verbatim: Baltimore Recap

Baltimore already feels like a hundred years ago, but I did promise you a brief synopsis of our visit, didn't I? Let's see what I can remember.

Steph and I and Steph's friend Rachel flew AirTran down on Friday afternoon, then took a cab to the new Baltimore Waterfront Marriott (not to be confused with the nearby old Marriott at the ballpark). It is gorgeous. By the time we got in, we had just enough time to grab a bite and see another girl and her mom for a bit before we hit the sack. I let the girls take the beds and I took the cot, because I wanted them to get a good night's sleep before their big day, and I knew that they'd be spending the next night on a floor while I had both beds (and the cot) to choose from!

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel and met up with the other girls and their moms. The Bat Mitzvah girl's family sent a van to pick up the 5 girls and take them to the temple, then brought them back to the hotel after the luncheon. In the meantime, I lounged a bit and then walked around the harbor area with another mom, and we ate lunch at a noodle place.

That afternoon the weather was spectacular (for March!), so we all walked around downtown, poking into the little shops and getting gelato. It was a really nice afternoon. When we got back, the last girl and her mom arrived (she'd had another Bat Mitzvah to go to at home in New Jersey, then they drove down). Her mom and I went to camp together back in the '70s!

The hotel was hosting a huge convention of anxiety disorder professionals, so the place was teeming with therapists, social workers, and so on. I joked with some of them in the elevator that if they saw me freaking out in the lobby, they shouldn't think they needed to restrain me—I was just traveling with two 13-year-old girls!

Then the girls got all fancied up for the big party, and the van came to pick them up with their overnight bags and whisk them away. While we were waiting in the lobby, the other camp mom spotted another former camp pal who happened to be attending the convention! Neither of us had seen her in a couple of decades—what are the odds? Then the moms all went out to dinner at an Irish pub nearby, which was just about the right speed for us. And then I collapsed into one of the big beds and fell deeply asleep—until my iPhone scared the crap out of me at 1:21am with a text message from Steph saying that they'd just arrived at their friend's house.

So, next morning the moms headed out to the house for a brunch. Soon enough I had to take Steph and Rachel to the airport, and we were back home in the middle of the afternoon. It was a whirlwind weekend, and I'm glad we did it.