O say can you sea? Baltimore, MD.

Fun Maryland fact: the Star-Spangled Banner was written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, who had seen, first hand, the bombardment of Fort McHenry from a ship anchored in Baltimore’s harbor.

An active waterway for more than 300 years, Baltimore was once a key port for tobacco trade with England.

Exhale docked in the Baltimore Inner Harbor on Sunday 09/26 with a departure planned tomorrow, Monday, 10/4.  Why the long visit?? Trawlerfest Baltimore! A very popular east coast boat show. More about that farther down in this post.

Baltimore Public Works Museum

First, accompanied by Lit’l Houlegan, we toured the Baltimore waterfront before the boat show began. This historic gem was built in 1912; to my surprise, today the building is still an operating sewage pumping station.

Adjacent to the museum we found a tractor for Sam.

Scarlett Place

As we continued to walk along the waterfront we came upon this massive complex.

Built in 1987, Scarlett Place was cleverly designed to look like it sits on a hillside. The 18-story high structure includes 147 luxury condo-homes. No doubt, the owners have a spectacular view of the inner harbor. You will also find the Baltimore offices of Jellyfish.com on the ground floor. Now that’s a great place to work.

Supporting IATSE

Back at the boat, we think Maddie was standing in solidarity with Alisha, as she went on strike, demanded better working conditions, and tried to create a road block for the pending invasion from the Boat Show.

She also voiced her protest to Ray, who listened intently and then offered to increase her allotment of cookies, if she would please go back to work.

Maddie’s list of complaints included the heavy coat she had been forced to wear in the blazing heat of Baltimore.

It has been noted that Maddie did resemble a small stuffed bear.  What do you think, Bert and EJ? So, we finally found a groomer in Baltimore.  Mind you, the shop owner was a bit nutty, reminding me of Woody Allen and Gene Wilder, oh and Marty Feldman, that British guy with spastic eyeballs.  Thankfully the co-owner, Beverly, was a gentle and talented groomer.

Hello little princess – with fancy poodle boots! After a successful negotiation, Maddie looks young and spry once again; agreeing to return to work full-time. Mija – we are wishing you equal success

Baltimore Trawlerfest

The Baltimore Trawlerfest water show (think open house) began at 10 am on Thursday. The well publicized annual event is sponsored by Passage Maker.

In case you missed it, here’s a link to the article about Exhale in the April edition of PassageMaker.

We understand a total of 1100 tickets were sold, explaining the constant stream of visitors onboard! Thanks Caryl and Ray for helping us to prepare the boat and to manage the crowd on Thursday.

Hi Sandy! Thanks for joining us at the Baltimore boat show.

A little commercial break for two sweet seconds of fame. At the boat show we saw the October Soundings magazine. Wait, What??? To our delight we discovered Exhale on the cover, the photo was taken in Maine! Here’s the article!

Working at a boat show is not easy stuff, so we had to recruit the Maine lobster to lend a helping claw.

The Show was a VERY busy event. To our delight, several folks traveled a long distance just to see the first North Pacific euro style. We quickly learned brand awareness is growing, and the demand is strong.

We are proud to be a part of your growing North Pacific Yacht family.

Thanks Trevor, for all the great meals and laughter.

We close with a picture from my brother, taken from his driveway in Girdwood, AK. Yes, Mike and Susie Gillespie, that’s Mt. Alyeska, where we all stayed in 2015. Maddie Sue, if you were in AK you would have wanted that bear coat.

Milestones: Birthdays – October 1, Sam Straley; October 4, Mayor Scotty Harvey;

Next Up – the Solomon’s. 

Looking Ahead: We aim to be back in Fort Myers in time for Halloween, looking forward to the Wittman Drive block party.