no Jenny either. On Chrissy's side, we had Jim, Johnny, Britney, Adam, Sophia, and Cameron...but no Heather. It's always fun to just 'arrive' at the Harbor and look around... Making fudge... Buying Fudge...Maple fudge AND cookies and cream! Blue tongues after eating blue snow cones! Cameron with Jimmy We found a good place to ... Read More

Today Miranda and I took Silas into Baltimore to John Hopkins  Hospital for an exam. This was our second trip into the city this week, and our second hospital, the first was to take mom to Union Memorial for a stent procedure. We sure were amazed at Union Memorial, it was like the red carpet treatment from the first, and they took such good care of mom. She is back home and doing fine. Here Silas is in the waiting room of ... Read More

Today the good weather took Laura and I to the B&A Trail. It seems like forever that we had been there. The trail has about an 8-foot wide paved surface and is in good condition. The total length is 13 miles between Annapolis and Glen Burnie, MD. Once you reach the northern terminus, a short connector path will take you over to the recently completed BWI Trail. The southern half of the trail cuts through some nice suburban ... Read More

A few times in the past I have given to Miquel as his Valentine's present,  a visit to the car show in Baltimore's Convention Center. In the years past, it has been overwhelmingly amazing and it was almost too much show to see in one visit. This year, I was excited to have more Valentines to take, and we set out yesterday to the Maryland Auto Show. There were some noticeable changes at the start. Not having gone the past two ... Read More

Another video HERE ... Read More

It doesn't seem that long ago we went to Rams Head to see Todd Rundgren. Imagine how it felt to see my own son and his band playing there! Last night was such a time. The band right before they were about to play. It was nice to have good lighting on the drummer for a change. Simeon Ryan Ben Doug Miquel Group Shot It's nice when all your friends show up to support you... Even Cameron made it! I took nearly 1000 photos last night. I have weeded out 200, so I ... Read More

According to Baltimore's Examiner, serial killers and politicians share traits. The traits include glibness, superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, and the manipulation of others. The affective traits include a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility. The lifestyle behaviors include stimulation-seeking behavior, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic orientation, and a lack of realistic life goals. More here ... Read More

Today we had to close up the pool for the winter. For some reason, I found myself in the building and in an old box in the corner where my dad kept rusty old tools, I found a few big envelopes. Curious, I opened them and found two group photos of the Baltimore Colts, years 1968 and 1970, as well a signed photo of Johnny Unitas holding a Royal Crown Cola, and lastly, a Christmas greeting from the team. My parents ... Read More

Recently, Miranda sent me a lovely postcard from Wisconsin, so I put it together with Petra's from Graceland and New Orleans. Also, I found an old one sent to me from Morocco and then I found one from the Mackinac Bridge, Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., and finally one from Baltimore. Barcelona, Spain 79 Sagrada Familia 13 Camp Nou 9 Montjuich 39 Barri Gotic 20 Sabadell, Spain 36 Vacarisses, Spain 5 Monsterrat, Spain 39 Sitges, Spain 4 Benasque, Spain 37 Lleida, Spain 19 Tarragona, Spain 11 Graus, Spain 16 Madrid, Spain 5 Ravenna, Italy 1 London, England 11 Holland 19 France 12 Australia 7 Iceland 2 New York 5 Niagara Falls, NY 12 Washington DC 8 Delaware 3 Maryland 20 Baltimore, Maryland 23 Ocean City, Maryland 11 Annapolis, Maryland 5 Pennsylvania 41 West Viriginia 28 Harpers Ferry, West Virginia 38 Wisconsin 1 Virginia 23 Michigan 5 Indiana 2 Tennessee 5 Illinois 10 Louisiana 1 Georgia 1 Ohio 6 Maine 3 California 3 Columbia, South America 2 Bolivia, South America 5 Morocco 1 596 ... Read More

Our July 4th started with a sit-down family lunch of Tortilla de Patatas. With everyone's tummy happy, we decided to get some tennis in before heading out to the harbor. Already happy to have spent most of the day with my two children, I showered and looked forward to meeting the Kucha's to go to Baltimore. Harborplace was filled witih people and fixed up for the holiday. We relaxed at the Hard Rock Cafe... The girls had frozen virgin drinks. Chris sipped on the real thing. Jim, ... Read More

John's last full day here in Maryland, and we decided to take a quick trip into Baltimore and visit the B&O Railroad Museum. It had been years since I had been there, and I sure hadn't seen it since the roof collapsed under the weight of a heavy snowstorm. I had forgotten all there was to see in one place. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum possesses the oldest, most historic and most comprehensive American railroad collections in the world. Dating from ... Read More

We finally got a day without rain and so we headed out to Baltimore Harbor to see the Aquarium as well (again). I decided while we were planning John's holiday here, to add Fells Point to the tour. We didn't even wait to get out of the parking lot to start taking photos.     Once inside the Aquarium and inside the Australian section,  John talked to a volunteer.   We saw all the usual exhibits, but on our way out was a fun time with ... Read More

As an extra pre Christmas treat, I took everyone to La Tasca, located in Baltimore's inner harbor. Around the holidays, my children grew up enjoying tapas, and I wanted to continue the tradition since we were all together. Silas was seated and looked ready for some different things to enjoy. He started it off with his very first lemon! Enric and Miranda look over the menu... Miranda decided on a mini Paella Valenciana and Brocheta de Gambas y Vieiras. Enric opted for the Calamares and Queso Manchego Boquerrones ... Read More

After doing some quick food shopping at Giant, (out of milk) we went to Baltimore's National Aquarium . The aquarium has a collection of 16,500 specimens of 660 different species. Particular attractions include the dolphin display, rooftop rainforest, and central ray pool, and multiple-story shark tank. The National Aquarium in Baltimore is widely considered to be one of the best in the United States. We went around a few times, including the Australian section. The dolphin show is always entertaining. I had fun watching ... Read More

  In spite of the rain, thunderstorms, tornado warnings, my children and I, and our cousin Lauren, went to Baltimore Harbor with the Nestruck and Coleman families to watch the fireworks. I didn't get that many photos, as I was very fearful for my camera in the rain, but I was so glad I went with such nice famlies! We had a great venue from where we could watch the fireworks. No parking problems, no traffic, we could zip straight home when it was over. Not ... Read More

  Each year, I take one of my "valentines' to the Motortrends Autoshow in Baltimore, Maryland. It has become quite a little tradition that the whole family likes. This year we each had cameras, flat shoes (ahem, Laura), ample card space, and plenty of fresh batteries. Also this year, Miquel brought his friend, Mike, who seemed a little perplexed at the amount of picture taking our family can do. Later, he got into it himself, taking pictures with his cell ... Read More

My son works at CVS pharmacy, and these days pharmacies do more than just medicine. There is a photo-processing section. One particular day, a photo he admired a lot was given to him by a customer. This is his photo of Todd Heap, of the Baltimore Ravens, in what has to be almost the play of the year! Nice customer!   Larger Image here   ... Read More

 A sweet family, the Nestrucks, invited Miquel, Laura, and I to cheer our local football team on after church at their house yesterday. The food was great and we were happy to be guests of such a nice family. The dog made us welcome too! We also ate "Death by Chocolate" for dessert! (Elise, Miquel, Erin and Laura cuddled on the couch to watch the Ravens) The Ravens won with a 10-yard touchdown with only 34 seconds left in the game!   ... Read More

As last year, I took one of my Sweethearts for an early Valentines to the Car show.      This is our second year going into Baltimore to see MotorTrends Auto Show. I missed Petra with us this year, but as far as what cars were there to see, I think this year was better. Also, the children learning you could actually climb into the car and sit it them made it more fun too! Here are a few photos of us trying out ... Read More

Today the children and I, along with Enric and Miranda visiting in from Wisconsin, went to see the new AUSTRALIA exhibit at the Baltimore Aquarium! I have been excited about this new exhibit since its announcement over a year ago. The aquarium has always been a wonderful place to visit, it has a whole new element with this AUSTRALIAN exhibit! Some of the wonderful Australian creatures we were able to see were: Death Adder Archerfish Barramundi Black-headed Python Empire Gudgeon Frilled Lizard Grey-headed Flying Fox Johnston's Freshwater Crocodile Pig-nosed Turtle Rainbow Lorikeet Snake-necked ... Read More