Daily Archives: July 3, 2014

Dragon flies, that’s one kind of fly we don’t mind. Over the last few weeks we’ve grown so accustomed to living with flies you could feature us in a National Geographic Magazine.  After several weeks of flies, Makai seems to be pest free today.

Our sailing days seem to be over.  Either there is no wind or light wind on the nose since leaving Atlantic City.  We sailed, off course, most of the way to Cape May for an over night stop.  Then motored up the Delaware Bay and anchored over night at the entrance of the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal. Today we motored through the canal and down the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore.  Last year we drove through Baltimore just long enough to tour Fort McHenry and then continued on to Gettysburg.

Baltimore is about 10 miles up the Patapsco River, which I guess isn’t all that far considering Washington D.C. is 50 miles up the Potomac River.  Even still motoring for two hours looking at the industry and industrial ruins gets tiring.   We had fun waving at the cruise ship as we passed under the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Marie spent the time hiding behind the mast and poking me with her toe.

The Sea Dog cruise came speeding by with a helicopter low in the sky chasing after it.  I suppose they were taking photos or something.

Fort McHenry is situated on the tip of the peninsula that separates the Patapsco River from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. It’s famous for defending Baltimore September of 1814 while Francis Scott Key watched from the British ship where he was being held.  This is the battle in the War of 1812 that inspired him to write the Star Spangled Banner when he saw the fifteen strip and fifteen star flag flying over the fort at ‘Dawn’s Early Light’.

Along the Patapsco river we saw the ruins of a Bethlehem Steel plant, the same plant all the men in my family worked at and people in Buffalo relied on for jobs when I was a kid.   We went by the Lehigh Cement Company, and name that prompted a bit of research.  As a kid I remember the Lehigh Valley railroad running through town, recently I flew into the Lehigh Airport in Bethlehem, PA, and here is that name again.  Apparently the name comes from the Lehigh river that flows through eastern Pennsylvania and into the Delaware River at Bethlehem, PA. Since the Steel Mill and Railroad are on the path along this river, they adopted the names.

How about Domino Sugar?  A few weeks ago we passed the Domino Sugar plant along the East River on the Brooklyn side.  The NY refinery was the first and in use from the mid 1800s until 2004.

Finally in the Inner Harbor there was a bustle of activity.  The rim of the harbor is lined with shops, restaurants, marinas, harbor cruises, the Science Center and Aquarium, and historic ships. This red lighthouse is a screw pile house and is a common design in the Chesapeake Bay. The piles are screwed into the soft muddy bottoms of rivers and estuaries. We’ve seen a few of these in museums as well as out there on the bay, they were popular after the Civil War when the lighthouse board decided to replace the light ships with these light houses. This red light house is the Knoll Light and once marked the entrance to the Patapsco River starting in 1855-1988.

We arrived on a hot sticky afternoon but right in front of our dock were kids running in the fountains.

From the water front, looking down Camden Street, you can get a glimpse of Oriole Park at Camden Yards (the first of the retro stadiums built in the 1990s).  We aren’t big sports fans here on Makai.  Baseball means hot dogs, Monday night football is associated with beer and wings, soccer is something the kids in the neighborhood play on Saturday, other than that I don’t know too much about it. Baltimore is full of banners and people wearing Oriole shirts, I bet everything comes to a standstill on game day.

First thing in the morning the kids and I walked 1 mile around the water front to the Whole Foods Market.  We don’t normally shop here so we were definitely impressed, they sure had yummy foods.  The produce was beautiful, the deli was delightful (like that bit of poetry), prepared foods made our mouths water and Ooh La La the pastries couldn’t be passed up.

On the way back, pulling the rolling cart and lugging bags we watched the harbor vacuum cleaning floating debris from the bay.

The spring chicks were all out following mamma around as well.  Everyday Roy asks, “Can I have a duck?” and everyday the answer is the same, “NO.”

After breakfast the harbor was a flurry of activity again. The dragon paddle boats cruised around, people wandered between the restaurants, harbor cruise ships, museums and historic ships. A hand full of harbor cruises depart from the Inner Harbor.  There are booze cruises, sight seeing cruises, water taxis and the larger ships host weddings and other such formal events.  It was fun watching the women dressed up in their finest party clothes tip toe down the boardwalk in 4 inch heels and the men in suits and tuxedos.

Our first stop was the USS Constellation, a sloop of war launched in 1854 and the last sailing ship built by the US Navy. During the Civil War she was sent to disrupt slave trade, before WWI she brought famine relief to Ireland and exhibits to the Paris Exhibition. During WWI she was a practice ship for the Naval Academy and Naval Training Center. In 1933 the Constellation was decommissioned but then recommissioned in 1940 as a relief Flag Ship.  This is the crazy thing, by this time she was confused with a 38 gun frigate with the same name built in 1797 and broken up the same year this one was built.  Be sure to check the link to read about this confusion.  It sounds like the old ship was never taken off the books, some if it’s timbers were used on the new one, and when money was allocated to build the sloop some of it came from a fund to rebuild the old frigate.  Its kind of like naming the new puppy Spot after the old Spot passed away.  Just because he was using the same name, same bowl and credits at the vet, they just assumed he was the same dog.

 

Ahh yes, who can resist ringing the bell.  The Constellation is a hands on museum.

We could ring the bells, play with the cannons, touch this and feel that, sit on anything not roped off.  Its great with curious kids.

We found a Hidden Mickey in the shape of the lock.  See what Disney Geeks we are, not me just them

When little legs were sore, everyone found a hammock. The Historic Ships of Baltimore runs an overnight program for groups.  You can stay on the mid 19th century USS Constellation, the USS Torsk a WWII submarine, or the USCGC Taney that witnessed the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The USS Torsk is right next door and quite a contrast from the Constellation. The USS Torsk is a Tech Class diesel submarine that was launched in 1944, transited the Panama Canal, stopped in Guam and Hawaii and eventually patrolled off the coast of Japan.

She spent the rest of her career in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea and even the Great Lakes.

The torpedo room was impressive with the museum quality shine on the metal.

We tried to get the kids to take us on a ride, but the controls are all locked down.

Traveling through the submarine we ducked through these 3 foot high hatches. Watch your head! and knees.

The path to the next ship leads around the Aquarium. The Maryland Blue Crab, which is the state crustacean by the way, is a very appropriate symbol for this state.  This little guy is on the menu at all the restaurants, displayed on flags, napkin holders, t-shirts, and most tasty on my plate.

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On December 7, 1941 the USCGC Taney was moored in Honolulu Harbor which allowed her to be the last ship still floating to fight in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  She served as a search and rescue, troop transport and protecting our many territories in the Pacific. She supported the Navy and assisted in attacks as well. Toward the end of her career she assisted in the search for Amelia Earhart, worked in drug interdiction and fisheries protection and holds the distinction as the last ship serving as an ocean station weather ship. Ships were stationed throughout the North Pacific and North Atlantic to collect weather data and transmit it back to the US.  They also provided search and rescue in the square of ocean they each patrolled.

How about some sugar.  ”It’s Sugar“, candy store was a main attraction as we walked back and forth along the water front.  The store was colorful, smelled good, had plenty of bulk gummy things as well as giant candy.

We weren’t the only ones taking pictures of things like this 5 lb gummy bear.

The street performers at the Harbor Place Amphitheater were entertaining. We saw musicians, balloonists, unicycles, and jugglers.  Maryland is home to the Center Ring Circus School and Charm City Movement Arts here in Baltimore.   All the performers have a permit and are on the Harbor Place schedule where they can practice their artful entertainment.

What tourist town would be complete without Ripley’s.  Someday we’ll buy a ticket and go see the oddity reproductions, but for now we’re having fun using Wikipedia to look up the tallest man and three legged boy.

That evening our pal Becky came from D.C. to spend the rest of the weekend with us.  We had dinner on Makai and watched the tour boats go by.  The next morning with our legs all rested up we toured the National Aquarium.

This aquarium goes on and on, one exhibit more interesting than the next.

They had two dozen 4 foot long reef sharks ( prefer to see them here than in the wild , and a gigantic sea turtle.  There were at least 4 floors of exhibits and tanks almost that tall.

Along the perimeter of these huge tanks there are smaller ones with tiny animals like the peacock mantis shrimp and sea horses.

The Australian section had snake necked turtles with very long necks, and in the Amazon mysterious fish that Jeremy Wade from River Monsters would feature like the Silver Arowana.

This aquarium is so big they even have dolphins.

Lastly were the jelly fish.  Beautiful as they gracefully float through the currents, but delivering a sting you’ll not soon forget. The nettle exhibit reminded us of the invasion they’re about to impose on the Chesapeake Bay.  We learned that the jelly thrive in waters where many other fish perish.  Waters that are low on oxygen and even choked out with pollution can support a thriving community of jelly fish.

The Blue Belly Jelly was kind of cute.

Baltimore is full of tourists and a little something we didn’t expect was that since Makai was moored there in the center of activity she became a photo opportunity.  This nice Chinese family took pictures of each other and pictures with us before running off to their tour bus.

Most people respected the boat owner’s private property but once a couple of guys climbed on a neighbor’s boat to take pictures and the woman below leaned against Makai for a picture.  Do you know what happens when you lean against a boat at the dock?  It starts pushing away from the dock, the woman had to get help from her friend when she was hanging on to Makai’s stanchions so she wouldn’t fall between the boat and the dock. We had people take pictures of us in the cockpit doing puzzles, watched wedding pictures taken on the dock and a man with his shirt off flexing muscles for a shot.

Along the south side of the bay is Federal Hill which got its name  when the parade celebrating the ratification of a new Federal Constitution ended here. After riots in 1861 the Union constructed a fort aimed at ensuring the allegiance of Baltimore and the state of Maryland to the federal government throughout the Civil War.

Today the top of the hill has a park and playground with a fantastic view of the city and harbor.  From the war of 1812,  a 15 strip and 15 star flag flies above. One of Baltimore’s major attractions is Fort McHenry where Francis Scott Key, who anxiously waited for dawn’s early light to see the flag flying above signaling America’s victory over the British in the attack, was inspired to write the Star Spangled Banner.  The fifteen stars and stripes reflected the addition of Vermont and Kentucky in 1795 and remained that way until 1818 when a plan was passed for the flag’s stars to reflect the current number of states and thirteen stripes to honor the thirteen original colonies. The original Star Spangled Banner flag is on display in Washington D.C. in the Smithsonian’s American History museum.

The centerpiece of the celebratory parade for ratifying the constitution in 1788 was a 15 foot miniature ship called the Federalist built as a gift to George Washington. It was then sailed down to the Potomac to Mount Vernon in June and then sunk in a July hurricane. What a bummer!  It was left as a wreck and recently archaeologists searched the area but never found it. Lucky for us Baltimore built playground equipment to honor the little ship.

Right below Federal Hill is the Museum of Visionary Art. While we didn’t tour the inside of this museum, the outside provided quite a bit of entertainment.

The big hand sticking out of the back of the building first got our attention, then we noticed the strange horizontal thing and finally figured out that it is a movie screen.  I guess the hand is shaped like it is flicking something and they call the Thursday night movies they project there for people sitting on the hill, Flicks on the Hill.  Sounds like fun to me.

Much of the art around the outside is bling, bling and more bling.

I sure hope they’re having good luck with all those broken mirrors out there.  Maybe they actually cut the mirrors so the broken mirror curse doesn’t apply. The front sidewalk was a 200 foot mural of Baltimore’s part in American History.  Including the Magic Bus covered in mirrored glass.

Who can resist a silvery mirror pine tree.

Our last hours at the dock were filled with using hose water that Makai has only seen twice since the first of the year, doing laundry and taking showers at the marina facilities, and rushing off for a cheeseburger and fries that ‘someone else’ made.  Most meals around here come straight from Makai’s galley, but for lunch we decided to try 5 Guys which originated in the D.C. area.  With full bellies we wobbled out of the mall area but something shiny caught the eyes of me and Genny.  We settled on this pretty little crab.  What could be a more appropriate souvenir in Maryland than a crab?

On the way out of town we stopped at the Anchorage down the way near where we fueled up for the first time since Nassau in April.  The anchorage was conveniently located directly across the street from a Safeway grocery store and a West Marine, down the road from a fishing store and Ace Hardware and best of all right next door is the Anchorage Marina where our friends on Rollick are living.  We met Andrea and Bernie and their two little girls Alex and Jordan when we were in Georgetown.  What a wonderful marina, I would love to live there for the summer.  They had a huge lounge with a TV, pool table, showers and vending machines.  Then out on the end of the docks was an extra wide dock with a floating swimming pool, picnic tables, bbqs and another small lounge with rest rooms and showers.  We spent a few nights there going into the market for donuts in the morning and a trip to Patterson park and another cool playground. I did my best to find a link for these interesting playgrounds with custom equipment that reflects the piece of history made at that site, but believe it or not, the internet just didn’t give me answers to my questions about these playgrounds.

On the way out of town we passed Fort McHenry and just before the Key Bridge we spotted the Star Spangled Buoy. The Coast Guard has been placing this buoy here every summer since 1972 to mark the location where Francis Scott Key witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry prompting him to write the Star Spangled Banner. We put our hand on our hearts and sang the song as Makai cruised by.