Day 257: Sunday, May 19, 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: We didn’t feel like doing more museums today so we just started walking. There was a large green rectangle on the little map we had that said “Patterson Park” so we headed that way. The park was huge. Although the grass was a little overgrown, it was quiet and peaceful and surrounded by beautiful old row houses and a few old cathedral like churches. We walked for a while and heard a voice off in the distance coming from a loudspeaker. So we followed the voice to our first discovery of the day – Baltimore Bike Jam. Bike riders of all ages were taking part in races all day. There were a few food vendors and some information booths and a few seconds of excitement as the groups of racers passed by the announcer’s booth. Our next random discovery was the Dangerous Pies booth – they had probably 12 different kinds of pies for sale by the slice from apple to lemon to chicken pot pie pie. We chose the later and it made a very filling lunch.
After watching the racing for a while (and thankfully not seeing an almost inevitable crash), we wandered to a far corner of the park and found our next random discovery – the Patterson Park Pagoda. It was a 4 story tower on top of a hill with probably the best view of the city – it was supposed to be open but the volunteer must have overslept or was late so we didn’t get the full tour. Worth a visit though.
Our next discovery was the Frederick Douglas/Isaac Myers Maritime Museum just a few blocks from our home base. The museum honors the accomplishments of two men of color who overcame enormous odds and obstacles to become successful business people in the community and nationally know advocates for equal rights. Isaac Myers started and owned (with over black community leaders) the first black owned marine railway and shipbuilding operation in the US. The challenges these men had to endure to just live a decent life make our challenges pale in comparison.
We had an appointment to meet Mary (from Heinsite) around 3:00 pm at our boat to go to her marina and use their showers. That’s way to important to miss. We were ready to go when she arrived and we walked back to her marina but not before making an unplanned stop at an interesting visitors center that we had missed just a couple blocks from our boat. She introduced us a guy in the front of the store working on a half hull ships model. We talked for a little while and he mentioned that he had built a scale replica of the Pride of Baltimore II that we had toured in Annapolis. Well, we were soon comparing photos on our comparative cameras to see how accurate his model was compared to my pictures of the actual ship. Suffice it to say, his model was faithful to the actual ship down to the bent handle on the chain cap.
We finally got away to our much anticipated showers. You really learn to appreciate the simple things in life when they aren’t easily available everyday. Hot showers with unlimited hot water is one of life’s simple pleasures. We decided to ride along with Mary while she did a little shopping but before we left we got a tour of their home away from home, Heinsite – a 43’ LeFever trawler. They got a good deal on her and put in a lot of sweat equity to get her into the beautiful condition she is in today. We decided we would not have any problem living on a boat like this. Add another name to the list for future consideration.
Our next random discovery was the Aldy Grocery store. We’ve seen the ads but never had the chance to visit one. We didn’t really “need” anything but the prices here were so cheap we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stock up on a few things – just don’t visit while hungry or you may regret it later.
Our day of discovery wasn’t over yet either. Mary dropped us off at Aurora and told us we should hop on the water taxi that Dick drives to take a little tour which sounded like a great idea. We finally got to meet Dick. The route he was driving today was very slow so it was just us and him for one round trip and then Mary joined us for another round trip. What a fun time. They have led a very interesting and exciting life – ocean and coastal cruising, flying their own airplanes and even doing the Loop. Hopefully our paths will cross again someday. (Thanks for everything Mary and Dick).
We finished our day with a water taxi ride to the Inner Harbor to see the sights and explore. During busy times, street performers put on shows on the wharf and this evening a woman with some unique skills on a unicycle was performing and a concert featuring ZZ Top and Journey was playing at an open air tent along the water. We enjoyed a few minutes of their concert as we slowly cruised by on the water taxi as we returned to Fells Point after dark. What a day of discovery on the Great Loop.