Day 255: Friday, May 17, 2013
Port to Port: Baltimore, Maryland
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: 0 Stayed At: Free Dock
Mile 38 to Mile 38: Since yesterday worked out so well, we decided to start the today the same way with breakfast at Vikki’s. Today we were going to head south on a different circulator route so we made our way downtown and hopped on the Blue Route which took us to our first destination – The American Visionary Art Museum. This was highly recommended and it didn’t disappoint. Although a little pricey, we thoroughly enjoyed the 3 floors of mostly modern art of many different types – paintings, needlework, screenpaintings, folk art, sculpture and drawings. The most thought provoking art exhibit was a collection large hand stitched needlework panels by a Jewish woman from Poland telling the story of World War II and the Hallocost. She lost almost her entire family to the concentration camps and only barely escaped through ingenuity and luck – at the age of 16. That story will live with us forever.
We wandered around the Federal Hill neighborhood for a little while admiring the architecture and scenery overlooking the harbor before hopping another bus down to the nearest Walmart to get a few things for the boat and restock. On the way home we stopped to pick up a solar panel I ordered at Federal Express. They had the panel but Amazon had sent the other parts by USPS and the FedEx office had rejected these so I spent a couple hours tracking the mail down and was helped by a couple postal workers who found the package on the delivery truck when it returned and held the package. (Thank you – you went above and beyond the call).
We relaxed in the evening talking to several people wandering by along the boardwalk while we ate left-over spaghetti and worked on other projects. It is a lot busier tonight – Friday night – the local bars and restaurants are hopping on this beautiful evening and the water taxis are full of tourists. You would have to live here for years to try out all the restaurants – in a short walk a block and half up and down, I found dozens of choices – Bertha’s Cafe, The Green Turtle, Alexander’s Tavern, Lil Phil’s Tavern, The Blarney Stone, The Irish Pub, Todd Commer’s, Sal’s Fresh Seafood, Shuckers, Sophia’s Place, Hot Tomatoes, Dog Watch Tavern, Rodos Bar, Motown Lounge, Moby’s and the Admirals Cup – how do you decide?
As I sit here writing this post on the boat, I can hear some piano music from a local restaurant, some bagpipes are playing at the end of the boardwalk, people are laughing and talking and the low rumble of an idling water taxi is adding background noise. This city is alive and we are enjoying being part of it.
