Sailing to Baltimore

Neil Opstad and I made it to Baltimore at about 3 PM so we had some time to check things out. Neil will fly out at 6:30 PM on the 9th so we have another day to see some of the sights. We knew the "must see" things included the USS Constellation (the sister ship to Old Ironsides - USS Constitution) and Fort McHenry so we made our plans with those two sites in mind. We also wanted to use the water taxi and try out some of the really old taverns that line the waterfront.

But the very first thing we did was get checked in so we could take a nice cool shower as it was like 101 degrees and we were too warm.

We found a spot at the Baltimore Public Dock which is in the middle of "down town" Baltimore. In front of the dock there is a very nice park and the Inner Harbor (where we are at) has a cobblestone area along the waterfront which extends for miles. There are many restored buildings that now contain restaurants and shops. The park near us seems to be the place to run in the morning as there are many healthy looking people running about 6 or 7 AM and a fountain that is designed for children to play in during the hot afternoons. I was tempted to jump in as soon as we docked

We went to the Rusty Scupper for a bite to eat but it was too hot to eat very much so I just had soup and a salad. It was very good and I drank three large ice waters and three large lemonades. They have live music somewhere in the Inner Harbor every night and their seems to be a children's activity in the park every day.





On our way into the harbor we passed the stars and stripes buoy which is the exact spot that Francis Scott Key wrote our National Anthem. I have included a photo of the buoy and a photo of Fort McHenry from the water which is the fort the British were bombarding when Key had the inspiration to write the "Star-Spangled Banner". The next day Neil and I took the water taxi to the fort and looked it over close up.



The water taxi is a pay once - ride all day deal so we had the water taxi drop us off at a Irish pub on the way back and we both had their special Chicken Pot Pie for lunch. Then we picked up a ride on the water taxi to the USS Constellation and toured the ship. They have a very nice little museum before you get on the ship and you get to go on all 4 decks. It is very well done and is a "must see" for anyone coming to Baltimore.

Neil took the Light Rail to the airport which is about 7 miles away. The Light Rail is only 55 cents for senior citizens so is a great deal and goes all the way to the airport. There is a Light Rail station about a block from the harbor so it was very convenient.