Monday, June 17: Pounding the Pavement in Baltimore

Date:                           June 17, 2013

Day on the Cruise:      63

From:                          Henderson's Wharf Marina, Baltimore, MD                                                            

To:                              Henderson's Wharf Marina, Baltimore, MD

Statute Miles:              0.0

Time:                           0.0 Hrs

Cumulative Miles:       1,476.9 SM

On Board:                  Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut

Whew, it is HOT and HUMID here in Baltimore! We pounded the pavement today, walking into down town and the inner harbor area. Not as many tourists as yesterday, but still a lot of people out on the streets. What vibrant neighborhoods!

Our marina at Henderson's Wharf

Some of the boats at our marina

Momma and her babies swimming at the marina

We walked along the Harbor Walk and along some downtown streets. We saw the tourist places on the inner harbor. The admission to the Aquarium was $35 a head. I have built Aquariums and probably know more than I want to about them. We passed on the Aquarium visit.

Beautiful fountain on a circle in downtown Baltimore

A tributary called Jones Falls emptying into the inner harbor

Buildings on the inner harbor

Harbor walk at the inner harbor

Harbor walk on the inner harbor

Harbor walk on the inner harbor

There is an old "screw pile lighthouse" on display at the harbor walk on the inner harbor. This lighthouse came from Seven Foot Knoll, which is a shoal where two ship channels converge on the Potapsco River coming into Baltimore. It is very interesting how the piles were screwed into the sea bed to facilitate a quick installation of a lighthouse. These lighthouses were used throughout the Bay, and several other screw pile lighthouses are on display in Solomon's and St. Michael's, MD.

The old screw pile lighthouse from Seven Foot Knoll

We did go into a huge Barnes and Noble on the waterfront. It is sandwiched between Phillips Seafood and The Hard Rock Cafe. These stores are in what looks to be in an old  steam plant. The interiors kept much of the industrial look, including some neat old stacks. Mainly it was cool inside the multi- level book store, and it was a respite from the heat. We thought of Jan Pounds who used to be a manager for Barnes and Noble.

Barnes and Noble Bookstore at the inner harbor next to Phillips Seafood. Hello Ben and Amanda!

Barnes and Noble Bookstore next to Hard Rock Cafe on the inner harbor

National Aquarium on the inner harbor

The lightship "Chesapeake" on display at the inner harbor

An old submarine, The "Torsk" on display at the inner harbor

An old Coast Guard Cutter - a survivor from the attack on Pearl Harbor - on display in the inner harbor

Both Susan and I have no real appetite for heavy duty shopping on this trip. Maybe it is the fact that we have no room to carry bulky purchased goods. Maybe we know that we will be gone for 6 more months and won't be able to benefit from goods that we might pick up for the house. I don't know, but it just doesn't seem to excite us like it might have. Getting old and crotchety? Probably so.

On the way back to the boat, we checked out a restaurant that we might go back to tonight. There is no shortage of places to eat around here, that's for sure! Most of the places have their menus posted out front, and guess what is the first appetizer and first Entree' listed? If you said Crab Cakes, you win! We might be crab caked out at this point.

We wound up eating at another restaurant in the opposite direction from Fells Point. The Sip and Bite is a local Greek style dinner that was recommended by several other bloggers who have stayed at Henderson's Wharf. The restaurant has also been featured on Food Network's "Triple D" show. Sip and Bite is run by a couple of Greek ancestry, and has been in the family since 1948. The food was very good and very reasonably priced. We really enjoyed it. The service was excellent by a young lady of Greek descent. There was an older gentleman who came by the restaurant and washed the windows - inside and out - in hopes of earning a tip. Never have we seen this before!

Eating at the Sip and Bite tonight

Tomorrow we go about 40 miles up the Bay back over to the Eastern Shore to the Sassafras River. We will be meeting my cousin John who keeps his boat at Georgetown, MD, and we will stay two nights over there. We are looking forward to the visit and getting back to grass for Maggie.

Thanks for Reading!