I went to visit Laura a little over a week ago, the weekend we had planned. I just went for Satuday and Sunday. It was a BLAST!!! The only slight problem...her roommate has 3 cats. Not so bad, right? For me, yes. I'm allergic. But, luckily we only spent time there sleeping mostly. We went did so much in one weekend, it's amazing. We first went to her house. She lives in a 4-story row-home. They're so interesting and compacted in these little neighborhoods. She kind of lives in a shady neighborhood (ghetto) so I was nervous. But...her block really is probably the nicest in that part of town. We took the Circulator (a free public bus that circuits around Baltimore) to Inner Harbor. We walked around and went into a few of the shops.
GIANT Barnes & Noble.
Historic Ships in Baltimore Inner Harbor.
Memorial for 9/11. Piece of Twin Towers.
Lunch at Desario's in Little Italy. Crab cakes :D
Laura's neighbors across the street. Their row homes are really no wider than
the length of their car! That astounds me.
We went to the Cylburn Arboretum. It was beautiful...and FREE. We had planned to go to the National Aquarium at Inner Harbor, but it was $30 entry, and it took me until noon to get out there. We decided not to spend that kind of money to go for only a few hours, so we referenced my 'to do in Baltimore free' list.
So many pretty gardens at the Cylburn Arboretum. There was a
wedding going on in one of them while we were there.
Haha. I love the little Laura and Michelle head shadows at the bottom of this pic. lol!
Before touching the plant.
After touching the leaf. This is a really cool plant! It is sensitive to touch
and shrinks up when you touch it. I guess that's some sort of defense mechanism.
Imagine if this were your yard!! I'm envious!
Mr. Tyson, the original owner of Cylburn, planted this Ginkgo tree in his front yard.
The Tyson mansion is built with stone from one of the many quarries he owned
in the area. He traveled all over the world and brought seeds back with him
that he planted in his yard.
Saturday night we went to this place called the Book Thing. It was actually a really cool concept. You can go and donate books and take any book(s) you want. You don't have to donate to take a book. It's really low-scale, loosely categorized, signs made of paper and marker, hodge-podge shelving. You just sign out when you leave and put the number of books you took and any comments you have. All the books are stamped as free Book Thing books that brand them so people can't come take them to resale. Books are expensive, so I love that it helps those who can't afford it, to educate themselves and enjoy reading. They have a lot of text books, books on wellness, history, the world, recipes, novels, and even books in other languages. Anyway...to say the least, I was impressed. I'd love to help them get a better operation going, possibly even make it nation-wide.
We went to Potbelly sandwiches for dinner. I was somewhat relieved because early in the day Laura had suggested we go to L.P. Steamers. It wouldn't have been such a bad idea, but I was really intimidated by the fact that they just serve you an entire crab. You get a bib and tools to crack it and just go to town. I know it would have been "an experience", but I wouldn't have even known where to begin. Laura sensed my discomfort though I told her I was willing, plus she said we already ate crab for lunch so we should do something different for dinner. Oh yay! I'll save that adventure for another day.
The singles ward there was surprisingly small. Everyone was really nice though. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a nice change of pace from the bustle of my ward that's huge and ever-changing.
We went to Fort McHenry after church. It's where Francis Scott Key got his inspiration to write "The Star Spangled Banner."
Nice, windy day for sailing.
If I understood correctly, it can shoot accurately up to 3 miles away.
Entrance to Fort McHenry. It is a star-shaped fort. Reference map below.
This is a punch bowl that was given to a commander after the war of 1812 to commemorate the victory. It's made to look like a cannon ball from one of the British cannons.
The flags flown at the fort had their own storage room. Wow!
The ramparts of Fort McHenry
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