GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: BALTIMORE AND THE $200 HAMBURGER

DAY 324: WED. JUNE 6, 2012 TO SAT, JUNE 9, 2012

DEP. ANNAPOLIS 07:33 ARR. BALTIMORE 1:06

D. 38.9sm / 5320.2

Another beautiful ride up the bay. The sun was shining, the air was dry and 75 degrees and the seas were calm. As we approached the Keys Bridge we made a turn to starboard into Bear Creek to take advantage of the lowest fuel price on the bay. We had to cruise 3.5 miles to Anchor Bay Marina and back, but we saved about $40 on fuel. From there it was another 10 miles into Baltimore Harbor and the City Dock. There are many marinas in and around Baltimore harbor, but none is as close to the action, or as inexpensive as the City Dock. There is only room for about 6 boats there, but during the week it was no problem as we and Something Special were the only 2 boats there. By Fri. night the dock was full. As stated, we are literally in the middle of the action. There is a red brick walk that completely surrounds the harbor and several piers where large tour boats tie up. We have seen several bus loads of students boarding these boats for class trips, graduation parties, etc. There are throngs of people from around 10:00 till midnight walking the harbor, shopping, eating at the many restaurants. There are also many tourist attractions, the USS Constellation (sister ship to the USS constitution), a submarine, a lightship, a USCG Cutter, a screw pile lighthouse, and an aquarium. No wonder there is so much foot traffic. On Wed afternoon we went to the observation tower in the Transamerica building. It was a beautiful afternoon and we could see for miles. On Thurs we invited Theresa and Don up for lunch and went to a Brazilian Restaurant called Fogo Au Chao. It’s one of the places where the waiters come around with skewers of roasted meats and slice it into your dish. They also had a great salad bar, and for only $31 you got all you could eat of everything. It was so good we didn’t mind the price. On Fri. Sid and I went to the B&O RR museum and it was a great take. We had lunch at Five Guys and came out to discover that someone cut the cable lock on our bikes and stole my almost new $200 West Marine Jetty Express folding bike. We had 90 day coverage with our Visa card, but, unfortunately it was 96 days since the purchase. Pat & Evelyn went to Fells Point for the Historical Walking Tour.