7:35 PM |
Today I drove on Lincoln Highway, Independence Freeway (free being the operative, as I just left Gettysburg), and saw a Liberty gas station. I am now in bed in the Washington room. It does, in fact, have a picture of George Washington on the wall, but he never slept here. I found the Bruce House via Google. Its sign has a flag on it.
Cumberland MD is an odd sort of town. It feels very desolate, an old steel town falling into decrepitude. Except it's not. Perhaps it is the winter.
While having car issues, my innkeeper called me to make sure I was alright. I love her. I am parked across the street in a church yard. In two square blocks there are five churches, Presbyterian and Lutheran among them. I don't know if I ever caught the other ones, but one down the street a bit has a beautiful, but very loud, bell.
This is what awaited me:
I am the only one staying in this incredible house. I am a big, big bath person (I almost had a heart attack when I moved into a house with only showers; I had to put an addition on just for my bathtub-- okay, I needed a place for my shoes, too). Anyhow, the bathroom here is huge and has hardwood floors, just the way I like it.
I had dinner "downtown", which I guess is down because you walk down the hill. I ate at the Baltimore Street Grill, a very small Cheers kind of place. There were lots of plaid shirts and a bartender thumping on the bar in front of the guy on the left, saying finish up now. Yeah, before he does a face plant. The Christmas decorations are still up. They are at the B&B, too. Now that I think of it, the entire street is covered in white lights. The grill has an odd menu (yup, lots of odd things here in Cumberland). Pasta, crab cakes (for which they are known), sandwiches and salads. Some cajun stuff. And tornaedos of the day. Tonights special was made with green olives, smoked salmon, and mushrooms. Well, the meat was good and so were the vegetables, and the bread pudding with bourbon sauce was out of this world. The ladies behind me thanked the bartender for the great margarita. They then ordered a root beer and two mai tais. The latter were hot pink, matching the hoody of a tough and his twin with backward facing caps. A real man wears pink, I guess. Other things in town are a theater and a bakery.
Cumberland MD is an odd sort of town. It feels very desolate, an old steel town falling into decrepitude. Except it's not. Perhaps it is the winter.
While having car issues, my innkeeper called me to make sure I was alright. I love her. I am parked across the street in a church yard. In two square blocks there are five churches, Presbyterian and Lutheran among them. I don't know if I ever caught the other ones, but one down the street a bit has a beautiful, but very loud, bell.
This is what awaited me:
I am the only one staying in this incredible house. I am a big, big bath person (I almost had a heart attack when I moved into a house with only showers; I had to put an addition on just for my bathtub-- okay, I needed a place for my shoes, too). Anyhow, the bathroom here is huge and has hardwood floors, just the way I like it.This is me all red-faced after soaking for 20 minutes. I went downstairs in this lovely robe, and only this robe, just because I could.
I had dinner "downtown", which I guess is down because you walk down the hill. I ate at the Baltimore Street Grill, a very small Cheers kind of place. There were lots of plaid shirts and a bartender thumping on the bar in front of the guy on the left, saying finish up now. Yeah, before he does a face plant. The Christmas decorations are still up. They are at the B&B, too. Now that I think of it, the entire street is covered in white lights. The grill has an odd menu (yup, lots of odd things here in Cumberland). Pasta, crab cakes (for which they are known), sandwiches and salads. Some cajun stuff. And tornaedos of the day. Tonights special was made with green olives, smoked salmon, and mushrooms. Well, the meat was good and so were the vegetables, and the bread pudding with bourbon sauce was out of this world. The ladies behind me thanked the bartender for the great margarita. They then ordered a root beer and two mai tais. The latter were hot pink, matching the hoody of a tough and his twin with backward facing caps. A real man wears pink, I guess. Other things in town are a theater and a bakery.
My imaginary boyfriend has to stay in Woody overnight. It's okay, he doesn't need much sleep and does pretty well in the cold.