Friday, May 26th - Baltimore Here We Come

Friday, May 26th - Baltimore Here We c

Nap time and rainy weather kept us from going into old Annapolis yesterday, but we took a quick tour, and ate breakfast, before pulling out.  Danny chose The Iron Rooster for breakfast based on its name. 

Homemade pop tarts were on the menu, but we passed the first time.  Then a waitress walked past us with a plate of something yummy looking.  Danny walked over to the young couple who had ordered it - with his fork in his hand, ready to share theirs.  They were a little startled at first, but then decided he was harmless.  We ordered the pop tart! 

The old houses and shops are intriguing.  We didn't make it to the Naval Academy, but we had seen it when we lived in DC. 

I loved this Alex Haley statue.  His ancestors came into this country through Annapolis.

There is a very narrow strip of water in the middle of town that has a few slips and a couple of tour boats.  It's called "Ego Alley" because people drive in just to show off their boats.  We loved the boat names "Sea Brisket." It even had a grill on the back! 

 

The cruise up to Baltimore was the roughest of our trip.  The wind was blowing very hard, and from the wrong direction.  There was so much spray that we got wet up at the driving station.  We had to zip up all the plastic windows to keep from getting soaked.

The wind continued even after we turned into the Patapsco River toward Baltimore. We passed several container ship facilities and saw lots and lots of containers.  Ft. McKinley was a green oasis in the middle of the industrial surroundings.  I lost my picture of it. though.  And I have no idea how.

We had reservations at The Anchorage Marina for the holiday week-end.  Debbie had found out about it in her research.  We pulled up to the T-head to pump out, which wasn't as simple as it sounds.  The wind was very stiff and as Danny says, our boat acts like a big sail.  It was nerve-wracking, but he did a masterful job as always.  NOW, we had to get into our slip!  I was all for staying where we were, but we were really exposed, and the forecast wasn't any better for the rest of the day.  So once more we braved the wind.  Or rather, Danny braved the wind.  The dockmaster and an assistant met us, and we made it in!  We did go in bow first, without  thrusters it would have been impossible to back in as we usually do..  The lady on the boat in the next slip came out to help tie up, and to tell Danny what a great job he did!

Once our nerves were settled, we went in search of the Visitor's Center to get tourist information.  There is a promenade along the waterfront all the way from our marina to the Inner Harbor so we biked along it.  It was further than we thought, but very scenic.  We took a more direct route back, but there were bike lanes or sidewalks most of the way.  

We are impressed with Baltimore.  It has been 30 years since we were here and it has changed so much!  Houses and buildings seem well cared for, there is lots of construction, many small p parks, a real bustling place.  One thing that really impressed me were the small wetlands areas created in municipal waters.  We saw several, one even had duck eggs on it!  I took pictures but they are on my phone, now at the bottom of the bay.