Baltimore - great stop...heading for home

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  Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Friday, May 30, 2008

Baltimore.  It had always seemed like a place somewhere else.  All I ever knew about Baltimore was baseball hero Cal Ripkin.  When Sue suggested we make a major stop at Baltimore, I thought "OK, but what will we do there?".  Wow, was I mistaken.
 
Writing this after a great 8 days in Baltimore, I am pleased to report this is a very, very nice place for a cruiser to stop.
 
It took us about 2 hours to motor up the Patapsco River from the main channel in the Chesapeake and pass under the I 695 bridge to see the Baltimore skyline.   The harbor is large as we might have expected given the amount of shipping we see going up these parts.  A fair amount of industry and ship dockage adorns  the channel.

Inner Harbor

 
The first thing we looked for we saw right away: NS Savannah.   The Nuclear Ship (NS) Savannah was the first nuclear powered merchant ship built in 1957.  It was part of the Eisenhower "Atoms for Peace" initiative back then.  It traveled over 400,000 miles as a goodwill ambassador for the US nuclear program before being retired in 1972. 
 
Why an interest in this ship?   This ship was built by a company called New York Ship in Camden NJ and at that time, Sue's late father was president of that company.  So seeing the Savannah is a big deal.  It was even bigger as there was a reunion and re-dedication scheduled for the day after our arrival so we were going to be able to tour the historic vessel and meet many of the crew who would be there.  We were told as many a two hundred of the former crew and builders would be in attendance. 
 
The Savannah had been in 'moth balls' for years being towed here and there but now is gaining new life as a museum piece.  We could see it sported a new coat of white paint and (from a distance) looked like it could be ready to go to sea. 
 
We chose to moor at Harbor View Marina in Baltimore

Inner Harbor

.  We soon found it was in a good location and was really a great place.  We were tied up by 1400 and after washing up the boat went inside to register.   We picked up some information and began to make our plans for the week.  The Savannah events would encompass the first two days, but after that we had a whole week.  The only other thing we had pre-arranged was a baseball game at Camden Yards to see the Orioles play the Yankees.    One thing I miss in cruising is going to spring training back in Scottsdale.  Im dieing to see a game and we were able to get good seats despite the Yankee hoopla.
 
We got a lot of good referrals from the kinds folks at the marina.  The fist was to eat at the neighborhood places and forget the chains.  OK...I didn't know too much about that.  But soon we did as we were told to go to "Captain Larry's" up the hill about 5 blocks.  Wednesday night was half price crab cakes.  No one wants to get between Sue and good Crab Cakes.  So by 5:30 we were in there.  This is an old, one cut above a dive place and it was terrific.  Not only was the food out of this world, but they also had $2/pints for good beer....Blue Moon wheat.   This was a find for both of us.  Sue got here Crab Cakes and I found that not only was the beer terrific at $2/pint but the fries were world class.  We actually went to Larry's twice.  One of our best food stops on the entire winter cruise.
 
We actually discovered 4-5 other neighborhood bars/restaurants that were good to terrific.  I later found that in Baltimore, 85% of the restaurants are owner operated.  This was terrific and I was able to locate serious happy hours most afternoons.
 
So we attended the Savannah events and heard presentations by some of the folks involved with the ship and were able to explore many parts of the old vessel

Great day in Baltimore

.  Having known Sue's later father for 10 years, I felt a real sense of pride for one of his great lifetime accomplishments as we saw pictures of him on launch day 50 years earlier with Ms Eisenhower.
 
The rest of the week, we learned how to use city buses and were rewarded with seeing not only the ball game but some great museums which Sue and I both enjoy.   The heroes of sports museum details many of the Baltimore stars including Babe Ruth and Cal Ripkin.  Babe Ruth...yes he was born in Baltimore. 
 
We also went to the Walter's Museum and the Baltimore Art Museum at John's Hopkins which had some really interesting displays. 
 
I cant fail to mention that we were happy to have my wife Sue's longest livelong friend Joy and her husband Dick as guests on board First Forty for an afternoon.  Joy and Dick are regular readers of this blog.  We took them out on the boat and we anchored near Ft McHenry for an afternoon for food and drinks.  Glad to see you Joy and DIck.  Sue and Joy have been friends for ..... oops...lets just say since they were small children. 

We also had a tour of a 300' four masted Spanish sailing ship which was in town and also did a walking tour of Little Italy and some of the inner harbor area.  An interesting highlight was what was called the "Shot Tower".   This is a 150' tall structure which looked like a smoke stack.  In the 1800's it was a place to make shotgun shot by dropping lead inside the tower such that it landed in water...perfectly round. 
 
You cant come here without remarking about the amazing job this city had in re-inventing its city-center.  The revitalization of the harbor began in the 50-60's and is nothing short of amazing.   It is so complete that it has re-energized many of the adjacent neighborhoods and now what was once slums has been turned into interesting and thriving places.   When you  see a real estate office on every other corner, its easy to see that this city is in good shape.  
  
We ended up staying an extra night in Baltimore before moving on.  The weather had ranged from cold enough to run the heat to warm enough to run the AC.   Such is the weather around here.  
 
Our last morning was a good chance to begin the process of getting First Forty ready for its 3 month sleep.  Unlike other cruises we are feeling sad this time.   Still, we have chosen to lead two lives and its time to flip the switch.  

Tomorrow we arrive at Kent Narrows and prepare to haul First Forty on Saturday morning.  To me, taking the boat in is like putting away the Christmas tree.  Its never fun.  Still we look forward to seeing "home" and our friends.  Tonight we are forced the deal with all the extra food and wine we still have on board.  Tough duty.

No, we didn't make the Bahamas and we never did find that perfect beach bar, but a good time was had.  And, this time we had made more peace with just being on the boat.  Forty feet is not feeling as small as it used to be.  And (knock wood), if I can run another 5 hours (under way as I write this) or so I will have completed the entire winter cruise with not one repair bill!   Its true, I have not spent one dollar on boat repair in the entire season. 

Stay tuned for the cruise "Epilogue" of our 2,500 mile winter cruise.  We have now traveled close to 7,000 nautical miles on First Forty since June 2006.  That is a lot of water under the keel.   Are we tired of it???  Not yet....we can't wait 'til next year!  In May 2009, we plan to head north to Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes.   Join us then!
 
 
 

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