an afternoon at the Inner Harbor

The weather forecast predicted wind and afternoon thundershowers so naturally we decided to spend the day walking around the Inner Harbor in Baltimore. In the midst of the downtown area, the Inner Harbor is filled with hotels and apartments, shopping, businesses (like Best Buy and the Baltimore Examiner), the Baltimore Aquarium, restaurants and much more. There truly is something for everyone- and it's one of my favorite places to spend an afternoon just walking around.

The gusty wind made the water in the Inner Harbor a bit choppy but the line for the paddle boats and dragon boats was still quite long. We haven't done this yet... but will before we leave Maryland.

The boardwalk area was crowded. Today we heard people speaking German, French, something Middle Eastern and of course, English. It seemed a bit strange to not hear Spanish- and not see any signage in Spanish.

If there is one thing Maryland is known for, it is crabs (most notably Maryland Blue crabs, which these are not) and you can get them almost anywhere. This buffet was inside one of the shopping areas.

One of the things I love about the East Coast is the mix of old and new. The structure on the left, the Phoenix Shot Tower, was built in the early 1800's- it was where they made shot for rifles and cannons. We haven't been there yet- but it's on the "Must See" list. The building right next to it is the Post Office building and was built much more recently.  

I have long been fascinated with the idea of living in an urban downtown area. Housing options that I would consider, at least in Baltimore, seem to be limited to three: 

The top picture shows upscale apartment buildings along the Inner Harbor. The bottom picture shows upscale condos or townhouses (that you own) across the street from the Inner Harbor. I imagine both of those choices are $$$$!

Just a couple of blocks past the Inner Harbor is "Little Italy." It was here that we began to see the "row houses."

These row houses are tall (3 stories), narrow houses built right next to each other. They have no yards or porches and each is very distinct- no "cookie cutter houses!" And they have no garages so you either pay for a parking garage or street park. I imagine they are also quite $$$$!

The row house on the left was the only one we found with a "yard"- what a respite in the midst of a concrete jungle! Other row houses used flower boxes on upper windows or hanging baskets like in the picture on the right to create a "yard."

After strolling around an urban downtown neighborhood I decided it would be fun to experience that lifestyle for a short time, but I don't think I would want to do it long term- at least not until I learn to parallel park! By this time it was dinner-time and one thing "Little Italy" has a lot of is Italian restaurants!

Amicci's is our long-time favorite Italian restaurant. Situated in the middle of "Little Italy," it is a casual neighborhood restaurant with a family atmosphere and delicious food. I had my old stand-by favorite, Penne Amicci- penne with Italian sausage, tomatoes and spinach- and wasn't disappointed!

After dinner we walked back to the Inner Harbor to the parking garage and noticed that dark storm clouds had rolled in and the wind kicked up. Maybe the weather forecast wasn't incorrect after all...