My two days of R&R in order to rejuvenate and relax me after working overnight twice in the last month have left me even more sleep deprived and exhausted. What was I thinking? My poor kids! (who had to go to school after getting on a train at 3 AM last night). So I’m going to be a little slower than usual getting the game photos and story of our trip up. The two baseball games were supposed to be the primary focus of the trip, but actually ended up taking a back seat as we explored. So today enjoy some photos from yesterday, which seem fitting to post today. We spent the day being tourists and taking the ferry out to Liberty Island and Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty since neither I nor the kids had been there before, and along the way stumbled upon a flag tribute set up in Battery Park to honor those who served and lost their lives in the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th. Very moving. I don’t do well with speaking eloquently of painful events, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. [Photoset]

I may get the rest of the post and game photos up tonight. We had an absolutely wonderful time in “hostile” territory where we actually found Mets fans to be quite pleasant (once they verified we had no affection for the Phillies) and great baseball conversationalists.

Don’t forget the Cherry Blossom Parade tomorrow at 10 AM. It’s long before the game, so I expect to see some fans out there waving! The parade goes down Constitution Ave from 7th Street to 17th Street. Look for the Gecko and the redhead in a white ‘68 Mustang.

And if you happen to subscribe to Chesapeake Bay Magazine, check out the feature story in the May edition that starts on page 58. There’s even a mention of the Nationals in the article! Hee! I knew I’d tie lighthouses and baseball together somehow.

Hey, it’s all the rage amongst bloggers these days, so I have to spam my readers too! Not that my book has anything to do with the content of this site! Still, I think it’s a worthy subject, particularly if you live around here. And of course, it’s a topic that’s near and dear to my heart. Someday maybe I’ll make enough money with photography and blogging to quit my job and work on it full time :-) Without dreams, what would we have?! Send money! All net proceeds will go directly into the non-profit’s fund for restoring the Craighill Range lighthouse. It’s $25 with shipping and I’ll even autograph it for you! (Book is $19.99 by itself) [/spam]

In Colonial times, as the Chesapeake Bay and larger rivers became vital shipping channels, the need arose to mark Maryland’s dangerous shoals and waterways. Lighthouses sprang up throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, including wood-framed cottages placed upon screw pile foundations that stood offshore in the unforgiving waters. Most of these unique structures did not survive, lost tragically to ice that also occasionally claimed the lives of the keepers who faithfully tended them and rescued mariners in trouble. With the advent of electricity and GPS, many beacons succumbed to vandalism and neglect, leaving a fraction remaining.

I didn’t watch today’s game as I was running around. What’d I miss? Anything good? I really wanted to see John Lannan pitch in his first start of the season. Yeah, yeah… I see we lost our 4th in a row.

Now I need to go get my car prepped for chaperoning the Geico Gecco in the Cherry Blossom Parade on Saturday! (so hey, if he shows up for the President’s Race in the middle of the 4th, then you know he has a twin!). If you’re not going to the game Saturday, come to the parade and yell if you see us! I fell into this quite by accident. I’ve done parades with the local Mustang club before, even though I’m not an official member. They sent out a request for cars/drivers for the parade and I jumped on the Gecco one (too bad the Prezs aren’t in the parade, but I guess they’ll have gameday duties). No, it’s not the Jeep - we’ll be in a pearl-white ‘68 Mustang convertible. (off to buff that scratch from the side….) Hope to see you there!

(Mr. Chatter is making me sell the car immediately after the parade. Something about compounding debt…) This might be the last ride for the old pony and me.

My book is available to pre-order on Amazon! Publish date is April 7th! C’mon, you know you want to learn all about local lighthouses! Man, that is so cool to see my name there. A portion of the proceeds are being donated to benefit my lil old sparkplug in the Bay, so it’s for a good cause. If you are interested in more, there will be an article in the next Chesapeake Bay Magazine that features me and my lighthouse quest too. That comes out either at the end of this month or next month - I don’t remember which.