Horn Point Antique Aeroplane Fly-In, May 21-24,2010

Headed for the annual Horn Point Fly-In in Cambridge MD. For this trip, Lee will be joined by Sean Hammer, his friend who had also served as Airport Operations Supervisor with Lee at College Park Airport. This was also the maiden voyage of the trailer Lee built to carry the mopeds and the bicycles. With a couple small exceptions, it performed as designed :) First stop: Check for trailer load security and then head across the Chesapeake Bay.....the little trailer added $7.00 to the toll! :(
After checking out Horn Point Aerodrome, we headed for Suicide Bridge in the little town of Hurlock MD. The restaurant is well-known in the region for its fantastic seafood, and we weren't disappointed!

Oysters on the half shell, soft shelled crabs stuffed with crab imperial and house ale.......Don't get any better than that!!.......

We spent the night at the airport....quiet & dark! Now it's time for breakfast!

All kinds of transportation available at the Fly-In......

On display: An 80 year-old Ford Model A, a 28 year-old Suzuki moped and a

64 year-old biker..........All aging just like fine wine :)

All together, about 80 antique, vintage & classic aircraft arrived.

A homebuilt helicopter, designed after the Bell 47 of M.A.S.H. fame

Twin-engined Air-Cam: open cockpit with fantastic visibility and incredible take-off & landing performance.

Brand new Kodiak turbine powered 8 passenger. This aircraft will be using College Park Airport 2-3 times a week in the near future. It's operated as a traffic plane. See what $1.2mil+ will get ya? :)

The Barth received its own share of gawking throughout the day, as we answered questions about it and invited folks to go inside and take a peek.

Sunday morning, after breakfast. Had the whole airport to ourselves again.

Today we'll take a little detour to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, less than an hour away.

The rufuge is home to millions of waterfowl, including Bald Eagles.

Here's one, waitin' for something that's gonna get eaten.........

Miles & miles of wetlands. A 25 mile perimeter road takes you around. There are put-ins for kayaks/canoes every few miles and marked water trails. This is one place you wouldn't want to get disoriented - it would be tough to find your way out.......

On the way home we stopped at Kentmore Marina & Restaurant on Kent Island for some hard shell crabs.....On the way out we stopped along the shore to get this shot of the Bay Bridge........

A Super weekend!.......Old airplanes, great food & beverage, enjoyable company, new sights to see.......Life is Indeed Good !!.......

John Wilkes Booth Escape Route, April 23-26, 2010

Lee & Tom Palen, his boyhood friend, departed on their third annual Civil War era expedition. This time, they elected to take a 12 hour chartered bus tour which closely duplicated the escape route of John Wilkes Booth after he shot President Lincoln. The Barth spent two nights at a regional park near the Surratt house. Sunday morning was a stop at Fort Washington, then a trip down through southern Maryland, over-nighting at Point Lookout State Park on the Chesapeake Bay - site of a Union POW camp for Confederate soldiers & sailors. Monday's trip home included a trip across the Bay Bridge at Annapolis, a stop at Kentmore Marina for Tom's first exposure to hardshell crabs, and back home. Great trip!.....Lookin' forward to next year! The bus tour started at Ford's Theater in downtown Washington. Tom stands in front of the presidential box. Booth entered from the right side, shot Lincoln and jumped onto the stage near the American flag. While crossing the stage, Booth yells, "Death to Tyrants!" and exits stage left. Leaving Ford's, we went across the street to the Petersen house, where Lincoln expired.

On his way out of town, Booth's first stop was at the Surratt tavern in Clinton, MD. Today it's a historic site, complete with museum & library.

Dr. Mudd's home, where Booth showed up to have his broken leg set. Many claim Mudd was an innocent victim of circumstances. The government thought otherwise, and sent him to prison in the Florida Keys. His medical help during a prison epidemic earned him an early release after a few years. Today, the Mudd family continues an active effort to get his sentence commuted.

Dr. Mudd's first tombstone, on display at the house. His burial plot, with new headstone, is at a church about 4 miles away.

This old house was one of the stops made by Booth. Complete with its own cast of re-enactors, it contained a mini-museum inside. Only museum we've visited that allowed guests to pick-up and play with the weapons on display!Sunday morning stop at historic Fort Washington. On the MD side of the Potomac River and across from Mt. Vernon, its purpose was to protect the capital city from an invasion coming up river. It never saw military action.

The finale of the trip was an aerial tour that Lee had arranged with the county police helicopter. Tom got to see downtown Washington DC from about 300' in the air at dusk....a place he had visited scores of times during his student's class trips over the years........