Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my first job out of college was in a bank, but I’ve always though that it would be fun to live in an old bank. This building, located in northern Baltimore County, reads, “First National Bank” above its entryway. However, it’s clearly a residence as the family living there was coming out the door as I was standing there taking a picture.
This picture must seem a bit odd. What you are looking at is a fountain. This one, at the Gaylord National (I didn’t name it) Hotel in the National Harbor complex in Prince Georges County. What’s unique are these bubbles which are timed to rise from the bottom of the fountain in a particular sequence. Here you can see the fist bubbles on the left hand side rising to join their compatriots on the right hand side.
Zooming out, you can see the right to left progression below.
This is Strong Mansion, which is located on Sugarloaf Mountain. The house, like the town of Stronghold at the foot of the mountain, was named after Gordon Strong who owned the mountain at the begining of the 20th century. It seems odd for one person to own a mountain, but it is somewhat common. (While not owned by a person, the summit of Backbone Mountain, the highest point in MD is owned by a coal company.)
As a follow up to last week’s farm picture, here’s a shot of the Carroll County Farm Museum. Unfortunately it was closed when I went, so this is as good as it gets for now, but MDP will be back there soon.
On vacation MDP came across this early 1860’s poster containing a political cartoon. Printed prior to the start of the civil war, the cartoon featured the bald eagle representing the country sitting on a nest of eggs representing the states. Each of the southern states was assigned an animal with the negative characteristics of that state hatching from a shell. Here you can see the snake coming out of South Carolina. Right there in the middle, unable to hatch but changed on the inside, is the “bad egg.”
Unlike the block featured in Wednesday’s post, the area just south of there is bursting at the seems. Businesses are rapidly moving from what used to be the heart of the commercial district in Baltimore, near Charles St. to the eastern edge of the inner Harbor. The new waterfront headquarters of Legg Mason (or if you are my mother you would pronounce it leg maison) is the perfect example. In their move to the east side, the company leaves vacant most of the floors of the city’s tallest building. I’m not trying to blame them for doing it, or say that change is bad (in an area revitalized by change it’s hard to say it is a bad thing), but the trend is obvious and it makes one wonder what the fate of the “business district” will be.
In October, people flock to the countryside to pick up pumpkins from the patch. It’s a time when people remember how much of the state is actually occupied by farmland, either for cows, crops or horses. This isn’t a pumpkin farm, but it’s a nice picture. I especially like the cows lying down in the top left, a sign of poor weather to come.
I like this shot of East Baltimore becasue it makes the City look like nothing has happened in the last 60 years. To the north is the ever growing Hopkins hospital complex and to the south is the growing fells point/harbor east area. All around this block, buildings were razed decades ago to make room for public housing. However, right on this block, a mile from downtown, little has changed.
Pictured here is the official flag of the City of Annapolis. The motto translated into english is, “I have lived free and will die free,” or “I have lived free and will die so.” The crown represents Queen Anne, for whom the town is named. The flowers represent the royal families of the time, the Tudors and the Stuarts.
Of course I found this on a sailboat, as I am convinced you can find almost any flag you desire flying from at least one mast in Annapolis.
This shot was taken right next to Joe Cannon stadium, just a church at sunset. I promise I’ll stop with these sunset pictures, and get back to deeper topics on Maryland culture and history very soon.