Trip Day 1: Baltimore

I thought I would take some time to post some of the photos that Kate and I took during our D.C./ Baltimore/ Maryland trip over the 4th of July weekend. On the third we spent the day with two of Kate's college friends, and her former roommates in Baltimore. We started by meeting up with them in their trendy neighborhood "Hampden" in North Baltimore. They have a small, but spacious town house apartment on a street abutting "The Avenue" or 36th street. The feeling of the area is both quaint and bohemian, and it is surprisingly serene for such an urban setting. After some hot dogs for lunch and chips and salsa we headed out on our tour.
This first picture is "The original Washington Monument". It is deemed the original by Baltimoreans because it predates the D.C. monument by 20 years. We didn't make the hike to the top because ironically it was closed for the one holiday that it perhaps should have been open for. Next to the monument is the attractive church seen below, Mt. Vernon Place Church. I believe I'm getting the name correct, however I'm not 100% sure. Internet links lead to two churches with a similar name, this one, and a church that has a more Romanesque type of architecture. Perhaps one is new and the other old? Regardless, it is a pretty building.

The next picture looks out at Baltimore from Federal Hill Park. A point of note is how the cannon appears to be aimed towards downtown. Common sense would suggest that this was to guard the inner harbor, however apparently history dictates that it was intended as a threat to Baltimore to remain loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

This next picture is a walking bridge in the inner harbor that is rather flexible. Adam seen behind me, was bouncing to make the bridge wobble as we passed over it. The building behind the bridge is the National Aquarium.

Kate striking a pose in the inner harbor in front of the USS Constellation, a Civil war era boat.

Next is seen the Seven Foot Knoll Light, an interesting looking light house that has been moved into the Inner Harbor, and is now a museum.... which was of course closed.
This is a look out across the harbor, note the Domino Sugar plant across the water, and the dragon shaped paddle boats.

This weird looking fountain near the water front is rather interactive, in that you can walk through paths and cat walks that meander through it. I'm not sure how I feel about all of the blue paint. The strong chlorine smell coupled with the paint had me anticipating a waterslide appearing around a corner.

Our tour guides Adam & Sarah within the unusual fountain.
Last on the tour we went to a site that Adam & Sarah themselves had not yet seen. Edgar Allen Poe's grave. The grave yard was very old and rather unusual looking. Strangely a church was built on top of the pre-existing grave yard. The neighborhood was a little rough around the edges, however I'm glad we made the decision to check it out. Note the bottle of liquor on top of Poe's headstone.

After a healthy dose of walking and riding Baltimore's light rail system, we headed back to Hampden. Adam & Sarah brought us to The Golden West, which is an eclectic eatery with miss-matched furniture and a bright colored decor. It reminds me of Portsmouth NH's The Friendly Toast, or Portland ME's Silly's (although it is tough to reproduce Silly's "patio"). The food was great at the Golden West, however the staff was really burnt out. First of all, the hostess acted like a ten minute wait was going to be a huge inconvenience when we walked in, almost seeming to suggest that we might not be able to hang in there until we got a table. The weirdness did not end there, when our waitress could not figure out why we wanted another chair when 3 of us at our table were all squeezed into a booth bench, while only Sarah sat in a chair on the opposite side. Then later I approached one of the staff to ask where the rest room is and she gave me a look that said "who are you, and why are you talking to me?" When she realized that I wasn't coming on to her, or whatever it was that she thought I was there for (I can only speculate), she paused and said "Oh..... umm ok, its like around the corner?" I only put the question mark, because it is the best way I can conceive of to replicate the upward lilt in her voice. Our hostess and our waitress both had these rather painful looking tattoos on their wrists, and were dressed in the standard long flowing patchouli stink attire. They had to have been stoned on the job, either that or they have done some serious irreparable damage to their noggins.

The staff were more entertaining than anything, and the food was great. I had a turkey burger... which was much better than I can potentially describe it as. I'm not sure I can make a turkey burger sound really good, but it was, you'll just have to trust me. Additionally I had a vegan cole slaw which was in a nice spicy vinaigrette in place of mayo.

After eating our fill we headed back to Adam & Sarah's, talked for quite a while, and enjoyed watching their goofy cats frolic around.

By 11:00 we were en route to the hotel to prepare for our trip into D.C. on the fourth.