G's Baltimore Adventure - The USS Torsk

[Composed 9/21/2024]

After a proper Uncle Ben Approved Breakfast of fruit loops and cream cheese with chocolate chips* we made our way down to the Baltimore Harbor to tour the historic ships on display.

First up, we visited the USS Torsk. The Torsk is a submarine that was built for, and saw action at the end of WII.

It's first war patrol in 1945 was to serve as a lifeguard for B-29's making raids on the Japenese empire. While the Torsk had no notable saves during this time, it's worth taking a moment to appreciate the USS Finback which did. In this grainy footage you can see a handful of the USS Finback's crew picking up a downed airman from a life raft. That crewman would go on to be the 41st president of the United States. That's right, that's George H. W. Bush being pulled out of the drink. After seeing that footage I can't help but see the former President in a new light.

The Torsk did have notable action at the very end of the war; it holds the distinction of sinking the last Japanese vessel of World War II.

Around noon [on August 14th, 1945], another frigate appeared, apparently a reinforcement which had been called in. Continuing her aggressive action, Torsk fired a Mark 28 torpedo at the frigate which had already detected the submarine's presence. Comdr. Lewellen then initiated deep submergence procedures and ordered the crew to rig for silent running. After a tense five minutes, she reached 400 feet and there she launched another torpedo, this time the new acoustic Mark 27. Almost immediately, a loud explosion announced that the first torpedo had found its mark, and a minute later a second explosion sounded, followed by strong breaking up noises. The secret new torpedoes had proven their worth in battle, and Torsk was credited, not only with two enemy warships, but also with sinking the last Japanese warship sunk in World War II. Held down by enemy planes and patrol vessels, the submarine remained submerged more than seven hours. Then, she surfaced and headed for the Noto peninsula.

On the 15th, following four highly successful days of aggressive patrolling, Torsk received word of the cessation of hostilities.

I've toured the Torsk a number of times, and it simply never ceases to delight. You start in the aft torpedo room, which jumps right to the point. G noticed that above the torpedoes are bunks. Apparently, 12 to 18(!) sailors slept in this comically small space. Using every inch of space is a common theme aboard the Torsk.

Climbing through a G-sized hatch, we made our way to the maneuvering room, which has countless gauges, knobs and levers for us to oggle and handle. From there, it was on to the engine rooms, which must have been impossibly loud and hot. From there, we saw the eating and kitchen area. Everything about the Torsk is on the extreme side, so not only did 20 men have to squeeze into small eating area at one time, but they had only 10 minutes to eat before the next shift's turn.

From the mess, we made our way to the control room, which continues the theme of offering countless bits of hardware to futz with. Here there are giant wheels used to control the dive angle of boat. Or, as G and I imagined it: the perfect place to derive the sub. The depth gauge here shows that the Torsk was rated to go down to 600 feet. Man these sailors were next level brave.

Climbing through the last hatch below, we ended up in the aft torpedo room. From there, we made our way back to the top of the boat and then down the gangway back to dry land.

I think G really enjoyed exploring the sub. The relatively small size, relatable details like the bunks and mess, endless physical controls and the torpedoes all made for an experience that was perfect for a 4 year old. Up next, we're heading to the U.S Coast Guard Cutter 37.

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*Wait, did you say cream cheese and chocolate chips? I did. When you travel with your Uncle Ben and Aunt Shira, we go big!

G's Baltimore Adventure - Day 1

[Composed 9/20/2024]

With a travel time of about an hour, Baltimore's Inner Harbor isn't especially far away. And Shira and I have been a handful of times, if not more. And yet, winding through the streets of downtown Baltimore always gives me the excitement of exploring a new city filled with hidden gems.

I think it's the variety of eye catching historic architecture that fuels most of this feeling. The curious looking structures, like the Bromo Seltzer Building; or those with old timey names etched in granite, like the Mercantile Trust & Despoit Co; or those with anachronistic functions, like the Phoenix Shot Tower; or those that are just generally overly-ornate like the Baltimore Trust Co. Passing any of these structures elicits a man, they don't build them like they use to.*

This visit was even more electric thanks to our traveling companion: our nephew G. We were hoping that the next two days would be an epic adventure. The bar for such adventures is high, given how well our train experience went last year. But, I was confident Baltimore was up to the challenge.

Shira booked us a room at the uninspiring named Hampton Inn and Suites Baltimore Inner Harbor. Logistically, this was a smart move because of the its close proximity to the harbor we planned to explore tomorrow. To my delight, the hotel is situated in the historic US Fidelity and Guaranty Co. building. We weren't just driving by a building with roots in the 1800's, we were spending the night inside one.

The lobby of the building had a seemingly historic second floor balcony that G and I immediately ascended. Even more impressive was the massive vault situated in the basement. The vault is so large that it's now used as a conference room. If you find yourself walking past the hotel you should totally duck into the lobby and take the marble staircase to the basement. The vault is more than worth your time to explore.

After unpacking our stuff, we walked down the to Inner Harbor to stretch our legs and get a preview for tomorrow. Leaving the hotel, I explained to G that I had his water bottle and some snacks in my backpack. If you get hungry or thirsty, just ask your Uncle Ben. His response was: "OK, if I get hungry or thirsty, I'll ask my Uncle Josh." No, I explained, your Uncle Ben. Got it. My Uncle Josh. Our little Laurel and Hardy routine went on for a bit and I was quite impressed that G's 4 year old brain could pull off this little comedy routine without any prompting. He's a genius. Perhaps a comic genius, but a genius none the less.

While strolling along the water we came across a kiosk renting paddle boats. I have mixed feelings when it comes to pedal boats. On one hand, any vessel that gets you out into the water is a winner. On the other hand, the pedals on a pedal boat tend to fall in the one-size-fits-none category. I'm frequently too tall and my kid co-captain too short. The result is usually a contorted and exhausting boating experience. Fortunately, this stand offered a novel upgrade: you could rent a 'pirate ship' that had a small electric motor. We could explore the harbor without the workout. I was in!

Once out on the water, we realized that our boat's range was severely limited. We quickly hit the roped off edge of the boat's boundary. To adults or even older kids, this may have been frustrating. But for G, this didn't matter one bit. He was getting to pilot (with Aunt Shira close at hand) his own pirate ship. The experience was perfectly scaled for a 4 year old.

After our sailing adventure we headed out in search of dinner. Alas, after two or three attempts at restaurants we ended up back at our hotel room eating delivered Thai food. G, to his credit, endured our long and seemingly pointless march to restaurants with good humor. If nothing else, it certainly tired him out for the evening.

Tomorrow, if all went to plan, we'd be exploring historic ships and trains. I can't wait!

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*I can't help but share a fun fact about each of these buildings:

• The functional clock atop the Bromo Seltzer Tower was the largest four-dial gravity-driven non-chiming clock in the world when it was designed in 1911.
• Mercantile Trust & Despoit Co's ads claimed that this building was strong enough to resist the invasion of an armed force. In fact, the building survived the 1904 Baltimore Fire, allowing the company to run further ads saying essentialy, told you so.
• From 1828 until 1846 the Phoenix Shot Tower was the tallest structure in the United States. In 1846, the nearby Washington Monument was completed and claimed this honor.
• The Baltimore Trust Co contains an artfully designed and executed marble mosaic floor with which was slated to be covered by astro turf.

Review: The Ways We Hide

While G was visiting from Tampa, we took her to the Spy Museum. And while there, I captured this photo:

Given how compact the radio was for its age, I was curious about its history. A Google search for this model, the M-19, turned up no results.

With more digging, I realized my error: that's not an M19 (M-nineteen) radio; that's a radio provided by MI9 (M-eye-9). And thus I learned about MI9: a World War II era, secret branch of British Intelligence that focused on equipping soldiers for escape and evasion.

This discovery hit close to home. We're practically neighbors with Fort Hunt, a WWII installation known only as 'P.O. Box 1142' during the war, that you guessed it, had a similar mission.

Given my interest in hacking, survival, history and this local connection, I was eager to learn more. A Libby search for one of the main personalities of MI9, Christopher Hutton, turned up not a biography but a novel by Kristina McMorris. Within a few minutes of listening to The Ways We Hide, I was hooked.

Spoilers Ahead

(Stop reading my blog and go read The Ways We Hide)

I love jumping into a book completely uninformed. So it wasn't until McMorris spent a few chapters unspooling the main character's childhood that it clicked: this is a Long Story.

In my experience, what marks a Short Story isn't so much its length, but the author's use of narrative sleight-of-hand to conjure backstory and depth without explicitly writing it. A Long Story takes the opposite approach: the author delivers comprehensive detail through prose.

All this to say that at times the pace of The Ways We Hide felt a bit slow. Ultimately, all was more than forgiven thanks to the author's notes at the end of the audiobook. Here McMorris explains that one of her primary goals was to educate the public about the difficult stories embedded in The Ways We Hide.

For example, the Christmas Eve crush tragedy that the main character Fenna endures is based on the Italian Hall Disaster. When McMorris gives us a thorough description of this event and its aftermath, she's honoring a real tragedy with real victims. And here was I being an impatient jerk, wishing the story would move along. In short, she was right and I was wrong.

One feature of McMorris's writing that I found myself regularly smiling about was her clue management. As The Ways We Hide unfolds, as with any story, the author faces a dilemma. On one hand, she needs to fully inform her readers about the origin of the knowledge and skills her characters will ultimately deploy. On the other hand, she wants to avoid making the story predictable.

In short, if Fenna is going to be called on to pick a lock, then somewhere in her backstory she needs to have lock-picking experience.

Some clues are simply too obvious to camouflage. For example, once we learn that Fenna is an escape artist on stage, we can guess that she'll be using this skill in real life. And when we learn that she's going behind enemy lines, it's clear she will be using her escape skills to outfox the Nazis.

What I thought McMorris did especially well was how she cleverly reused information; essentially hiding a clue in the 'already used' pile. Consider Fenna's experience with the shady palm reader. At first, this information exists to support the well-rounded nature of Fenna's magic education. Then it pops up again as proof of how uncompromising her foster mother is when it comes to matters of religion. And then, even more surprisingly, this information allows Fenna to develop a method for self-heating soup.

Every time a clue would be reused in a way I hadn't predicted I'd think, well played McMorris, well played.

The Ways We Hide contains a number of twists and turns. Some I saw coming, some I didn't. But it was a moment in the final chapter that caught me the most off guard and added significant depth to the story. In that moment, I thought of McMorris as the magician: all along I'd been watching her perform card tricks, then out of the blue, she made a tiger appear.

The scene I'm speaking of is the moment when Fenna, her foster mother, and her foster daughter are all sitting together on a bed flipping through a family photo album. It's obviously a touching moment, as Fenna ends up feeling a profound sense of belonging. But to me, and perhaps just me, this encounter is so much more.

At this moment, the text takes on fresh meaning by answering the most perplexing of questions: what does it mean to live? Fenna's long and messy journey, which McMorris has carefully shared with us, serves as the answer. To live means to experience both joy and heartache; miracles and grief. Perhaps most importantly, Fenna's life underscores that loss and trauma are not terminal states. When Fenna sits on the bed with Aveleen (sp?) and Mrs. Johnson (sp?), the loss of Ari and her father remain significant. And yet, the love and joy offered by these two women and an unwritten future is powerful in its own right.

I was expecting a number of things from The Ways We Hide, deep thoughts on what it means to live weren't one of them. Bravo, McMorris!

Riviera Maya - Day 5 - Homeward Bound

[Composed 12/1/2024]

Today was mainly a travel day, with a slow breakfast being our primary luxury. It's a testament to the wildness of the resort's grounds that simply walking to breakfast and checking out, I managed to spot two new-to-me bird species, and one new-to-me mammal: Central American agouti. While not as cute as the cotis we saw yesterday, it was still impressive to see a creature in the wild I didn't know existed.

Cancun's international terminal was a modern affair, with lots of places to eat and chill while we waited for our flight. Though I did have to smile at the signs in the bathroom announcing that the water wasn't potable. The terminal may have been fancy, but we were still very much in overseas travel mode.

The protocol at the airport is to announce the departing gate relatively close to boarding time. We figured we could outsmart this process by scouring the web. According to our research, flights to IAD typically left out of gate 26. We schleped over to that end of the terminal only to find that 25 was the last gate. When our gate was finally posted, it was gate 1. So yeah, so much for outsmarting the system.

Our flight to DC was easy and in no time we were on the ground in IAD. It was especially jarring to go from breakfast at a perfect 70°F, to the walk to our car in nearly freezing temps. I suppose that just made me appreciate our trip even more.

Here's a few observations about traveling in the Riviera Maya before I sign-off.

Renting a car was a win for us. The drivers in this part of Mexico aren't particular aggressive, and they even have the habit of turning on their hazard lights as soon as they begin to slow down. That's a practice that would be worth adopting here.

The traffic control device of choice in the area is the humble speed bump, and man, is it effective. Unlike stop lights, it doesn't rely on the electrical grid or other infrastructure. Unlike traffic circles, it doesn't rely on specialized driver knowledge. And unlike signage, it can't be bypassed. That's a bit of genius, right there.

Occasionally, we found that we'd have to do U-turn on what was essentially a highway. But, with a little patience and courage this too turned out not to be a problem.

Between the restaurants in Playa del Carmen and historic sites inland, having a car meant we could access it all and at our own pace.

In my head, I had the scale of the area all wrong. Up to the moment we picked up our car I thought we were going on vacation to Cancun. Uh, nope. Yes, we flew into Cancun Airport, but immediately drove South and never looked back. This is like flying into Baltimore Washington Airport, staying in DC, and yet thinking that you're visiting Baltimore.

Perhaps we'll make our way to Cancun on some future adventure, this just wasn't the trip.

As for food, I'm glad we opted to skip the all-inclusive resort packages. They're certainly tempting, but for us, the food options outside of the resort were just too high quality to ignore. From Kosher options, to Thai, to the area's well stocked grocery stores, focusing on the included resort meals would have almost certainly been limiting.

Perhaps most importantly, we felt like the area had way more to offer than our few days of travel allowed for. There are more historic sites to see, cenotes to explore and Kosher restaurants to eat at. There's a bunch of kid and teen friendly activities too. I could easily see coming back next Thanksgiving to continue exploring the area.