So, I’m in Baltimore. Yay! It’s actually a cool town (so far). The public transit is AMAZING. I spent a whole day just wandering around,
getting my bearings. I’ll blog
separately about my adventures in public transit (never a boring minute). But, let me tell you about where the stellar
housing folks at my agency have bunked me.
Getting here was an adventure. My GPS took me through downtown Baltimore to get here. I’m not entirely sure that was necessary. I think she (the snooty, overly cheerful voice that tells me where to go) was having a go at me, frankly.
Once I was out of downtown, though, and headed north-ish, I drove through some rather alarming looking little areas (really, about the same as the area where I grew up, y’know…ghetto). But then I drove into a wooded area with older, large houses nestled on hills and then I saw a little “village” (that’s what the sign said). It’s a grouping of little shops and a tavern near the light rail station. As I turned up the hill, I was taken by how beautiful the neighborhood was. Then I pulled into the apartment complex itself.
It’s definitely been here a while. I’m guessing it was the hot, new place to live when disco was all the rage. Still, the grounds seem well maintained. There’s a tennis court, a pool with a hot tub, a gym a nature trail, parks for kids, parks for dogs…It’s pretty cool.
The apartment itself is really adorable. It’s a subfloor unit. My bedroom reminds me of Laverne & Shirley, looking up at the sidewalk outside. I want Lenny & Squiggy to come down the stairs. The living room/dining area and kitchen are “downstairs” from the bedroom. It feels very roomy. I also have sliding glass doors out to a little patio that opens to a grassy hill and the nature trail. It’s absolutely perfect.
Once I got the car unloaded and about halfway through unpacking, I decided I needed to eat. I used my handy dandy GPS and this time the snooty voice took me directly to where I’d wanted to go. I had dinner (and a Blue Moon draft!) at a tony little tavern that had a fairly limited, but appealing menu. I had grilled salmon over kale and a half a tomato stuffed with feta cheese. It. Was. So. Good. I think the kale must have been marinated in butter and wonderfulness for days prior to cooking it. Greens were never so delectable.
Then I walked to the Whole Foods (aptly nick-named “whole paycheck” by my friends) that is the closest grocer and got supplies for my breakfast then sauntered back up the hill.
On the way, I initially had the absurd idea that I was a Disney princess, the sound of the babbling brook that ran along the road was accompanied by birdsong that was cheerful to the point of parody. But this sound was broken by what at first sounded like some large machine, a metal stamp of some sort. Then I realized it was sort of rhythmic. Oh, drums! I realized that there was a garage band somewhere up the hill to my left and I eventually identified the tune as “Call me Maybe”. Then it blended into Saio’s “Dynomite”. I’d moved from a Disney movie to the soundtrack of some sort of 2010’s version of “Grease”. Found myself singing along and dancing up the hill back to my very cute apartment where I finished unpacking, made up my bed, took a long bath and fell asleep in my Laverne & Shirley bedroom.
Getting here was an adventure. My GPS took me through downtown Baltimore to get here. I’m not entirely sure that was necessary. I think she (the snooty, overly cheerful voice that tells me where to go) was having a go at me, frankly.
Once I was out of downtown, though, and headed north-ish, I drove through some rather alarming looking little areas (really, about the same as the area where I grew up, y’know…ghetto). But then I drove into a wooded area with older, large houses nestled on hills and then I saw a little “village” (that’s what the sign said). It’s a grouping of little shops and a tavern near the light rail station. As I turned up the hill, I was taken by how beautiful the neighborhood was. Then I pulled into the apartment complex itself.
It’s definitely been here a while. I’m guessing it was the hot, new place to live when disco was all the rage. Still, the grounds seem well maintained. There’s a tennis court, a pool with a hot tub, a gym a nature trail, parks for kids, parks for dogs…It’s pretty cool.
The apartment itself is really adorable. It’s a subfloor unit. My bedroom reminds me of Laverne & Shirley, looking up at the sidewalk outside. I want Lenny & Squiggy to come down the stairs. The living room/dining area and kitchen are “downstairs” from the bedroom. It feels very roomy. I also have sliding glass doors out to a little patio that opens to a grassy hill and the nature trail. It’s absolutely perfect.
Once I got the car unloaded and about halfway through unpacking, I decided I needed to eat. I used my handy dandy GPS and this time the snooty voice took me directly to where I’d wanted to go. I had dinner (and a Blue Moon draft!) at a tony little tavern that had a fairly limited, but appealing menu. I had grilled salmon over kale and a half a tomato stuffed with feta cheese. It. Was. So. Good. I think the kale must have been marinated in butter and wonderfulness for days prior to cooking it. Greens were never so delectable.
Then I walked to the Whole Foods (aptly nick-named “whole paycheck” by my friends) that is the closest grocer and got supplies for my breakfast then sauntered back up the hill.
On the way, I initially had the absurd idea that I was a Disney princess, the sound of the babbling brook that ran along the road was accompanied by birdsong that was cheerful to the point of parody. But this sound was broken by what at first sounded like some large machine, a metal stamp of some sort. Then I realized it was sort of rhythmic. Oh, drums! I realized that there was a garage band somewhere up the hill to my left and I eventually identified the tune as “Call me Maybe”. Then it blended into Saio’s “Dynomite”. I’d moved from a Disney movie to the soundtrack of some sort of 2010’s version of “Grease”. Found myself singing along and dancing up the hill back to my very cute apartment where I finished unpacking, made up my bed, took a long bath and fell asleep in my Laverne & Shirley bedroom.
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