Here’s a shot of the ballroom that’s for rent in savage mills. It’s a suprisingly nice place. Being located in an old textile mill the room has retained a lot of the original architectural elements. I really liked the dark light fixtures in an otherwise white washed room. I’ve included a link below to a larger version of the picture which I think looks a bit cooler. 
October, 2008
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Oct 08
Savage Ball Room
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Oct 08
Delay
Today’s post was delayed by accident. Thanks to all the regular visitors who let me know something was wrong. My entire schedule was thrown off today as yesterday was my last day of work at my old job. However, to commemorate my resignation, I’m posting a picture taken at dusk from the parking garage of my OLD office and hoping that I will never need to work that hard ever again.
When I worked in PG county I posted a lot of pictures from there. When I worked in Baltimore, I posted pictures from there. So now you will all be graced with extra pictures from scenic Howard county. I guess that is something to look forward to, right?
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Oct 08
Marathon 2
Here’s another picture from the Baltimore Running Festival, this time its the start of the Half Marathon. As you can see there were thousands of people. This is only a third of the people waiting to begin.
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Oct 08
Columbus Day
When I worked at a Bank we got every holiday imaginable off. In addition, (or subtraction, or perhaps addition by subtraction) we would never have to work on the Saturday before a Monday holiday. When I worked for a retailer, every Monday holiday became the most important business day(s) of the quarter. Now I don’t work in a retailer, so I expected to have the day off. However, I was wrong and apparently I’m not the only one who didn’t have the day off.
In Baltimore there was minimal signage for sales or celebrations or anything to do with Columbus. I finally found a sign of the holiday (fortunately close to the office) at the Columbus statue across from the public works museum. There was a parade through part of town on Sunday, but this seems to be all that remained on Monday.
Of course, I know about the controversy surrounding Columbus, and I’m not trying to take an opinion on it (like this guy) but I just found it a bit odd to see such a lack of activity on a day when I expected people to be milling around.
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Oct 08
Baltimore Running Festival
The Baltimore running festival was held on this past Saturday. It included many different races such as a full marathon, half marathon, 5 k, a full marathon relay, and a kids run. While the course went as far north as Lake Montebello and as far south as Fort McHenry, it ended in the space between the Raven’s stadium and Oriole Park. I perched myself just before the entrance to Camden Yards and saw most of the runners just before they finished. I think these two girls win the guady Maryland attire award in their crab outfits, but I like the picture in general with the Bromo Seltzer tower, and that woman in a Flacco jersey. It just sort of all came together here.
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Oct 08
Otterbein
The Otterbein neighborhood of Baltimore takes its name from this building, the old Otterbein church. Famous not only for being the cheapest purveyor of bags of peanuts before ball games, but for being the oldest church in the city. It was built in 1785.
Its neighborhood is also unique as it was Baltimore’s first successful homesteading project, not of the 1800′s but of the 1970′s. As the neighborhood became downtrodden, it was earmarked for destruction due to its close proximity to the inner harbor, but the homesteading program was sought as a option to revitalize the neighborhood without minimal public funding and hopefully with more community interest in its success. More than 100 homes were offered to homesteaders for one dollar in a lottery. Today the neighborhood is doing quite well, though the fate of one of its largest spaces, the federal reserve branch in Baltimore, is yet to be determined.
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Oct 08
Montpelier, not that one
It’s been a while since I visted a historic home. So the other day on the way home from work I decided I’d knock one out. This is Montpelier, in Prince George’s County. It was built by Major General Thomas Snowden (as in the river parkway) and his wife Ann Ridgely (as in the middle school). It is considered one of the greatest examples of Georgian architecture in the state. Situated at a high elevation the house itself is supposed to offer great views. I couldn’t go in since it was dusk and tours were not being offered at that time. So I took a picture of the house itself. The grounds surrounding the home are very well kept and are home to (big suprise) many deer who come out at nightfall. The mansion, like many of its breheren is kept in such good condition by the revenues it generates as a faciliy for parties/wedding/etc. There is also a relatively new arts center on the grounds.
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Oct 08
Silver Spring Train Station
A few years back, the Silver Spring B&O station was lovingly rebuilt by members of the community of Silver Spring. It is not the first station on this site, but is still an important piece of the area’s history. It was built in 1945, served as a B&O station, and Amtrak station, and as a MARC commuter rail station.
I like this picture because the large building behind it is just one of the many that have been built and are being built around that area. When communities are growing and are finding more wealth and progressing forward, it’s good to see that people can care enough to set aside some pieces of history like Acorn Park and like this station, so that we can enjoy the (in this case moderately) old as well as the new.
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Oct 08
Acorn Park
This is the top of a giant Acorn. Not a real acorn from a really large tree, but a fake acorn atop a gazebo in Silver Spring. Why an Acorn? Well I don’t know that. But the park in which is resides and which is named after the gazebo has another unique feature to it…. the actual Silver Spring. Though many people want to call it Silver Springs, there is actually only one spring. Either way, the story goes: when Francis Preston Blair was riding out of DC with his daughter, she fell off her horse and saw a beautiful spring. (those who have seen the PBS history of Silver Spring documentary have seen a historical reinactment of this event) The spring looked shiny like it had silver in it. Blair became so enfatuated with the location, he made it is summer home two years later. The acorn shaped Gazebo was installed by blair as something in which he and his family could sit and enjoy the view of the nearby spring. Here’s a shot of the full gazebo: acorn-cropped.jpg
