Beautiful Bawlmer

      A number of their acquaintances told Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. that a day trip to Rehoboth Beach on a golden Saturday in September would be foolish in the extreme so they have postponed that outing until some as yet unselected weekday later in the fall.  Apparently the traffic woes of  the Delaware beaches, including the gridlock-prone Bay Bridge, are infinitely worse than those of the Outer Banks at this stage of their development. Proximity to the D.C.-Baltimore colossus is not an unalloyed blessing except for over-the-top monstrosities like Ocean City which welcomes all comers.
      So they used their sunny Saturday for further exploration, on foot, of another of  Baltimore's charming neighborhoods called Canton which was once a bustling waterfront hub of all kinds of manufacturing including shipbuilding, canning and beer-brewing.  Like so many of Charm City's waterfront neighborhoods it has metamorphosed into a fairly upscale residential area whose residents have found proximity to the water to be an irresistible drawing card. Forty years ago one could buy a decent house in Canton for practically nothing but not any more as the pictures suggest.

            Click on the pictures to make them larger.

Many of Canton's old warehouses and factories have been expensively recycled into lavish apartments and condos with magnificent views of the Outer Harbor.  Fort McHenry is directly across the river from Canton. Downtown Baltimore can be seen in the distance, reachable by water taxi or bus or bicycle in only a few minutes.

Wealthy Cantonese can park their boats right in the front yard.  Isn't that nice?

The boatless enjoy another form of recreation on the waterfront---fishing for perch and bluefish as well as crabbing.  This brick promenade continues along the waterfront for eight miles, all the way to downtown.

The cute little sailboat in the center foreground was visiting from New Bern, N.C.  last Saturday.

This historical marker in O'Donnell Square offers a thumbnail sketch of the town.  It was also the home of the American Can Company which produced zillions of cans well into the 20th century,  many of which were used to can Chesapeake Bay oysters, when Chesapeake Bay still had oysters.

Captain John O'Donnell lords it over his eponymous square in the heart of Canton.  He named the town for his favorite port in China whence he imported very profitable goods.  George Washington was one of his favorite customers.  The square is surrounded with well-preserved old rowhouses, many of which have been converted into funky saloons and upscale restaurants.

These modern rowhouses try to imitate the charm of the warehouse conversions and to a great extent succeed.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, work continues on the new JHU library.  Today was dirt removal day with two frontloaders and a couple of mechanical shovels loading a steady stream of dumptrucks.  Uncle Jack could watch this stuff all day.