Hilary Booth... of course!

I happen to be exploring the Fountain Pen Network where I came across a post about my favorite pen store:

We regret to announce that Baltimore Pen Limited, trading as Bertram's Inkwell, in downtown Baltimore will be closing its doors on March 31, 2008 after 15 years in business. Thank you to all our customers and friends who have supported us over the years. Bertram's Inkwell will remain open at its location in White Flint Mall in Rockville, Maryland. Bertramsinkwell.com will continue to be online providing our large selection of pens, refills and accessories.

At least I found it that one time. And they won't completely disappear. I just won't have an excuse to stop by when I'm in town.

Happy birthday confettiofstars! We celebrated it in high style on Saturday evening with darthblitzkrieg and their friend in Baltimore. On a previous trip, I'd wandered around Little Italy, but I didn't know enough about the restaurants to choose something. Dinner was at Della Notte with its very Romanesque ambience with columns, marble busts, and immense tree in the center of the main dining room. No, I'm not kidding.

However, if you wanted real authentic Baltimore and its unique local color, you went over to Vaccaro's for dessert. The place has been around since 1956 and it's the perfect after dinner stop. If you're used to a short list of desserts, your mouth will drop when you see two pages worth, not counting all the drinkables. I almost wish I drank coffee, because it seemed like just the place for a little cup of espresso/cappuccino. You can scan the pastry shelves to see what looks yummy. (Just about everything, I might add!)

Now I've grown used to people adding nuts to my chocolate cake. I like mine plain, thank you very much. I know I'm odd. It's just a thing. So when I spotted the Chocolate Cannoli Cake, I was prepared to be disappointed. Actually, no, that version didn't have any nuts, just heavenly cannoli cream sandwiched with devil's food cake. The vanilla version had almonds all around the edges, but the chocolate one used chocolate chips instead. Cake excuses much. *pleased little sigh*

Baltimore wasn't quite done having fun with us. Our nearest neighbors were chatting about politics. From what little I heard, I knew somehow confettiofstars would get involved. I didn't want anyone to ruin her birthday. Fortunately it turned into a good-natured little interaction, rather than fisticuffs. They didn't mind Republicans, as long as they were Green ones. The two of them were a riot. Now all of us assumed they were married. Until they were ready to leave and she sorta apologized for him saying before she left -- "I could never be married to someone like him". That dumbfounded all of us. Never let it be said that visiting Baltimore isn't without its moments.

I had a great time. I came home way way too late. I do wish that some of good feeling had trickled over to my sports teams. Alabama lost to flipping La-Monroe. For this we wanted Saban? And those scowls and dejected sighs you heard in a DC elevator Monday morning? Were all the Redskins fans after losing yet another close game, this one to our hated rivals the Cowboys. Ironically DC is where you'll find a fair number of Cowboy fans. At least someone will be happy this morning.

I'm home. My train was actually later than I thought. None of Amtrak's computers were working, so I couldn't change it if I wanted to.

As promised, I've uploaded the few good photos from last year's dreadful batch of Baltimore trip photos. I don't know whether the focus was that bad or what, but I've never seen such a bad group of photos before. If you're at familiar with the series "Homicide: Life on the Street", you'll know this building: Recreation Pier at Fell's Point. The Pier served as police headquarters throughout the series. Only thing it isn't actually a police building, even though there is a nice door that reads "Baltimore Police" you can still see to this day. While I took pictures of the entrance, the actual signage is not visible. I tried. Sorry.

As I mentioned in my old entry, I remembered the building when I was casting the Euclid Ballroom in my Nano "Alter Egos". I had gone past it in my original trip to Baltimore. Because I hadn't seen "Homicide" at that point, I didn't take much notice of it, except the useful location by the docks. Lt Giardello (Yaphet Kotto) mentioned offhand that headquarters spent some time as a ballroom in its glory days. And so I created the Euclid mostly out of whole cloth, if a bit fannish and a little faded.

The other Baltimore photos are here. I'm hoping to get the next group processed over lunch, if I can finish off the roll. I'm not even going to bother with the disk. Kodak's software is a pain in the tuchus to work with.

Eplans - lovely resource of floor plans and house styles for all your needs, including plotting that locked room mystery or Victorian ghost story.

"In David Simon's version of Dante's Inferno, Hell is played by Baltimore and all seven of the deadly sins are doing just fine, thanks.": I came across this article on HBO's "The Wire" while in the Power Plant B&N while I was in Baltimore. I picked up the EW for the Project Runway article to read with my bagel. Since I seem to stick so many of my books in Charm City, it was a catchy quote, I scribbled it down and then I read the byline. (Don't tell my mother I quoted him. She'll lord it over me for months.)

Having a decent time in Baltimore. It's shaping up to be a very different trip in some ways. The weather is muggy and overcast and threatens thunderstorms all weekend. The hotel room can't decide it's just freezing cold or humid or both for amusement. So while I did some general shopping, I didn't really do much, except stare at a few of my favorite architectural buildings. Only I would have a love affair with an art deco bank building. I hope to have pictures eventually. I still think "Alter Egos" should open with a scene on its heights, but I haven't been able to write it properly. On the other hand, I came across a lovely book I should look more closely at soonish, talking about the postwar era Baltimore streetcar system. I had been asking myself how people got around Baltimore, especially before the water taxi system. Obviously I didn't remember "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" very well.

For those fans of overdue_comic, merhawk has created unshelvedreader for those who want to talk about the strip. As long as you don't talk about the book club... 'cause... there's a rule, y'know?

Charming weather today. Mixture of snow and sleet. Nothing stuck, but you needed to be careful on some of the sidewalks.

Travel Channel ran a lovely documentary on Baltimore as part of their "Once and Future City" series. Fascinating fodder for "Where or When". Apparently I wasn't far off from making it a happening place during the Jazz Age.