Geocaching in Baltimore, Maryland

Geocaching in Baltimore - a travelogue. Located in the US state of Maryland, Baltimore is visited by many tourists en route from New York to Washington. According to the Internet, Baltimore has the highest crime rate in the United States.

Baltimore has a long history as a port city and Fort McHenry is credited with being the birthplace of the US national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Geocaching in Baltimore - the caches

There are many caches to be found in the metropolitan area of Baltimore - also many Tradis. This time we are particularly looking at the Virtual Time Will not Dim… (GCGCRG), the Multi Aquarium Floating Island v2 (GC66ZJM) and the Multi Enoch Pratt Library (GC1J5VZ).

We started at the Inner Harbor with the Aquarium Cache. At first we have tomatoes on our eyes and can't find any help on Station 1. However, reading the hint helps. Once we had found the "object", the questions were quite easy to answer. We had a little room for interpretation on one question, but that didn't matter so much for the next set of coordinates. So we also arrived safely at the very close Station 2 and found our answers. A short discussion between mother and son on how to define reptiles, but ultimately not an important decision for the cache. A short time later you smile at the "impudence" of station 3 and only a few seconds later you make your way to the final. Classic hiding place, well and safely protected and even offers space for trackebals. We take the opportunity and cast off right away…. We are happy to decorate the logbook with our stamp and even my companion plans to log this cache again. It was beautiful, it was harmonious, it was fun!

Next, we interrupt our cache walk and visit the Pratt Street Power Plant - an amazing building. More on that under Sights.

Then we make our way to the virtual "Time Will Not Dim...", GCGCRG, from 2008. We shoot a few panoramic photos, write down the information for the cache and take photos again. After a short break we continue towards the baseball stadium.

Even if we still found some Tradis in the city or sometimes didn't find them, we still want to describe a (short) multi to you.

On our way to the Washington memorial we pass near the multi "Enoch Pratt Library". We scan the listing and want to play it. We have had good experiences with caches in libraries. As expected, we couldn't find the first station of the cache either. Is already described in the listing that this is often the case here. As also described in the cache description, we enter the imposing building of the library. There is a major construction site here right now, the entry barriers hold us back for a moment, but then we gather our courage and go through. A servant sits in the hallway who doesn't understand our request for a geocache. We briefly explain something about the library and she sends us towards the elevators. We drive upstairs and stand in front of the library. A kind of book return is set up in flight. Again, we kindly ask if anything is known of a geocache. Surprised looks and shaking of heads. We're sent down the hall to the Humanity Books room. We enter the high room full of books with its unique atmosphere. To the right of the entrance two gentlemen at the PC. The first shakes his head in response to our question and points to the significantly younger man next to him, who had already stood up. He gave us a box from a shelf and we were able to log the cache. In a public building, this was the first time I had to ask three different people in three different places about the cache. Nevertheless, it was totally worthwhile to have seen this building from the inside.

Geocaching in Baltimore - Sights

A special attraction, where you can also visit some caches, is the Inner Harbor, the centerpiece for recreation and fun in Baltimore. It's also home to the Civil War era warship USS Constellation and the National Aquarium, home to thousands of marine life. If we had had more time and if the 40 USD entrance fee per person hadn't put us off a bit, we would certainly have visited the aquarium. It is said to be a non-profit organization, which explains the $40 entry fee even less. It would certainly have been worth a visit, we only treated ourselves to the associated cache and a look through the window.

Very close by we find the Pratt Street Power Plant building. To be honest, as a Hard Rock Cafe, we noticed it from afar. Although the actual Hard Rock Cafe appears to be in the building next door, the guitar on one of the chimneys is visible from afar. We get closer for a photo. And we find an insane building that is presented to us as a Power Plant from 1900-2000. Today it houses Barnes & Noble - there is no stopping my companion at this bookshop. We visit an American bookstore…. While he gets more interested in books, I marvel at the large hearths that become chimneys at the top. The former coal plant was conveniently located by the sea. The coal came on ships and was converted into energy here. With the really exquisite, very comfortable, old-fashioned and lovingly furnished bookshop, it is used wonderfully today. We spend some time here in the shop, there is also a cafe on the 1st floor and people are sitting in all the niches and corners reading to themselves. There was really something here! Definitely worth a visit, even if you don't want to buy an English-language book.

On the way to the virtual we walk through the streets of Baltimore and admire many brick houses, each with its own flair. Every resident has something on the stairs, a planter on the sidewalk or even Christmas decorations. Everything looks very peaceful.

We are getting closer and closer to the stadium and a few minutes later we are in front of the M&T Bank Stadtion. Yes, well, a stadium…. The flags and signs point us to the Ravens, we've heard that before. Two large figures in front of the stadium indicate football and baseball as sports. We walk the Ravens Walk and have fun with the garbage cans, all decorated with helmets. Suddenly the type of helmet changes, we stand in front of the virtual and see that our path later leads to the baseball stadium. The Ravens Walk connects the two stadiums. Since today is clearly not a match day, we all have the opportunity to take a look at the stadium. Bigger than expected... It was nice to have been here, again a place we would certainly never have seen without a geocache.

As with our first visit to the city, we visit the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place again. We save ourselves the climb for 6 USD - you can only take pictures out of windows at the top.

Fort McHenry is always worth a visit. We know it from our last visit, it offers not only very well prepared military history but also simply a beautiful area to go for a walk.

And of course, there is much more to see, a zoo, a wax figure cabinet, etc. The well-known search engines will help here.

Geocaching in Baltimore - Crime Rate

We didn't notice anything about the very high crime rate in Baltimore. A high police presence can be felt and seen everywhere. Rather annoying for one or the other cache search if the police car is in the immediate vicinity. The brutality of the Baltimore police described in the press cannot be seen here. We behave inconspicuously, sometimes kneel under benches - and are not even noticed. We know the statistic is for outskirts of Baltimore. We don't even get to the Sandtown district. We feel safe in the city center at all times, aren't spoken to, and aren't offered any drugs. A clean, well-guarded city in the area of downtown and tourist routes.