DOUG ON THE GO

I called this entry "4 Hours in Baltimore" because I was stuck in Baltimore, Maryland yesterday morning for four hours.  At first I wasn't looking forward to being stuck there then I realized the airport isn't that far from the inner harbor.  So we landed in Baltimore about 7:30 AM and my flight didn't leave til 11:30 AM so that gave me a couple of hours to play with. 

 

Exiting the concourse, I followed the signs to the public transportation and it was there I found the light rail.  The light rail is a train system that runs through Baltimore, I guess you could call it a subway on top of the ground.  Very inexpensive and easy to use too.  Round trip ticket to the harbor and back was $2.60 and was purchased through and automated machine. 

 

The trains run about every 20 minute and the ride to Baltimore's Inner Harbor was 30 minutes. Luckily when I purchased my ticket there was a train waiting. 

 

When you get off on the Convention Center stop on the light rail you'll walk about 10 minutes and pretty much dead end into the harbor. Alongside the harbor is awesome. Plenty of dining, local art, cruise ships, tourist attractions and sky scrapers.  I checked out some of the historic battle ships and buildings then then headed back to the airport.  With this being my first time venturing out on my own, I didn't want to cut it too close.

 

The commute back to the airport took me 45 minutes.  The reason the train ride back took me so long is because I got on the wrong one and had to transfer at another station (totally my fault).  I got back to the airport with plenty of time to spare only to find that I left my boarding pass on the plane. So I had to go back to the check in counter and get a board pass reprinted (again, my fault).

 

If you have more than a couple hour layover in Baltimore, taking the light rail into the city is a cheap and affordable way to spend some time out of the airport.