The waves are crashing outside my balcony door.

We are in Ocean City, Maryland.  We have completed the cross-country drive on US Route 50.  What a drive!  Starting with the hills of San Francisco, California, to the desert of Nevada and Utah, the canyons of Colorado, the beauty of the plains of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana (with all kinds of specialties for each state thrown in), the twists and turns of West Virginia, the horse pastures of Virginia, the patriotism-inspiring sights of Washington, DC, and finishing with the waterways and oceans of Maryland.

We made a quick visit to Arlington National Cemetary this morning and due to time constraints, our main stop was the Tomb of the Unknowns with a viewing of the changing of the guard ceremony.  Then a mad dash to make it to the Capitol in time for our tour courtesy of my representative, David Price.

 

We finally found our way out of Washington DC via Route 50 and headed for Annapolis, Maryland.  I was struck by the quaintness of historic Annapolis and almost used Debby's favorite line "I could live here" before I remembered how cold it gets "up north."   Besides the courthouse in Annapolis, we toured the Maryland State House (capitol building).  The Maryland State House is the location George Washington used to resign his commission.   We had several courthouse stops in Maryland.  It has been interesting to see historical progression (in reverse) of the courthouses and their ages as we have travelled from the west to the east.

This is the courthouse mecca -- the Supreme Court: 

Now we are in Ocean City and I have just finished my first experience with eating steamed crabs Maryland style armed with a mallet and knife.  Yum!   The "hands on" work was a little more than Debby wanted to experience so she went with the safer choice of chicken and shrimp. We have two days of beach relaxation in front of us.  Nice!!