The Inner Harbor

I was invited to take a trip with my son, his wife, my nine-year-old granddaughter and an almost month old baby granddaughter. We left Pittsburgh early in the morning to drive to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. It took around four hours to get there. Luckily, we were able to check into our room early. Yes, one room where I would share a bed with my granddaughter, who likes to sleep on top of me and talks in her sleep. She is a bed hog but a cute one. After checking in, and cleaning up, we were ready to do some sightseeing.

The hotel we were staying at was right next to Baltimore's Baseball Stadium,Camden Yards. The use of the bricks for the stadium and design makes Camden Yards look old fashioned and beautiful. The stadium is right next to Chesapeake Bay. It is considered one of the best ballparks and has been an influence on other parks that have been built after it.

On our first day of sightseeing, we walked everywhere, which helps when you eat and don't want to gain too much weight. We actually ate only one complete meal each day of our visit. We walked through a mini gallery filled with shops. Then my son, granddaughter, and I,toured two ships in the harbor, while my daughter-in-law waited on a bench with the baby. The first ship was the USCGC Taney, the last United States' vessel that saw action in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. We boarded the vessel and walked around touring it's narrow galleys, climbing up and down steps, reading the historical facts, and taking photos of the vessel.

Our second tour was aboard the USS Constellation, which was launched on August 26, 1854. The ship sailed during the Civil War and was used to blockade the Confederate States ship Sumter, until the crew abandoned her. The ship, given its history, was pretty impressive to me, since I am a Civil War buff. The Constellation was being renovated but the interior was large and the wood was beautiful inside the ship. The crew slept on swinging hammocks. The captain's quarter was large and very impressive, even though he didn't spend much time there.

We ate dinner at a place called Philips Seafood House. After dinner we went to Barnes and Noble, which is located in a renovated Power Plant. On top of the smoke-stake is a colorful guitar because the Hard Rock Cafe is one of the restaurants in the Power Plant.

Saturday we were up early, grabbed a drink and snack, and went to the National Aquarium. The place was fantastic, all five levels of it, filled with sharks, sea turtles, manta rays, jelly fish, dolphins and many other aquatic fish. We sat through a 15-minute film at the 4-D Immersion Theater, where we got sprayed with water and felt the wind and cold in our faces. Later we sat through a Dolphin show. My favorite was the sea turtle, Calypso, right down to the missing left flipper that had to be surgically removed to save the turtles life.

We ate dinner in Little Italy and found a fantastic Italian pastry shop, Vaccaro's, where we bought a half moon cookie, a strawberry vanilla napoleon, a cannoli, raspberry gelato, and a delicious nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. Yeah...we needed to walk the meal and desserts off.

Sunday arrived much too quickly. We ate brunch at the Cheesecake Factory and ended our visit on a 45-minute cruise of the Inner Harbor. As we went by the Domino Sugar Factory, the air was saturated with a pleasant odor, ending our trip to the Inner Harbor on a sweet note.