Baltimore, MD Week 2

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On Monday we had a blissful day off. No moving, driving, etc.
I woke up with a nasty cold, so spent the day puttering around and watching Frozen and fetching groceries.

On Tuesday Jameson and I went to the National Aquarium. It was awesome! Four floors of fish, sharks, crustaceans, turtles, alligators, birds, and even monkeys! We learned that box turtles have a hinge on the underside of their shells so that they can close up like a box, and that electric eels can put out as much as 800 volts of electricity depending on how long they are!



We saw the aquarium's rescued sea turtle, who is missing a front flipper. When she was rescued she was only 50lbs...now she's 520lbs!!

(photo courtesy nationalaquarium.wordpress.com)

Some more photos from our trip:
This octopus was pretty happy to see us!


Feeding time was fun to watch. The fish followed the diver around, waiting for him to release food into the water.


The dolphins are not trained to do tricks at the aquarium, but they have playtime every day with a variety of toys and activities. We got to watch Bo, a young male dolphin, improvise his own tricks. He was rewarded only when he didn't perform the same trick twice. Neat!


This guy was totally motionless, pretending to be a log.


A vibrant green boa constrictor hanging out in the tropical section.


My favorite creature of the day, the mantis shrimp! If you don't know what these are, read THIS POST from the Oatmeal, it's very entertaining and educational!


After the aquarium we enjoyed dinner at Phillips down the street, then did our night show :)
What a wonderful date!

I woke up a bit early to participate in an Elephant Brunch event at the Lexington Market (photos are HERE). The weather was a bit drizzly, but that didn't stop people from taking to the streets as the elephants passed by on their way to the market.

One of the main reasons that I love walking the elephants is because it's a magical thing to see adults turn into children the instant they see these beautiful animals :) You can look into the windows of buildings and see business meetings come to a halt as everyone turns and stares in awe, then the doors burst open as people in suits and heels come running out, smiling and waving, phones at the ready. In restaurants people leap from their seats, food forgotten, and press their faces against the glass to get a better look. On this particular walk, a lady burst into tears as we passed her, exclaiming, "They're gorgeous! Thank you for making my day!". Another woman took off her heels and ran to catch up to us, stopping breathlessly at an intersection to watch each elephant pass. Moments like these make me realize what these animals mean to humans, and how they connect us with what's really important in life.

At the actual brunch, it was mostly kids with parents watching the elephants eat. It was nice to have a large enthusiastic crowd! Here are the girls munching away (Assan and Baby didn't come to this event). There's me in the back, bottom left corner, glaring at some kids <3

(photo courtesy Baltimore Sun)

After the walk I returned to the train to do some chores, then we had our night show. These one-show weekdays are not very well-populated, but that's not surprising considering it's baseball season and there are games all week.

Thursday was another one show day. I was looking forward to getting a good night's rest but unfortunately my cold kept me awake for most of the night, so I spent the afternoon resting. Friday during the split I visited the market and ran some errands downtown. On the way I passed a church with an old cemetery on the grounds, and did a double take when a large monolith covered in roses and pennies caught my eye:


I didn't know Edgar Allan Poe was buried here!!!
Exploring the rest of the cemetery, I found his original burial site on a family plot next to his grandfather's grave; apparently the grave was later moved to the front of the cemetery to attract visitors.

Saturday featured the regular three shows, crowds were decent for the weekend.
On Sunday Jameson and I drove to his parents' house, where we'll be staying while the show performs in Fairfax, VA.

Other stuff:

A recent interview with the bandleader of the Blue Unit band, Wages Argott. Really funny and informative, so check it out if you want to find out how we do what we do!! CLICK HERE

Carol, the elephant that was shot last year, has returned to the show. CLICK HERE to read that story.

A review of our show in Baltimore: CLICK HERE