Stem to Stern.

Luckily the incident previously mentioned could not have been timed better. I was headed to Fredericksburg, Virginia to meet my folks and then head to Harrisonburg to meet with the family for thanksgiving. So my old man brought me an old backpack and sleeping bag and some changes of clothes. So I am back at it! I am in Jessup, Maryland waiting for the weekend lull to end so I can catch a ride south to Florida and then a flight to Puerto Rico.

Yesterday a took the light rail into Baltimore on a tip from Tony the janitor at TA. I spent the day in the inner harbor. I traveled here before many, many times with my folks when I was a kid. So I knew my way around pretty well. I met the author of a book titled "Lexington Market." She and the guy with her recommended I visit it. He said you can buy seafood for dirt cheap. So I left to walk around some more and I spotted a Coast Guard ship in the Harbour that was open to tour. I approached it and the girl checking admission asked if I had a ticket. I said no but offered her a dollar to see it. She refused my offer so I walked back down the gang plank. Wishing I could get on board the Tanney (this is actually a picture of it in Baltimore Inner Harbor) I waited for a large group and dashed up the plank and to the right and ducked into one of the doors.

It had a distinct odor, very common in old military and aviation equipment. The first sight of the interior was at once over whelming and mysterious. The ceiling was unsurprisingly low and the corridors narrow. There were bundles of zero gauge cable, tiny alarm lights, and pipes everywhere. Everything was labeled and had a purpose which was truly impressive. There was definitely a distinct style to the ship. I spent my first moments aboard the old cutter in one of the seats next to the bridge. I felt as though I was commanding an assault on Baltimore. I was high up, alone, and behind the 5"/38 caliber gun wearing my crazy parka, cold wind blowing, so it was an easy fantasy to have. I headed back down, not ready to depart from my "special discount" tour I went back in side the ship this time down the ladder into the crew quarters. Again very tight but not suffocating like submarines. The bunks where too short for me, and I had a tough time figuring how little stuff I could fit in my assigned locker.

I found the mess hall and it was getting really eerie. It felt like it could be home but it was a ship. I also felt like I was invading someones personal space, like it was sacred ground not be tread on. Although I don't think this feeling was related to the cheap admission. It was more that this was manned by a lot of men whom I believe now are all dead. I kept on walking deeper into her hull. I found the engine room and was completed enthralled with how they had driven two propellers with relatively thin shafts attached to massive engines which now lay silent. I realized at once how loud these would be if they were operational. I tried to go further but the next segment was directly beneath the admissions girl. So I back tracked.

I noticed that Engineering was a small office located directly adjacent to the two engines. I pitied the souls confined to that small hot loud space. I saw a gold E////O painted which according to a placard was not an award but a fifth consecutive for efficiency and operational readiness. Perhaps why I was standing aboard the sole survivor of pearl harbor. I kept back and re-entered the mess hall and this time I found the boiler room. Perhaps the most intense and eerie room of the whole vessel. A small tube running vertically with Coca-cola/Pepsi painted was according to a sign the "only exit from the boiler room during an emergency or fire." I saw the uniforms of the crew and they all seemed like tiny men to me.

I visited the armory to the 5"/38 gun. There were dozens of shells neatly arranged around a slot. The room was appropriately lit with crimson lights and was adjacent to a bathroom. I saw the barber shop and also the armory for the ship with a few .50 caliber armaments and shell cans. I went topside once more before departing. I spotted the crows nest and wished I could get to the stern but the ticket girl would surely spot me. I gave the Taney one last look and departed down the gang plank the same way I entered behind a bunch of Scandinavians.

Once again on leave from the Taney I headed for the fabled Lexington Market. It was a good hike back to downtown. Upon arriving my senses were again overwhelmed. I started stumbling around inside, kind of in awe of the variation from vendor to vendor. I found a Hawaiian place and got some shrimp for $2. I liked them so much I went back and got the shrimp dinner for $4. It included mashed yams and sweet beef noodles in addition to the tasty breaded shrimp. I made my way back to catch the light rail back south just in time to make it back and enjoy my meal. I don't know how "Hawaiian" the food was but it was delicious. It was a damn fine day.