Inner Harbor / Downtown, Baltimore

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Favorite thing: Baltimore has lots of monuments. They built the first monument in the US to George Washington back in 1829 (photo 5)

The first photo is of a statue of John Mifflin Hood, early president of the Western Maryland Railway. Mr. Hood played an important role in shaping the Western Maryland Railroad (it became a "Railway" after 1911) into a strategic "bridge line" that linked the Port of Baltimore with western points.

During his stewardship, Western Maryland passenger trains also used the Pennsylvania Railroad line from the west, stopping at Pennsylvania Station, to reach the Western Maryland's Hillen Station in downtown.

The statue is unusual because few statues were ever commissioned to honor men of the railroad industry. Some people think it should be at Pennsylvania station instead of here.

Fondest memory: This picture was taken from the car and wildcard03 kindly confirmed the identification of it for me.

Yes, that's John Mifflin Hood, president of the WM Ry. from 1874 to 1902. The monument is located in St. Paul Place, a small park located along St. Paul Street where it is crossed by Orleans Street (on an overpass) in downtown Baltimore.

The third picture is of the statue of Lafayette at the base of the Washington Monument of Baltimore, and the fourth photo is of the statue Major George Armistead at Ft McHenry - he was the one who commanded the fort when the Star Spangled Banner was written

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Favorite thing: The Baltimore Steam Packet Company (known locally as the Old Bay Line) carried people up and down the bay from 1840 to 1962. It ran primarily between Baltimore and Norfolk, although they also had trips to Annapolis, D.C. and Richmond at various times. My husband remembers that they would stop in Hampton at Old Point Comfort on the way to Norfolk. When it ceased operation in 1962 after 122 years of existence, it was the last surviving overnight steamship passenger service in the United States. One of the ships was famously re-named the S.S. Exodus and in 1947 Jewish refugees from Europe sailed her to Palestine in an unsuccessful attempt to emigrate.

Fondest memory: Our family took a trip down the bay in 1954. We had our new Ford station wagon loaded on the boat, and we left Baltimore in the evening, and got to Norfolk early the next morning. We went past Fort McHenry, and under the brand new (just finished in 1952) Chesapeake Bay Bridge (aka the William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge - photo 3). Of course in those days the bridge was a single span.

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Favorite thing: I just have to say that I really enjoyed the sight of families enjoying the Inner Harbour paddling their way around on the colorful DRAGON PADDLEBOATS. There were the bright green and red dragonboats and the bright purple and yellow paddleboats. I coudn't find out anything about them, so I don't know how much it was to rent them, but probably it was by the hour. What a great way to spend the afternoon.
Update: I have since found out that the price for the paddleboats is $10.00 for half an hour.

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Favorite thing: The crown Jewel of Baltimore the INNER HARBOUR is a scenic waterfront delight, the site of dozens of retail shops, restaurants and attractions such as the National Aquarium, Port Discovery, Maryland Science Center, the U.S.S. Constellation and Ed Kane's Water Taxis.

Favorite thing: Highly suggest using the E-Ticket order and pickup, there was no line at all and the few people that did pick up went straight in no wait. So guys if you are planning to take your lady here, be a hero and don't make her wait!

Favorite thing: This is the general admisssion ticket booth which does move pretty good, we were in line all the way back to the sidewalk and it took only about 20 to 25 minutes. There is always some thing coming over the loud speaker which helped to pass the time like bird calls, small animal noises or this guy telling you how fast the Will Call and E-Ticket lines are moving and there is no wait! Not sure about you but I was feelin' a little silly thinkin' why didn't I just order them while I was on the website?? but being a computer tech I only have myself to blame, lazy I guess. that will learn me. So take it from me you may want to order them on line, there doesn't seem to be a wait.

Favorite thing: There are two large cannons in front of the USS Constellation in the Inner Harbor. They're quite interesting, though there's not too much else to do around the area. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the two cannons here were originally used on the warship Constellation.

Favorite thing: Over the past few summers, the cityscape of Baltimore has been marked with giant plastic fish or crabs painted with a variety of designs -- e.g. a monk fish painted as if he were a Francisan friar. In 2005, the animal of choice was the crab, which is the seafood of choice in Baltimore due to the bounty (now rapidly diminishing) of the Chesepeake Bay.

Favorite thing: The Inner Harbour has a lot of the tourist attractions that are common to most cities, museums, aquariums etc. What's a little different about this one is that they have a kind of maritime museum, but its all afloat. An all day pass to all the attractions is $17.50 for an adult, and less for a child, a senior etc. To visit just the ships, minus the USS Constellation, its considerably less, $7.

Fondest memory: You have a bit more freedom to run than is common in most of these type of things. I visit quite a few because of the ex-sailor in me.

Favorite thing: Acetaminophen, sodium bicarbonate, and citric acid (a-seat-a-MIN-oh-fen, SOE-dee-um bi-KAR-boe-nate, and SI-trik AS-id) is a combination taken to relieve pain caused by heartburn, sour stomach, or acid indigestion. The acetaminophen is a pain reliever. The sodium bicarbonate is an antacid to neutralize stomach acid by combining with it to form a new substance that is not an acid. This medicine called Bromo Seltzer is available without a prescription.

Captain Isaac Emerson, the inventor of Bromo-Seltzer had this tower built at 312-318 West Lombard St. and South Paca St. next to his factory. The factory no longer exists.

Modeled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy the Bromo Seltzer tower has been a Baltimore landmark since 1911, although there are other buildings on the skyline that overshadow it now.

I don't remember it, but the tower was originally topped with a 51-foot revolving replica of the blue Bromo-Seltzer bottle, which was illuminated by 596 lights and could be seen from 20 miles away. The bottle had to be removed in 1936 (before my time) due to structural concerns.

The four clock faces are all still working and the face displays the word BROMO-SELTZER instead of numbers. The tower is not open to the public.