Author Archives: Eric

The Museum of Industry in Baltimore, Maryland — Part 1

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Wednesday, August 26 — We spent the morning getting ready for our trip to San Diego. By the early afternoon, we were feeling like everything was as ready as could be. We decided to go to the Museum of Industry, which focused specifically on the manufacturing industries of Baltimore that “modernized the nation.”

We drove through downtown to the south side of the peninsula that made up the inner harbor. The museum was on the waterfront in a building that was clearly a refurbished old industrial building. Parking was free in the attached lot.

Tickets were $15 for adults and $8 for children 6 – 17. The receptionist told us a free guided tour was about to begin highlighting the black people who were significant in Baltimore’s history. We generally enjoy guided tours, so we signed up.

We waited in a small movie theater near the entrance that was showing a film about Linotype machines, which was the most revolutionary change to printing since Gutenberg invented the printing press circa 1440. The machine was invented in Baltimore by a German immigrant between 1882 and 1884. Instead of setting each individual letter by hand, one could type a single line of text and the machine 3-D printed the line from molten lead. The lines were then hand set into the printing press. The discarded lines of tin were reinserted into the machine for melting. The Linotype was rendered obsolete by laser printers.

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The Washington Memorial in Baltimore, MD

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Tuesday, August 25 — We were heading back to San Diego soon, so we spent the morning and early afternoon doing chores and getting things ready to go. Keith also continued tightening screws around the boat. Eric ran the engines.

In the mid-afternoon, we wanted to go out, but nothing sounded good. There were still a few museums on the “to do” list, but none of us felt like going to a museum. We finally agreed on the Washington Memorial solely because we wanted to walk around, and we liked the idea of seeing the historic “wealthy” part of town. When we arrived, we were kind of surprised to see the Washington Memorial was in a roundabout in the middle of an intersection.

We found street parking easily just south of the monument. Here the meter was only $2.50 per hour, also with a four-hour limit. Each of the four streets feeding into the intersection had a park in their median. The monument plus the four parks together was called Mt. Vernon Place. Here were some shots of the park that we walked through on our approach to the monument.

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The Wharf in Washington DC

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continued… At this point, we were all hungry. Eric checked the map app and saw there was nothing other than snack stands in close walking distance. We continued on the loop, which became muddy and overgrown.

Near where we’d parked, the walking trail had been a little uneven, indicating that the sea wall had settled. Near the George Mason Memorial, the walking trail had actually been fenced off, with construction equipment behind the fence. A sign had said that the Tidal Basin and Potomac parks were created in the 1880s as part of a land reclamation project. The sea wall had deteriorated, and they were in the process of restoring the wall. There were quite a few geese on this side.

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The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC

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continued… Next, we crossed a footbridge over to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Memorial. We apparently were doing the loop backwards, as we entered through the exit. Eric had been before, but Christi and Keith had not. Christi had been expecting a single structure. She was not prepared for how extensive it was.

The section we entered into was called Room 4 and covered Roosevelt’s fourth term in office. It definitely wasn’t a room in the sense that it was enclosed. The “rooms” were separated by artistic sculptures. The sign said the goal was to create the feeling of a secluded garden with quiet alcoves.

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Keith’s Perspective on Our Second Week in Baltimore/Le point de vue de Keith sur notre deuxième semaine à Baltimore

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This week has been fun. On Saturday, we went to a tower where they made musket balls during the war with our friends from the Bahamas, Parabola, but it was closed. Instead we went to museum about the American flag. After the museum, we went to lunch at a really weird, but good brunch restaurant. After lunch, they came back to the boat and we played board games. 

Cette semaine était amusante. Samedi nous sommes allés voir une tour où il créaient des balles de mousquet pendant le guerre avec nos amis des Bahamas, Parabola, mais c’était fermé. À la place nous sommes allés à un musée sur le drapeau Américain. Après le musée nous avons mangé à un, très étrange, mais très bon restaurant. Après le déjeuner, nous sommes retournés au bateau et avons joué à des jeux. 

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