Today was one of those rare empty days where I didn’t have a thing to do and nothing planned, so of course I couldn’t figure out what to do with myself. I stayed in bed reading with cats for as long as I could, but then I was restless. It’s cold and windy, so a bike ride didn’t exactly sound appealing. What’s a girl to do? Oh, I know–layer up and go for a bike ride! I wasn’t in the mood to think very hard, so I headed west to Druid Hill Park to do a few laps. I snapped this picture on my first go-around the reservoir. I hardly ever drive, so I don’t know my freeways, but I’m assuming that’s the Jones Falls Expressway, seeing as I took the Jones Falls Trail to get to the park in the first place. From what I can gather, that’s the first interstate to be built in Baltimore City, aiming to shuttle people in and out of the central business district. That’s a lot of public money spent to ensure folks can live on the outskirts of town and still conveniently get to work inside the city by car. I wonder what it would look like to invest in actually livable cities that made living near work and walking, biking, or taking public transportation the most logical choices. As it is, this expressway makes my bike commute downtown and also from Charles Village to points west far more difficult than it needs to be. And there is plenty of room in the city for everyone. I continued my ride around, enjoying a nice chat with a guy on a folding bike–he loves that he can hook his grocery bags over the handlebars and not have them catch the spokes–who commutes with his bike to DC. Yep, you can do that. I did another trip around and then headed to Hampden for a late brunch and a mimosa. It was a long week, and today was a lovely beginning to a long weekend.