It took every ounce of willpower I had not to start singing "Good Morning, Baltimore" at the top of my lungs as I headed out this morning. I had to move my car at 8 AM, so I got a bit of an early start. Except that my first activity wasn't scheduled until 10, so I had some time to kill. I successfully killed it at Starbucks. It was pretty drizzly all morning, but it didn't bother me all that much - surprising, no?
First up was a tour of Orioles Park at Camden Yards. This park was the first of the new retro stadiums and is consistently voted among the most beautiful parks in the country, so I had very high expectations. It was good, but not as amazing as I had hoped. It had a similar public area to the Park in the Park that San Diego has. One major drawback is that you can't see the field from the concourses. Citizens Bank Park in Philly - you can always see the field as you're walking through the concourse to find what you want to eat. Our tour guide was really fun, even if his script was totally memorized.
After the ballpark tour, I walked over to the Babe Ruth birthplace and museum. This was his grandparents' house. His parents lived above a saloon, so when it came time for him to be born, Babe's mother didn't want to have him there, so she went to her parents' house. The museum encompasses the original row home as well as the two homes on either side. It's a bit sparse and not incredibly well organized, but they're closing it this fall for a complete remodel, so that'll be good.
I then went to Geppi's Entertainment Museum. Now, I'm not sure as to the origins of this museum, but it's a massive, random collection of entertainment memorabilia. A huge collection of comic books, lots of toys, movie posters, action figures, games, all sorts of stuff. Most everything is displayed chronologically, but there aren't a lot of labels, so it's left to the visitor to discern what is noteworthy and what isn't. My favorite items - a full set of mint-in-box New Kids on the Block dolls. True story.
After I got my fill of museums, I took the Charm City Circulator down to Locust Point. The Charm City Circulator is a network of 4 bus routes that are free. They run approximately every 15 minutes and are in addition to the public bus system. It's an interesting concept. I picked up my volksmarch start information and then made a lunch stop - steamed blue crabs, raw oysters, and a draft Yeungling at LP Steamers. SO good. Seriously - one of my favorite meals of this trip.
The volksmarch was around Fort McHenry and then the additional distances went up around the inner harbor. I only made it for the first 5K and then called it a day - I was exhausted. The fort was really interesting and made me want to learn more about the War of 1812, because, for the life of me, I have no idea why we fought it. Maybe I should learn that.
Came back to the loft when I was done and had a great conversation over a bottle of wine with my hosts.
Another long day tomorrow, so sleep soon.
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