Walking Baltimore, Maryland

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Walking

Walking with the Walrus

Baltimore MD USA - 10 KM VOLKSMARCH
Saturday, October 11, 1998

by Kevin Shaw

So sorry for my absence on posting walking events in the region of late. I have been busy with other things and have not unfortunately done much walking the past several months. But I aim to change that, and certainly this past weekend's outstanding event in Baltimore will help get me started. The Baltimore Walking Club sponsored their annual Oktoberfest volksmarch out of the Fifth Regiment Armory just north of downtown Baltimore on both Saturday and Sunday, October 10-11, 1998. AVA Walking Events in Maryland

It was a cool day for some, but for me close to ideal walking weather, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 60s, and an occasional stiff breeze to chill you off. I met my long time volksmarching friend Marty Brumback at the start point in the early afternoon. We were walkers 262 and 263 for the day; I believe they got about 280 for the entire day. Marty had already partially signed me up; I just signed the waiver and was ready to go after a brief restroom stop inside the armory. Hundreds of fest participants were already partying it up inside the hall, with the great live German music playing and plenty of great food and beverage prominent. All the more reason to get moving on the walk to get back and enjoy this great entertainment.

The 1 rated trail wound down to the Inner Harbor and back on city streets and sidewalks. We had written directions which for the most part adequately described the route, with a few rough spots at the beginning in the vicinity of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, home of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. We headed towards downtown on Charles St till we got to the George Washington Monument, where we were supposed to turn on Monument St.. We were probably talking when we passed the street sign, and hence missed that turn, so we just took another street to the left to get one block over to St Paul St. There were a few hills here, along with a few homeless in need of some change. We passed Mercy Hospital, the start point for the Downtown Baltimore Year Round event.

Crossing and turning on several streets, we passed the Baltimore Convention Center on our way to Camden Yards, where the Orioles play. We passed between Camden Yards and the new Baltimore Ravens Football stadium, then turned towards the just finished facility where the Ravens play, including this Sunday. They were setting up Beer Gardens and Hospitality party areas for the pre-game, under street ramps and along the outside perimeter of the stadium itself. Our first checkpoint was a question about what gate we saw as we approached the Stadium. We partially circumvented the stadium until we reached Ostend Ave, then proceeded up and down the ramp/bridge into older residential and light industrial neighborhoods just east of the Football Stadium.

We stopped at Jay's Restaurant for a few pizza slices and some refreshing sodas. We then approached the Federal Hill area, climbing gradually on Warren till we reached the top at Henry St. What a view! We saw this big schooner out in the harbor, several other boats, a unique revolving apparatus at the invention museum just below us on the waterfront. The Maryland Science Center also loomed below us in a more westerly direction. There was a staffed checkpoint here, by Lynette Regan; we were running pretty late so she was in the final steps of tear down of the checkpoint. She said she would catch up with us at the finish.

Climbing down a long set of stairs, we then proceeded into part of the "Inner Harbor" area, so famous of the "new Baltimore" that has been the model for many other inner city renovations since Baltimore did theirs a few years back. Day cruise ships were in the water waiting for their next trip, and many hundreds of people were walking to and fro throughout the Inner Harbor. A big hit for Marty and I to see was the recently established Automated weather observation site on the grounds of the Maryland Science Center. A fenced in small area housed the instrumentation for the recording of daily weather statistics, officially recording the downtown Baltimore readings for the National Weather Service. We were impressed!

Lots of restaurants lined our route a bit further down into the Inner Harbor, and at this small amphitheater next to Planet Hollywood, a juggler was entertaining hundreds of people. He was juggling a toilet plunger, an axe, and an apple. He even took a bite out of the apple while juggling these implements! Quite an impressive demonstration that we all enjoyed briefly.

We exited this crowded area and back onto the city streets, heading towards the finish, but on a slightly different set of streets than the ones we used earlier. We passed the Baltimore Sun offices (a Baltimore daily newspaper) among many other downtown buildings of various sizes and functions.

Eventually we worked our way over to Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and then crossed the Light Rail by Howard St, then uphill to the Armory and the finish. Lynette was waiting for us as promised, stamping our books and giving us tickets for entry into the Oktoberfest.

We used the facilities again, then got something to drink and found a place to sit. The great German music was playing, people were dancing, lots of great merriment and eating! We found a few volksmarchers partying, including Sue Filopovits from Australia, partying with several from the Freestate Club. Sue even sold me a patch from her newly formed club in New South Wales, a first volksmarch club from the land "down-under".

It was great to see all the volksmarchers again, and great to get back out on the trail with Marty. Marty convinced me to leave the pooches at home, figuring the crowds would make it tough on them to get around safely. I ran into a few people with pooches who were looking for my crew, but not very many. I promise to get them out on the trail soon; they are getting out of shape just like I am I bet! Thanks so much to Lynette and the Baltimore Walking Club for hosting this great event again this year; that new Ravens stadium sure makes a different city skyline now, and this year's new trail may become part of the downtown year round trail soon.