Perfect day for enjoying the weather and eating seafood and more deliciousness on the Chesapeake!
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An outbreak of mold at St. Mary’s College of Maryland this fall presented a logistical nightmare: There was nowhere to put the students. Hotels are scarce around the remote campus.
Then, an alumnus of this sailing-intensive school had an idea: Put them in a cruise ship.
The Sea Voyager, described on its Web site as having three bars, a restaurant and a gift shop, was on the block, and it was being moved from Maine to Virginia.
St. Mary’s President Joseph Urgo made some phone calls. The Sea Voyager is now headed to his campus, where it will serve as off-shore dormitory space for 250 students until the end of the semester. (via St. Mary’s College to put displaced students on a cruise ship - College, Inc. - The Washington Post)
HYDROSAUR Playground equipment is seen partially submerged in Port Deposit, Maryland, as rainfall from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee causes flooding along the East Coast. (Photo: Patrick Semansky / AP via the Telegraph)
Nice view of the Potomac headwaters, which were running about 4-5 higher than usual.
Green Ridge State Forest, MD
Somewhere, Dwight Schrute is smiling….
From the ABC 7 Weather team SEASONAL, TRAVEL, WEATHER Maryland winter roads to be treated with beet molasses December 16, 2010 - 07:00 AM Share 37 EmailPrint By John Metcalfe (Twitter @hurricalfe) Text size Decrease Increase Beet molasses may help to prevent icy-road accidents, like this bus crash in November near Seattle. (Photo: Associated Press) Somewhere in government warehouses in Maryland lies a stockpile of 30,000 gallons of a gooey, tan-colored solution made from beet molasses. The molasses is not the base material for a secret Shoofly-pie distribution program for gluttonous bureaucrats. No, this carb-loaded goodness is for the public’s benefit. The state intends to help area commuters by using the sticky agricultural by-product to fight epic snowstorms like the ones that laid waste to our roadways last winter. The solution, an 85:15 mixture of salt brine and beet molasses, is critical to Maryland’s roadway-management plan for the cold months of 2010 and 2011. At the first sign of major snow, spray trucks will fan out over state highways to treat the pavement with the sweet/savory road cocktail, which sounds as delectable as candied bacon. (It’s not. More on that later.) Thursday’s storm isn’t quite big enough to warrant the beet treatment. But expect the molasses to make frequent appearances if the snow and ice start to pile up. You might even smell it before you drive over it.
Stink Bugs Causing Crop Damage in Maryland
These little stinkers are popping up more and more in DC, but we saw literally thousands on our orchard trip to Markham VA this weekend. From FoxDC:
THURMONT, Md. - They are small, maybe the size of your fingernail, but they could cause huge economic damage.
We’re talking stink bugs. Not the one’s that have been in our area all along, but a new invader.
It eats just about every crop. And in some parts of Western Maryland, they’ve caused massive damage.
They may not look like much, but they’re tough.“Little tanks. Little armored tanks. I call them a lot of other names I can’t put on camera,” says Bob Black, owner ofCatoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont, Maryland.
The brown marmorated stink bug is enemy number one - not just at Bob Black’s orchard, but for the University of Maryland Extension and the U.S.D.A. They have all come together to try to help.
At Black’s orchard, the stink bug has cost him 20 percent of his apple crop this year and for some farmers in other parts of Maryland it’s much worse.
“A big apple crop this year, so with 20 percent out of that we have 80 percent to sell of great qualilty apples, so we’re in good shape. We don’t want that to go to 30 percent damage next year,” says Black.
Native to Asia, this insect with the striped antenna appeared in the U.S. in the mid 1990s.
Tracy Leskey of the U.S.D.A. made the first detection in Maryland in 2003. Since they are non-native, this type of stink bughas no natural predators. They feast on lots of fruits and vegetables grown in our area.
They don’t burrow through like a worm. Instead they suck the juice. It’s sort of like drinking through a straw. They leave behind dry, brown spots on the fruit.
Liz and I with the Mar-Del Watermelon Queen, at the Maryland Crab and Beer festival. This almost made up for the lines being too long for us to actually get any crabs (we gave up after an hour and a half). The beer was good, though!
Now this guy definitely got into the spirit of the Maryland Crabs and Beer Festival (National Harbor, 8/22)
11:00 = beer o’clock. Recon team has arrived and registered in Maryland’s Green Ridge State Forest, now time to set up the campsite.
