Momument Lighting

You may or may not know that Baltimore has the ORIGINAL Washington Monument.  While DC's may be taller and more impressive, can you climb up it (no lines to visit) for a $1 donation?  Great views of the city from the top, but it's a one time occasion for me, as those 200+ stairs nearly killed my lazy ass.

Here's a gorgeous pic from Wikipedia:

Last night I wrapped up the drama of getting old housemate's stuff out and getting the bedroom spackled and vacuumed in time to make it out to a Baltimore event: the Lighting of the Monument.  I'm not one for standing around in the cold for parades and firework shows, but this was pretty awesome.  I grabbed a few friends and hit up a great pre-party at Live Baltimore's downtown office for free snacks and hot chocolate (and $1 for Flying Dog beers or to spike your hot cocoa), walked 3 blocks up to the Monument (collecting a free 7-11 reusable shopping bag along the way.  Who knew "the sev" was so community minded and green?), and got a great spot near the show.  Despite sound issues that left most of the crowd questioning "What are they saying?", and a stage not set high enough for mortals to see the dancing Santas and whatever else was up there (but the babies hoisted on shoulders looked like they would have a great view), it was an awesome show.  A bit TOO awesome, if you ask me.  Multiple color lasers? Check.  Extended firework show? Check. Creepy intense rock versions of Christmas songs?  Super weird.  Maybe it was our angle, but the music and the explosions felt more like the apocalypse than Christmas.  

Here are some choice "OMG they're blowing up the Monument!" pics, which are sadly from my iPhone, as I suck at toting my actual camera around:

The bluish strings of lights are the Holiday lights that warranted the ocassion.  Not too impressive, but the fact that they are LEDs are!

So much smoke!

Nice.

Hiked back towards downtown after the show for a Downtown Partnership after-party with wonderfully free wine and food.  The food buffet from Lebanese Taverna reminded me that I should eat there for dinner. (Hey, if these organizations/restaurants fed and boozed me for free, they totally get a shout-out on the blog.  Keep that in mind, businesses!)  Great night with new and old friends!

Busy weekend approaches.  Interviews for new housemates, holiday parties, and other fun stuff.

Baltimore weirdness

The last week of the hotel! (aka renting out the third bedroom to people on craigslist in exchange for money and my family in exchange for dinners) The little sis and her hubby are in town for a bit before flying out to China. Hmmm, what to do... Oh! An email from Facebook. The local bar is having live music, and a "Ratfishing Tournament." The premise? Catch a rat on a string from the local alleys. The heaviest one wins a free beer and the respect of millions. I read about this group in a super long City Paper article about rats (their group is called B.A.R.F. I wish I was making this up) and when I heard they were only blocks away, I had to see it in action. Who needs the typical Fells Point night out when you can sip a Blue Moon while chatting up guys slathering peanut butter on sticky traps tied to fishing poles who will sit at the edge of the alley and hope to reel in a fat one?

So after a nice dinner and the bottle of wine they brought me from Napa Valley, we wandered over and took in the action. There were newbies and people who have been fishing for years. The leader of BARF bragged that he had a conversation with the Mayor that went like:
"You need to stop these tournaments. It's bad publicity for the city."
"Okay, you take care of all the rats, and we'll stop fishin'."

Almost immediately, one was caught. 1 pound 5 oz. Here is evidence:


Justin got close enough to hold it, but as the photographer I kept my distance. Jess also stayed away, but got to try on the official rat hat. Very sexy.



After you see a rat on fishing line, what else is there to see?

Up for tomorrow: Farmers' Market, painting my room, and the premiere of Mad Men. Yippee!