Baltimore

We are spending the summer in Baltimore so that: a) Austin can intern for Johns Hopkins Hospital and gorge himslef on Orioles games b) Ainsleigh can further refine her oceanography skills at the aquarium c) Tracy can learn to stop complaining about the lack of storage in our house back in NC d) Ripken can spend his first summer 5 blocks from where his name-sake used to play, not get too used to sleeping at the end of our quiet cul-de-sac, and start his travels early. So, since we've left our NC friends and family, I thought I'd start a blog to share our adventures and pictures. Hopefully I can post at least once a week, so check back in to see what we're up to, where we've traveled, and what outrageous things Ainsleigh has said lately. Today upon arrival she said "I want to go to Baltimore." Austin said, "We're in Baltimore." Ainsleigh: "Where are the fish?" Austin: "We'll see the fish tomorrow." Ainsleigh: "I want to go home." :0

The Digs
We're subletting a row house that's divided into 3 apartments. Ours is half on the second, half on the third floor. I've yet to take a picture of the front, because I think the people sitting out on their stoops would find this quite odd, and I'd rather not draw any extra attention to ourselves. But it's safe enough & nice enough. Mid-morning on the first day we were playing in the family room (which is on the second floor) and Ainsleigh said "I hear that thunder." Tracy: "Ainsleigh, that's not thunder, that's the traffic."

Here's where we're living (click for full-size and to zoom in).

Here are some pictures of the inside.

Family room, kitchen through the back


Kitchen (the stove is about 18" wide)


Crazy staircase with a ledge half-way up with washer/dryer and 1/2 bath. If one of us doesn't walk off the edge of this and fall down the rest of the staircase it will be a minor miracle. Even fearless Ainsleigh calls them the "big scary steps" and won't go down without someone holding her hand.


Office, which we're using as Ainsleigh's bedroom.


Our bedroom


Pluses: Big enough, safe enough, close to everything, washer dryer, dishwasher, off-street parking
Minuses: Crazy stairs, micro-stove/oven, surrounded by pavement

Day One
We went to the aquarium this morning. It's a 30 minute walk from our front door to theirs. Ainsleigh was most excited about the sharks, sting rays, touch tank, bubble cylinders, and dolphin show. We plan on going once a week.

We also went to an Orioles game (vs. Boston) later that evening. It's a 5 minute walk to the stadium (even Tracy had to admit that's pretty cool). Ainsleigh's 2 new discoveries were the "charge!" cheer (post-bugle riff), and opening & eating shelled peanuts (which has a substantial time required-to-entertainment provided ratio). It was a good game, and Ainsleigh was doing well, so we stayed until the end of the 10th inning. Things were headed south after that, so it's good we left then (the O's went on to lose in 13).



Day Two
Search for green space. Went to Druid Hill Park (745 acre park and home of the Baltimore Zoo). Found a nice playground and some swings. After all of this, we decided to finally find a grocery store. Hopefully Ainsleigh won't expect us to keep up with this rate of entertainment!