Baltimore

Last weekend we had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Ashburn with friends from church.  Then my wife and I made a spontaneous decision to go to Baltimore on a family weekend getaway.  We've been wanting to go for quite some time, but just never got around to it until now.

We drove up just after lunch on Friday.  Our first stop was at Fort McHenry to see where the flag was flown that inspired the Star Spangled Banner.

I have yet to be disappointed by listening to a Park Ranger from the National Park Service give a talk.  The Park Rangers here at Fort McHenry were no exception.  This Ranger gave us a great introduction in the visitor's center, and another Ranger was dressed up in a uniform from the War of 1812 and was milling about the grounds of the fortress.

After the introduction by the Park Ranger, we went into the small theater to watch the introductory video.  The video was a little on the cheesy side, but did provide good background on the sequence of events during the battle.  Then ending was extraordinary though.  As the video ended, an electric motor drew back the curtains to reveal the flag flying over the fort while a very moving rendition of The Star Spangled Banner played on the stereo system.

The entrance to the fort and a Park Ranger dressed in a uniform from the War of 1812.

My eldest son looking out over the entrance to Baltimore Harbor.

Self-Portrait with ES.  That flagpole in the background is where Francis Scott Key observed, "that our flag was still there."  Fort McHenry is an excellent National Historic Site with many interactive exhibits in each of the buildings inside the fort.  Both of the boys did the Junior Park Ranger activity sheet and earned another Junior Park Ranger badge, too.


Next we went and checked into our hotel.  We used our Marriott Reward points to stay at the Renaissance Hotel right on the waterfront in Baltimore.  When we checked in, the lady at the counter gave us a free upgrade to a room with a view.  Score!

When we got to the room, we found that they even provided binoculars in the room.

The front desk staff was VERY helpful with information about what to see and do nearby.  We had already been planning on going to the National Aquarium Baltimore because it is open until 8 p.m. on Fridays.  What we didn't know, and what the hotel receptionist informed us, was that the aquarium was only $5 after 5 p.m. to get into the aquarium on Fridays.  Score!  Cha-ching! Cha-ching!  It was like 4:30 then, so we went and had an early dinner at a restaurant across the street first, and then headed over to the aquarium.

I've been to many aquariums across the country, and I was very impressed with the National Aquarium Baltimore.  When you buy tickets, they are for a certain entry time, done in 15 minute increments.

The inside of the aquarium is organized in a manner to keep people moving through each of the exhibits, with moving walkways and escalators keeping people moving in ONE direction through the museum, not back and forth and all over the place.  Having the time sequenced entry, limiting how many people are allowed to enter each 15 minutes, and having the layout to keep people moving was genius.  It was very efficient and well planned.

Here is YB checking out the kelp forest.  This felt like a homecoming to me.  I "grew up" learning to scuba dive as a teenager in the kelp forests off of San Diego.  You can see a beautiful male sheepshead in there, too.

YB with the jellyfish.

Toward the end of our visit to the aquarium, we came to this seemingly black wall.  I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, except for a smattering of various people sitting and standing around watching this wall as if they were watching a giant movie screen with nothing on it.  Suddenly, there were "ooohs!" and "ahhhs!" and gasps through the crowd as these gray ghosts gracefully glided past behind the glass.

Ghosts

We ended up taking a seat to watch the dolphins swim past a few more laps before moving on.  (Note the reflection of LW's pink sweater in the glass above.)  This reminded me of being at sea off the coast of Southern California where the dolphins look like ghosts in the water, but there they are highlighted by a sheen of bioluminescence and leave a glowing trail behind them.

Night view of Baltimore from our hotel room.

Saturday morning, we went to tour the historic ships on the Baltimore waterfront.  First we went to USS CONSTELLATION.

This boatswain's mate met us on the main deck of the CONSTELLATION, and he was AWESOME.  He enlisted our help to do morning colors.

Raising the flag on USS CONSTELLATION

The Bo'sun showing the boys the ropes.

Oh say can you see...

The boatswain told us to come back after we finished our tour in order for the boys to receive their "pay" for working for him that morning on raising the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore flags.  When we returned for the boys to receive their pay, he explained how much they had earned and how much he had to deduct for their uniforms and candy they took from the ship's store, so they wouldn't actually get any pay.  However, he said in honor of their service, President Lincoln was awarding them each a presidential medallion.

The boatswain presents "presidential medallions" to the boys.

ES inspects the presidential medallion he earned for doing morning colors.  It looked suspiciously like a penny, but the boatswain assured him that pennies had Indian heads on them and that this was a genuine presidential medallion from President Lincoln.

We also toured the submarine USS TORSK, the last submarine to sink a Japanese ship during WWII.  One of the volunteers on board told us the boat received an encrypted message in the middle of attacking a Japanese convoy.  They sank two of the Japanese ships and were lining up to shoot a third when the radiomen brought the deciphered message to the captain reporting the Japanese surrender and directing U.S. forces to cease all hostilities.

While we were touring the USCGC TANEY, we were climbing up a ladder and my eldest son behind me said, "Daddy, there's a big hole in your pants."  There is?

Why, yes, indeed there was a RATHER LARGE and GAPING WIDE hole in the crotch of my pants.  No wonder I was so cold!  My loving family proceeded to form a sort of privacy-screen walking in front of me as we proceeded down the street to the nearest department store to buy me a new pair of jeans.

Last stop for our whirlwind trip to Baltimore was the Port Discovery Children's Museum.  The boys had a BLAST. 

Here are two young archaeologists pulling themselves across a river in Egypt.  I was actually pleasantly surprised by some of the side exhibits at Port Discovery like this Egyptian archaeology exhibit.  There was an actual mission to find out the name of a pharaoh, and you had to put together pieces of pottery and take crayon rubbings of hieroglyphs and decode clues in order to come up with the answer at the end.

Later, YB asked my wife if he could get his own car when he gets older.  She said, uhhhh, sure, why?  He responded because then he could drive himself to Baltimore to go back to the Port Discovery Children's Museum.  Sadly, by the time he's old enough to drive, I think he will have long forgotten how much fun he had there last weekend.

We had a great weekend getaway to Baltimore.  There's still a LOT more to see and do around Baltimore, so we look forward to going back again someday.

Autumn Update

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  We had a terrific Thanksgiving dinner with a large group of friends from our church. 

My posting has been pretty light because I haven't had much free time the past few months.  Since September, I have been attending a three-month long school at the Washington Navy Yard.  Most of my classmates are here as geo-bachelors away from their families, so while I haven't had much free time, I am thankful that I live here in the DC area and get to go home to my family every night and spend time with them on the weekends.

I love autumn.  It's my favorite time of year.  I love the trees changing colors.  I love the chill in the air that warns of the approaching winter.  I love the flavors of the seasonal dishes at local restaurants. 

For our anniversary in October, my wife and I had an extraordinary dinner at the Parallel Wine Bistro right here in Ashburn.  They mostly serve small tapas-style dishes, but they have a few normal entrees, too.  I had the pork with apples and cream sauce and it was heavenly. 

In November, I attended the Veteran's Day assembly at my boys' school and then went and had an awesome lunch at Clyde's with my wonderful wife.  I had the potato leek soup and butternut squash ravioli, and they were to-die-for. 

Full House at the Veteran's Day Assembly

We've had a couple of fun outings with the Cub Scouts this fall. 

First, I went with my elder son's Webelos Cub Scout den to visit the Rust Sanctuary in Leesburg, VA.  It was a beautiful park, and Ty, the naturalist who led our excursion around the park, did a superb job of teaching the boys and keeping them involved and engaged in the subject matter. 

Naturalist Ty showing the boys a ginormous earth worm.

We lifted up stumps and identified the critters underneath.

We went for a hike around the property.

Spotted some beautiful (although deadly) mushrooms.

Spent some time by the pond.

If I just stay really still, then 

the people won't see me here.

Next, I went with my younger son's Tiger Cub Scout den to visit the Heritage Farm Museum over at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, VA.
 

Our guide at the Heritage Farm was also excellent.  She did great with the kids.  In the picture above, she had the boys line up like they were a team of horses, and then she taught them some basic commands that farmers would use to get their horses to move or stop or turn, and she used those terms to lead us around the museum.

Explaining how a plow works.

Milking the cow.

Gathering the eggs.

I enjoyed taking the boys trick-or-treating this year.  It was fun to watch them sort their candy afterwards.

I can't imagine where they got such anal-retentive organizational obsession.  (sarcasm)

It's cool to watch my boys grow and develop their own personalities and interests.  This year, my younger son decided he wanted to take up baseball.  This surprised us to no end because nobody in our family is very athletic or into sports, but I really enjoyed going to watch YB's baseball games on Saturday mornings.

Go Grasshoppers!

My elder son continues to enjoy fencing epee with the Have Blade Will Travel fencing club.  Last weekend I went to watch him fence in a scrimmage at Claude Moore Park.  It had been a while since I had seen him fence, because he normally goes to fencing while I'm still at school.  I could tell he had improved tremendously since the last time I watched him.  His coach says he's doing a great job and will do much better when he grows a little more.

Touche!

(That's ES on the right.)

Then of course, there are the leaves, leaves, and more leaves.  The past two weekends in a row we have raked leaves, and looking out my window now, you would never have guess we did ANY raking this season.

But I still love autumn.  :-)

Pentagon Gouge: Navy Working Uniform (NWU)

Like me, some of you have been in the National Capitol Region (NCR) for a while and not allowed to wear the new Navy Working Uniform (NWU).  As I prepare to execute my next set of PCS orders, I have found it necessary to embark on the quest for my own set of NWUs.

It has NOT been a smooth or easy process.

In the interest of helping you, my shipmates out, please allow me to offer the following recommendations for making your NWU purchase easier than mine.

Step 1)  Realize that the NWUs come in a completely new and different sizing system.
    Since the Navy uniform shop is INconveniently located in the bowels of the Navy Annex, I really didn't want to go out of my way to make the pilgrimage to the uniform shop only to find they didn't have what I needed.  So I had this bright idea to order my NWUs online.  The Navy Uniform website is actually a pretty good site.
    Unfortunately, I got to the website and discovered that you can't just order a size large blouse or type in the waist-size and inseam for my trousers.  Each have TWO sizes on their label, like "L/R," "M/L," or "L/L."  Huh?
    Okay, note to self:  For the initial purchase of my NWUs, I should probably actually GO to the uniform shop and try them on.
    But wait!  Don't leave the website yet!

Step 2)  Go ahead and order the name strips, rank insignia, warfare pin, and U.S. Navy strip from the website.
    They get it done pretty quick and ship it to your home.  The name strips take a few days to do, but it'll help make things go smoother when you already have them in hand.  The other stuff could wait, but you never know if they'll be out of your particular rank or warfare pin when you arrive at the uniform shop.

Step 3)  Look up the business hours of the uniform shop before you make the pilgrimage to the uniform shop.
    Did I mention how inconveniently located the uniform shop is in the basement of the Navy Annex?
    Here's what you DON'T want to happen.  You DON'T want to leave work "early" at 1600 in order to make a run to the uniform shop "on the way" home, battle for parking near the Navy Annex, hike to up the hill to the security entrance, and descend to the depths of the building... down the stairs... past the NFCU...  past the mini mart... around the corner... past the gym... alllllll they way down the hallway... and there it is.

The CLOSED sign.

    Yyyyyyyyeah, they closed at 1600.

    I imagine my face was probably red and smoke billowed from my ears (flashback to those jalepeno chips at the NEX in Pearl Harbor) as I walked all the way back up the hallway... past the gym... around the corner... past the mini mart... past the NFCU... up the stairs...  back through security... and back down the hill to where I parked my car again.

Step 4) Okay, wait, rewind.  Backup to Step 2 above.  
    Note to self:  The NWU requires TWO name-tapes per uniform.  One goes on the blouse.  One goes on the back of the trousers.  On your second trip to the uniform shop (because they were closed the first time you tried), if you go with just two name-tapes in-hand hoping to outfit yourself with two sets of NWUs, then you'll be disappointed. 
    Oops.
    So much for saving yourself some effort by ordering them online before going to the uniform shop.


Step 5) Get all this done so that your new NWUs are ready for pickup BEFORE you detach from your current duty station and turn in your Pentagon badge.  It just makes it easier for getting into the Navy Annex to go back to the uniform shop.  That being said, I'm happy to report that it was not difficult to get a visitor badge at the security shack.  It just would have been quicker and easier if I had done it before turning in my Pentagon badge.

Disclaimer:  Please don't take my gripes about the location of the Navy Annex uniform shop the wrong way.  I do not mean any of this to reflect negatively upon the uniform shop or staff.  It's an excellent, well-stocked uniform shop, and the staff there are extraordinarily helpful.

I just wish the location of the uniform shop was a little more convenient for quicker access.

Bike Log: C&O Canal Tow Path

This post is time-late. I started to write it and had troubles getting Blogger to upload photos, and I didn't get around to finish it until now.

My life has been pretty busy lately and I obviously haven't had much time for blogging. I'm in the midst of going through a series of fairly intense Navy schools. I was fortunate enough to have a week off between schools though, and I put the time to good use getting several errands run and projects done around the house.

On the Thursday of my week off (just after Labor Day), my friend Bob and I went for a 20 mile bike ride on the C&O Canal Tow Path, and it was awesome.

You may recall last year, Bob and I rode our bikes 13 miles from Point of Rocks, MD down to White's Ferry. This time, we started from the same spot under the Rt. 15 bridge at Point of Rocks, but we rode 10 miles upstream toward Harpers Ferry. Then we turned around and came back with a stop in Brunswick, MD for an awesome lunch at El Sloppy Tacos.

Starting off under the Rt. 15 bridge
at Point of Rocks, MD

On the C&O Canal Tow Path

Lock 29 and the Lock House

We passed Locks 28, 29, and 30 along the way. It was interesting to see signs at various places showing how high previous floods had risen. One flood, I think it was in 1996, brought the water level of the Potomac River up to the second floor of that lock house above.

We passed the remnants of the Catoctin Aqueduct.

This beautiful stone arch structure was originally built in 1832-1834 and was one of 11 stone aqueducts along the C&O Canal (such as the very nicely restored Monocacy River Aqueduct).
It collapsed back in 1973, but they salvaged the old stones from the Catoctin Creek and are raising funds to rebuild it to look exactly like it was with the original stones. If you want to sponsor one of the stones, then you can visit their adopt-a-stone website.


Of course, I had to stop and take pictures of flowers here and there. This was my favorite flower photo of the day. I am having trouble identifying the flower in my book though. Anybody able to help name this one? 
Update 10/21/2010: According to the Virginia Tech weed identification guide, this is a Wingstem flower (verbesina alternifolia). 

We turned around when we got 10 miles from Point of Rocks. It just happened to be exactly where the Appalachian Trail joins the C&O Canal Tow Path just shy of Harpers Ferry, WV.

On our way back, we stopped at El Sloppy Taco in Brunswick, MD. On a previous trip through town, my friend Bob had noticed this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint and immediately thought of me. Not sure why he would think of me, but... Anyway, it had pretty good reviews on Yelp. Being the Mexican food addict connoisseur that I am, I must say that was a darn good tinga poblano burrito.

A glimpse of the Point of Rocks Bridge over the Potomac River on our way back.

Trip Stats
20.1 miles
Moving Time 2 hrs 35 min
Stopped Time 30 min 52 sec
Moving Average 7.8 mph

I turned off the GPS while we were eating lunch in Brunswick. Unfortunately, that broke my Garmin Connect download into two separate trips. This is my primary gripe against Garmin Connect: It won't let you edit the data to combine two data sets into one trip or to delete data off the end of a trip when I forget to stop and turn off the GPS. Oh well.

So this was the first part going up until lunch...


...and this was the second part from lunch back to Point of Rocks.


Overall, it was another awesome day out riding. As we prepare for the moving truck to come and yet another PCS move takes us away from NoVA, I will miss the awesome hiking, biking, and kayaking we've been able to enjoy here.

Advice to Junior Officers: Social Media

Back when I was an Ensign (peanut gallery says, "Ooooooh, boy, here he goes..."), I had some great officers and chiefs teach me a lot about life in the Navy.

One nugget I remember was the warning about fraternization.  Now, I'm not talking about male-female fraternization since women aren't yet serving on submarines.  I'm talking about unduly familiar relationships between officers and enlisted Sailors.

It can be tempting as a 23 year old Ensign to become friends with the 23 year old E-4s because you're part of the same generation.  You grew up listening to the same music.  You watched the same movies.  You played the same video games.  You had the same posters on your bedroom walls in high school, worshiping the same teen idols - be it rock stars or sports stars or super models.  You remember the same critical events in history (like where you were on 9-11 or when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded and how it affected you).  You may be fans of the same sports teams and watched the same World Series or Super Bowl or NBA finals.  You probably have a lot in common except for the fact that one decided to go to college and one decided to enlist in the Navy (which are BOTH honorable choices).  Even so, you can't be friends.  That would be "prejudicial to the good order and discipline" of the command.

Fast forward umpteen years later and enter the world of social media. 

During my tour as XO on the Mighty MSP, social media was still pretty new.  The Navy had not yet embraced social media as the important communication tool that it is, and there were no rules or guidance on whether it was okay or forbidden.  It was just sort of out there.  Sailors were using it.  Most of my wardroom (including me) and our wives got assimilated by the Borg sucked into Facebook.

But nobody ever sat me down and said, "Shipmate, if you're going to be active on social media sites like Facebook, then here are some guidelines and things to consider..."

This ALNAV message (ALNAV 057-10) provides a very broad-brush-stroke, overarching guidance for the use of the social media by Navy personnel, but it is more concerned with not speaking on behalf of the Navy, not violating operational security and/or giving out classified information.   

Aside:  In the process of searching for information on this topic, I discovered that CHINFO has a very useful web page of social media references. 

This topic of discussion came up during at a leadership school I attended last week.  We asked a lot of questions like:  As an officer in the Navy, is it okay to use Facebook?  Is it okay to "friend" one of your Sailors?  Those are tough questions with no clear right or wrong answer.

Some people will NOT use Facebook (or any other social media site) AT ALL to simply eliminate any risk to their privacy or security or implication of impropriety, and that's okay.  In my case, I find Facebook is a very useful tool for staying in touch with family and friends scattered across the globe.  Plus, as a leader, social media can provide some awareness into what's on your Sailors' minds.  In several instances, it has brought to my attention when a friend or shipmate has been in need of advice or assistance.

While it is a useful tool, it should go without saying that you need to be cautious about how you use social media sites like Facebook.  Keep the privacy settings on lock-down, and follow the good advice in the ALNAV message to minimize the risks of computer security and operational security.  However, I think that's all "Social Media and Internet Safety 101" and doesn't address the questions I mentioned above.  Is it okay for an officer to use social media and not jeopardize the good order and discipline of the command through fraternization or unduly familiar relationships?


For what it's worth, here's my unsolicited advice of the day.

Blunoz's Ground Rules as an O-Ganger on Facebook

Rule #1:  I don't send friend requests to my subordinates.  Consider it respecting their privacy.  If they don't want me seeing into their personal lives and communications with their friends, then that's fine by me (even if it's because they're complaining about that a-hole XO they work for).  If I did send them a friend request, then they might feel pressured or obligated to accept because of my position of seniority / authority in their chain of command.   

Rule #2:  I accept ALL friend requests from my subordinates.  If you accept one, then you have to accept them all.  To accept some and not others would give appearances of favoritism.

If one was concerned about fraternization through Facebook, I suppose one could impose a criteria such as, "I will not accept friend requests from enlisted Sailors."  In my personal experience, I am Facebook friends with many of my enlisted shipmates, and I haven't had any problems with it.  I generally don't post many comments on their pages except to say congratulations for promotions, weddings, births, etc.

Regardless of your personal preference or social media philosophy, it goes without saying that you have to be careful about what you post.  Anything you write on any blog or Facebook post can go viral and end up on the front of the Navy Times.  If you're hanging out at the same places the enlisted crew hangs out, and pictures get posted to Facebook showing you there with them, then it could create the perception of an unduly familiar relationship and/or favoritism with one or more of your crewmembers.  I'm not saying don't go out on the town for fear of running into crewmembers.  I'm also not saying don't take pictures with your shipmates.  I'm just advising you to be aware of the possible perception and be cautious.

What do you think?  

I don't claim to be an expert on this topic.  I'm just sharing my personal philosophy about it.  Do my ground rules make sense, or am I overlooking some other potential pitfall?  Do you have other rules or guidelines for using social media?  I appreciate any feedback you have to offer on this topic in general or on my ground rules above.

Update 10/29/2010: I found an excellent blog post on the topic of Navy leadership and the use of Facebook here: http://seanheritage.blogspot.com/2010/02/wasting-time-for-good-of-team.html.

DC Car Free Day

Heads-up!  DC Car Free Day is Wednesday, 22 September 2010. 

Like last year, if you pledge on the website that you will not use your car that day, then you will be entered for some free prizes.  I won a $10 gift card to our local bike store last year. 

It's okay if you already use public transit or bicycle to ride to work.  You can still pledge that you won't use your car that day and enter to win the free stuff.

If you check out the DC Car Free Day Facebook Page, you can find other useful information.  For instance, Bike and Roll is offering FREE BIKE RENTALS that day.  Check it out!