Maps

I asked Jason what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said, "Let's go see the Maps exhibit at the Walter's." So we went yesterday.

We saw all kinds of maps: maps of the world, specific places, make believe places, aerial maps of the ground, pictorial maps, maps in books, maps on tiles, maps of the cosmos, maps as art and many more. The maps that I found most interesting were:

• the map of Maryland because it was from the 1700s and four counties (Garrett, Carroll, Howard and Wicomico) weren't on the map! It was interesting to see places that I know existed back then (some spelled differently, of course)-Towson, Bel Air, Abingdon, Joppa (my hometown) and more.
• the map of fairy tales/nursery rhymes because it showed many of the tales that I knew as a child and many more still that I had never heard of.
• the map of the US Civil War because it was a moving map (on a TV). It showed a timeline, various historical happenings (Lincoln elected, first shot, etc.), where the battles happened, how the sides progressed and the casualty totals. I never realized how high the totals were for both sides. I've always heard that it was the bloodiest battle fought on US soil, but never knew the figures were so high.

I also found that the maps were from a wide range of cultures; many were pictorial in nature while others where three dimensional. Maps where not just for telling where places are or how to get to point B from point A, but also works of art. For instance, in a painting done by Vermeer, he painted the map in the background so well, people could identify which map it was and display it with the painting. Amazing.

We left the Walter's and went to dinner at Mi Casa (Niki, thanks for sharing that place with us!) which is always yummy!

Happy Birthday, Jason!