Vacation, days 4 and 5
Alas, all good things must end -- like vacations. Today is our last day in Maryland before heading home.
We spent yesterday in Baltimore. We drove to Linthicum, MD, where we left the car and took light rail into Baltimore, which dropped us off by the convention center.
Our first stop was the Babe Ruth Museum -- the house in which the Sultan of Swat was born, just a couple of short blocks from Camden Yards. We bought tickets that allowed us entry into both the Babe Ruth Museum and the Sports Legends Museum, literally right next to Camden Yards (at the end of the warehouse). The Babe Ruth museum was small -- it was just a row house, after all -- but there was a lot of interesting material in it, and definitely a good pilgrimage for a Yankee fan like me. Of course, since the Babe played for both New York and Boston, the gift shop had items for both the Yankees and the Red Sox. (Both teams in the same room? Sacrilege!)
The Sports Legends museum was larger, making use of the former Camden Station building. Of course, a good chunk of it was dedicated to the Baltimore Orioles (it included the Orioles Hall of Fame), but was pretty inclusive of all things sports in Maryland. There was an entire section dedicated to Maryland college sports, including (but not limited to) UMD, Johns Hopkins, Navy, and UMBC. One part of the Baltimore Ravens exhibit that caught my attention was the part on the Ravens Marching Band. It included a large sign that said "So you want to join a marching band?" I made it a point to have my pic taken (along with my KKΨ baseball cap) in front of that sign! We easily spent a good couple of hours in there; we had planned on just spending a little time, then going to the Inner Harbor for lunch; although we stuck to the plan, it was 3:15 by the time we left there -- much later than I expected.
We had a late lunch at the Inner Harbor at a place called Phillips. It was somewhat pricey and probably a bit more than we would've liked to have spent on lunch, but we decided to treat ourselves. We made it a point to have crab cakes and the crab, spinach, and artichoke dip. Yum! When in Rome . . .
After walking around the Inner Harbor for a couple of hours (culminating in some time at Barnes & Noble over at the Power Plant), we made our way over to Camden Yards for the ballgame. We entered the ballpark on the left field side of Eutaw Street. This was my second time in this ballpark; my first was the 1993 All-Star Game. I especially made it a point to sample Boog's BBQ. I had read that Boog Powell himself was often there to oversee his BBQ and to sign autographs. Sure enough, there he was! He signed my game program. I told him I was looking forward to trying his barbecue, to which he replied, "you'll love it!" I had the pork sandwich, and it was very good! My only complaint was that I prefer wet barbecue, and there was no sauce on the sandwich.
The game itself was nothing to write home about. As a Yankee fan, I had no rooting interest in either the Cleveland Indians or the Baltimore Orioles. (Granted, I probably would've rooted against the Orioles were they not in last place, and as a Korean-American, I root for Shin-Soo Choo for purely cultural reasons -- however, at the time of this post, he was injured and not playing ball.) But, as the die-hard baseball nut that I am, I do enjoy a night out at the ballpark, and to me, there's no better way to spend a relaxing summer evening than in a seat at the ballpark with a scorecard in front of me (and perhaps a hot dog in my hand).
For what it's worth, the Indians beat the Orioles, 8-4.
We got back to hawkeyeinmd's house around 11:15. hawkeyeinmd herself was not here -- she had taken the girls out to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. I decided to call it a night immediately liannegizer decided to stay up later).
So, this'll probably be my last entry before I shut down my laptop and head home. Hope you enjoyed following us around!
We spent yesterday in Baltimore. We drove to Linthicum, MD, where we left the car and took light rail into Baltimore, which dropped us off by the convention center.
Our first stop was the Babe Ruth Museum -- the house in which the Sultan of Swat was born, just a couple of short blocks from Camden Yards. We bought tickets that allowed us entry into both the Babe Ruth Museum and the Sports Legends Museum, literally right next to Camden Yards (at the end of the warehouse). The Babe Ruth museum was small -- it was just a row house, after all -- but there was a lot of interesting material in it, and definitely a good pilgrimage for a Yankee fan like me. Of course, since the Babe played for both New York and Boston, the gift shop had items for both the Yankees and the Red Sox. (Both teams in the same room? Sacrilege!)
The Sports Legends museum was larger, making use of the former Camden Station building. Of course, a good chunk of it was dedicated to the Baltimore Orioles (it included the Orioles Hall of Fame), but was pretty inclusive of all things sports in Maryland. There was an entire section dedicated to Maryland college sports, including (but not limited to) UMD, Johns Hopkins, Navy, and UMBC. One part of the Baltimore Ravens exhibit that caught my attention was the part on the Ravens Marching Band. It included a large sign that said "So you want to join a marching band?" I made it a point to have my pic taken (along with my KKΨ baseball cap) in front of that sign! We easily spent a good couple of hours in there; we had planned on just spending a little time, then going to the Inner Harbor for lunch; although we stuck to the plan, it was 3:15 by the time we left there -- much later than I expected.
We had a late lunch at the Inner Harbor at a place called Phillips. It was somewhat pricey and probably a bit more than we would've liked to have spent on lunch, but we decided to treat ourselves. We made it a point to have crab cakes and the crab, spinach, and artichoke dip. Yum! When in Rome . . .
After walking around the Inner Harbor for a couple of hours (culminating in some time at Barnes & Noble over at the Power Plant), we made our way over to Camden Yards for the ballgame. We entered the ballpark on the left field side of Eutaw Street. This was my second time in this ballpark; my first was the 1993 All-Star Game. I especially made it a point to sample Boog's BBQ. I had read that Boog Powell himself was often there to oversee his BBQ and to sign autographs. Sure enough, there he was! He signed my game program. I told him I was looking forward to trying his barbecue, to which he replied, "you'll love it!" I had the pork sandwich, and it was very good! My only complaint was that I prefer wet barbecue, and there was no sauce on the sandwich.
The game itself was nothing to write home about. As a Yankee fan, I had no rooting interest in either the Cleveland Indians or the Baltimore Orioles. (Granted, I probably would've rooted against the Orioles were they not in last place, and as a Korean-American, I root for Shin-Soo Choo for purely cultural reasons -- however, at the time of this post, he was injured and not playing ball.) But, as the die-hard baseball nut that I am, I do enjoy a night out at the ballpark, and to me, there's no better way to spend a relaxing summer evening than in a seat at the ballpark with a scorecard in front of me (and perhaps a hot dog in my hand).
For what it's worth, the Indians beat the Orioles, 8-4.
We got back to hawkeyeinmd's house around 11:15. hawkeyeinmd herself was not here -- she had taken the girls out to the midnight showing of Harry Potter. I decided to call it a night immediately liannegizer decided to stay up later).
So, this'll probably be my last entry before I shut down my laptop and head home. Hope you enjoyed following us around!