Inner Harbor...

After our fun-filled (and exhausting) day and night in Washington D.C., Steve and I decided to make the drive back to Baltimore. Our flight home the next day left at about 2:30pm, and we figured if we were already there, we might have a little time to do some sight seeing before we had to head to the airport. The drive from D.C. to Baltimore was only about an hour, but it felt like forever... I was exhausted!! I kept fighting to stay awake so that I could make sure Steve was staying awake, but it was so hard. He kept seeing me do the head bob, so he told me to just lean back and go to sleep... so I did. We got to the hotel around 1:30am and immediatly hit the hay so that we could get up and play the next morning.

The hotel we stayed in was in what's knows as the "Inner Harbor" area of Baltimore. It's basically a historical seaport that has been developed into quite an attraction. We'd read that there were restaurants and shops galore, hisitoical sights to see, and even an aquarium (which I really wanted to see!!), so it sounded like fun. We were up and out of our hotel at about 9:00am to see what we could find.

Steve and I walked about two blocks and were right at the tip of the harbor. It was absolutely beautiful! I could have taken pictures forever! Everywhere we looked there were shops to go in and things to see. We knew we were short on time, but didn't really know where to begin!

We saw a couple of really cool old ships sitting out in the harbor, so we decided to check those out. I thought we would just be able to take a few pictures and maybe read a little history about them. Little did I know we could actually tour them. We decided to get tickets and check them out. The two ships we toured were the Chesapeake and the USS Torske.

The first thing I noticed when we stepped on board the Chesapeake was the smell... The next thing I noticed was the motion of the boat. The two mixed together were a little hard for me to handle at first. I really didn't like the feeling. Steve suggested that I not stand still and he said to not stay focused on one thing. I really did seem to help if I kept moving and after a few minutes I was fine.

The USS Torske was fun because it was a submarine. I've always thought that it might be kindof fun to spend a couple of days on a submarine... but after being on this one, I changed my mind. I was trying to keep in mind that not all submarines are as small as the USS Torske is, but I could not believe how cramped it was! Just waking around without smacking into something was a challenge. There were dials, switches, levers, knobs, and handles EVERYWHERE!! Somehow... in the middle of all of those... they managed to squeeze in beds, bathrooms, a kitchen, and a dining area. It really was a sight to see. I've never really considered myself to be a claustrophobic person, but being on this submarine was testing my limits. It was really cool to read the history of the ships, look at old photographs, and to experience a tiny bit of what it was like to be on them. I don't think I ever would've lasted long on one of those things!

After touring the ships, we looked at the time and both decided that it would probably be a better decision to skip the aquarium. I was a little disappointed, but tickets were $28 a piece and we wouldn't have had much to enjoy it. Instead, we decided that we'd try to find some lunch and if we had enough time, hit some shops!!

For lunch, we had a hard time deciding what to eat. We'd heard about the amazing seafood in the area, but we were running short on time and didn't really have time for a long, sit-down lunch. So instead, we found a great burger place called Five Guys. They are actually known for having the best burgers in Baltimore and anyone who knows me knows that I am not one to pass up a good burger. They were SOOOO good! I wish I could've bought a few extra to bring home with me.

After eating lunch, we stopped at a couple of the shops that were in the shopping center there to pick up a few souvenirs and then we headed back to our car to head to the airport. On the way to the airport, Steve and I decided that this was definitely a place we wanted to come back to sometime soon. There was just to much to see and do... We need more time there!