A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day...06-27-03..."Oh, The State I'm In!" ~ Pippin's Maryland

Mama_Bear and Pippin

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Fasten your seatbelts and hang on, folks. Pippin is taking us on a whirlwind tour of Maryland.

As we take in the sights and sounds, and the flora and fauna, let's listen to Pippin's own words as she proudly tells us about her 'Finest' state.....

"Maryland is one of the original 13 colonies, having been founded in 1634 by Cecil Calvert, 2nd Lord Baltimore. It was the 7th colony to ratify the constitution, thus becoming our 7th state in 1789."

The Maryland state flag contains the family crests of the Calvert and the Crossland families. The black and gold representing the family of the 2nd Lord Baltimore.

"Maryland is richly steeped in history and is a great place to visit, whether it’s to find the perfect vacation spot or if you are interested in discovering America's roots. As I have said before, Maryland is a diverse state ~ an 'America in miniature'.

We have the beautiful Catoctin Mountains southwest of Baltimore, site of the Camp David Presidential retreat, and we have many lakes and rivers where fishing is the main sport activity. If you like boating, there’s the Chesapeake Bay and it’s tributaries. Every February, in Annapolis, the state capitol, they have a boat show at the Annapolis harbor where the latest in recreational boats are shown."

Annapolis Harbor

Annapolis is also home of the U.S. Naval Academy.
GO NAVY!!

"Like seafood? Maryland is famous for it’s seafood. In Baltimore we have the world’s famous Lexington Market, the oldest continuing marketplace in the country! Lexington Market started out as an open-air market for fishermen and other merchants to display and sell their goods in Baltimore City in 1789."


Lexington Market - of days gone by.

"We have Phillips seafood restaurant, with it’s really out of this world baseball crab cakes located at Lexington Market. Speaking of crab cakes, what about our famous steamed crabs and cold beer!"

"If you are into sports we have Baseball, Football, Soccer, Lacrosse, and even Jousting (I kid you not). Every year, September thru October, we have the Renaissance Festival in southern Anne Arundel County, where there is Jousting and feasting and fun 'Elizabethan style'!"

"We have our baseball team, the "Orioles" and Camden Yards, our new ballpark, built in the early 1990’s on the grounds of the old Camden train station. The main building still stands. This is must see (as well as seeing an Orioles game.) For football lovers, we have Ravens stadium just a mile from Camden Yards. The Ravens were named for Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “The Raven”."



"Want to spend some time at the ocean? Take a trip across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Ocean City. There are condos to rent for the summer and shops to look through as well as the famous boardwalk and fantastic beaches.


Boardwalk Cam - Downtown Ocean City

I hope I’ve managed to whet your appetite and have made you curious enough to come to my state and find out why I’m so proud to be a Marylander. There is so much more to Maryland than meets the eye."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, finally........

Now, as we thank our tour guide, Pippin, for introducing us to her beautiful state, why don't we all sing a rousting chorus of......
"Maryland, My Maryland".

Thou wilt not cower in the dust,
Maryland! my Maryland!
Thy gleaming sword shall never rust,
Maryland! my Maryland!
Remember Carroll's sacred trust,
Remember Howard's war-like thrust,
And all thy slumb'rers with the just,
Maryland! my Maryland!


Thank you all for coming. Hope to see you again when we tour another Finest state in this great land of ours. ~Mama_Bear

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 06-23-03...Military Monday 06-24-03...Happy Anniversary to the Finest 06-25-03...Hall of Fame in Review #4 (& Billie's Birthday) 06-26-03...John's Two Cents "Don't leave the smoking gun behind!"

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[Jen]

Hello Louie. Nice to see you too.

[Diver Dave]

...I have to leave for the Fresno Rally soon..

Stay cool out there, ladies.

I just made a "run to the border" and across the street from Taco Bell, the message board read 111 degrees. Came home and checked the news and they reported 105 at 5:15 pm. Our backyard therm reads 106.

FResno always gets hotter than us so be careful. Should I call the fire dept. and have 'em come out and spray ya?

[Jen]

Don't you just hate when that happens :o)

Definitely! I'm having FReeping withdrawal pains! ;-)

[Diver Dave]

Some really funny stuuf!

Stuuf? Stuuf?

And you question if I've been drinkin'?

[Diver Dave]

Hi Jen. Good to "see" ya. You're usually long gone by the time I get around to reading threads you've been on (ooops! there I go ending a sentence with a preposition).

[Jen]

Hi Dave! Been a long time. Good to see you tonight too.

Ending a sentence with a preposition! My, that's almost as bad as a sentence fragment. hehehehe Don't worry, I'm not the grammar police. Although did you know I used to be a journalism instructor many moons ago?

[Dubya]

OK I will :^)

[Dubya]

Pastor Bill was teaching his Sunday school class. He asked the class, "If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale and gave all my money to the church, would that get me into Heaven?"
"NO!" the children all answered.

"If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would that get me into Heaven?" The Pastor continued.

Again, the answer was, "NO!"

"Well, then, if I was kind to animals and gave candy to all the children, and loved my wife, would that get me into Heaven?" Pastor Bill again asked.

Again, they all answered, "NO!"

"Well", He continued, "then how can I get into Heaven?"

Five-year-old Little Johnny shouted out, "YOU GOTTA BE DEAD!"

[Dubya]

At the Henry Street Hebrew School, Goldblatt, the new teacher, finished the day's lesson. It was now time for the usual question period.
"Mr. Goldblatt," announced little Joey, "there's somethin' I can't figger out."

"What's that Joey?" asked Goldblatt.

"Well accordin' to the Bible, the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, right?"

"Right."

"An' the Children of Israel beat up the Philistines, right?"

"Er--right."

"An' the Children of Israel built the Temple, right?"

"Again you're right."

"An' the Children of Israel fought the 'gyptians, an' the Children of Israel fought the Romans, an' the Children of Israel wuz always doin' somethin' important, right?"

"All that is right, too," agreed Goldblatt. "So what's your question?"

"What I wanna know is this," demanded Joey. "What wuz all the grown-ups doin"?

[ST.LOUIE1]

Stop in more often. : )

[ST.LOUIE1]

Stuuf? Stuuf?
And you question if I've been drinkin'?

Hey, I meant to spell it that way! Guess you're the Finest's grammar cop, eh?

Ok, ok, I lied. LOL

[Dubya]

PLAYING CARDS

UNKNOWN AUTHOR



This is a true story about a soldier in the North Africa Campaign in World War II. After heavy fighting, the man returned to camp with his unit. the next day being Sunday, the Chaplain had set up church service.

The men were asked to take out their Bibles or Prayer Books. The Chaplain noticed one soldier looking at a deck of cards. After service, he was taken by the Chaplain to see the Major.

The Chaplain explained to the Major what he had seen. The Major told the young soldier he would have to be disciplined if he could not explain himself. The young soldier told the Major that during the battle, he had neither a Bible or a Prayer Book, so he would use his deck of cards. He explained: "You see, Sir, when I look at the ACE, it tells me that there is one GOD and no other. When I see the "2", it reminds me that there are two parts of the Bible, the OLD TESTAMENT and the NEW TESTAMENT. The"3" tells me of the TRINITY OF GOD THE FATHER, GOD THE SONE and GOD . The "4" reminds me of the FOUR GOSPELS, MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE and JOHN. When I see the "5" it tells me of the FIVE UNWISE VIRGINS who were lost and that five were saved. The "6" makes me mindful that GOD CREATED THE EARTH IN JUST SIX DAYS, and GOD said that it was good. When I see the "7", it reminds me that GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY. As I look at the "8", it reminds me that GOD DESTROYED ALL LIFE BY WATER EXCEPT FOR EIGHT PEOPLE, Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their three son's wives. When I see the "9", I think of the NINE LEPERS that GOD healed. there were ten lepers in all, but only one stopped to thank him. The "10" reminds me of the TEN COMMANDMENTS carved in stone by the hand of GOD. The "JACK" makes me remember the Prince of Darkness. Like a roaring lion, he devours those that he can. When I look at the "QUEEN", I see the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF JESUS. As I look at the las card, "THE KING", it reminds me that JESUS IS LORD OF LORDS AND KING OF KINGS!

There are 365 spots on a deck of cards, and that is the number of days in each year. There are 52 cards to a deck and that is the number of weeks in a year. There are 12 picture cards and that is the number of months in a year. There are 4 different suits in a deck and that is the number of months in a quarter of a year..."

And so, the young soldier then said to the Major, "You see, Sir, that my intentions were honoarable. My deck of cards serves as my BIBLE, my PRAYER BOOK, and my ALMANAC." A deck of cards should most importantly remind us that we need JESUS 365 dyas, 52 weeks and 12 months a year and that we should always PRAY "4" others.

May you never look at a deck of cards the same way.

[WVNan]

Now isn't that just loverly? You both did a great job on a beautiful state. Tra-la-la-la-la

[Jen]

Thank you Louie. I think I will drop in now and again.

-----{===}=:>~*

[WVNan]

Hello AJ! Long time since I've seen you. Glad you dropped by.

[WVNan]

My hubby used that story in one of his sermons.

[ST.LOUIE1]

I think I will drop in now and again.

Good! You know everybody, and we do have fun. : )

[Jen]

Thanks Nan! How have you been?

[Dubya]

Good I like that story. I like to hear TEX sing it.

[WVNan]

(((((Louie))))))