Baltimore! Baltimore? Baltimore!

We're headed out on our winter holiday for this year.  We'll be traveling via the Carnival Pride through a partial transit of the Panama Canal.  This is a trip that Andrew has wanted to do for years.  We've actually booked it a couple of times and then cancelled for various reasons so I'm happy to report that we're finally going to make it.

The ship leaves from Baltimore, Maryland.  Yes, Baltimore, Maryland.  We always fly in a day early because you just never know with Minnesota weather and flights.  In addition, Cowboy & Peanut had to go to Kindred Spirits on the 31st, due to the holiday, so we decided to have two nights in Baltimore instead of one.   The weather was gorgeous on January 1st!  50 degrees F (10 degrees Celsius) and sunny so we were able to do one of our favorite things, which is get out and explore a new city on foot.  

Bromoseltzer Tower - the view from our hotel window

Washington Monument - the oldest public monument to Washington in the country

Washington from another, less flattering view.

Beautiful old church in the Mount Vernon neighborhood.  This iPhone pic doesn't do it justice - the varying colors of the slate tiles were amazing.  

Statue of George Peabody in a park.  The plaque reads that he is the father of philanthropy.  We got a giggle out of the fact that someone had given him a real beard.    

Baltimore Harbor

With brick & mortar bookstores closing all over the world, it was exciting to see this monster still standing proud.