Baltimore, Maryland. September 26 – 28, 2003.
This was my first trip to Baltimore. Mark, Wendy, Tiffany, Chuck & I had planned on driving down to Baltimore Friday night and staying with Chuck’s friends, Cathy & Scott. Saturday and Sunday we were all going to camp on the beach at Assateague State Park and drive back to New York on Sunday. Unfortunately, Hurricane Isabel ruined our campsite… We decided to make the best of it and stay the entire weekend in Baltimore.. it was so much fun.

We arrived in Baltimore at about 11 p.m. on Friday night. Scott & Cathy live in a neighborhood called Fells Point, a historic and trendy part of Baltimore that is very “up & coming”. After unloading our weekend bags, we headed over to a bar called Cat’s Eye Pub for some drinks. Cathy, Tiffany and Carlos danced to the band that was playing there.

The band playing at the Cat’s Eye Pub was Brett Wilson & the Blue Devils. They played some pretty good blues music.

When the Cat’s Eye closed we went back to Scott & Cathy’s house. They live in a 3-story townhouse with a roof deck that has a beautiful view. Here’s Cathy sipping some sort of cocktail.

Here’s Scott. He was getting mad because I kept shining the AIFF beam on my camera into his eyes but not taking a photo. I’m such a brat.

Jonah is Cathy & Scott’s dog. He’s a Bichon.

Jonah is so fluffy and friendly

I don’t know who’s bright idea it was to do tequila shots… actually, I do. It was Chuck’s. Here toasting is me (my hand), Cathy, Scott, & Chuck.

Waking up the next morning I just layed there in the living room and was staring at the columns in Scott & Cathy’s house trying to avoid actually getting up. Their building is about 100 – 120 years old. These columns, as well as the hardwood floors and moldings are all original. The townhouse is only about 12 feet wide, but it’s very deep. There are 3 floors, 2 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, den or entertainment room/loft and of course, the roof deck.

What I remember about that morning: “Hey, girl, lock the door behind me”, as Carlos left. Little did I know that by that evening I would be referrd to as “woman” and have a bunch of guys sing some Neil Diamond song to me.

After everyone got up we had brunch at Ze Mean Bean Cafe, an Eastern European cafe & wine bar.

Walking around Fells Point after brunch. This is just outside the Visitor’s Center, where we picked up a Water Taxi map for the day. Photo by Mark.

Me peeking through a fence. Photo by Mark.

The tunnel through this building lead to the harbor. Photo by Mark.

A weirdly named restaurant in Fells Point, Crabby Dick’s.

Daylight shines on the Cat’s Eye Pub, where we were out the night before. I didn’t realize that night that it was right on the harbor.

This looks like a police station but it’s really a set that they left up from when they filmed the TV show Homicide in Baltimore. Tiffany does her tough guy pose.

Homicide set.

Baltimore has a water taxi system where you take small boats around the harbor. It’s $6 to get your hand stamped and ride as many times as you want in one day. This is how we got around Baltimore on Saturday. Here is the captain of our first boat.

The Lightship Chesapeake is a National Historical Monument and is anchored at the Baltimore Maritime Museum.

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The USS Torsk is also National Historic Landmark that is berthed at the Baltimore Maritime Museum.

Perfect for The Mirror Project. We took this group shot in a glass window of the Rusty Scupper restaurant on the way to the American Visionary Arts Museum. In the back is Cathy, Rachelle, Scott, Chuck. In the front, Mark, Wendy, & Tiffany. Count the cameras!

This whimsical elephant was outside the entrance to the American Visionary Art Museum in Federal Hill. What is visionary art? This definition was taken from the museum’s online FAQ:

What is visionary art?
Like love, you know it when you see it. But here’s the longer definition, straight out of our Mission Statement: “Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself.” In short, visionary art begins by listening to the inner voices of the soul, and often may not even be thought of as ‘art’ by its creator.

This fluffly pink creature was also outside of the museum. Inside, there were only two exhibits open so our admission was reduced to $3 per person. My favorite artwork was in the section of pieces done by prisoners and mental patients.

Looking out one of the windows of the American Visionary Arts Museum at the Baltimore skyline.

Back at the house, we were sitting in the living room talking when Scott jumped up and ran out the door yelling, “Arabber, Arabber! Come outside! Bring your camera!” Nobody really knew what was going on. I jumped up, grabbed my camera and ran outside. What I saw was a woman walking up and down the streets yelling and knocking on doors and a man at a horse-drawn cart selling fruits and vegetables. They’re called the arabbers. They sell food items door to door with a horse and cart..and have been doing it for as long as anyone can remember. Read more about them at the website of the Arabber Preservation Society.

Scott bought some fruits and vegetables from the arabbers.

A view of the harbor from the roof deck.

A view of a neighbor’s deck from the roof deck.

View of sunset on downtown Baltimore from the roof deck.

In Fells Point we kept passing by this store with a weird display in the window.

For dinner we went to Obrycki’s for steamed crabs.

Cathy & Chuck are ready for the crabs! To prepare you, the staff puts paper on your table, give you bibs, mallets, and knives, and puts garbage cans around the table, every other person.

A guy comes out and dumps whole crabs onto your table. Your order and pay for them by the dozen. Six people in our group were eating crabs and we bought 2 dozen.

The crab dinner was a great experience, but it was a lot of work for a little pay off. I ate 4 whole crabs and still wasn’t really full. Then again, I’m not very good at it. From Obrycki’s site: Instructions for Eating Crab.

After dinner we met up with Carlos and his wife at Peter’s Inn.

The rest of the night was spent on Cathy & Scott’s roof deck. Chuck had a radio transmitter and for a short time he and Mark were having the dualing iPods, seeing who could play the better song. When Chuck played Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim, Tiffany could not control her urge to dance.

The next morning we ate a late breakfast/lunch and then headed back to New York.

I had a great time, thanks to everyone!

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