Baltimore is about one hour and ten minutes from Philadelphia by train, but on the day I was there it was ten degrees warmer. It was in fact, the nearest thing to Korean weather I've experienced outside of Korea. Baltimore is not high on my list of future places to live in other words.

Luckily, I didn't go to Baltimore to see Baltimore. I want to Baltimore to see Julie, (Hi Julie!) and to spend some time with an old college dorm-mate, Brian, and his fiance (Hey guys!)

Before we get to Baltimore, I have a question. My train stopped in Wilmington, Delaware on the way to Baltimore. Can I say I've been to Delaware now, even though I never even got off the train there? I suppose not. It's too bad, since you see, one of my goals in life is to visit each of the 50 states before I die. I'm up to 28, now that I've been to Maryland. Delaware could have been 29 if only I'd planned a layover of an hour or so. Who knows when I'll get the chance to visit Delaware again (or why I would want to)?

Anyway, Julie is a dear friend who is originally from North Carolina, but our paths first crossed when we worked together in Portland, Oregon before I ran away to join the circus, become an EFL teacher.We met downtown and went out to see some sights and stuff.

Other than reconnecting with friends, I had exactly one item on my Baltimore "to do" list. That is, visit the grave-site of Edgar Allen Poe. It's a very simple affair it turns out, in the corner of a church yard. Most people don't know this about me, but when I was about 13 years-old I memorized the poem The Raven for no particular reason. I remember it was summber and I was bored. I was a nerdy kid, what can I say? With some prompting I can still do it too. Maybe I'll brush up on it, just like I'm going to brush up on my French someday.

We drove around Baltimore and environs a bit and eventually made our way down to Fort McHenry. Although the view across the bay was beautiful, I was underwhelmed by the fact of being at the fort itself. I don't understand why. I've studied American history. I like American history. I think it's fascinating. But being here where the flag was that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the American national anthem failed to stir me. Maybe I'm more the type of person who, if I saw one of JFK's cuff links in a museums I would think it was a big deal, but the big, sweeping moments of the American Experience just don't do it for me. Who can tell?

We met up with Brian and Lorelei at a restaurant back at the Innter Harbor, where we partook of Maryland's other tourist attraction: crab meat. Several people told me if I came to Baltimore I had to try the crab cakes, and they were indeed delicious. At other tables, large groups were engaging in a barbaric ritual of tearing crabs limb from limb (from limb from limb from...) wacking the pieces with a wooden hammer and picking out the spare bits of crab meat with their bare, smelly fingers, then tossing the exoskeletal remains into a plastic bucket on the table.


Before sending Lorelei and Brian back down I-95, we had time for a few photographs.