Baltimore

Saturday the roommates and I took a wander to Baltimore. It was a beautiful day with highs in the 40's and lots of sunshine. Perfect because all my outside time now is in the dark. Dark on the walk to the metro. Dark on the way home. Only those occasional walks on the waterfront at lunch provide any vitamin D. And I usually convince myself it's too cold.

We started at the inner harbor, aka tourist central. It's got all the cutesy shops and has been gussied up so it doesn't really resemble a working port any more. We were tempted to go to the aquarium, because we've heard nothing but good things about it, but it was $30 for the visit and a dolphin show. Since we were only there for the afternoon, we decided to save the clams and come back sometime when we could spend ALL day there and get our money's worth.

We walked through little italy down to Fell's Point, another revitalized waterfront area with tons of cute shops and bars. It reminded me of New Orleans. We found a giant blue crab that my roommates weren't nearly as excited as the should have been and wouldn't take a picture with. They have me doubting them...

After that, we drove around the city. Both the roomies are fans of the TV show The Wire and were strangely excited when we ended up in the... um.... not so great side of the tracks. With the police cameras on all the light poles that flashed and said "24/7 - believe" which I think is a reference to "believe us, we are watching you all the time!"

We ended the day with a drive through Johns Hopkins' campus and a tour of the area adjacent to it, with cute little boutiques, cafes and a great antique shop. At 6 everything promptly closed up and we were standing on a deserted street. It was odd.

Baltimore was nice, and closer than I thought. I'd definitely go back for a day trip, most likely for the aquarium or possibly for a play/show. They apparently get a lot of theatrical/musical traffic.