Inner Harbor Highlights [#7]

If Chincoteague was a regular season win, Baltimore took a playoff game.

Rolling into town, we weren’t entirely sure what a holiday weekend in the Inner Harbor would look like. After a week in the land of small town boardwalks and beaches, we didn’t exactly have high hopes for the big city. But following an afternoon spent walking along the waterfront, dining outside at one of several dog-friendly restaurants, and gazing longingly at super yachts, we could tell you exactly what three days in Baltimore looked like.

It looked like awesome.

A giant pirate ship, Pearl Harbor’s last surviving Coast Guard vessel, fun little paddle boats, a massive aquarium, an eager line up of enough dockside restaurants to please every palate, and even a feeble attempt at a dog park ranked among the highlights.

Granted, we were back to eating out and bleeding money, but it seemed so worth it.

As we walked ate our way through the Inner Harbor, John and I were grateful we’d used our week in Delaware to re-establish some workout routines. Learning how to act like you’re not on vacation when all signs tell you you are on vacation, is an odd, but apparently necessary, life skill for Boat Dream implementation — at least the version that doesn’t require buying bigger pants, which is most definitely the one we hope we’re signed up for.

If we ever achieve even moderate proficiency in this arena, it will be a Christmas miracle.

But we’re putting forth a solid(ish) effort and, aside from (regularly) ordering a beer and margarita with lunch, we’re improving not getting worse.

With our boat paperwork submitted, there’s a fighting chance we might be only days away from moving aboard the Ruby Vi. We know the real work begins the moment we do: scrubbing and fixing and replacing and organizing (and unloading that UHaul trailer that’s still loaded with what remains of our possessions).

We also have to figure out how to transform a 19-year-old 50′ catamaran into a space that feels like home.

Specifically, a home that can safely transport us across oceans and comfortably welcome visitors at any given moment, in any given port.

For the moment, we’ll ride out whatever we have left our transition time, enjoy AC on command and cable TV and long hot showers,

and ponder what the next phase of this journey has in store for us.