Roofs.. and rooftops

Just some flat roofs and rooftop decks in Baltimore..

Groundhogs

Two groundhogs relaxing - maybe Mr. and Ms Whistlepig in their front yard?

Tower Power!

My favorite skyscraper in town - the Baltimore Trust building. I was fooling around with Picasa, and came up with this Addams family version of it.

Teeny mushrooms

I came across these guys on a walk through the woods not too long ago. They were growing out of an old log - I was enchanted by their small size - and later, as I looked at the photo on my computer, I noticed that some very small creature had nibbled timidly at a few.

Watercan Alley

A peek through a tunnel between two houses reveals a green garden hose with a watercan at the end.. The home of an avid gardener, I'd think!

Fluffy Stuff

Lambs' ear - I always get the urge to pet it when I see it. I've tried growing it, unfortunately it's not too happy in my backyard - so I have no ears of my own to pet.. :(

Here kitty kitty..

Okay. I'm cheating. This cute lion isn't in Baltimore. He's in Virginia at Montpelier. That's where James Madison used to live, when he was not signing constitutions or presidenting. I just had to throw this pix in here, this lil lion-kitty is just too cute to ignore.

Towers of Baltimore

In the foreground, the old B&O railway station, now a Sports Legends Museum. In the background, the Bromo-Seltzer tower. The Bromo-Seltzer tower (which is based on the Palazzo Vecchio in Venice) used to have a giant blue Bromo-Selzer bottle rotating on the top of it. Unfortunately the bottle had to be taken down back in 1936 due to structural concerns.

What to do when you are bored..?

Score! Big fans schlep their scorepads along to write down what happens in the game.. us peanut gallery people schlep the scorepads along to kill time - and to ask the big fan that we accompany once a year to the game lots of dumb questions!

Three fans at a game

Probably father and sons - and all three followed the game with much interest. The little guy was a sweetheart, lost interest from time to time (happens to me too), but behaved admirably well. I thought it was kind of cute that father and younger son had just been to the barber.

Maryland fare at the game.

Local food: Crabcakes! along with locally brewed beer - Backfin ale, another reference to crabs. This is the local stuff you'll get at Camden Yards. Lots of local dishes are crab-related, Maryland Crab soup, Soft shell crabs, crabcakes, and then you can of course munch on those crabs in their natural state. In Maryland they're boiled, and served with tons of Old Bay Spice. Don't think you eat them with a fork and a knife - you do get a knife but it will be accompanied by a wooden mallet - perfect to whack the shell with.

Game has begun..

and there you have'em, standing on the field in their long underwear!

Are they about to play leapfrog?

Naww.. just standing nice and tidy while the national anthem is being played..

Crowd

Here's the crowd.. the team colors are orange and black.

Other side of warehouse

This is what greets you on the other side of the warehouse.. stairs to the left, ballpark to the right, and escalator in the middle! Once you've shown your ticket and have joined the fans on the other side of the fence, you can stroll between the warehouse and the ballpark, where there's food and souvenirs for sale.

B&O Warehouse

This is the longest brick warehouse on the East Coast, and is been incorporated into Camden Yards. It is 1016 feet long, and was built in 1905.

Welcome to Camden Yards!

We're going to a baseball game! Many of my friends who have visited from other countries have been curious to see either a baseball or an American football game. Both baseball and American football are unfamiliar to Europeans, and I'd never been to either until I moved over here. Baltimore's baseball stadium, Camden Yards, is actually quite nice, so we're heading over there. Off we go!

Go Ravens!

This is our football stadium.. viewed from the baseball stadium! Our team is the Ravens, named after Edgar Allan Poe's poem, The Raven ("Once upon a midnight dreary.."). Before the Ravens, the local team was the Colts, but don't say the C-Word in this town, far too loaded with bad memories for many locals. The Colts now play in Indianapolis, but we Baltimoreans (or Baltimorons..) are of course still grumpy at them for leaving - it may have been twenty years ago, but we've got l-o-o-ng memories! ;)

Front and back

Again, a look at our neighborhood. It is a very urban area. Our "gardens" are usually contained in pots, and the lawnmower was definitely NOT invented by a local resident! There are lots of rooftop decks, and the backside of your average rowhouse looks nothing like the front! (These two shots are of the same block, even though it's hard to tell.)

H. L. Mencken's backyard

Here's another photo from the backyard of Baltimore's favorite grumpy man. This is a tile that is embedded into a brick wall dividing Mencken's row house from its neighbor. A long brick wall is kind of boring on its own, and Mencken's brick wall was more interesting than most - just like Mencken himself was a very interesting character.

In the pink

A cheerful looking pink house.

September's Theme

Streetlight and a speed limit sign, along with an overexposed sign warning those w/o a parking sticker that their car may be towed away if they do not behave! (i.e. park longer than two hours or park during game nights). Parking is tight in my corner of town. I don't even want to think about what it would be like without meter maids and strict rules.
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