We rode out to Fort McHenry, then back around through Federal Hill where I spotted yet another cool stone church.
At this rate I am sure that someday I will see them all. After that it was back through the Inner Harbor and home to get ready for a work day.
We met up on the corner of Eastern and President street, where she stole a drink from my water bottle before we both continued on home. Then a shower and off to work to get ready for Tunnels to Towers this weekend. I am doing the sound for the start, finish, and tunnel portions, and Kathleen is going to have a day in NYC and run the race on Sunday.
On the way back down I spotted another church, this one is only a few blocks down the hill from us.
Then off to the house for a shower & breakfast, then down to DC for a meeting.
And they also renamed the block of Eastern Avenue in front of the Library in honor of Frank.
After that it was a ride around the neighborhood, then off to get ready for a Monday.
I have never seen purple plastic lawn flamingos before this, I am almost tempted to buy one, I think that there was a Ravens stuff shop in there somewhere. I went a little further out and ended up a Sparrows Point steel mill. The Russian (Servestal) company that currently owns it is trying to sell it, they are shuttering the plant right now, but they haven't shut down the blast furnace yet. Kind of weird, they just bought the plant a couple of years ago, and ramped up production at that time.
I rode out to the end of the plant where the shipyard used to be (they don't build ships there anymore) which ended up being a couple of miles down the road, the whole way covered by the factory. At the end of the road I shot this picture of the Key Bridge, probably built with steel from Sparrows Point.
Next up on the agenda was a snack, today it is the cherry flavored "extreme" sport beans, delicous and a little dose of caffeine to help the cause.
On my way back towards Fells Point I rode in on the Penisula expressway, and about halfway along there is a drawbridge. As I approached, the light turned red, and in the water was this guy.
After he passed through, down the bridge came, and off I went.
Riding back through Dundalk I spotted this, football season is definitely in full swing here in Baltimore.
I rode back in on Easter Avenue, and in Highlandtown the road was closed for the unveiling of the statue of Frank Zappa, who was born here in Baltimore. They had a concert by Dweezil Zappa, and speeches by all of the local dignitaries. No word if they launched into a acappella version of "Catholic Girls" but I am sure the Baltimore Sun will have lots of info tomorrow in the paper. At some point soon I will have to ride by and see it.
Then back to the house for a shower, then a trip to the Brewers Art for dinner.
I got a little further down the bike lane and realized that Kathleen wasn't behind me. So I waited a little bit, then went back to find her, only to discover she was back at the aquarium with a flat. Apparently she had called out to me but I was consumed with the task of passing the Segways and didn't hear her. We installed a new tube and found the piece of glass that caused it still stuck in the tire, then continued on out to Fort McHenry. On the way back we cut through Locust Point and the Tide Point complex, then along Key Highway back towards the Inner Harbor. On the way there we passed by the American Visionary Art Museum where I spotted this mounted on the roof.
Even more amazing is the building itself.
Then we rode up Calvert Street where I saw the Battle Monument (I had to look it up) commemorating the War of 1812.
We continued up to North Avenue, then back down Guilford to the Inner Harbor again, where I saw these women resplendent in their red hats.
We swung through Pier 6 to look in on the guys, then back to the house for a shower and some lunch.
After that home and another work day.
Then I rode out to Fort McHenry, which is still closed to bicycles, and then back to the firehouse down the street from us to vote. I was a bit concerned about leaving the bike outside while I voted, but there was a Baltimore Police officer there, so no worries. I did my thing, then caught this shot of my bike patiently waiting outside the polling place.
Of course it was waiting to ride the .3 miles back to the house so I could get my act together and head out to New York for my meeting.
Tomorrow is primary day, I am planning on getting up early and incorporated my civic duty into my bike ride, before heading off to NYC for a meeting.
On the next field over it was teens (I think) doing full contact.
Just after that is the start of the Gwynns Falls Trail proper it is really nice the way it goes through mostly green spaces from here to my work.
I rode out the Gwynns Falls Trail to where Frederick Road crosses it, then out Frederick road to the West. There is actually a bike path all the way out Frederick Road to the Beltway (for the most part), but sometimes it got really narrow.
I ended up riding way the hell out to Rolling Road, then looping back through Woodlawn and coming in via Gwynn Oak road. I passed all of the churches and groovy houses from last weekend, and came down Gwynns Falls Pkwy. I got off in a new neighborhood (to me) and spotted this old school bridge over the road right on the edge of the neighborhood.
On my back in towards downtown I spotted yet another church, the tree kind of ruins the view.
Then back to Fells Point and home. I stopped to pick up my traditional victory soda at the little market on Pratt Street, and when I cam out this group was working the doorbells in the neighborhood.
The Democratic Primary is in a week or so, and they were knocking on doors for Bill Ferguson, who I met a couple of weeks ago on a ride. Then it was back to the house, a shower, then washing both bikes, and the car before heading out to pick up Kathleen at the airport.
Then right across the street another.
Very cheery first thing in the morning I thought. Then I rode on home and headed out to work. Oh for what it's worth, we did in fact win the parade again, undefeated for another year. For those of you that are wondering, this is what a half-million watts of PA on a flatbed looks like. This is the front of the float.
And here it is from the back.
The band and hangers on go in the middle, and the amplifiers are under the stage. I'm already booked for next year :)
That is the steel mill in behind the road sign stuff. We continued on towards North Point State Park, on the way there we stopped because I spotted this fabulous building.
I am not sure I would be comfortable putting my money there, but Kathleen pointed out the new roof and windows and suggested that maybe it was getting renovated. Kathleen also had a goo thing there (energy food in a semi liquid form), which I tried a sample of, I think I will stick with the jelly beans. A little further along we spotted this.
Totally Baltimore beehive there hon. A little further along we made it to the park, and rode down to the waters edge.
The park was hopping with families having Labor Day picnics and such, lots of kids running around, barbecuing, and generally taking it easy. Then we rode back towards home, here is an action shot (no look picture by the way) of Kathleen right behind me on Eastern Avenue.
We rode up Eastern into Highlandtown, and then went up Gough towards the park, the city skyline was very nice in the afternoon sun.
We cut through Patterson Park on the way home, lots of activity there as well, then climbed up the misery hill and back to the homestead. Here is Kathleen back in the garage having some more water.
We got cleaned up, grilled salmon and had dinner on the deck to round out the day.
But that didn't stop us, it was going through much to fast to be rain. We continued on out towards Carroll Park (Pride of the Parks according to the sign at the entrance) and saw a info board that talked about Carroll Park, but also about this building.
It turns out this was built in the 30's as a Montgomery Ward distribution warehouse, and also had a retail store built in. It is a huge building, very impressive. It has been rehabbed into office space, and out in front is this piece of art.
We decided it must have been a slide to get things from one floor to the next in the warehouse. Right after that the Gwynns Falls trail turns into a proper bike path, and we rode through a bunch of parks that dot the route. Here is an action shot of Kathleen performing evasive maneuvers as I veer towards her.
A little further along we got to the park that always has football practice going on, and today there was an actual game.
From here we rode up to Wetheredsville Road, and ended up at my work, effectively riding my usual commute route backwards. So we had some sport beans in the shop parking lot (orange for me, watermelon for Kathleen) and then rode out North Forest Park to Garrison Road. Along Garrison Road there a ton of churches. This one was so tall that I had to change camera settings to fit it in.
A block down the street these two are about 4 doors apart.
It's a really interesting older neighborhood, there a ton of late 1800's Victorians out here, some nicely restored, others completely dilapidated.
We rode down to Gwynns Falls Parkway and bombed down it (it is almost all downhill) to Druid Lake Park. Being Labor Day weekend, all of the picnic pavilions were in use.
I thought this one was cool with its historically correct type paint job.
We rode through the park to Falls Road, and back down towards the homestead. On Baltimore Street we passed through the Block, where the bulk of the strip clubs are. It's kinda seedy, but definitely a part of Baltimore.
A few blocks further down Baltimore we passed by the community garden, you can rent plots here from the city and do a little gardening if you are so inclined. Kathleen pointed out the flowers on the fence that are made from cans and bottles, a nice touch.
Then it was off to the homestead for dinner and some lounging around.
