More Tales from the Standby Lane: Baltimore/ Washington

A trip to Washington and my old stomping grounds of Baltimore turned out to be a terrific way to spend the last weekend in April. Lunch plus a moment to share my upcoming book's story with old friends and colleagues (Thanks, Julie!), two museum opportunities, family suppers, and spring flowers.

Here's what a sunny Saturday at Hillwood Gardens, the home of Marjorie Merriweather Post, looked like.

Here is my all-time favorite line spoken all weekend:

One young teen to her younger sister, strolling down the azaleas paths:
"Just wait till you're in 7th grade next year- Shakespeare Rocks!

Now how often do you hear a kid say Shakespeare Rocks? Do you think she knew we'd just celebrated his birthday?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the lingo of my former hometown, Baltimore, Maryland, "Hon" is a term of endearment spoken in certain parts of the city. There's a whole culture around the word. You can read more about this on a previous post, here.

So the bumper sticker seen on Roland Avenue near Eddie's did not surprise me. But it did delight me, especially on a day that the whole world hoped peace wasn't far away.

This trip via the Standby Lane was a good one, even with a bit of a wait at the airport-- Newish manuscript to revise. Kindle book to read. All good.

Although I often seem to pick the most challenging days to travel on an airline pass, Monday's return trip was surprisingly anxiety free.
Southwest, like Shakespeare, rocks.