Baltimore

Take me out to the Baaall Gaaaame

 It’s been an interesting couple of days in Baltimore.  This was the one city that people have been asking, “why are you going there?”

They were wrong.

Baltimore has been a thoroughly interesting city.  It’s a really interesting mix of old and new – The Battle of Baltimore is the origin of the Star Spangled Banner at Fort McHendry, plus, of course Hairspray!!!

Then you have a new and everchanging waterfront with new and old – the Factory Building on the Waterfront is beautiful and you have new, well designed buildings which fit in quite well with the older structures.

We arrived in Baltimore late in the day on Tuesday and went and watched our first ever baseball game at Camden Park – the Baltimore Orioles vs the Boston Red Socks, and the local team won 7-1.  It was a great game, we had seats right behind home plate, so right in the smack of it.  Ah, the Great American Pass Time – we had hot dogs and beer at the Stadium.

Then off to a funky li’l restaurant for after-game debrief between us.

Wednesday morning we headed down to the Waterfront and after having a look around and going on a few historic ships including a submarine, we went through the National Aquarium.  This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience – sharks, puffins, and a dolphin show, this is a huge complex, I’d recommend giving yourself a good few hours to explore the three buildings.

In the evening, we headed out to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.  This is a colonial heritage area with beautiful old buildings.  One of the things you should do while in Maryland is have some Chesapeake Crabs – we ordered two dozen crabs and a pound of shrimp – surprisingly enough there’s not a lot of meat on a crab, but they were absolutely delicious!  And this is the first time I’ve had to use a mallet to eat dinner!

Miss Baltimore Crabs!

Before heading home from dinner, our host took us to the local news room where he worked, and we got to take photos of ourselves in the newsroom!  Super-cool!

This morning we headed out to Fort McHendry where we had a look around and learned about the history of the Star Spangled Banner.  Nick and I actually felt slightly patriotic while standing for the National Anthem, rather odd!

Baltimore is an amazing mix of different suburbs and styles – funky areas and real working class neighbourhoods.  The people are very friendly and the city can put on a real charm offensive. 

Next blog post – Philadelphia, PA