March Break in Maryland

 The spring respite from work in the 2020s has been a mixed bag. Last year, it was a quiet affair with a visit to Toronto ComiCon thrown in for good measure. March of 2020, 2021, and 2022 were all times of upheaval and uncertainty. I'm relieved to share that this year's time off was unusual only in that we actually went away. Often, we make it a habit of staying home at this time because it's so short, but this year it was just short enough and just long enough to drive south to visit my husband's side of the family. The last time we were in Maryland was the summer of 2018. My eldest was able to arrange for time off from her jobs and so the entire family was able to travel together. To do the math, it's been six years since we were there.

(I chose this photo of me with my Over the Rainbow Refresher drink because a. I love the colours, b. I like the expression on my face, c. It reminds me that many things in America are bigger, and d. Despite the gaudy appearance, this was a really tasty drink! It turned my tongue blue but it was delicious!)

I wasn't sure what "angle" or "theme" I wanted to take with this blog post, but I figured it out as I leafed through the photos I took and the receipts I collected. Ironically enough, it connects to school.

I teach social studies this year and the Heritage and Identity unit for Grade 2s is all about Traditions and Celebrations. The neat thing about this unit is that it doesn't just focus on the basic details of various holidays, but instead on how traditions and celebrations evolve over time and due to changing circumstances. I looked up the revised Social Studies curriculum and it lists these three "big ideas":

1. Understanding the diversity that exists among families and within the local community leads to an appreciation of diverse perspectives. 
2. The traditions that we celebrate today have developed over the generations
3. Canada is made up of various communities that have diverse traditions and celebrations. 

Things have changed since the last time we visited Baltimore County. The area has changed. We've changed. Our extended family has changed. We knew it was going to be different from the last time we visited. (For perspective, we went to Baltimore regularly every summer from 2003-2007 and then from 2013-2018.) Certain traditions were maintained. Others were altered. New ones were developed. Let me describe it using the "stop / start / continue" headings.

 

Stop

When we first began vacationing in Maryland, our children were very young. During the second phase, they were teens/pre-teens. Now that they are adults, we no longer have to pack as many things. The spend-a-palooza that used to occur is also significantly reduced. (Granted, they are the only grandchildren on both sides of the family, so it comes with the territory.) We no longer drive back with a trunk full of new toys or clothes. I think the customs agent might have been surprised by the low figure I quoted at the border that summed up our purchases. We obtained a few books, some Yankee Candles, a couple of items of clothing and some teacher supplies and board games to use at school from Five Below.

Start

Lodging was a big shift for us. In the past, we stayed at my mother-in-law's place. Five years ago, she moved into a senior's villa called Oak Crest. It's gorgeous, and perfect for her, but less than ideal for a family of four to invade. For the first time, we stayed at a hotel. Thankfully, we selected a place that was very close to Oak Crest as well as my husband's childhood neighbourhood, so the amenities and local features were familiar. We were able to walk to The Avenue at White Marsh, a really nice shopping and dining district, and took advantage of the lovely weather. It was our biggest travel expense, but choosing a suite that had room to sit and chill was worth the extra money.

Continue (with Change)

The main reasons why we drive ten hours are two-fold: we like to visit family and we like to eat Maryland food. This mostly stayed the same with a few shifts. We saw my mother-in-law every day while we were there. We visited my sister-in-law as well as James' maternal uncle and paternal aunt. I was delighted that hubby was able to squeeze in get-togethers with two of his friends from the area. Brad and James went to high school together. James has known Greg since James was in college. We were grateful that his buddies were able to make accommodations and gather on such short notice for dinner.

Oh, the dinners and eating in general! Back in 2014, I made a list of all the places we ate during our three-week summer stay. Instead of three weeks in July or August, it was a single week in March, and getting older means that I/we can't consume "out food" as frequently or in large quantities as we might like. (I was very strategic about how I ate, but others in our travel party started to feel quite bloated after a regular diet of restaurant food.) Here was our dining summary, as well as the ways I modified my choices so that I didn't suffer ill results. (I was especially cautious because a couple of weeks before we left, I was popping Tums to calm my irritated insides.)

March 9 = Bob Evans for brunch, TGI Friday's for dinner (and I chose appetizers instead of a full entrée)

March 10 = breakfast at Oak Crest, lunch at my sister-in-law's place (pizza), and dinner at Sonic (and I picked a smaller combo)

March 11 = Olive Garden for lunch and Casa Mia for dinner (and we shared different dishes buffet-style with the group in the evening)

March 12 = lunch at Friendly's and dinner at Red Robin (and I split a supper meal with my son)

March 13 = lunch at Applebee's and dinner at Red Brick Station (and I packed most of my lunch to eat the next day, and selected a lighter dinner option)

March 14 = dinner at the Double T Diner (and I split dessert with my husband and ate leftovers for breakfast and lunch)

March 15 = "linner" of fish and chips (no need for more than one meal after the feasting!)

We had a "first day in Baltimore" restaurant and a "last day in Baltimore" restaurant tradition. We kept the first day location (even though TGI Friday's no longer serves deep fried green beans) and chose a new place for the last day meal. We were happy with the change, since the old place stopped serving many of our favourite dishes, including crab.

I was able to squeeze in three meals that included crab. (Thank you Casa Mia, Red Brick Station, and Double T Diner for the yummy crab cakes!) This is a slow evolution. I used to dislike eating crab. It wasn't part of my eating repertoire. I gave it a chance in the 2010s and grew to love fried crab cakes. Toronto is not a great place to get crab, especially the kind of crab I like to eat in Maryland. Eating crab is a tradition I'm glad we were able to continue mostly unchanged.

Big thanks to all my relatives for welcoming us during a time that was not a holiday for them and fitting us into their schedules. We are very privileged that we have the time to spare for such a visit, as well as the financial and automotive means to afford to go away like this. Now that we've experienced this latest iteration and version of our "down south" trip, we can tweak it even more to make it work for us. Evolving traditions are neither good nor bad; they are just different.