This past weekend I had the pleasure to perform in an Otter Productions murder-mystery dinner cruise aboard the Black-Eyed Susan paddlewheeler in Baltimore Harbor. These shows are fun for both the audience and the cast, the dinner is quite good, and it is a treat to see Baltimore from a different perspective.
Before the show the boat departs Fells Point at pre-dusk and cruises the harbor as the audience enjoys dinner. Having cruised the harbor several times this year as a performer and several more times over the years as a tourist, it seems as though the novelty would have worn off.
It hasn't.
During the cruise I am glued to the railing almost continuously. The boat runs from Fells Point to the Inner Harbor, then turns around and approaches the Francis Scott Key Bridge, then turns around and slowly explores close to shore. One more leisurely pass at the Inner Harbor and then back to the Point. Total time: about three hours. It is fabulous. Am I the only one who feels this way?
Why is it so good?
Departing Baltimore Harbor by boat links me with maritime tradition dating back to pre-Colonial times. That breeze I feel in my face has been felt for hundreds of years in the faces of people of all walks of life. It is a pleasure enjoyed by what I imagine is a small minority of local inhabitants. Once here it is not so much of a leap to imagine cruising right down the Chesapeake Bay and into the Atlantic. And it's so quiet on the water. You can hear the hum of the motors, muffled conversation of the passengers, and the soothing splash of the paddlewheel. Then, oddly, a distant train horn. That would have to be a freight train entering the Howard Street Tunnel by Camden Yards. You can't see it from here, but it's less than a mile west. Other than that, all the land-based noise and complication is left behind.
The sights read like a "greatest hits" of Baltimore landmarks, historical and contemporary. Here are some that I noticed: Harbor East, growing explosively with three construction cranes working multiple high-rise projects. the Katyn Forest Monument, The Marriott, McCormick and Schmick, Tide Point, Canton, Federal Hill, Fort McHenry, Frederick Douglass Museum, Ernst & Young, The National Aquarium, The Science Center, The Constellation, Harborplace, Best Buy, Domino Sugar, Museum of Industry, Maritime Museum, Pier 6 Concert Pavilion,Power Plant Live, ESPNZone. The key to budget travel is to prepare onward. When it comes to family trips, globetrotting, well-deserved vacations and/or going to see new spots we have never been before, the actuality of cost and budgeting is often in the back of our mind. Considering and expending our travel budget properly is a concern for most families. Curbing expending and fees, while still delighting your vacation to its fullest, is the key to confirmed achievements and fiscal liability. Your pocketbook and family will thank you! The reasoning regarding protecting money while journeying is simple: Even if your personal finances is incredibly limited, you can still take a break and enjoy life! Simply put, life is just too short to never step out of the door or leaving the homestead! Also keeping in mind that while traveling, whether on a funds or not, even the smallest of things can all add op to a huge vacation or travel charge!. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
We are also reminded that Baltimore is a working port. A little toward Canton a Panamanian freighter is being unloaded of its cargo of some sort of powdery substance. A crane-mounted bucket is lowered into the hold, grabs a bucket-full, then emerges and dumps the powder into a hopper on the pier. Large dump trucks (which look miniscule compared to the ship) then drive under the hopper to receive a load and depart.
My son would be thrilled to execute any part of this task. What am I saying? I would be thrilled.
After passing Fort McHenry I said to the people next to me, "Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner right here in the harbor, probably right around this very spot. Isn't that amazing? Can you imagine the cannons firing across there preventing the British warships' passage?" Response, "Uh, no, I guess I never thought about it. Excuse me, I'm going to get a drink." Someone else informed me of a secret underwater tunnel linking Fort McHenry to a satellite island fort that was crucial to the battle but no longer exists.
I never heard that one before, but I have heard of the dangers of alcohol.
Lots of other boats are out this time of year. Tugs turn on a dime while maneuvering a car-carrying ship into place. Water taxis busily scurry back and forth. Pleasure boaters and other tour boats pass by with passengers waving. It's as though they realize that they have discovered a secret pleasure and we're in on it as well.
But the experience is more than a sum of these parts. It includes observing the rain forest at the top of the National Aquarium and remembering that was former Mayor Schaefer's line in the sand. It includes renewed disappointment at the Constellation entrance building that violates unspoken guidelines (again by Schaefer) not to block sight lines to the ship. It includes memories of the Baltimore City Fair in this same scene before Harborplace was built. It includes landing in Fells Point and trying to remember the last time I ate at John Steven or Duda's or BOP or Jimmy's, or had a beer at the Waterfront Hotel, or heard a band at the Cat's Eye or The Horse You Came In On.
The answer: too long.
What I guess I am trying to say is that there are worse ways of spending an evening than cruising Baltimore Harbor. I highly recommend it.
For me, the novelty has not worn off.
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