22nd September 2017 - Friday

Today was our trip to Baltimore, it was looking a bit more cloudy which was a it of a relief after yesterday. We left early to get to Union station for our train which was at 9am. Kathryn had picked our hotel well as it was just around the corner from the station and about a 5 minute walk.

Once we got to the station, even around 20 minutes before departure, a long line had formed for the train. However, we were still able to board easily and get a pair of seats together. The journey was quite short to Baltimore, about 40 minutes in total.

We went straight from the platform to the main station it was immediately clear we were on Baltimore as The Wire had used this as a location for filming. After a quick photo was snapped we jumped in a yellow taxi waiting outside. Our first top was the National Aquarium which was about a mile or so downtown at the harbour.

We got our tickets without having to queue. The inside seemed fairly dark for an aquarium. There was a huge waterfall at the main enterance, creating a refreshing spray over your skin.

The first section of the aquarium had a large open air tank at the bottom with fish in, and then elevators crossing it taking you up over several floors. Each floor had a section in containing a variety of different tanks in. Mainly focusing on North Atlantic and North American habitats.

On the very top floor was an Amazonian section which included a walk-trhough aviary with some birds, sloth and small monkeys in too.

After this was a huge marine take with a circular descending ramp with gave some great perspectives of the tank. Underneath this was a huge shark tank, which was dimly lit to give more atmosphere.

The second main part of the aquarium was a dolphin sanctuary and a jellyfish exhibition. We stopped for a brief snack and walked around these bits. The final part was an Australian themed area.

We decided to leave, and get our hands stamped so we could return. Rather oddly, there was a book festival on and so we viewed a market area with lots of stalls. We grabbed some lunch off a food cart and watched a marching band perform as we ate.

There was a big skyscraper on the harbour with a viewing floor which we visited next. It was on the 27^th floor and gave great views of the city.

We then descended and tried to find a few more filming locations from The Wire. This included a trip to city hall and also a diner. We stopped for brief refreshments before returning to the aquarium. Our train was at 7pm so we had a bit more time before we grabbed dinner on the harbour.

A nice lady at the observation deck had told us we could ride a free bus up to the station to get back. Once back at the station, the train was delayed by about half an hour so we had to wait in the station. Finally we got back to Washington and went back to the hotel to finish the day.