Today’s ride took me down the hill and around the harbor and up again to Federal Hill, with a final left to Locust Point for a much-needed haircut and an afternoon of grading/watching football. I meant to go straight home afterward, but then I just kept riding west back through Federal Hill and over to M&T Stadium to watch the hordes of Ravens fans walk to their cars. Continue reading
Tree Growing Out of a Propped Up Wall on Chester & Chase
Last week was so busy busy with so many late nights due to campus events and baseball that I just didn’t have time to ride my bike for anything but transportation. I can’t remember the last time I just rode around aimlessly, and after waking up tired and sickly and leaving the house without enough clothing for the cooler weather, I didn’t think I’d be taking that sort of ride today either. I headed down to the coffee shop to meet V. for a quick grading session before heading the rest of the way downtown to stop at the gym. Continue reading
View Across St. Mary’s Park in Seton Hill in West Baltimore
Friday’s ride took me down to the Maryland Historical Society for the second annual Bmore Historic conference. MdHS is in Mt. Ver
non, and I just can’t imagine driving there, even if there aren’t bike racks right in front. I zipped down the hill in the cool morning air, getting joined by another conference attendee and passed by a bike commuter who really should have alerted me to his presence, seeing as how there was barely room for me. We have to share our roads, people, and that means we have to communicate with each other about what we’re doing because I cannot read your mind, nor do I have eyes in the back of my head. Ahem. Continue reading
Crowds Waving Rally Towels at Camden Yards in Downtown Baltimore
Monday was all read, write, teach, read, grade, get cavities filled, and write, but then it was time to put on my Orioles shirt, stuff a few layers in my purse, tie it all together with my reflective safety belt, and take the bike down to meet C. and friends for food before Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. Continue reading
Cinnamon Pine Cones at the Whole Foods at Harbor East
And then all of a sudden it was cold and drizzling and I was underdressed on my bike, remembering that I need a hat, gloves and my eyes are going to water. I did a spin at the gym where I was too hot, stopped for coffee and an egg sandwich, and then to the grocery. The place smelled frankly too much like cinnamon, like the place was trying to beat me over the head with “fall.” I got my six items, checked out and loaded them into my pannier, and headed out. Ah, the culprits: bag after bag after bag of cinnamon pine cones with a small pile of cinnamon brooms (yes, I guess that’s a thing) bringing season’s greetings. Welcome, fall! And thanks for reminding me again that I might be cold heading down the hill, but I’ll be nice and toasty on the way back.
Goat at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore in Druid Hill Park
Today’s ride took me over to Druid Hill Park and around to the zoo to meet S. and her family. We haven’t seen each other in years and years, but because of The Interwebz we are still in touch. When she had a few free hours to spend in this fair city I was the lucky recipient of escorts for my first trip to the zoo. I biked over and locked up to the bike rack they had right outside the main zoo entrance. Continue reading
View of the Harbor From the Waterfront Kitchen
Friday was one of those workdays when my heart wasn’t really in it, and then there were meetings and then I couldn’t find my wallet and blah~it was time for the week to be over and for me to be on my bicycle, so that’s where I was, down the hill and to the left to join V. and A. for drinks and this delicious mushroom cheese toast thing at the restaurant on the waterfront. We toasted and laughed and complained and took note, over and over again, of just how pretty it is here. And then it was back on the bike to dodge the Inner Harbor promenade traffic for dinner with S. and friends and then BASEBALL. Oh, baseball, I love you. I had to leave before the game ended-gasp-but I could tell we were still winning because shouts were coming from open doors and stoops and bars all along the route home because last night we were all O’s fans, an easy thing to be right now and highly recommended. In a car I would have listened to the game on the radio, but this worked too, and I got that sense of racing as I sped home to see who won. Up the hill and back home with more baseball starting Sunday. Things could be worse, yes indeed.
Tree Growing Out of a Building on Williams & Clement
Today’s ride took me down the hill, around the Inner Harbor, and up into Federal Hill to my favorite overdeveloped mini mall, McHenry Row, for a massage, because I am a decadent little thing. I thought today would be the obligatory “it’s fall, look at the colors!” post, but it’s still in the 80s here, warm and muggy, so instead of looking at leaves I thought about how the air felt warm and heavy around me as I flew down the hill, taking extra special care not to put on the brakes–it’s like flying; nobody told me about the downhills when they were complaining about the uphills. Continue reading
Portable Toilet Truck at Madison & Washington Place
I rode my bike back to the Baltimore Book Fair today, this time to meet G. and B. for a quick stroll and then pizza. I was going to blog about some of the great things I saw–maybe the wonderful paintings on East Monument or the jaw-dropping fancy of the Peabody Library, but what really got me today were these mobile toilet trucks set up at the spoke ends of the street festival. Continue reading
Easter Island Statue on Calvert & 22nd or So
The weather today was perfect for bicycling, so I dragged myself out of my Saturday lazy bed and took the Surly down the hill for a quick run through the gym and then back up the hill to home for lunch before heading back out and down the hill again to the Baltimore Book Fair. I love books and I love fairs, and though I miss the baby animal barn, this event’s kind of made for me. Traffic was terrible in Mt. Vernon, so I got off the bike and walked a few blocks before locking up to a street sign. The lack of bike parking in Mt. Vernon, a biking and walking neighborhood, is pretty amazing. But anyway. I got myself a soft serve cone to put a little “fair” in the occasion before settling to hear Dean Spade and Laura Whitehorn speed through some big, tough questions to the delight of (most of) the crowd. After some wanderings and some snack with some very old friends-like, we used to watch General Hospital together friends-it was time to get back on the bike and head home. I snapped this picture on my way, of one of those Easter Island heads sharing an empty lot with an old bed frame that I think is art too. There used to be a sign advertising new condos here, but that’s gone; maybe the condos are on their way. Today’s ride was mostly about transportationn, but the great thing about being on a bike is that you can stop, get off, and check out this art. Now, who knows where it came from?
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 