Day 14: Baltimore, MD

Greetings from the Charm City!

Today's weather was not as terrible as yesterdays. Or maybe I am just getting used to it, who knows?

My morning started at 5am as Patrick left his apt to get to his meeting for Back on My Feet, the organization that he is a team leader in Baltimore. (check it out at www.backonmyfeet.org). I barely heard him, rolled over on the futon, and went back to bed...until I woke up at 10:30am. Whoops! Once again, my father has bestowed upon me a wonderful gift of sleeping anywhere and everywhere and never waking up. Anyway, I got ready decently quickly, updated the blog for yesterday, and got out the door.

First on the list was meeting Patrick, his co-worker Jessica, and their mutual friend Lauren for lunch. We went to Alonso's, a local bar and grill that still had pretty good food. The conversation was pretty lively, as we are all versed in Jesuit ways (and have all worked at or gone to Jesuit institutions) and higher education and such. After lunch, Jessica and Pat headed back to work, Lauren went back to DC, and I headed out to explore Baltimore on my own.

First up was Fells Point. Fells Point used to be the main shipyard in the city of Baltimore and where a lot of working class families lived. It has since been reinvented into a sort of 20-something living area with a lot of different shops and such, all with some original brick buildings and cobblestone streets (fun fact: Fells Point is actually where Frederick Douglass lived as a slave for a time and learned how to read and write). It was interesting to walk around and see different shops, and I did a little bit of shopping (oh, budgeting money for summertime). Baltimore's waterfront is so...historic compared to those of the only other city I can really compare it to - San Francisco, and it is interesting to see older buildings that still serve a purpose. And everything still looks classy in brick in my opinion.

Anyway, after that I drove about 3 miles south of the city and went to Fort McHenry. Now operated by the National Park Service, Fort McHenry served as a defense post for Baltimore for 200 years. It is most famous for the Battle of Baltimore which occurred between the Brtish and Americans in 1814 (side note: the Americans won. Yay us). Francis Scott Key oversaw the battle from a ship and was inspired to write a poem, which we now know as the Star-Spangled Banner.

The fort has been kept in pretty good condition despite have several uses over many years. The Park Service is building a new welcome and visitors center, but instead I was treated to the welcome and intro film straight out of the 70's - classic. The area around the fort is really pretty and provides some nice views of downtown Baltimore.

I then made my way back through the Baltimore traffic and back to Pat's apt. We went to dinner at Little Havana, a restaurant on the waterfront with half-priced burgers on Mondays. Afterwards we took a driving tour of the area of town where Pat's shelter is that he runs with (seriously, check out www.backonmyfeet.org !). Then we went and bought some work shoes for Pat (I never said that 100% of my trip would be exciting! Sorry for making fun of you, Pat...) and then we did a driving tour of a few more Baltimore neighborhoods. This city really is a collection of neighborhoods, and it is cool to see how quickly those neighborhoods can change.

That's it for today! Tomorrow I make my way down to DC again.