A great place to go on a hot day is the National Aquarium in Baltimore.  They have a huge ray tank (If you look closely you will see some people scuba diving in it). As well as a large tank with sharks and other fish that forms a circle around you as you walk down through it.  If you plan on going more than once (and there is so much to see you probably want to)  you can join the aquarium and visit as many times as you want in a year for free!

Here are a couple of the smaller rays in the ray exhibit.

This is a really big eel in the shark tank.

They have lots of colorful tropical fish in the many tanks.

As well as non-colorful ones.  This one is a Jack.

The upper level has a snack bar with a great view of the inner harbor.  You can rent paddle boats and float in the harbor.

Right across from the aquarium are a lot of restaurants and other places to see including Hard Rock Cafe and Phillips Seafood.

More kinds of plastics can now be recycled in Montgomery County

Now you can recycle your "clamshell" packaging like you get on the salad bar or berries are packaged in. You can also recycle plastic cups, tubs, and lids.  In short, anything that is #1 plastic (also called PET). Find out more and see pictures of exactly what I'm talking about at the Montgomery County trash blog.

Also, if your trash service is done by the county, the upcoming fourth of July holiday means everyone who's scheduled pickup is Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday will be picked up one day late.

Go Pick Blueberries

 What better way to spend a morning than picking fresh blueberries.  I went to Butler's Orchard on Saturday and did some berry picking.  When you get there and park they have a staging area where you wait for a tractor then get on a wagon for a ride to the berry fields.  Tractors come frequently and hold a lot of people so the line moves fast.

 

At the field, they direct you to some fresh bushes loaded with ripe blueberries. Pick all you want (and sample a few too). When you finish, hop on the wagon back and pay for the berries.

 

Who goes blue berry picking you might ask?  Lots of kids of all ages, from 2 to teenager.  Also some couples and a few older people (who pick the most berries, they must be making jam).

What should you bring?

•  Buckets, or other containers for blueberries (you can buy them there if you forget).
• A hat and sunscreen.  There isn't any shade in the fields
• Water.  It gets hot out there.

What else is there to do?  If blueberries aren't enough reason to go, they also have other things you can pick.  Check their website for what is in season.  When I was there they also had black raspberries and sugar snap peas (I picked some of them too).

They also have a playground for the kids as well as several long slides built on the side of a hill.  Plan on spending the morning.

Where is it?
22200 Davis Mill Road • Germantown MD 20876.  check their directions page for how to get there.

Bethesda has a sinkhole

Sinkholes are cool, as long as there isn't any property damage and no one gets hurt.  Lot 31, on the corner of Bethesda Avenue and Woodmont Avenue is closed because they are going to build a new apartment building there.  It is the perfect spot for a sinkhole and I am glad that there now is one there.  Even better, there are railroad tracks running right through the center of it.  The Capital Crescent Trail runs along an old railroad line, but based on the location I think this must have been a siding, not the main line. It was covered up when they built the parking lot.

As part of the construction, they also have re-routed the trail, though not by much.  It now runs along the inside of the parking lot instead of the outside.

All the other Maryland cities must be jealous that they don't have a sink hole like Bethesda, MD has.

Hot air ballon at De chantal

As I was driving by St Jane de Chantal school this morning I saw them blowing up a big Re/Max balloon up on the field next to the school and all the school kids were out watching it.

Bethesda Post Office shuffle

 The post office at 7400 Wisconsin Ave (MD-355) at Montgomery Lane is now closed.  I went by there last week and everything was being cleared out.  The new location is further south, near the Staples.  6900 Wisconsin Avenue.  It is a lot further for me so I am disappointed.  I also really like that old stone building the post office was in.

Space Shuttle over Bethesda, From above

 Nasa released a video of the space shuttle flying around DC that was taken from the chase plane.  After a bit of looking, I identified where it flew over Bethesda, MD.  Above is a frame from that video.  It is only the southern end of Bethesda, with Friendship Heights in the distance.  You can see Bradley Blvd, Wisconsin Ave and some of the stores near there.  This was from the first flyover, so around 10:10 am on April 17th.

 After going by Bethesda Discovery crossed the Potomac River (left side of the frame) and went over the CIA in Langley.

Here is the shuttle flying by the National Mall in DC.  You can see the Washington Monument on the left and the Capitol building on the right.

These pictures come from a nasa video, which, like all products of the US Government, is in the public domain.

Here's another NASA picture, this one is of the space shuttle Discovery and Enterprise facing each other on a runway.  the original is here.

Discovery flys by Bethesda

Yesterday we had a real treat, the Space Shuttle Discovery flew directly over Bethesda, MD.  Twice!.  The above picture shows it, mounted on it's 747 transporter plane and followed by a chase plane as it flew past the apartment building with the Caribou Coffee shop in it.

The first pass was at 10 minutes past 10 am, it flew almost directly over the building I was in.  I could hear the plane before I could see it and it just appeared at the top of the window, flying towards the Potomac River.

Here is a picture from the second pass, about 20 minutes later. The shuttle was only about 1,500 feet above the ground, and it looks like it flew over the southern part of Bethesda Navel Medical.

Pennyfield Lock on the C & O Canal (Lock 22)

Bottom of lock 22

Over the weekend I went to Pennyfield Lock on the C & 0 Canal.  This is a popular place to access the canal, there were about 30 cars in the lot when I was there. At the lock there is a small boat ramp that you can use to access the Potomac River. (You actually go underneath the canal!)  There is also a field and the lock house, and, of course, lock 22.

Top of lock 22

Currently the canal doesn't have water in it here, but it is still a nice place.  The trees are just beginning to turn green and there are lots of low-growing flowers along the towpath.  Right below the lock I saw some small fish, big tadpoles, and several snakes.  Above the lock the frogs were really loud.  I could see them on the far side of the canal.  There were people jogging and biking a along the towpath.

Just north of the lock is the Dierssen Wildlife Management Area.  It is a wetlands area between the canal and the river that has several shallow ponds.  I saw lots of turtles sitting on logs there.  It is supposed to be a good place to go birdwatching.  I saw a few ducks and heard a woodpecker in that area but I didn't look too hard.

Dierssen WMA

There is some neat history here.  President Grover Cleveland used to come up here and fish while he was president.  He would stay in the Pennyfield House, a white frame house that was on this site until 2009 when it was demolished.  I was here in 2004 and took a few pictures of it, it was in very bad shape then.

Pennyfield house in 2004.  It has since been demolished.

If you want, you can rent lockhouse 22 and spend the night right on the canal!  There is no electricity or running water, the nearest faucet is at swains lock, over a mile down the canal.  But there are port-a-potties and you can have a campfire, it sounds like it could be fun.

Lockhouse 22

More Hurricane Irene damage in Bethesda

My last post talked about how Irene took it easy on us and Pepco did a better job than usual keeping the lights on.  I think I was a bit hasty on both counts.  I lost power this afternoon for almost an hour, yeah, during the sunny, calm part of the day.  Also, I've seen a bit more damage, I'll start with the most visually impressive.

This house on the corner of Greentree Road and Old Georgetown Road near NIH really got clobbered.  A tree fell right across the center of it, totally ripping through the attic.  The tree is now gone and there is just a gaping hole in the roof.  I see there is the red sticker saying this house isn't suitable for occupation on the front door.  Next to this house there is a large, white SUV that I always see and wonder how they get such a big vehicle in such a little parallel parking space, a tree fell on it too, partially crushing the roof (Bethesda Patch has some photos of it, and other storm damage).

Last post one of the commenters noted that a tree had fallen across the Capital Crescent Trail at the country club.  I took a walk there over lunch and it had been partially cleared.  You could walk or bike through without slowing down, but there were still some largish bits of tree on the trail.

Twitter user @kangkanglanlan posted this image of another car hit by a tree in Bethesda.