My family and I recently went to Baltimore to visit my wife's cousin and her husband. We drove. From Michigan to Maryland. With a two year old in the car. How did that go? Surprisingly well, actually. We got a DVD system for our van, so while she wasn't sleeping, she watched The Wiggles.

We planned our driving time so she would sleep for most of the trip. We left Tuesday night, around 7. And Maddie fell asleep around 9, somewhere around Ann Arbor. She woke up after a 45 minute "nap". Normally, she goes to bed around 8:30, and doesn't get up until the next morning. I guess she was just as excited as we were about our vacation. She was up for the rest of the night. Rightfully so, I guess. It was her first trip out of the state.

We stayed the night in Independence, OH, and Maddie finally fell asleep around 1:30 - in our bed! We have never allowed that to happen. It's been a rule since she was born. First, because we didn't want her to get in the habit of sleeping with us, and second, because I roll around at night a lot, and I didn't want to roll on her. Now that she's a little bigger, that's not as much of an issue. We did learn one thing though. She's a bed hog!

We rolled into Baltimore around 6:00 on Wednesday night. Driving through Pennsylvania was pretty cool. Our wedding anniversary was the next day, and we spent our honeymoon in the Pocono's, so it was pretty cool to be back there 4 years later. The views are awesome, even from the highway. Wednesday night, we walked around Baltimore. My wife's cousins live in the Federal Hill section of Baltimore, so we walked down to Federal Hill Park, which overlooks the bay, and stayed there for a while. The cool thing about the area is that, even though it's a big city, it has a small city feel to it. Within a couple of blocks, there is just about everything you could want - Cross Street Market, which offers fresh fruit, meats, various other local restaurants, a CVS, real estate offices, and even a magicians shop!

The house that my wife's cousins bought is nice. It was built in the mid 1800's, but is in very good shape. It has wood floors throughout, and the floor on the main floor is the original floor. It's in pretty good shape considering people have used it for 150 years. I'm not sure I could handle living in a place like that. Don't get me wrong. For some (like everyone in the neighborhood) it's great. I even loved the fact that we could walk less than a mile, and be right downtown. But their place is about 10 feet wide. It's definitely a different lifestyle, something I'm not accustomed to. I guess I would prefer living in the 'burbs, and either driving in, or using public transportation to get into town. But for a lot of people, living in the middle of the action is worth it - evidence? Houses in Federal Hill usually sell within a week of going on the market! And the places are not cheap!

Anyway, Thursday, my wife, my daughter and I walked around Baltimore, including a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium. My daughter loved it! They have a very large tank that's viewable from all floors throughout the main area, and we spent a lot of time watching the "fishies" swim around. They are in the process of adding on, and someday, we hope to go back once the addition is finished. They have an outdoor section that has quite a few birds in it, and I think that's what they are adding on to. My only complaint about the aquarium? The dolfin show. And it wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, but they spent a lot of time talking about the process they go through to train the dolfins. That's fine, but I thought they could have showed that ahead of time, when most people were just sitting around waiting for the show to begin. It would have been a good distraction. Of course, my opinion is slightly affected by a daughter who kept losing interest when the videos were on, and completely enthralled when the dolfins were performing tricks! Not to mention, I saw the same type of show at The New England Aqaurium, and they did the show right (only with Sea Lions).

We also went to the Baltimore Zoo. It was good, but I didn't think they used their land very effectively. They have a lot of areas that are wooded, with nothing else done with it, but they have four or five giraffes in a rather small area, on mowed grass. Again, maybe I'm spoiled, but I feel Binder Park's set up is much nicer for the animals. Other than that, it was a rather fun morning / afternoon. What was Maddie's favorite attraction? The roosters, because of one of her favorite Wiggles songs.

Saturday night, we went downtown to walk around after dinner, and ended up in the ESPNZone in Baltimore. It's in an old power plant, along with a Barnes & Noble, and the Planet Hollywood there. By the way, I think that's an awesome idea - using an old power plant for retail space once the power plant's usefulness is over. The feel you get inside is unique. Kind of a factory type feel. The wait for dinner (or desert, as we could have been convinced to have) was two hours at ESPNZone, and probably the same at Planet Hollywood, so we decided against going to either place. I did get an ESPN shotglass (I collect them), and a shirt for Maddie - "I watch Sportscenter with my Daddy." Awesome, because she does. Always has. Of course, that will probably change, most likely once she outgrows the shirt.

We left Sunday morning. We didn't use our van the whole time we were there, which was nice. Parking was not a pretty picture in Baltimore. As we were packing up, our gracious hosts were getting chewed out by the block's parking nazi. It's amazing how giving someone a sense of power changes them. Here's a quote from him. "You didn't get that parking pass legally, but I'll let it go this time." What? Are you telling me that my cousin-in-law is involved in some black market parking pass scheme? Of the two of them, one's primary job is the beautification and restoration of businesses in Baltimore's historic district (which Federal Hill is a part of) and the other works for the government, I find that hard to believe. Maybe what he meant was, "You somehow thwarted my parking nazi power, and I'm not happy, but there's nothing I can do about it." The better question here is why he was bothering two homeowners in the neighborhood at 10:00 AM on a Sunday.

The trip home was uneventful, other than the tornado warning while we were in the hotel. Nothing came of it, and I watched the Pistons pull out game 4 on Sunday night, before heading home on Monday morning. We made it home Monday afternoon, and while it was a very fun trip, it was nice to be back home.