Frederick, Maryland

So what was I doing while Tom was pedaling away?  Enjoying the sights of historic Frederick.  It was only an hour drive to get there so I left considerably later than he did and got there early enough to take care of some things.....like a non-working GPS.  Thank goodness for new phones with GPS aps and a shout out to Best Buy who checked out my GPS, the cable and the circuits in the car to see where the problem was.  GAVE me a new cable and took the old one to turn in.  How awesome is that?

Anyway, did some wandering of the city early the next morning after the cyclists were on their way and got some photos.  Very cool place!

This place was bustling on Saturday night when we into town for dinner.

  Known for clustered spires, being the home of Francis Scott Key, and this awesome trompe l'oeil bridge.

Here, the real rock from the sitting half wall turns into the painted wall!

 This waterway runs through the town and a park that goes for quite awhile.  It's lined with restaurants, shops, condos and a gorgeous library that overlook it.

Apparently this is one in a series around town called "Angels in the Architecture". More Trompe L'oeil.

Firestone's, where we had dinner Saturday night.  

 So there is apparently a place that when you take a photo you catch all these church spires in the same photo.  Anyway, nothing I like better than looking at old churches so this made me happy.

 Lots of fun shops, antiques, restaurants, theatre and live music.  Definitely need to come back when there's more time!

Cute Pet Store

Face Of America-Biking from Pentagon to Gettysburg

So the big weekend was finally here for the FACE of America ride!  Tom and the other cyclists left the Pentagon at 7:30 AM on Saturday and headed for Frederick, MD.  This wasn't a regular bike race where you're trying to make good time.  In fact, they stopped about every 10 miles for a break.  As you'll see from some of the photos, these weren't necessarily disabled vets who have become trained athletes; rather many of them were vets who wouldn't normally get the opportunity to participate in an event like this because of physical issues they may have.  But every place they stopped, there were community members out to welcome them and to feed them.  Tom said this is probably the only 110 mile bike ride where they'll all gain weight!

Tom, Luke, Lisa (she's the colonel!) and her husband Michael

 There was a pace car that kept everyone at a fairly easy speed because the whole point of this ride was that they ride together.  There were teams representing each of the military services plus a ton of support people.  They each took turns helping their disabled brothers and sisters during the ride.

Team Coast Guard

It was nice that because of the slower pace they could actually enjoy the gorgeous scenery.  Rolling hills, covered bridges, and then... More Food!  Yep, the communities came out with baked goods, plus they had a Subway break along the way!

They arrived in Frederick around 3:30.  Tom rode his bike over to the hotel where I was waiting and we did a quick change before heading into historic downtown (more on that later!) to meet the other 4 riders, plus Luke's wife Andrea for dinner.

The next morning they were up early and out of Frederick by 7:30 again and on their way to Pennsylvania.  More rolling hills but this time they stopped every 20 miles so not quite so much food and socializing.  They headed into Gettysburg around 2 PM.

The drive was beautiful and as I came around a bend, there was that huge flag that would welcome the cyclists to a gentleman's farm who donates it for this event every year.  Again, the community was out, local ROTC, scouts directing traffic and just an awesome feeling of love and support.

Once the riders started coming through, the ROTC was at attention and the waving flags & hoots and hollers began!  The cyclists had stopped a mile up the rode and got into their teams, 5 cyclists across, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard and came in as teams.  It was pretty cool!

This guy saluted those who turned out to welcome them

Tom's view as they came through under the guns

Go Tom!

They had a big bbq lunch for them with live music and 110 miles after the fact, a lot of happy cyclists!

Loved this guy's shirt!

So Tom's feeling was, since this was really an easy ride that I should do it with him next year.  Hmm.  We'll see, but remember you read it here first!

The Community Garden

 So we decided to check out the community garden concept because clearly we're not doing a lot of planting on our 8th floor apartment patio.  This garden is located next to St. Augustine's Episcopal Church just a block from us and is near the waterfront which gets a ton of foot traffic.

 It's a fenced area so for $40 we get the combination to the lock, the use of tools, water and trash pickup and our own small plot.

 Unfortunately, we were left with the last plot in a corner that is under this big tree.  The tree is gorgeous but I don't see us getting much sun.

 Tom and I went over one night after work and dug out the weeds and then Tom's landscaping background (his folks had a flower shop and yard care business) kicked in and he started picking up anything to make borders.

 This side faces the water and we're required to maintain just this little part outside our garden with flowers and to rake the small hill so the guy from the church can mow.

The nursery guy said he wouldn't plant until May 12th but some of the neighboring plots already have things in.  Our plot is cleaned, ready for Taylor's wormy compost (after he figures out how to de-worm this batch and start another) and then the fun planting will begin!