Road trip, day 2 — the fun begins

 So we woke up at 5 AM.  Not intentionally.  There was music playing …somewhere.  After moaning and groaning about inconsiderate neighbors, we discovered that the music was coming from …Drew’s cell phone.  He has no idea why the phone turned on a music program …

Later, we drove from our motel in a Baltimore suburb all the way across the state to Western Maryland, the Allegheny Mountains.  Twisty, curving highway.Big trucks.  I actually saw a ramp designed to stop a runaway truck.  Which made me think of this song.

 

 It took about 2 hours to reach our destination, Cumberland (near the West Virginia border) and the  Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.  Want to see a grown man turn into a little boy?  Let him ride a vintage train.

It’s a scenic route, runs from Cumberland to Frostburg.  Through woods and mountains.  Along a canal.  There’s a layover in Frostburg, and then the train returns to Cumberland.

Our train car was vintage, a car built in 1950 to travel overnight routes on the west coast.  Comfortable, reclining seats.  

They even added a few props,

And they piped in music from the 40’s.  

The views were amazing.  

 

During our layover in Frostburg — a very small town, and half of it closed because we visited on Sunday—  we explored the Hotel Gunter.  We saw the speakeasy and the jail cell.  I liked the WW II memorabilia.

And this display made me think of “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall”

On the drive back, we saw true stupidity.

I’d call that animal cruelty.

We found an actual pay phone at a gas station.  I didn’t think they existed anymore.

Back in the Baltimore area for dinner.  We ate at a local place, The Olive Tree.  Italian food with a local twist.  We shared an order of crab wontons (imagine that, crab in Maryland).  Drew had seafood pasta and I had a combo plate — veal parmigiana, lasagna and baked manicotti.  Salad and breadsticks accompanied the meal. Standard Italian, huge portions of decent food.

So far I am enjoying this vacation.