Glad to hear that Stewie
A Day in Annapolis, to Baltimore by???
With the symposium over participants scattered to the far corners of the earth. My friends headed off to Florida (fortunately they were only relying on red chevy as far as BWI), and the guy who beat me out for a job earlier this year headed back to his 60 hour weeks. A hard core of three of us assembled outside the hotel to await the shuttle to take us back to the academy and to the United States Naval Institute conference on 100 years of naval aviation.
This event was held in Alumni Hall, more specifically in Navy's basketball arena which can be subdivided so as to provide a large presentation space. The star attraction, and the reason I came, was a panel of three astronauts - Wendy Lawrence (who has more hours on the shuttle than anyone else), Charlie Bolden (NASA director) and Jim Lovell (he commanded some mission called Apollo 13). This panel was well worth the $20 I would have paid had I not been a student and therefore entitled to free entry, three genuinely inspiring speakers with a lot of fascinating insights into the space programme.
All geeked out I passed on the afternoon session, instead heading out into the city of Annapolis. I've seen other FTers suggest Annapolis as a good place for a day trip and i'd second that - it is a pretty city, easy to walk around, and has lots of historic buildings and good shops. You can also take a segway tour. As an added bonus I got to watch my football team Norwich City beat Bolton courtesy of Fox TV and the Middleton Tavern. Norwich got promoted to the premiership at the end of last season, we last visited in the 2004/5 season - we got promoted one year and relegated the next. Now you may be wondering why this is relevant? Well last time I went to America I also watched Norwich play premiership football - the club should pay me to emmigrate.
One of the attractions of the Doubletree was the free shuttle bus. Turns out it wasn't such a great perk. Earlier in the day there had been no driver and so the hotel had to provide us with a taxi to the academy. Now when I tried ringing the hotel to ask for a pick up my phone decided it wasn't going to play - perfectly happy to call my parents a few thousand miles away but a hotel a few miles away? No chance. Not the hotel's fault but still bloody annoying.
Forcing my aching feet into action I set off in search of a taxi. Normally i'd try the local railway station but Annapolis doesn't have one. So I decided to try Main Street instead and there I found taxis. The taxi driver turned out to be from Pakistan but with a brother who lives in London. When I said I had to get to Baltimore the following day but I wasn't sure how, he kindly gave me his card and quoted me $50-60.
Back at the hotel I began to review my plans for getting to Baltimore. Plan A involved the number 14 bus and the Baltimore light rail. Plan B? Well I didn't actually have a plan B but I suspected it involved the smell of melting credit card... I went down to the front desk to ask about the bus. The staff didn't think it existed. Then they denied that a commuter bus could possibly run on Sundays. The only good news was that the terminus named on the bus timetable was within hotel shuttle range. I decided i'd attempt to catch the bus and, if that failed, I'd have to get a taxi. Which, with my phone on strike, and the bus stop rather a long way from hotel or city centre; looked like it might be rather interesting.
Sunday morning found me boarding the hotel shuttle complete with luggage and map. With this aid the driver was able to find the bus stop, which consisted of a post with a sign on top featuring a picture of a bus and the number 14 - not the most obvious bus stop ever. I waved by to the shuttle driver and waited for the bus which arrived slightly late. The journey to the outskirts of Baltimore was supposed to cost $1.60 - ridiculously cheap for an hour long journey. It actually cost nothing, presumably the money collecting apparatus was broken.
The bus wasn't particularly comfortable but it was adequate for the trip - clean and well maintained, and had lots of space for luggage. The driver seemed friendly enough and I felt pretty safe aboard although I wouldn't fancy it late at night. Maryland transit seems to be pretty well organised - the bus dropped us at Glenburnie light rail station and there was a train waiting to leave for Baltimore. We were able to biy tickets and board quite leisurely, the train left about ten minutes after the bus arrived.
Baltimore light rail was quite impressive: the ticket machines are easy to use, the trains are in good condition and they seem to be quite frequent. I felt very safe aboard, my only concerns would be the relatively limited luggage stowage and the steep steps - I wouldn't want to travel on these trains with lots of heavy luggage, especially during the rush hour. Otherwise a safe and reliable service, i'd have no qualms with relying on it to get me to BWI (I don't ever have huge amounts of heavy luggage!).
My hotel in Baltimore was the Days Inn Inner Harbour, less than five minutes walk from the Convention Centre light rail stop. This was by far the cheapest hotel I could find in the Inner Harbour area and I was quite impressed. It's handy for lots of things without being next to anything, the staff are reasonably friendly and efficient, and there was a good range of facilities. My sixth floor room was clean and comfortable and well equipped with a safe, fridge and microwave. My major complaint was that the lighting was poor - you couldn't work in there so I wouldn't use it for a business trip. It was also a bit lacking in space and not very stylish.
Conference Panel of Astronauts
Scenes of Annapolis
Baltimore light rail
The view from the hotel corridor, sadly my room overlooked a multi-storey carpark
