To Rosedale, MD

By Ben |

Today was a beautiful day; it just wasn't my day.  The bike map misled me about a dozen times on the way to Baltimore.  Still, I got to the library around 3:00 and found that the libraries in Baltimore are not the Baltimore County Libraries I found online, the ones that had the maps I needed.  The libraries in Baltimore are all called Enoch Pratt, and they didn't have the maps.  So I rode on to a Baltimore County library and got a motel in Rosedale.

38.3 mi

To Greenbelt Park

By Ben |

I went to church at All Souls again this morning to see Rev. Rob Hardies speak, as my friend Elisa had assured me he was not to be missed.  I was impressed -- All Souls is not only the most diverse UU congregation I've seen, it's also the most charismatic.  The congregation gave both its ministers standing ovations... Hardies when he finished his sermon and the associate minister when it was announced that she had just gotten married in Massachusetts.

Sakura Matsuri festival

By Ben |

Marisa and I both felt lousy this morning, so we slept in our separate rooms until after noon.  After lunch we rode the metro to the "Sakura Matsuri," a street festival inspired by the cherry blossoms.  It was a cross between the street festivals I saw in Japan and those you can see anywhere in the US.  We bought some Japanese trinkets and ate too much mochi.

Back to Gallaudet

By Ben |

I left the hostel just in time: the cold that had been lingering in my throat for several days moved into my nose.  The hostel has no soap or towels in the bathrooms, and it's easy to forget to bring one's own, which is probably why I got sick, but had I stayed an hour longer I would certainly have passed it on to other people.

Shaw Ecovillage

By Ben |

This morning I biked to Shaw Ecovillage.  As an urban nonprofit organization, it has more in common with the Rhizome Collective I visited in Austin than the ecovillages I've visited in rural areas.  The basic idea is that the adults in the organization raise money and the kids -- teenagers -- decide how to spend it to improve the neighborhood.  They've created community gardens, painted murals, and started a community bike shop.  Because I visited during the school day, there were no teenagers at the shop, but the college-grad day managers, Max & Wakeel, were eager t

Bike around DC

By Ben |

Today was forecast to be the only truly glorious day of the week, so I took my bike out for a spin.  I followed about 3/4 of the Rock Creek Park bike trail, all of the Capitol Crescent trail, and the very end of the C&O Towpath -- that's the trail that Granny D covered on cross-country skis when she was running late for a press conference and an unexpected snow fell.

To Hilltop Hostel

By Ben |

I tried to sleep in after staying out late last night, but I'm so used to waking up at dawn I couldn't help myself.  I packed up and left Gallaudet for All Souls Church, riding through the neighborhood Marisa had warned me against last night, and I have to admit it looked pretty questionable in the daytime, too.