Arrived at the Mt. Vernon Hotel,
24 W. Franklin, suited our purposes perfectly. We soon set out for the Walters Art Museum around the corner; ate dinner at the City Café at Eager and Cathedral Streets, it was recommended by a man at the Walters. Great menu and service, eclectic area.
Strolled east on Eager, spotted a sign atop a building: “Drop the gun or pick a room.” Had we wandered into a less desirable neighborhood?
Different route back to hotel, stopped at the Mount Vernon Park, home of the original Washington monument (built in 1815). Spotted the FREE Charm City Circulator bus and
headed north on Charles Street to Penn Station, then back down St. Paul/Light Street, then back up Charles, getting off at Hamilton. Few people on board, so we each took a window seat. One interesting rider was reading a book called "Going to Extremes."
Mon, Aug 15
Woke up to thunderstorms and torrential showers, excellent hot breakfast at the hotel in well-appointed dining room. Eve donned her poncho and took off to find St. Jude’s shrine, located not far away on Saratoga. She turned left instead of right and had a lengthy, wet, but [she said] enjoyable odyssey. St. Jude would have to wait.
Off to American Visionary Art Museum (www.avam.org/) on Key Highway near Inner Harbor, skies clear by now. (Rain before 7, clear by 11). Caught the CC Connector and were there in no time. Walked up Federal Hill, great spot to look over the Inner Harbor. AVAM closed on Mondays! Now what?
Waited by the Rusty Scupper for the Water Taxi, got tired of waiting and walked toward the center of harbor activities, discovering that the Seadog speedboat cruise would take off in 15 minutes. A busload of teen/preteen boys headed toward the other bright yellow Seadog and we breathed a sigh of relief that the boisterous boys would not be on our boat. Tassels peeked out from their shirts indicating that they were orthodox Jews, we wondered if it was a school group.
Alas, they were
redirected to our boat and took nearly every available seat. “Hold on to your yarmulkes,” said their leader and we were off. The young man sitting next to Eve wore a green yarmulke and said he was from Belgium and that the kids were from a Jewish camp in Pennsylvania. Much of the trip was spent crawling out of the no-wake zone, giving the guide time to point out sights on the 50-
minute ride. (The dot over the i in the Domino Sugar sign is over 6 feet.) Once out of the zone, the boat picked up speed, with much splashing and jostling as we slapped the waves.
Off to Best Buy for phone charger, then ate at P.F. Chang’s next door. Good food, and hostess charged Nancy’s phone. Checked out Filene’s Basement, uninspired. Found the Goodwill, but it was headquarters, not retail. Trek wasn’t in vain, we loved the architecture.
CC Connector back to hotel, stopped in Bedazzled, a bead shop with a huge inventory of stones, beads and findings. We had to press the bell and were buzzed in. Nancy bought makings for two pairs of earrings.
Dropped off our stuff and Eve headed for St. Jude’s and Nancy for the Lexington Market.
Shrine was closed and the market was a disappointment. Nancy was looking for some good cheese but the only options were American and Swiss. The market closes at 6 and we were amazed at the large amount of fresh seafood and chicken left over-sure wouldn’t want to shop there on a Friday. Produce seemed high and nothing was out of the ordinary, though one vendor had muskrat and raccoon (in season).
Nancy bought a scratch $1 lottery ticket and won $5. We stopped in a disreputable liquor store to cash it, never did understand why we couldn’t…
Headed back toward hotel and down Charles Street searching for cheese and finally, like an oasis, spotted Fresh & Green’s at Saratoga and Charles. Nancy bought her Asiago and we went back to the hotel, skipping dinner and nibbling/imbibing instead.
Tues, Aug 16
Another great breakfast, this time in addition to scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage there were thick slices of French toast. And of course the usual fruit, cereals, bagels, juices, English muffins, etc.
Checked out of hotel and headed for AVAM. .
Plentiful metered parking in front of the building (25 cents an hour). Eve joined, earning her two free passes so Nancy got in free. A wedding was in progress in the rear garden
“What Makes us Smile,” the yearlong exhibit that ends Sept 4 is described by AVAM as featuring "...the costumes, cartoons, out-loud & 3-D glee-filled surprises created by 90 artists, imps, and comedians with accompanying essays, factoids, quotes and blurbs that revel in the history and science behind the gift of laughter."
A welcome mat at the entrance is made of dismantled toothbrushes and spells out S M I L E. The cartoon portion of the exhibit included one for a clinic for alcoholics labeled Detox and one for narcissists labeled Metox. Another pictured a dour clerk telling a customer: “This is a feminist bookstore, there is no humor section here." And at the OCD clinic there was a sign, “Please turn light off when leaving, and on and off and on and off and on and off and on and off….”
Of course there were Whoopee cushions to the delight of the young and not-so-young visitors.
What's not to love about AVAM, can't wait for their next special exhibit. Exited Baltimore and had an easy drive to Philly.
No comments:
Post a Comment