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| My pretties: Cousin Rhonda and my Sister, Dolores |
Early Friday morning, Dolores, my cousin Rhonda and I were in a taxi, driving along the Hudson River, headed for Penn Station. The station was full to the max with harried and hurried travelers. Dolores, a pro at traversing the distance between NYC and Baltimore, kept an eye on Rhonda and I so we didn't wind up on the tracks or on some train headed for parts unknown.
Our Amtrak ride was only about 3.5 hours long, and with loads of scenery flashing past my window, the time passed quickly.
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| Uh... a view out the train window in... New Jersey? |
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| Well, OK, the scenery I enjoyed most was the nice big animal murals |
Once in the Baltimore Amtrak station, my nephew Kirk - Dolores' son - picked us up. It's always a party seeing Kirk, he's got such a fun spirit about him. He had no sooner packed us into his family van then Rhonda put forward a request to see a museum she'd heard about - a wax museum of famous African Americans.Kirk agreed and soon we were headed into an old stone building that looked like an ancient white brick firehouse.
To me the museum had the air of a long ago side show. The exhibits were of great interest and my favorite was of Matthew Henson, the arctic explorer, though probably because his exhibit featured an enormous stuffed polar bear.
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| Personages from the Civil Rights era |
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| African-American Writers and 18th Century historical figures |
We enjoyed our quick tour of the museum which was both interesting, and in some spots deeply disturbing in its depictions of scarier aspects of Black history. We were delighted when one of the museum's representatives took the time to talk with us and tell us facts about the exhibits. We were all impressed and stunned to find out each wax figure costs in excess of $40 thousand dollars!
Following our wax museum tour of the , we headed off to Kirk's house. There we greeted Nicole, Kirk's better half, & I quickly condensed my luggage down to one weekender tote. Quickly we were off again, headed for Chevy Chase Maryland where Dolores, Rhonda and I had a lovely 2 room suite at the Hilton.
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View of HUMONGOUS interior of the Hilton
with rooms, shops and offices galore |
We were at the Hilton for a unique event - the first ever Reunion of the Carter Family Girl Cousins. The even was months in the planning by my cousins Yvonne and Donna.
It wasn't long before all the girl cousins were together in Yvonne's suite for our initial meet and greet. I was pleased to see my cousins Yvonne, Donna, Wanda, Carol and her daughter Ideaa. After our intial meet and greet we headed off to the Hilton's complementary cocktail hour for some libation. Then, with the edge off our appetites we headed for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. There we met up with Cousin Jackie, her husband, and little son and daughter.
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| Waiting for our table at the Restaurant; Yvonne, Wanda, Dolores, Carol and Jackie |
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| Donna, Yvonne, Ideaa and Dolores |
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| Wanda with her niece & nephew cuties - photo by Ideaa Brown |
I can say we all enjoyed our dinner, no one left the table hungry I can tell you!
Well, it was a wildly active and fun day, but with more to follow tomorrow. It seemed far later than it actually was when all my beloved cousins and I headed back home or to our hotel suites to get some must needed rest.
