Baltimore, MD

I spent a long day in downtown Baltimore.  It was my first attempt at traveling by public transportation while staying at a motel in the suburbs.  I used light rail, subway, and water taxi.  It went fairly well.

I visited the following:

           National Aquarium
           Ft. McHenry
           USS Constellation
           Lexington Market

The old days when you went to the aquarium and saw just a huge tank full of all kinds of fish swimming in circles is long gone.  Why didn't the sharks just attack everything anyway?  Sea World, I guess, started the change with shows featuring dolphins and whales.  The environmentalists have gotten into the act big time, and no display is without its ALERT!  But the big theme is displaying watery environments with the proper species of not only fish, but also birds,snakes, bats and plants.  While this is designated the national aquarium, the focus is generally on the habitats of the Chesapeake region, which was fine.  Overall, the exhibits are excellently presented.  As always, where there are fish or animals, there are lots of kids.

Ft. McHenry is all about the 'Stars Spangled Banner,' and a newly opened visitors center presents the setting in considerable detail.  A key exhibit is an interactive, detailed analysis of key phrases in the four verses of lyrics.  The other main attraction is the flag.  The one that flew on that fateful morning in 1814 was 30 feet by 42 feet.  The National Park Service has a full-sized replica of the flag, but it is only flown when weather conditions permit.  It takes a wind of 3 to 5 knots to unfurl the flag, but if the wind exceeds 12 knots, the flagpole can't handle the strain.  And so on a daily basis they fly a more conventional 5 foot by 9 foot flag, though one with the 15 stars and 15 stripes from the time of the War of 1812.  Here is a picture I took of the smaller flag.  The 'Star Spangled Banner' is six times the size of this one, and its bottom edge extends to the black ring at the middle of the flag staff.

Regular Size Flag Flying at Ft. McHenry

I had the impression the USS Constellation was a Revolutionary-era warship.  But in fact it was a Civil War-era United States warship.  It spent most of the war in the Mediterranian Sea intercepting vessels carrying cargo from or to the Confederate States.  Despite its remote location, apparently it was quite busy.  So the tour was of an example of one of the last sail-driven US warships.  In that respect it looked a lot like the USS Constitution, located in Boston Harbor, which was a Revoluntary-era warship.

I have sometimes heard that Pensacola should emulate the Baltimore Inner Harbor area.  Baltimore has done an outstanding job of rehabilitating its downtown waterfront, and it is an excellent destination for tourism.  The feature that most impressed me is pictured here:

Pensacola Should Emulate Baltimore Inner Harbor

Lexington Market is a huge warehouse-like structure located just North of downtown Baltimore.  Inside are dozens of permanent retail booth each about 15 feet by 20 feet.  All manner of food, both prepared and raw, is sold at these booths.  The structure and ambiance is similar to the Farmers Market in Los Angeles, though not as large.  My destination was Faidleys, a seafood place legendary for its crab cakes.  Their deluxe is a cake of lump crab the size and shape of a baseball.  Not knowing what I was getting into, I ordered two of them, along with fries and slaw.  It was way too much food, but they were delicious.  Crabmeat made up about 90 percent of the ball, and they weren't deep fried as I had expected.  A once in a lifetime experience, at $12 per crab cake.

Mileage: 0.  Cumulative mileage 2,015.   Today's earworm:  "Don't Stop Believin'"  Journey