I have often walked down this street before...

I have often walked down this street before...click to listen.

I know this song should be reserved for my husband but I tend to sing it on the way home from work. I love this street, I love this city and live for My Fair Lady, so enjoy the music.

Downtown has so many visual treats.

This is the building where the Police Station was filmed in the Wire. We are just now getting around to watching that series and are addicted. Seriously it is an amazing show. I am the biggest scardy cat and feel very safe in Baltimore. Don't let the show make you feel like you can't come here to visit. You can. Every city in America has a drug problem. We just had a brilliant guy decide to write about it beautifully. 

On February 7, 1904 the Baltimore fire ravaged downtown. When you go north on Charles you can see where the fire stopped. Right here. See where the street narrows? That is the oldest part of the street. The wider part of the street is the newer section.

All the buildings south of this spot are post 1904. Modern.

 
 All the buildings north are pre-1904.

The fire started in a warehouse and the high winds made it spread fast. Fire fighters from all over the East Coast were called to help. When the trucks arrived the hose nozzles were not compatible with the Baltimore fire hydrants. It is because of this fact that every fire hydrant is now standardized with the same nozzle size. Only twleve buildings survived the fire and it stopped to the east just short of Little Italy. There is a festival celebrating this miracle every June.

This is the old Masonic Building that now houses the Tremont Grand hotel. It is magnificent inside and just went under a multi-million dollar renovation. They have a Rembrandt in their board room.

I love this architecture.

And this building is across the street from the pretty old red one. Makes me want to sing the Oh We Oh song from the Wizard of Oz. Kinda scary. But I like the contrast of old and new on the same street. Would not want to work in a building without windows. I think it is a Verizon building.

Sotto Sopra is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It is a great lunch spot for entertaining clients. Read this in the Sun today (jump to the Right to Left section). The owner is a rock star. What a smart way to make something positive out of such an ignorant situation.

 

This is the first monument to George Washington by fifty years. They call this area Mt. Vernon.

There are very cute boys, with cuter dogs in this part of town. 

 

The monument was built in the "outskirts" of the city. They built it far away from the other buildings because they really didn't know if it would fall over or not when they built it. No one wanted to live near it at first.  If you take yourself back two centuries the area would have been wooded with a huge estate called Belvedere owned by Col. John Eager Howard.

I've seen movies being shot at least three times in the last three years while driving home here on the circle.

I adore this photo. I literally held my hand up through the sun roof and clicked the button. This is the Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church. It was built in 1872. There is a connection to Francis Scott Key's daughter at this site. Key's wife was a Tayloe so sistercousin and I are related to Baltimore's most famous son. How fun is that?

 

The Maryland Club on Eager.

I'm very thankful for having a history professor father. I have been collecting Baltimore maps, tour guides and have enjoyed getting to know the rich history of this city. When I told Daddy I went to Defenders Day last year he said casually, "You know Francis Scott Key married a Tayloe." Never knew that before I moved here.

If you are interested in a fun read about Baltimore, pick up this book.