Baltimore

Friday night in Baltimore- definitely started out my visit here right. I met up with Ruth and Jim, two of my dad's friends from college, and right off the bat we went to a market and got fresh crab and beer for appetizers. They were small crabs, the kind you take a hammer to to open. Delicious. Then it was to dinner and to their favorite bar, Porters, down the street. When we got back I went up to the porch on the roof- gorgeous view. So many of the apartments and town houses here in Baltimore have these roof tops- from here I can see the harbor and all of downtown. It has such a great feel- big city yet calm and historic. I'm really thinking this has become one of my favorite towns.

This morning we woke up, took a small tour around the townhouse we're staying in, and then to see the kinetic sculture race. The contraptions were awesome!! Mostly bikes that could ture into boat to float across the harbor. I think we walked about 10 miles around the harbor on the water, which was a beautiful walk, but we ended up missing the launching of the boats- they'd all continued on to the next obsticle of the day. So, we went to Austin Grill for some cinco de mayo celebration with a band. Then it was to Max's on Broadway to drink a beer and watch the Orioles game. Then it was DuClaw Brewing Co. for good local beer. The walk home didn't seem quite as long, and to our suprise we ran into the last few contraptions from the race- the tail end of the bunch. But it was fun to see them cross the finish line. Now it's nap time. Tonight will be another adventure, no question, and being with the two I'm with I know I'll need my energy to keep up.