Star Spangled Memorial Day

 
Laura:
Since I am officially on "Summer Break", Alex and I are trying to take some mini-vacations to explore big, East Coast cities. Our first trip was a very spontaneous, last minute adventure to Baltimore, MD during Memorial Day weekend. We literally decided over Sunday brunch at James Brown's Place that we were going to leave in the next 2-3 hours to spend Memorial Day in Baltimore. Lol.

Now you may be thinking...Why Baltimore for Memorial Day?!? Why not Philly or Boston or DC, for Pete's sake?!? Well friends, Baltimore happens to be the home of Fort McHenry, the site of a great battle during the War of 1812 that inspired Sir Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner, aka the National Anthem of the United States of America!!! This historical event (and my intense desire to visit the Baltimore Aquarium) sparked our journey to Baltimore on such a patriotic holiday.

Here's me holding my hot, fresh chicken sandwich and fries. Super good!

We drove to Baltimore from Rochester, cutting through the mountains and valleys of Pennsylvania. If you've never driven through Pennsylvania, you're missing out! There are a lot of great vistas and tiny towns along the way. Another bonus of driving is getting to eat at Sheetz! What makes Sheetz (a swanky gas station) so awesome is their Made To Order food menu. There are many options and everything is cooked fresh right after you order it. On the drive to Baltimore, we stopped at Sheetz for dinner during a horrible rainstorm (see the rain streaked window!).

The drive took about 7 hours, including a dinner stop and the rain slowing us down, so we arrived at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Baltimore pretty late Sunday night. Fun fact about the Hotel Monaco - the building used to be the headquarters of the B & O Railroad! No....it's a real thing, not just a square on the Monopoly board! There is even a museum. Seriously! At any rate, the building is beautiful on the inside and the rooms have the highest ceilings I have ever seen in a hotel. Probably at least 15 feet tall with a massive floor to ceiling headboard at the top of the bed. This place was super classy and the room was very nice. Plus, the hotel is located just a few blocks from Baltimore's Inner Harbor, where all the action is!


The next day, Memorial Day, we set out for Fort McHenry! We took the Water Taxi from the Inner Harbor out to the fort. The ride out there was pretty nice...except for the smell and the heat. Apparently there had been a semi-recent algae bloom that killed a lot of fish in the harbor. Of course we did not know this until we watched the morning news from our hotel room. Lol. It really wasn't too terrible, but the weather was sweltering! Temps in the 90s with lots of humidity. Quite a change from the cool weather we'd been experiencing in Rochester.

After crossing the harbor, we finally arrived at Fort McHenry. They have a very nice Visitor's Center with a small museum and an EPIC movie telling the history of the fort, it's significance during the War of 1812, and the inspiration it provided to Francis Scott Key, writer of the Star Spangled Banner.

Alex:
It was pretty neat to stand on the ramparts of the fort and imagine what it must have looked like without all the buildings and bridges, with the British navy sailing in and lining up for a bombardment.  It must have been pretty tough for the people in the fort, many of whom were volunteers, to stick around through the bombardment with no bomb shelters and the British out of range to return fire.  Luckily, because the British were so far away they were woefully inaccurate. In the morning the defenders shot back by taking down their small flag and raising their giant 40 foot flag for all to see through the smoke and fog.  That must have been a sight to see for the surrounding forts and all the troops and residents in Baltimore.

Laura:
The fort itself is a decent size and there are a number of old cannons/guns and several buildings, some of which have exhibits about life in the fort. There were also quite a few park rangers/volunteers walking around in authentic uniforms and civilian clothing from the 1800s, which definitely added to the ambiance (although they must have been dying wearing full skirts and wool suits in that heat!).

Barracks & other buildings at the center of the fort

While we were wandering around the fort, a fife & drum brigade showed up to give a demonstration before the Memorial Day festivites began. They played a number of different musical sets that would have been used during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Check out the video:

After the fife & drum jam session, the official Memorial Day ceremony began. A couple of speeches were given that described the significance of the Memorial Day holiday and it's origins, an official military trumpeter played Taps on a horn from the Civil War, and then we all observed the national moment of silence at 3 pm in honor of all the men and women who have fought and died for our country.

Following the moment of silence, the rangers announced that it was time to change the flag at the fort and would love help from the audience. WOO HOO! We jumped right up and waited for the enormous 30' x 42' flag to be lowered until we could all grab an edge to ensure it wouldn't touch the ground! Here it is all stretched out, waiting to be folded. It took about 50 people to hold the entire flag off the ground.

Once we had the whole flag stretched out, it was time to pack it up for storage. Some how I picked the end of the flag that went into the bag first, so I got to hold the end for a minute and then helped hold the bag while everyone folded it in there. WHOA!!!

I am so glad Alex came up with the idea to go to Fort McHenry for Memorial Day. What better place to be than the fort that inspired our national anthem?!? What better to do than help raise and lower the Star Spangled Banner?!? Such an incredible day!!!

We were pretty beat from all the flag folding and crazy "Southern" heat, so we headed back to our hotel to clean up and then find something tasty for dinner. Since we were in Baltimore, we absolutely wanted to get some seafood! After talking to the very friendly and helpful concierge at our hotel, we decided to head to the Rusty Scupper, a seafood restaurant on the Inner Harbor. This restaurant even sent a free shuttle to our hotel to pick us up. Nice!!! On top of the incredible view of the harbor, the food and beverages we had at the Rusty Scupper were outstanding.

On our last day in Baltimore, we spent the morning exploring the National Aquarium at the Inner Harbor. My family used to come here when I was just a little wootie growing up in Hampstead, MD, so I definitely wanted to go back for sentimental reasons. Plus, Alex and I had tried to go to the aquarium during a trip to DC for the 4th of July a couple years ago, but were denied the chance to explore the wonders within due to time restrictions. Boo! Well this time we ordered our tickets in advance and went early in the morning to try to avoid the field trip rush!

The National Aquarium is a really neat place! Here are some pics of the cool creatures we saw...

1) A 3-legged sea turtle rescued and rehabilitated by the aquarium. 2) A camera loving cowfish. 3) A Nautilus. 4) Beautiful tropical fish. 5) A Screaming Piha - the loudest bird in the world! Click the link for our video. 6) Poison Dart Frogs. 7) Jelly Invasion!!!




However, the coolest thing we saw was the Archer Fish, located in the exhibit about Australian animals. The archer fish has a uniquely shaped mouth that allows it to shoot water up into the air! The fish use this special talent to hunt for unsuspecting bugs resting on branches above the water. We just happened to be in the exhibit during feeding time and caught some great pics and a movie of the archer fish on the hunt for a grasshopper (click to enlarge the pictures).

Alex:
If the video doesn't work so well, I took a bunch of pictures from another angle (a couple of which I think Laura posted above) and put them into an animated pic:

Laura:
While we wanted to stay at the aquarium all day, we unfortunately had to start making our way back to Rochester that afternoon. Luckily we did have a little bit of time to make a couple very important pit stops.

Pit Stop #1: IKEA!!! Alex needed to purchase an "architect lamp" for his LED grow light project, so we dropped into the Ikea outside of Baltimore to snag one and plus some sweet picture frames. We also took a lunch break in the cafeteria where we enjoyed Ikea's Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Yum!

Pit Stop #2: Hershey's Chocolate World!!! As I mentioned earlier we drove to Baltimore via Pennsylvania, so it only seemed logical to swing by the Hershey's factory in Hershey, PA on our way home. Wouldn't you?!? While we were there we participated in a chocolate tasting class, took a spin on the animatronic guided tour of the Hershey's factory (similar to the It's a Small World ride at Disney, but all about how chocolate is made and guided by singing cows...Alex really liked it. LOL!), and of course bought lots of tasty treats to bring home. Maybe someday we can go back and visit the theme park too!

We finally made it back to Rochester late Tuesday night after our two pit stops and one last dinner at Sheetz. This was definitely a really fun trip and everything turned out great despite being a last minute adventure.

-The Lorax-

First Year = Complete!

That's right folks! I finished my first year of medical school! Woohoo!!! I am now "officially" one-quarter MD. ;0)

But seriously...this year went by really quickly and there were so many great moments, so I would like to take a minute to share/explain what I did over the course of the past academic year.

First a brief overview of our curriculum:

First Semester (Aug - Dec):
Class # 1 = Mastering Medical Information (MMI); aka intro to statistics, clinical trials, research tactics, etc. It was a "starter class" to get us into the swing of things at school.
Class # 2 = Human Structure and Function (HSF); the mother of all classes! Anatomy, physiology (mechanics of the human body), embryology (how embryos develop), and histology (how cells/organs look under the microscope).
Class # 3 = Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM); our first "doctoring" course where we learned how to interview patients and perform a full physical exam

Second Semester (Jan - May):
Class # 4 = Molecules to Cells (MTC); huge, three-month course about genetics & biochemistry.
Class # 5 = Skills in Complete Patient Evaluation (SCOPE); putting the skills we learned in ICM to the test with real patients in adult medicine, pediatric, and geriatric clinical rotations.
Class # 6 = Host Defense; immunology (how the immune system works) plus learning about a ton of bacteria, viruses, and parasites. ICK!
Class # 7 = Primary Care Clerkship (PCC)

Looking at that list you might think....Psh! Med School's not so bad! 7 classes in 1 year. Please.....but I promise it was really, really, REALLY hard. The amount of information we "learned" in one year was probably at least 2 full years of undergraduate work. We covered everything I learned in two semester of biochemistry plus so much more in about 3 months in MTC. HSF was about a full academic year worth of classes rolled into 14 weeks! Plus, it wasn't just one class at a time. The clinical courses overlapped with the more academic courses, so most days we were in lecture in the morning and then clinical coursework in the afternoon. These classes were fast, intense, and overwhelming; and while I feel like I didn't learn everything, I know I've built a good foundation to keep building on as the years roll on. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither are doctors.

Through out all these courses we spent a lot of time in lecture (especially during MTC and Host Defense), but they did try to mix things up by throwing in PBL and various hands-on labs. PBL's (aka Problem-based learning) are group-learning sessions where we work our way through a clinical case in teams of 8 or 9 over the course of a few days. Usually the case is written to emphasize certain topics we're learning in our lectures plus a little bit on how to be a good doctor. I really enjoy PBL because we get a chance to apply the things we're learning to real-ish situations.

We also spent a lot of time working in labs of various sorts - anatomy (dissecting a cadaver), histology (looking at slides on microscopes), microbiology (growing bacteria), and pathology (more slides). Now you may be wandering what anatomy lab is REALLY like, but I will not be sharing any of those details out of respect for the donors who make anatomy lab possible. I will say that anatomy lab was an essential part of my medical school education and I learned so much thanks to the gift our donors provided by donating his/her body to the medical school's Anatomical Gift Program. Which by the way, supplies cadavers for programs all over upstate New York and not just medical schools - nursing schools, PT schools, etc. It was a truly humbling and awe-inspiring experience.

Outside of class I did have a little extra time to do some volunteer work. I went to "Saturday School" a couple time to help tutor elementary school students at an inner-city school. I also helped organize volunteer sessions in the Children's Hospital where medical students work on art projects with pediatric patients (try to do something creative to take their minds off being in the hospital).

Finally, through out the year there are a number of lunch or dinner talks to attend where you can learn about the different medical specialties, engage in a medical ethics discussion, or learn about the more humanistic sides of medicine.

That is a basic overview of the things I have been doing - a lot of lecture, a lot of lab, a lot of PBL, a lot of studying, a lot of clinic time, a lot of a lot! But if I had to list my favorite experiences from the last year, I would include the following:

1) Getting to know my 103 incredible classmates! I don't know them all very well, but I can tell you each and every one is an incredibly smart and genuinely nice person. It's really neat to be surrounded by so many awesome, caring people everyday.

2) Anatomy lab was an incredible experience. Nuf said.

3) Starting to learn more about what it truly means and what it truly takes to be a doctor.

4) Shadowing the hospital chaplains for a few weeks as part of a Medical Humanities course. Exploring and appreciating a patient's spirituality really can make a difference in their health!

5) Taking baby steps towards being a doctor - learning to interview patients, examine patients, and how to write a medical note about a patient visit. All very simple yet essential skills.

The last year has been a great first step in my journey towards a career in medicine. Here's to taking a few more steps next year!

-Laura-

Spring Break!!!

For Laura's spring break back in March we decided we needed to go somewhere warm, so we headed to Puerto Rico where we met up with some of our friends from St Louis to take a cruise on the Carnival Victory.

Fountain near the bay on the way to El Morro

First we decided to check out San Juan.  We got up at 3am that morning and arrived in Puerto Rico about 11am, 9 hours before our ship sailed.  So after checking in at the ship we had time to walk through parts of the city and to check out El Morro, the 400 year old fort defending the bay.

 When you approach the fort, there is a large grassy field leading up to the gates.  A lot of people come here to fly kites and picnic.  We decided we would have to find a place to get a kite and come back.

 Inside the fort we found that it is much bigger than it appears from outside approaching up the field.  There are multiple levels all built during different time periods and designed to accommodate different types of guns.  At the lowest level is an early tower that had just a few guns, in the middle is rotating and elevating guns from American Civil War era, and at key points at the top levels are big circular platforms for WWII era AA guns.

 From the walls overlooking the field you can see the ocean on the left and the bay on the right. All those people are flying kites! We had to join in on the fun...

We found a kite at the gift shop in the fort, and went back out onto the field for a while to fly.

We got a little tired after all that climbing up and down the hills, city walls, and fort, so we headed back to the ship.  As we were re-boarding the ship we ran into our traveling companions - the Vondersaars!  After dinner and muster we went up top to watch as we left San Juan.

Lighthouse on the fort

Old city walls

The next morning we were in St Thomas, and took a taxi to Magen's Bay.  This was a really large and very nice beach.  The view was incredible with mountains on either side.  We found a really nice spot with a very low hanging tree next to us where we could hang our bags and keep them in the shade and out of the sand.

Maybe a tenth of a second before impact

One of the neatest parts of the beach was the fishing birds.  All around us pelicans and other large birds would cruise along about 30 feet up, and then suddenly drop and dive into the water.  Several times we were out in the water and got spooked by a large splash behind us, and turned around to find a pelican only 5 feet away enjoying a snack.  They were not shy!

Nice view on the way back

One excursion we really enjoyed was zip-lining in the jungle at St Lucia.  I banged my knee on one of the platforms pretty good, but for the most part it was quite safe.

No hands!

Besides zip lines, they also had a 3-4 story rappel line and a Tarzan style rope swing over a pit.  On the rappel line they had a person at the top to release and a person at the bottom to stop you, so it was extra scary since you weren't in control.  The initial drop was just a free-fall, and you could really feel it in your stomach!

Tiny crab! Click to enlarge...

We also spent some time at a beautiful beach in St. Kitts. There were umbrellas and plenty of chairs for laying out. The water was a little chilly but very refreshing. Alex even took a little time to examine the local wildlife...CRABS!

In St. Maarten we went on a snorkel adventure at a floating tiki hut. There was a helicopter and a canon submerged in the cove with all sorts of fish & coral. Plus we saw a humungous barracuda swimming in the rocks near the shore. We also sampled some local liquor - Guavaberry Rum. On it's own it tastes like cough syrup, but mixed into a mango daquiri it's....a little better. We had a great time!

 On the way back to our cruise ship (s/p snorkel), we happened upon a pod of dolphins! We got some great pics and videos of them swimming around.

An essential part of any cruise is formal night, so here are a couple pics of us all spruced up for Surf n' Turf.












We also had a lot of fun on-board the ship playing in the casino, watching karaoke, and kicking butt at trivia!

We had a really great time cruising with Val & Ken. Hopefully we can go on another next spring break!