![\"baltimore](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/baltimore-md-geotags.png?resize=640%2C374&ssl=1\")
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All from a recent, three-day three-night trip to Baltimore, whereupon I finally took my bike along with me for the first time ever, allowing me to cover much greater distances than I ever could on foot or by public transit (or at least, where and when I wanted to go where I wanted to). I covered around 14-17 miles\/day, and snapped plenty of shots along the way – this blog is that journey as photostream.<\/p>\n
So here we go…<\/p>\n
At a downtown under-overpass parking facility many of the octagon pylons are decorated in murals – as they should be, putting art and public art wherever it can be:<\/p>\n
![\"DSC00198\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/DSC00198.jpg?ssl=1\" "\\"DSC00198\\"")
<\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\nAll throughout the city are big, beautiful, murals-on-walls. They’ve always been there but there’s more and more of them in recent years, with some truly special trompe l’oeil<\/a> impressions:<\/p>\n The Pagoda in Patterson Park<\/a> is a special something you don’t often have the opportunity to go inside and scale – the day I was there it was open to the public, the first time in 5 years I’ve been in Baltimore at Patterson in the Summer and it’s been accessible.<\/p>\n It’s absolutely worth waiting in line for and scaling to the top, if not only for the remarkable interior architecture and info-panels strewn about, but also for the remarkable vistas and views from a few stories up:<\/p>\n Looking southeast towards Brewers Hill.<\/p><\/div>\n A panorama of downtown can be caught.<\/p><\/div>\n A panorama in vertical orientation is always a fun challenge, but it made sense because of the Pagoda’s design, accompanied by the crowd below.<\/p><\/div>\n There are maps in many forms all throughout the city, especially classic, historical maps:<\/p>\n One of Charm City’s other nicknames is Monument City, which wouldn’t be appropriate without a sprinkling of monuments pretty much wherever you go, from giant stone-and-metal men to just giant slabs of stone with something carved in relief, to folky mermaids suspended on the sides of buildings:<\/p>\n I stumbled into a community arts space that had some wicked art up on the walls, including these quite strange and wonderful plaster painted sculptures, among many paintings:<\/p>\n The Lord Baltimore Hotel have these Google Image Search results prints throughout the building – not just the lobby, but every floor and corridor:<\/p>\n The graves at Westminster Hall include Edgar Allan Poe’s tomb, complete with a black rose on the day I visited – and this “owl’s illustrated eye view” map is really wonderful rendition of the site:<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n
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