Crowded Upstairs

Me: That sounded like the beginning of the Superman theme.
Jason: That's what I was singing! "Kate is great, she is so great..."
Me: No, that's Star Wars.
Jason [singing to the tune of Superman]: Kate is great, she is so great...
Me: That's better.
Jason: It's not my fault they have the same words!

I got a speeding ticket the other day for the first time in I don't know how long. The last one I can remember was on the way to work at Fort Belvoir so it couldn't have been later than 2009. I've gotten a couple from speed cameras but this was my first experience being pulled over by a cop in ages. And I'm not mad about it - one of the roads I take to work has a short section where the speed limit dips from 40mph to 25mph and I spaced it. It's a rich community and it was 6:30 in the morning with nobody else around, so when I spotted the blue lights fire up on the otherwise dark and unmarked car I wasn't all that surprised. The next morning the cop was back again and I passive aggressively snarled "you're welcome!" to the car that was riding my bumper as we crawled by at 26mph. It wasn't easy to pay (the print on the ticket is very small and it turns out you have to pay by calling the number that the ticket says not to call) but at $200, it was cheaper than I was expecting.

Today we had our dry run honeymoon scenic train trip. We had talked about doing a scenic train trip to the national parks for our honeymoon, but neither of us had ever done it and might hate it, so we decided to do a local daytrip to try it out first. So that was today: the Potomac Eagle train through the Trough in Romney, West Virginia. We splurged on the highest tier - climate-controlled club car with loads of food served over the course of the three-hour trip. We hadn't realized there would be narration and music nonstop over the loudspeakers. The narrator was super monotone, but from her voice I think she's probably been doing it for longer than I've been alive. When she wasn't speaking, music was playing, and said music was about 95% bluegrass. Including previously unknown (to us) bluegrass versions of familiar pop and rock songs. Today was the day I learned that Jason has a limited tolerance for bluegrass. Bluegrass isn't my very favorite genre but I don't mind it. Jason swears he was not slowly losing his mind. Probably.

There was more birdwatching than we'd expected, too. The narrator announced at the end that we'd had 15 bald eagle sightings over the course of the trip, which I believe, but the fact is that I've seen a lot of bald eagles in my day, both in captivity and in the wild, so while they're neat to see, it's not exactly a life-changing experience anymore. That said, the scenery was lovely - the Trough is a narrow ravine between mountains where a river runs, and the train runs along the side of the one of the mountains. Train is the only way through besides canoe or raft (and we saw a few of those too).

Despite the lovely scenery and the knowledge that other scenic train trips will probably offer different audio experiences, I don't think we'll be doing it for our honeymoon. We had a good time but neither of us were blown away, and I felt vaguely seasick the entire time. We do, however, have ideas for a honeymoon road trip. More on that as it develops.

Jason: McDonald's, Burger King, or Taco Bell?
Wyatt: Taco Bell.
Elliott: Burger King.
Jason: You two are gonna have to work that out. I'm only making one stop.
[Wyatt and Elliott each start graphically describing the horrors served by his brother's chosen restaurant and the moral failings of the people who eat there.]
Jason: McDonald's it is!

Yesterday was grand. Jason and I went up to Baltimore for the day as a belated birthday present to me. We started at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, which (as one might guess) is about the factories and canneries that used to populate the city. I drew a couple things - an old delivery truck and a weirdly triangular electric car from the 1970s - while Jason browsed and listened to his audiobook. There was a special exhibit on the Key Bridge, its collapse in 2024, and the rebuilding process (currently scheduled to be completed sometime in 2030). I've driven on that bridge, and I remember seeing the video of its collapse. I don't gasp out loud very often, but I sure did then.

After that we looked for a spot to have lunch but learned that in much of Baltimore, the concept of available parking is purely theoretical. We finally found a spot and started walking to a restaurant that looked good, but on the way we saw Mikey's Pizza and Subs and decided to go there instead. It was one of those tiny hole-in-the-wall places that did only take-out and delivery (not even a single table inside), and man was it tasty. Jason had a sub and I had a stromboli and we both will enjoying some leftovers today. We dined in our car in the parking lot of the next museum of the day, the B&O Railroad Museum. I feel like I've been to train-specific museums before but I don't know if I've seen so many trains in a single place before, both model and full-size. We could even go inside several. I think my favorite model was the one that had recognizable Baltimore buildings, and my favorite full-size was the Pullman club car from the 1950s that had been fully restored.

We stayed there until it closed at 4, paused in the parking lot for about 15 minutes so I could draw a caboose, then headed to Arundel Mills Mall. Our original idea had been to do dinner at Medieval Times but tickets were a hundred bucks a head so we decided to skip it and just browse the mall for a while instead, since neither of us had been there in years. We parked by the Books-a-Million and shortly after we got inside there was an announcement that an unspecified event was going on in the mall, and that we were basically locked down. Like, they were willing to escort us outside through the emergency exit, or we could just hang out in the store until they gave the all clear. We opted for the latter. Luckily, it was a big store and we had no problem browsing happily for the 45 minutes or so until they got word. We never did find out what happened, but about half the other stores never reopened, so I guess a lot of employees just up and left. Still, we had a good time wandering, grabbed some dinner at Johnny Rockets, then headed home, pleasantly exhausted. We both slept very well last night.

That said, it's just after noon and I am already very tired because Jason and I just cleaned the turtle tank. Last time we cleaned it, we put the next cleaning on the calendar in order to avoid going too long in between. And yet, this was still way overdue. But I gotta say, this current filter is the reigning champion for smoothest unhook-reattach-restart process. Almost no mess when we unhook the tubes, priming isn't too tough, and it restarts on its own without interference. I've had a lot of difficult filters in my 26 years of owning a turtle, and this one is probably the easiest since she was a baby in a one-gallon aquarium I could literally pick up and dump out.

It's spring break, so the boys are currently planning to stay with their mom until Wednesday, though we've told them that we're flexible. I've got some chorus and quartet stuff over the next few days, then next Saturday we've got our mini honeymoon dry run (scenic train daytrip). I'm thinking the rest of today will be a chill day.