We left Shepherdstown, WV on Monday, June 11th, heading for Baltimore.
My wife was attending a conference there. Being a schoolteacher, I was off for the summer, so I had tagged along. That's how I found myself in downtown Baltimore.
[I'm posting photos from Flickr to illustrate a few points in this story. If you look at photo hmh51, that's the view from our hotel room on Friday evening.]
The hotel was nice. Too nice.
We were staying on the 21st floor. Now, I'm not used to the whole concept of bellhops, valet parking, and a concierge desk. My family used to travel a lot, but I've always been much more comfortable staying at a Days Inn or Best Western. Staying at the hotel was one of those situations where I felt awkward, because it just wasn't my world.
That afternoon, I actually stuck to my plan and wrote some music. I'd brought along a jazz guitar and a "portable studio" (a Zoom PS-02 from back in the day).
The next day, my wife was scheduled to visit Congress. [She took some photos: hmh72 to hmh82 below.] While she was out, I did some shopping -- and passed another milestone.
I've been into photography since the early 80s. My first SLR was a Canon T70, and for the past 20-odd years, all I've used is film. My wife had a small digital camera, and I'd grown to like it; so the time came to do the big move and switch to digital.
Tuesday morning, I must have spent two hours in the camera shop, pestering the clerk with questions, reading specifications, comparing features and prices. What I ended up with was a Nikon D40x. I've been pretty happy with it so far, and as you'll see in the next few days, it can take some spectacular photographs.
In the afternoon, I let the batteries charge for the camera and left to explore Baltimore.
What can I say? It was touristy, expensive, hot, and crowded. I'm just not a big city fellow.
Wandering around downtown, I decided that I was changing the title of the movie I was in to Escape from Baltimore. In the next few days, I left and explored the countryside. I discovered a lot of interesting places, and I'll be taking you there with me (virtually, at least) over the next few days.
My wife was attending a conference there. Being a schoolteacher, I was off for the summer, so I had tagged along. That's how I found myself in downtown Baltimore.
[I'm posting photos from Flickr to illustrate a few points in this story. If you look at photo hmh51, that's the view from our hotel room on Friday evening.]
The hotel was nice. Too nice.
We were staying on the 21st floor. Now, I'm not used to the whole concept of bellhops, valet parking, and a concierge desk. My family used to travel a lot, but I've always been much more comfortable staying at a Days Inn or Best Western. Staying at the hotel was one of those situations where I felt awkward, because it just wasn't my world.
That afternoon, I actually stuck to my plan and wrote some music. I'd brought along a jazz guitar and a "portable studio" (a Zoom PS-02 from back in the day).
The next day, my wife was scheduled to visit Congress. [She took some photos: hmh72 to hmh82 below.] While she was out, I did some shopping -- and passed another milestone.
I've been into photography since the early 80s. My first SLR was a Canon T70, and for the past 20-odd years, all I've used is film. My wife had a small digital camera, and I'd grown to like it; so the time came to do the big move and switch to digital.
Tuesday morning, I must have spent two hours in the camera shop, pestering the clerk with questions, reading specifications, comparing features and prices. What I ended up with was a Nikon D40x. I've been pretty happy with it so far, and as you'll see in the next few days, it can take some spectacular photographs.
In the afternoon, I let the batteries charge for the camera and left to explore Baltimore.
What can I say? It was touristy, expensive, hot, and crowded. I'm just not a big city fellow.
Wandering around downtown, I decided that I was changing the title of the movie I was in to Escape from Baltimore. In the next few days, I left and explored the countryside. I discovered a lot of interesting places, and I'll be taking you there with me (virtually, at least) over the next few days.
hmh51
hmh72
hmh75
hmh78
hmh82
Comments:
edunn (June 23, 2007. 04:52am)
Beautiful photos!
bmccosar (June 23, 2007. 10:34am)
Thank you -- actually, looks like the weather did 90% of the work on the Capitol photos.