Peter Hodges

…is chilly, past it’s autumnal glory, and still strangely scenic.

I flew in to Baltimore, took the long, long, log bus ride to the rental car center (all the rental car companies under one roof, similar to Phoenix or DFW), and found that National Rent-A-Car didn’t have a car for me. I’m one of their Emerald Club members (due to frequent travel). What this should entitle me to is that I don’t go to the counter. I walk past the lines, go pick a car on the “Emerald Aisle,” and then drive it out, showing my driver’s license, member card, and my credit card. You still make a reservation, but it saves time in the line and reduces their need to have manpower at the counters.

Imagine my chagrin when I saw that the Emerald Aisle was devoid of cars. Further imagine my chagrin when I heard that it would be an HOUR before they had more cars. I reminded the attendant that I had a reservation for a set time, and that I provided my flight number to them for a reason. Of course, the attendant didn’t care. I angrily told her to cancel my reservation, then I went around to Hertz, Avis, and Thrifty. Unfortunately, they were out of cars, too. (What’s going on in Baltimore this week? Is someone having an asshole convention that I didn’t get invited to?) Hat in hand, I went back to National and said I’d wait an hour for my car. So there. Take that, injustice!

The drive from Baltimore to Salisbury was gorgeous. Salisbury is located on the eastern shore (the Atlantic coast), so I had to cross the Chesapeake Bay at Annapolis on a HUGE bridge, then drive across a very scenic mix of salt flats, forest, and quaint small towns to get to my destination. Salisbury itself is about 40,000 people or so, and serves as the main commerce hub for all of the region known as DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia). It has all the comforts of suburbia, including a Barnes and Noble with an astonishingly well stocked scifi section.

I’m here on business (as usual), so I’m trying to work like a dog to squeeze everything I can into two days. I ate at a restaurant called the Upperdeck Lounge (and had Crab Imperial, a Maryland staple) for lunch today. The food was excellent, even if the atmosphere was a little on the Leisure Suit side. I’m usually not one for crab, but I should amend that statement to say that I’m not one for crab that wasn’t caught yesterday out of the ocean.

I’ll be here through the end of the week, so Kate has volunteered to post once on something educational while I use the time to focus on some serious edits on my existing projects.

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