Category Archives: Guided Tour

Where we paid for someone to guide us.

Tour of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis

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The security guard said the last tour of the day was just beginning, so we rushed into the visitor’s center to get tickets. We passed a group that was standing near the entrance; an older gentleman was introducing himself, so we figured that was our group and they’d already started.

It looked like there was a film that showed every few minutes and a small museum in the visitor’s center, but we obviously didn’t have time watch the film or to look around. Tickets were $18 for adults and $16 for ages 5 – 17. The man at the register tried to charge Keith for an adult ticket. When we said he was a student he said “Oh, here for a college tour?” When we said he was only 13, he looked disbelieving.

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Tour of Congress, Washington DC

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Thursday, Sept 25 — Several weeks ago, we’d booked tickets to take a tour of Congress for today at 1020. The confirmation had said to arrive at least a half-hour early for the security screening. Since ride shares were so much faster and easier than the free shuttle or Metro, we hailed a ride share and were dropped off in the east side of the building near the Visitor’s Center entrance at 0945. Much to our surprise, the entrance was underground.

When we arrived, there were only a few people in the line to enter the building. But within one minute, a large group of high school students arrived, and the line was suddenly very long. Talk about perfect timing! We were through the security check within a few minutes. Once waved through, we had no idea which way to go. Someone asked us if we were there for a tour. When we said yes, he directed us to take an escalator up to the next level.

We came to a large room dotted with statues. Each statue had the name of a state on it. We later found out it was called The Emancipation Hall.

The guy to the right was Edward Douglas White of Louisiana, who was a lawyer, state legislator, US Senator and Chief Justice of US Supreme Court.
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The Museum of Industry in Baltimore, Maryland — Part 2

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Next we went into another large room that was set up to look like a clothing manufacturing facility. Baltimore was also a hub for clothing manufacturing. Our tour guide showed us the revolutionary technology of the era that made mass-produced clothing possible — a device that simultaneously cut many pieces of cloth stacked together instead of cutting one piece at a time. Coupled with an assembly line sewing process, where each woman on the line sewed a particular piece of the garment and then passed it on to another who would sew her particular piece, ready-to-wear clothes could be quickly produced. The machines were loud and deafness was a problem for the workers.

Next we went to a section that was designed to look like a belt-driven machine shop from 1910. Baltimore had also once been a hub for fabricating parts and tools for various industries. Most of the machines were connected via belt to a rod that ran along the ceiling. The rod rotated, moving the belt and powering the machine. The rod was rotated by a steam engine in the corner.

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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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