Baltimore

When I was younger (which leaves lots of room for interpretation) I put my love of looking things up to drive my family crazy with tidbits about our vacation. I only remember doing it once but it must have left an impression (or perhaps irreversible damage) because it has been brought up more than once over the years.

Well, later this summer, my husband, sister and brother in law are going on a cruise. Baltimore to New England and Canada and back. So here I go again. "When I was younger" I didn't have the Internet to use for research or to write a blog. This could be fun. (evil laugh).

Keep in mind that the point of this game is to find truly useless trivia. Trivia that won't even win you a final Jeopardy question but might make you laugh if you let it. Also remember that whether or not a statement rises (or sinks) to the level of trivia depends on who is observing it. My game, my trivia. :)

Our start and end point is Baltimore. Did you know ...

• That Baltimore has more public public statues and monuments than any other city in the U.S
• That it is home to some of the earliest places on the National Register of Historic Distircts
• Baltimore is an Anglicization of an Irish Name "Baile an ti Mohr" which means Town of Big Houses. 
• Baltimore is home to the first umbrella factory. It was opened by a German immigrant named Francis L. Beehler in 1828. Although Beehler was first, it is the Gans brother who came later that developed the slogan "Born in Baltimore, Raised Everywhere". By 1922, Baltimore was producing 2 million umbrellas per year. 
• On a related note, according to Maryland Weather, "Average annual precipitation: 40.76 inches. Peaks in July and August when thunderstorms average once every five days. Since 1871, Baltimore's recorded precipitation has averaged 41.94 inches a year, with the highest amount falling in 2003, when 62.66 inches fell."
• Baltimore was the site of the first successful manned balloon launch. I'm guessing it was not raining that day. 
• BWI Marhsall Airport is the first and only US Airport to have a dedicated trail for hiking and biking. (and yes I am wondering how or if that can be worked into our vacation) 
• Baltimore is named after Lord Calvert, the 2nd Lord Baltimore.

And there you have it. 7 things about Baltimore. I probably should have made it 9 since it's a 9 day cruise but I got sidetracked by Cecil Calvert. I couldn't help wondering who the 1st Lord Baltimore was and why he didn't get a city named after him.

Well it turns out that the 1st Lord Baltimore was, George, Cecil's dad. George was apparently a nice guy and both King James I and Charles I liked him. BUT in 1625 George announced he had become Catholic and that disqualified him from holding office or working in Parliament. But being well liked helps obviously because King James I made him the First Baron of Baltimore - a town on the Southern coast of Ireland - anyway. Now that he had money and land, George wanted to explore the New World. He asked for and received a grant to the "Colony of Avalon" in Newfoundland. But it was too cold for the English Settlers so George asked for a grant for land further south near the Chesapeake bay. Unfortunately, George died before the paperwork could be finished so his son Cecil took the plan and ran with it. (Most of this came from "Exploring Maryland's Roots")

Ok. You've been warned. Next stop Boston. You can skip my blog for a few weeks or read at the risk of learning something you'll never need again!

Keep smiling and keep moving
-Paula