Baltimore

We awoke at the crack of dawn today, got ourselves together and headed out to catch the train into Baltimore. We had plans to visit to the National Aquarium, which is on the Inner Harbor.

The train ride was nice, just a commuter train, which wasn't very crowded. The conductor took quite a shine to DJ and sat with us for most of the trip, pointing out things and sharing history with us. The station sits right in from of Camden Yards, which is the home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

We walked the couple blocks to the Inner Harbor and then walked along the waterfront to the aquarium. There is a lot to see and do there, and taking the train makes it so simple, we may go back before my mom leaves.

The aquarium was fantastic. It's gigantic, for one thing. We wandered through the Animal Planet presents Wild Australia first, seeing some really cool turtles, freshwater crocodiles, and a bazillion fish. It was almost impossible to take pictures of any exhibits, with the glass, lighting, and the fact that the fish and such never stop moving!

After we had walked through that exhibit, we went to the 4D Immersion Theater, where we viewed a short movie about the Shallow Seas of the world's oceans. The film was in 3D, so we wore spiffy glasses, but the experience was enhanced by vibrating seats, real ocean smells, tubes under our seats that blasted air at certain times, water sprays, and bubbles. Very, very cool.

When the film was over, we spent a bit of time viewing the Ray pool. They had stingrays of all sizes, the largest probably being larger than the roof of my car! They also had a humongous sea turtle! We headed across the sky bridge and got into our seats (just out of the splash zone) for the dolphin show.

The show was great, lots of cool tricks, and I have always liked dolphins. DJ wasn't as into it as I had hoped, but I think he enjoyed some of it. It was hard to catch the tricks with my camera, as it just isn't quick enough.

We walked through the rest of the aqarium (no strollers allowed! DJ is good and worn out! Hooray!), seeing another 60 gazillion fish, sharks, some frogs, and another 100 million fish.

Even after grabbing a late lunch, we were still an hour and a half from the departure of the next train home, so we tried to slowly wander down the walkway along the Inner Harbor, but a rain storm was moving in, so we walked the couple blocks back to the train station.

It wasn't overly hot today (first day under 90 in a week), but it was definitely humid, due to the storm. We were waiting on the platform when the lightning and thunder began. We were under cover, not like a little rain bothers us Northwesterners, but it was nice to be under cover anyway. The train ride home was uneventful, although DJ seems to have found a whole new store of energy. All in all, a very nice day.

Up next, a week-long trip down the coast, from Delaware to North Carolina. We will have lots of time on the beach, as well as days in historic Jamestown and Yorktown, Virginia. I will be taking my laptop, so I will try to post some pictures along the way. Nothing can ever top Pacific Ocean beaches, but I'm sure we will have lots of fun. Just keep your fingers crossed that no new tropical storms or hurricanes form between now and then!