Baltimore

Since we were flying out of Baltimore, we decided to spend the night there and check it out. Garth had been there years ago on business and so he wanted to show us around. Our hotel was on the Inner Harbor but around the harbor from most of the attractions. From our hotel we had a short walk to find a place to eat and then we headed over to the National Aquarium. We had to purchase timed tickets for entry and had about an hour to wait. It had just started to sprinkle (I had carried my umbrella the entire trip and just taken it out of my backpack, figures). As we walked around the harbor (which is a great place), it started to pour. Garth was our guide and he just kept walking but the boys and I headed for cover as the sky opened up and they announced over loud speakers that Baltimore was under a tornado watch for the next few hours! We couldn't believe it. When the rain finally let up enough to leave our cover we headed back to the aquarium and were just in time to go in. The triangle buildings are two of the buildings of the aquarium.
The aquarium was packed with people and was HUGE! It is made up of four interconnected buildings, one of which have five floors. It really was one of the most amazing aquariums I have ever been to. We went though the Australian Out Back, a rain forest (there was a three toed sloth right next to the path), fresh water fish, shark and manta ray tanks that spanned two floors, and tank after tank of salt water fish, plus a large exhibit of jelly fish. They were my favorite.

We had been to so many museums in the last week that we had a hard time concentrating and finally headed back to the hotel to rest.

Baltimore was full of Red Sox fans because the Orioles were playing them that night. We had debated about whether to go or not but with all the rain we figured the game would be rained out. But after our rest we went outside and the weather had cleared up and we decided to join the throng of fans and walk over to the stadium to see if we could get tickets.

Several years ago we had gone to a Red Sox game in Boston and we love their fans, they are great. We thought it would be fun to go to Camden Yards to see them play even if the Orioles were lousy this year. The area around the stadium was just packed with fans and it had turned out to be such a gorgeous night we really hoped we could get tickets. We were able to get some and even though our seats were up high, they were good, the stadium was great, we got funnel cakes and we had a great time. The stadium ended up almost full and it was a picturesque night for a baseball game.

We sat behind some Red Sox fans and got to be friends with them. We helped them cheer on their team and the man would give us all high fives when things went well. It ended up being a great game, with four or five home runs and the lead changing hands several times. It went down to the ninth inning and the last pitch of the last batter before the Red Sox finally pulled it out. We love going to visit all the other baseball parks while on vacation. And especially love to going to Red Sox games.

On the way back to the hotel we watched a street performer and then walked down to this area were we could hear music coming from. The boys were all excited as they watched a guy get pepper sprayed and I thought some girls were wearing really funny hats and whey I pointed them out the boys informed me that they were Play Boy Bunnies with ears on. I have really bad eyes! Needless to say we didn't stay long.

The next day we wanted to go to Fort McHenry that is only assessable by water taxi or car (which we didn't have). So we picked up the water taxi right in front of our hotel and found out that we had to switch boats at another dock. Someone messed up big time because there weren't enough boats running to the fort and there were tons of people wanting to get out there. Half of Boston had come down for the Red Sox/Orioles series and were site seeing with us. Jason and Preston amused themselves by playing this game where you tried to touch the other person with your finger while we waited in line. The crowd around us gave them plenty of berth and they entertained the whole line while we waited an hour for a boat.

Even Garth had to give it a try.

We finally made it to Fort McHenry and only had about an hour and a half to look around before we had to head to the airport.

Since we had just seen the actual 'Star Spangle Banner' flag in the Smithsonian, we felt as though we had come full circle by coming to the place where Francis Scott Key had seen it flying in its battered state and written his poem. We had a good time walking around the fort and looking at the views of Baltimore. It is a great city with a good mixture of old and modern buildings.

There was a great video that told all the history leading up to the Battle of Baltimore and at the end they opened the curtains and there is the flag flying over the fort. Very touching and patriotic.

We were lucky because the day we were there, they had volunteers dressed up as the fife and drum corps and they played and marched around. They also shot off one of the cannons.

As we waited for the water taxi to return, our 21 year old decided to be a jaguar in a tree. I don't think they ever grow up and I'm glad - that way I always have someone to play with.

We had had a wonder week - walked our legs off, saw amazing sites and were reminded of the blessing we have of living in this country and being a family.