Time to head home again…

There was nobody outside when I loaded the car to depart the motel the next morning, thus Mandy was able to climb back out of the suitcase for a while.  Wearing the same outfit as on Friday, I set out cross-country (avoiding freeways) to get to the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad Historical Society yard in the woods, way south of Harrisburg, PA.  Unlike last time, when I arrived there was nobody around…so I didn’t stay long.   Nothing new was going on there.  

At that point I headed south and east to cross the Susquehanna River on US-1 (advantage - no toll).    From there I was going to head for the Eastern Shore via the north end, without crossing the Bay Bridge (which by that time the radio said had a 4-mile-plus backup of folks at the toll booth, all going to the beach.)

A short run south along the Susquehanna River brought me to a picturesque town I’d not visited previously, but had heard the name many times (Port Deposit.)  For railroaders, you will recall the “Port Road” branch northwest out of Perryville, MD – that formerly-electrified line runs right through Port Deposit, but there was no rail activity while I was there.

   PRR's  Port Road

After parking the car and starting the walk downtown, I noticed one of my earrings was missing, I retraced my steps and fortunately found it on the sidewalk not far from the car, right outside someone's front door and best of all, undamaged.  At that point, I removed the other earring as well as my finger ring, for safekeeping.  And while I was retracing my steps to find that earring, I found I was wobbling on the rather uneven block sidewalk.  So I switched to my patent flats before heading back toward town.  Nothing is worth ending up with a turned ankle.

I had to pass thru a rather lively Dock Bar to get to the river walk, with 30-plus bikers and their babes around, as well as lots of other visitors sitting (or standing) with drinks in their hands.  Fortunately I didn’t attract the wrong kind of attention.  Many women seemed to have a friendly smile for me as well as a cheery “hi.”   Definitely affirming.

 The Dock Bar entrance

The River Walk

My cell phone had been giving me problems the whole trip, and as I drove east after leaving Port Deposit to get to the Delmarva, I spotted a phone store.  Mandy (still wearing skirt, patent flats and light makeup, but no earrings or finger ring) headed for the front door.  One of the younger male clerks rushed to hold that door open for me.   And I was treated as female by all the male clerks, as they resolved the issue.  Gotta admit: an elderly male customer sitting at the counter checked me out.  Not sure if he clocked me, or he liked what he saw, but it doesn’t matter - he was no threat.

From there, I headed home, stopping at Mt. Harmon Plantation on the Delmarva.  A beautiful house and estate.  It’s someplace to take my wife on a day with nothing better to do.  And it doesn’t require dealing with the bay bridge…   

Once you turn off paved road, it's a two mile drive on a one lane dirt driveway with very few passing places.  (I only had to back up once!   But for someone without the ability to back up in a straight line for as much as a thousand feet, it would be a major problem.)

 Mt. Harmon Plantation

Then it was home again, back to a good home-cooked meal.   This really was a fun weekend…and I look forward to the next one!

Mandy