More Baltimore

Yesterday was lousy weather, overcast & drizzling, so I loafed in the hotel. Used the gym, watched football and Nascar. Picked Loni up at the Convention Center and looked at the poster presentations. Loni got through her four hour presentation with flying colors, so she was de-stressed and ready to party. Fortunately, the Red Cross invited us (and 28 others) to a late dinner at at Ciao Bella in Little Italy. Great food, and they kept pouring the wine until I (yes, I) had to say no mas! Stuffed ourselves silly, and gathered a small group to walk back instead of cabbing it. The cold air felt good and the walk was needed after all that food. Only had a few panhandlers approach, but not aggressive. The harbor area is relatively compact (took us 15-20 minutes to walk to the hotel) and for the most part is well lit.

Today was still overcast but at least the rain stopped. I took in the "National Aquarium In Baltimore"(that's the official moniker) and it was pretty neat. You figure you've seen Monterey Aquarium, and nothing could beat it, but the NAIB had some very cool exhibits, especially a large section on the Amazon basin critters. I took a great shot of a frog and a snake, which I hope I can post with this. The frog looks unbelievably plastic or rubbery, but I saw its eyes move. I was just taking its picture when the snake appeared in the frame. My shots of fish all failed. I was trying to use only available light. The exposures were right, but the shutter speed got set really slow and all the moving fish are blurs. See sample. After that I did the Maritime Museum tour, which consists of three vessels tied up in the harbor: a Chesapeake lightship, a WW2 submarine, and a Coast Guard cutter that saw action at Pearl Harbour, Korea, and Vietnam (and then drug interdiction until decommissioned in 1986. Had a 50-year history. Being ex-Nav, I found this all fascinating, but it might not be everyone's cup of tea. Thought of going to Annapolis tomorrow, but the train-and-bus ride would take over two hours each way. Save it for our RV tour! OK, let's try the pics.

Augh! It seems I can't get a pic into the posts, I have to create separate posts. So, see the following.