Federal Hill

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View of the Harbor From the Waterfront Kitchen

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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.

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Battle Monument at Calvert & Fayette

Today was bike tour day, so I woke up early, kinda nervous, and reviewed my notes for our six-stop tour of historic War of 1812 sites in the city before bringing Brompty downstairs for a good ride over to our starting point at Riverside Park, one of the oldest parks in Baltimore. A small group gathered, and we made our way over to Sharp-Leadenhall, where I talked about the history of African Americans in the early Republic, and especially in this neighborhood, the oldest African American neighborhood in the city. Continue reading →

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Lululemon Platitudes at Harbor East on Aliceanna

Thursday’s ride took me down to Harbor East for a trip to the pool and some really terrible swimming. I’m good at a lot of things–reading, eating food other people cook for me, taking pictures of cats–but I’m just a horrible swimmer. Fortunately, you don’t have to be good at things to enjoy them, so I just hopped in the pool and slowly made my way back and forth without drowning–a win in my book. Continue reading →

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Blue Skies From the Ramparts of Fort McHenry

Yesterday’s storms brought cooler weather, and when I stepped out of the house to take the bike downtown for a quick stop at the gym it was actually a little chilly. I mean, just a little bit, but still–I haven’t felt air that cool in months and months of the hottest summer in my memory, including all those New Orleans ones. The sky was a brilliant blue spotted with puffy white clouds, the kind of sky I wanted this summer when it was too busy sweating. Continue reading →

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Fencing at the Inner Harbor for the Baltimore Grand Prix

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Today’s ride took me down to the Inner Harbor and then all I could see was the fencing already up and more to come for the Baltimore Grand Prix, a total boondoggle last go-around and back for more. Sigh. That ring around the harbor, what a mess.

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View Over the Fence at Webster’s Dead End in Federal Hill

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Today’s ride took me down the hill and back up another hill to my favorite new strip mall in Locust Point where I locked up to a rack before spending the day getting a massage, going out to lunch, talking to S. on the phone, and eating frozen yogurt as I tried to circle around an argument for this thing I’ve been writing all summer. It’s scary sometimes, the point where you have to stop making Interesting Observations and start making larger sense, and I have to take very good care of myself so I don’t scare myself away from that part of writing. I finally managed to figure some stuff out while waiting for the rain to stop, scribble, scribble, scribble, and then it was time for a celebratory beer, some grousing about the USA men’s basketball team~holding for the last shot of the half when you’re up by 33 is just tacky~and then I pedaled over to A. and J.’s for wine, good food, chatter, and more Olympics action. I stopped to take this picture before I got there, at the end of Webster. You call it Webster Court, but all you’ve got is this half fence to keep a distance between you and freeways and waste treatment plants. And then a groundhog scurried by and I was reminded that a lot of things are willing to make a life right at the edges. I rode home late at night, for me, and realized it has been awhile since a warm night ride alone, which meant the sense memory was all New Orleans. It didn’t make me miss that place, though; it made me happy that I can still access that feeling of being the only person on the streets, flying by with my skirt waving, my own breeze cooling me down. Oh yes, that is a nice way to spend a summer evening.

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Overgrown Lot and Empty Train Cars on Kloman Near Wenburn

I spent today getting back in the swing of things at work–researching, writing, planning, and scheming, and asking people with money to give it to me for my plans and schemes, probably my least favorite activity, though I’m fairly certain that my student group can spend your group’s money better than you can. And then it was time to get on the bike. Continue reading →

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Looking Up at Redwood & Light

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I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Mid-Atlantic’s having something of a heat wave. All these day at or near 100 degrees can wear on a girl, but I have decided that the best thing to do is hydrate and pedal slowly~it’s still better than getting in a car. Thursday’s ride took me flying down the hill (when they warned me about hills, they forgot to tell me how awesome that part is) to Federal Hill for a massage and then a trip to the wine bar with A. for a good ol’ 1% afternoon. the heat’s not really an issue on the downhills, so I had plenty of ire saved up for the FOUR vehicles parked on the bike/ped path around the Inner Harbor. I grr’ed my way around and then granny geared up the hill and over for a long cooling session in the Harris Teeter. After a positively lovely conversation it was time to head home, this time under ominous clouds with strong winds. The sweat was pouring by the time I stopped at the light at Redwood and Light. I looked up and snapped this picture; from this angle it almost looks like we live in a big city. Back on the bike, back up the hill, a quick stop to snag S. from the outdoor concert at Mt. Vernon, and on to home, another steamy day of cycling for transportation done. It really is a better way to go, even if it does mean more showering.

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Learning About the Fort McHenry Wetland at Fort McHenry at the End of Fort Avenue

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I woke up this morning to a day with absolutely nothing scheduled. I can’t remember the last time that was true for me so I felt just a little giddy about it. After lazing about in bed for awhile and reading about World War I war memorials (fascinating stuff, really), I hopped on the bike and tooled around Baltimore to see how we were remembering a different war. It was really hot out and the streets were virtually empty as I sped down the hill. It’s rather ghostly when it’s like that, but I must admit I love flying through the streets with only a tiny worry about cars; I just love how riding a bike makes my body feel, all hugged close by wind I help make. I took my turn around the inner harbor’s new bike lane, groused to myself about all the cars in it~why do they need *everything*~ and turned to Federal Hill where I caught the first parade of the day. There was drum and fife, stiltwalking, vintage cars, and then everybody from the neighborhood in red, white, and blue strolling along. I wanted a little more music to really call it a parade, but I put ny bad attitude in my pocket, ate the grape tootsie roll pop I caught from the Grand Marshall, and got back on the bike to track down the dog parade at the American Visionary Arts Museum. I had missed the parade, but I settled in for the pageant and groused about how many winners had store bought costumes and how I think that’s not really in the spirit of things. I shoved my bad attitude back down and made my way to Fort McHenry after a quick stop for lunch. I did a loop around before heading into the air conditioning. I took this picture of the view of the new man-made wetlands around the fort. Apparently there used to be wetlands all over Baltimore, but they were destroyed when they got in the way of industry and were blamed for disease. After the Key Tunnel was built these wetlands were installed to grow back. It’s a similar logic to that inside the museum, remembrance and preservation, but of nature. Or maybe “nature.” I did a quick tour of the fort, watched some more drum and fife, and then I was on my way home, pedaling slowly through the giant oven that is the city right now. It was a most lovely day, but I would like to request a cooling trend so that a short ten mile ride through the city won’t leave me a wilted flower.

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Maryland Science Center at Light Street and Key Highway

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It was gray and rainy out, but I was in no mood to drive a car over to Federal Hill, so I broke the “don’t start a ride in the rain” rule and pedaled down the hill, around the harbor, and up the hill on the other side. I spent part of my morning reading about Federal Hill, and once you know a little bit of history about the place you’re in, well, if you’re me, it doesn’t look the same. Take the Maryland Science Center, for example. Before today it was to me just a big behemoth of brick that marks the end or start of the bike path, depending on where I’m headed. According to David Harvey, though, it’s a windowless citadel guarding the “rebirthed” Inner Harbor, a cash cow for developers, from the “angry” poor whites and African Americans who used to live just up from here. The surrounding neighborhoods are now mostly comprised of young white professionals, but the Science Center is still there, blocking their view and complicating access, and i’d never know it’s history without the fine folks who remind us that our built environment and who’s in it is no accident. I rode up to Fort Avenue and down to the new McHenry Row. So many empty properties, but we’re still making new developments like this one, which was an empty lot today. Time will tell, I suppose, whether all this new housing will fill, but it seems like so much boondoggle to me. One thing’s for sure, though~these waterproof panniers are awesome on days like this one, because it was an awfully misty ride home.