Baltimore

I got my days messed up. After Washington DC, I went to Baltimore. So, here we are going to Baltimore. Its about an hour's drive.

First of all, it seems unfair that from where I live, if I want to see a professional basketball game, I have to drive 5 hours. To see football or baseball, its probably about 7 hours. If you live in Washington DC, you can see the Senators or in one hour you can drive to see the Orioles, or drive a little longer and you can see half a dozen other teams. But there are other headaches to living on the east coast, so I probably shouldn't complain. I didn't really think about this before, but I just read that until about 1960, the St. Louis Cardinals were the most western major league baseball team. Plus I can watch baseball on TV anytime I want. So, I'll stop whining.

Baltimore doesn't have all the sights that Washington has. One day will be about right, I think.

First, Edgar Allen Poe's house/museum. Interesting. This is where he last lived. He died on the streets of Baltimore. They're not exactly sure what went on with him. They found him in a drunken stupor or he had a stroke or something. I think he was wearing someone else's clothes, too. All very mysterious, which is actually just like him. Went to see his grave, which is nearby. He is the kind of guy, I think, that would enjoy my morbid fascination with peoples graves.

Next, the Babe Ruth birthplace and museum. Really cool. I learned something there. I previously had known that the Baby Ruth candy bar wasn't named after him. It was named after President Cleveland's child named Ruth. But it turns out that was just a lie so they wouldn't have to pay Ruth to use his name. Decades later they finally told the truth about it.

It didn't quite add up anyway. To have a baby in the White House would be cute, but she had been born in the previous century and wasn't even alive when they put out the candy bar. They just wanted to cash in on the Babe. I did buy a Baby Ruth in their gift shop. It seemed the thing to do.

Any, the rest of the place was really cool. By the way - my vote for athlete of the century - Babe Ruth. Will anyone else still be a household name a hundred years later? Plus, his candy bar still sells.

I went to Fort McHenry where the Star Spangled Banner originated. I've been there. Even though they've improved the visitor center, it was still the same place. It was like $10 to go into the fort. I saved that and just looked at the fort from the outside.

I did miss a cemetery that had John Wilkes Booth in it, along with some other famous or infamous people. Maybe I'll go back sometime and take Edgar with me.