Look at my hometown, will ya

See that church on the bottom left? I take that little bridge several times a week but never really had a chance to see the aerial views. See that dome in the center? I used to work there and in several other buildings nearby. Those modern-ish buildings to the left of the area after crossing the bridge are buildings of the USNA and all the trees you can see a little SE of the Naval Academy live on the campus of St. Johns College. They are ancient trees since St. Johns was founded in 1696. No I didn't make a mistake with that date. It is  sixteen ninety six. Amazing, right? well certainly for the US. 

See that red barge either going or leaving Baltimore Up at the top of the picture? Well this image shows the view looking eastward and the large body of water you see is the Chesapeake Bay and the distant blue of Maryland's Eastern Shore. If you were to take the bridge (not shown) and continue driving eastward you would reach the Atlantic Ocean in about 90+ minutes. 

Thank you Len for posting this image. 

Oh Those Greeks!

No not the political or monetary crises. Just memories of a few weeks back and the wonderful Greek Festival. That's the joy of memory making, aka scrapbooking. You get to relieve the memories and have fun in the process. Somehow just the plain photos doesn't quite have the same fun anymore.

I wasn't overjoyed with the results of my watercolor technique here, but it's a leaning process, and hopefully I'll look back one day and say...Ah but that was one of my first tries. Practice, practice, practice.

Once A Year or Maybe More

Each year we try to go to as many ethnic festivals as we can in the greater Baltimore-Washington area. That really takes me back to my roots when each church in my small Pennsylvania hometown consisted of a particular nationality.  My mother came from a Lithuanian family and my father came from an Irish family. Their marriage was not looked on with favor from either family, even though both families and churches were Roman Catholic.  But that was the downside. The upside is that in communities like this, the old traditions were kept and more importantly to me, the old recipes were cooked year after year.

Baltimore has kept this kind of neighborhood for much longer than a lot of areas probably because of its historic blue color base, and festivals are supported by the city government. In addition, t's a draw for tourists. Washington DC has many many foreign nationalities represented in the population but it is still the churches that keep these kinds of events going.

This is the hall of the church

 

 

Annapolis? Well our Greek Festival has blossomed in the years that I've lived here. The community has remained solid, mainly a Cypriot based community, and the new church is magnificent. If we're in town we always try to get there. This year we were home and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

I had all mezze

He had the roast chicken dinner

What the tent had is below

No, we didn't have any sundaes

We went to see the Greek dancing inside the main hall. I had seen another group of children dancing inside yet another tent while he went back to the car for his phone. This 2nd group was one of many throughout the day, from little ones on up to adults. The tiny boy on the far left really was good and I hope he continues with the dance as he grows up. You could tell he felt the music and wasn't just doing the steps. What woman doesn't like a man who can dance???

While we bypassed those Baklava sundaes, we did have our desserts while watching the dancing. Each year I  have my absolute favorite. Galaktobouriko.  One piece to eat and one to take home. He got the pastry sampler which is lasting us all week.

GREEK FESTIVAL

What I did Tonight

Today is the primary for Mayor in the City of Annapolis and this year we both voted at the USNA Stadium. We wondered why and one of the people there said that the schools are run by the County and this is a City election. For cryin' out loud... Anyhow, we always get our little "I Voted" stickers and I needed to show it off somewhere. So you're it. I'm a good citizen, aren't I!

(and yes, there's a lotta stuff on that table behind me...)