Maryland Daily Photo Every Week Day a New Picture from MD

This concludes the trip to Rockville, I hope you’ve enjoyed it.  Have a great labor day and I’ll see you on Tuesday.  (I’ll probably be working so maybe you’ll get to see another picture from my parking lot on Tuesday, who knows)

Yesterday’s picture featured historic St. Mary’s Church in Rockville at the corner of Veirs Mill and Rockville Pike.  Though it is significant as it was built between 1816 and 1817, has withstood a fire, has undergone a significant restoration, has been placed on the national regester of historic places.  The historic plaque outside the chruch tells the story of dedicated members of the Rockville community who saved the church from destruction when a new building was placed next to it.  

Today’s photo was taken right next to the church.  I had originally gone out to look for this in the begining of July, but I failed to find the grave, and I also gave up when I realized that I had forgotten my memory card.   This is the grave of American author F. Scott Fitzgerald.  

(Aside: How many people out there knew that his name was actually Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald.  Indeed there are enough posts relating to Key that he almost deserves his own category on the site. However, this was no coincidental naming.  The author of books and the author of anthems were related to each other.)  

The quote on the tombstone is from the great gatsby.   However, that is far from the most interesting thing about this grave.  If you look at the church website, you’ll see that FSF was buried here in 1975, but this tomb tells us that he passed in 1940.  So where was he during those 35 years? At the Rockville union cemetery, far away from his family’s plot at St. Mary’s.  It was thanks to the efforts of the Rockville community (who reached out to his daughter for permission) that his remains were brought to this site in 1975. 

One more MD tie to Fitzgerald includes: He rented an apartment in Towson while Zelda was hospitalized at Sheppard Pratt.  (a cheaper hospital at the time according to Zelda’s biographer, Sally Cline.)

Here’s the reason why I ventured to Rockville this weekend.  Well not this building but something nearby.  The reason will be revelaed tomorrow.  (I know that everyone is excited)

This giant building is 51 Monroe Pl., the tallest building in Rockville and it is clearly present from miles around.  I don’t know much about what else happens in there, but my title company was located in there.  

I’ve gone a long time without featuring much from Rockville, despite the fact that I have found myself driving through there a lot. 

I had a specific purpose for going to Rockville this weekend, which was to take a picture of a specific landmark.  This is not that landmark, but I thought it was pretty cool.  This is the original B&O station for Rockville and it has been converted to an office space.  I like how, despite the conversion, they’ve kept some of the railroad charm, including the scale.   Trains still pass by here all the time, as it is right next to the metro tracks now. 

Just throwing in another picture from another parking garage to keep it interesting.  It was taken at the same time as this one.  I really like it because I have to admit that I did not know that there was a muzak company. I also didn’t know that it requires a satellite dish to bring the joy of muzak to hotels, conference centers, elevators, and doctors’ lobbies across the country.