solo exploration

finally went on a road trip today. took the historic national road/md 144 west and just drove until i would see something interesting. starting from howard county i drove through carroll, frederick and part of washington county. the historic national road was the first federally funded road that connected the east to the west (opened in 1807). 170 miles of it run through maryland (it ends in vandalia, illinois). if you decide to travel the sections that i did, keep your eyes peeled for the "scenic byway" signs because this route is not a straight shot on one road. it involved a lot of turns and quick lane changes (sorry!). and yes, this was a solo trip so that means i took some of these pictures while driving...i know i know, bad me. oh, and the sign for "wings and more" was more hilarious b/c the little drive-in building it was set up had "banana splits" as the more. such a random combination of american and chinese.
part of the reason i didn't make it as far west as i had hoped was a detour in downtown frederick, which is a happening place, but there was definitely also a lot of vacant shops (probably from the recession). the weather was much less muggy today so it was nice to walk around the city. founded in 1745 by english and german settlers, frederick definitely looked more german than old ellicott city. i used the walking tour to look at the old buildings and along carroll creek park. i saw the top of the spire for this church and took a shot from below (the one on the left) and when i was driving out of the top floor of the parking deck (3 hrs free if you get your ticket validated by the tourist center!) i saw the top of the church again (much nicer view). unfortunately, with only the 15 minutes to get your car out of the garage (half of which i spent trying to find my car) i could only pause and take a quick shot)
this is the community bridge mural along carroll creek park. the bridge is actually concrete painted to look like stone. crazy isn't it?and this is a shot i took from below one of the bridges crossing carroll creek.

oh, i didn't get a good shot, but did you know there's a funkstown, md!