A Gift of Time, Compliments of American Airlines

On Thursday around lunch, American Airlines called to say they had cancelled my flight for Friday.  They kindly re-booked me for a flight Saturday and if that was acceptable, I was to say “Yes”.  Because they had a machine call me and not a person, it couldn’t distinguish between me and my voicemail so I had to call them back to confirm.

Before I came on this trip I considered changing my flight to return on Saturday.  When I made the original arrangements I had a commitment on Saturday morning but that was now gone. I really wanted to see my daughter and her new baby a little longer.  When I looked at changing, it was going to cost between $125-$160, depending on the flight.  I never made a decision and then by the time I got here, it was too late (by that I mean too expensive) to change.

My daughter and her baby dancing at breakfast.

When the airline called Thursday, it was like a gift.  Not only did I get to stay, I didn’t have to pay anything to do so other than $10 to extend my rental car. So on Friday, my daughter and the baby and I went to Ellicott City, Maryland to check out downtown on the advice of the customer I visited this week.  If my flight hadn’t changed, we might not have gone since I would have needed to prepare to leave around mid-day.

Ellicott City, MD est. 1772.  A charming town with a lot of power lines.

Ellicott City’s downtown is full of shops and restaurants.  Earlier, we had gone to an antique mall my daughter wanted to visit in another town but found it closed for business.  In the first store we enter in Ellicott City, my daughter finds exactly what she is looking for.  We both get a few fun things and a pound and a half of homemade fudge for later.

We didn’t go into a lot of shops, some were closed for Good Friday and some were small and narrow and we had a bulky stroller, but we enjoyed the few we did check out and I am certain my daughter will go back again to sample others.

The street and sidewalks are narrow too.  I had to walk in the street when we passed another woman with a stroller.

Back at the house I read “Love that Dog” by Sharon Creech to the baby (and, by default, to my daughter).  My daughter mentioned her husband was reading to their daughter out of a running magazine so I made her take me to a bookstore on the way home so grandma could remedy that situation. 

Later we round up her husband to go into Baltimore to find Edgar Allen Poe’s gravesite.  We are forced to park a few blocks away due to the time of day.  There were a lot of people on the street as the Orioles were playing their opening day game at their downtown stadium. 

We passed this restaurant about a block from the church.  My dad would say this menu is larruping.  Spell check disagrees but that is a real word.  Dictionary.com:  lar-rup-ing, adverb, chiefly Western U.S.  Very; exceedingly. As in: That was a larruping good meal.

When we get to the church, the gates are closed and locked.  In the time it took us to park and walk about three blocks, we missed our opportunity to get in.

Fortunately, Poe's monument is right on the corner near one of the gates.

We left the city and drove to a park that overlooks downtown. My son-in-law and I took a few photos.

Downtown Baltimore

Don't you just love it when someone takes a picture of you taking a picture?

My daughter and I ate at Eggspectations, my favorite area restaurant at lunch and we all end up back there for dinner.  I expect to smell like crab cakes tomorrow.  I hope the person sitting next to me on the plane doesn’t notice.

And because my daughter is so funny (even though people tell her she isn't), I ended up capturing a lot of good one-liners.  I was even in tears in the restaurant.  Here are the highlights. I promised her this disclaimer. Not all of these were said by my daughter (just most of them):

• I have a bladder like a baby.
• Do I hear the ice-cream man?
• Is there a road under this highway?
• Maybe I could write children’s poetry, I think like a child most of the time anyway.
• That’s what I said in my head.
• That’s a bright sun.
• Eating is good.
• I just watched that bird poop.
• I like swamps.
• I should write anti-jingles:Red Roof Inn, our roof isn’t really all that red.
• Is there a woodpecker in here?
• You better eat that crab cake like it’s going to make love to you later.
• I’m going to speak in code the rest of the night.
• They smell like butt.
• I don’t say interesting things.
• Super Ninja Monkey, bring it with your banana.
• I’m feeling very….odd.
• Did you just roll your eyes at me?
• You better be glad that didn’t make me lactate.
• I thought you played something called the naked game.
• I must have been ignoring you.

Next stop, home.  I am ready although I will miss those I am leaving here.  I am going to be home all of next week which is a good thing since I think my husband is starting to forget what I look like.