Late Night on Baltimore St

Thursday, June 1, 2006 Baltimore St.

The other night was a late one! The rain and thunderstorms held off so we didn't get wet, but the humidity was brutal. Especially to the guy in the wool pants! I don't care what some people say, I'll never get used to wearing wool in that type of weather! Eigth graders from northern New Jersey made up the group last night and with a full canteen of water, off we went.

This tour did not start until 9:50 last night. The group got held up for 20 minutes at dinner. I question the thinking behind feeding 50 fourteen year olds after 9 PM but who knows. Needless to say these kids were bouncing around after they got off the bus! The other guide, Bill, and I even commented about this group being an intersting one before they got off the bus. "Do you see them jumping around in there?" Then to top it off the tour leader says that we can keep the group out all night if we wanted to. Reflecting back on it now I can see her line of thinking. The longer these kids were on the tour, the less engery they would have to torture the chaperones later on at the hotel. Nice try!

We agreed on try to end at 11 and then Bill and I gave each other a look that only a tour guide who's ever been in this situation would know. It was time to suck it up and put your gameface on. When I have a group like this I will walk them, to let them burn off some energy. At our first stop, it only took a minute or two to gain control. The teachers and chaperones did a real good job and the students were well behaved. I think that they had some fun, I know I did.

Storyteller's Rant... I would like to apologize about the delay in posting over the past week. I was away in New Jersey and the website was also down for a day or so for maitenence. I'm back and over the next few days I'll have at least two more posts.

Sleep Well,

"Rick Saunders"