Charm City History

A week ago today we drove our island girl back to Baltimore. Last glimpse of Fort Gorges for awhile.

After the traditional stop at Holy Donuts for road fuel, we made it to St. James Court in about 9.5 hours. Whew! It was looking very Ivy League outside her bedroom window.

Marty and I checked in at Hotel Revival. We stayed here in it’s previous incarnation when we brought Daisy to begin freshman year. It seems like the blink of an eye, but this is SENIOR YEAR. Yup. The hotel had closed the last two years for a major facelift under new ownership.

We delighted in the contemporary art installed throughout. This piece is all vintage book covers, with incredibly seamless craft evident in leather tangents. Sorry I am unable to find credit for the maker.

This mural on the stairwell is an eclectic homage to Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs.

Each one is a surprising mix of elements. Love the cheerleader mandala here. School spirit!

Beaming in the lobby is swell signage for any MICA student.

We headed up to Topside, loud but lively, with a panoramic view of the city and the nearby Washington Monument.

We headed over to Mount Vernon Place in the morning. What a glorious spot to hang out! Daisy has navigated all over town on the Charm City Circulator, free as a bird.

This is my only sketch during the trip, of the monument commemorating Washington’s resignation as General of the US Army to become President.

I could have drawn all day, there are so many incredible statues in the shady park that descends for several blocks.

Love the squirting turtle here.

We picked up Daisy for lunch at a favorite spot, the Paper Moon Diner, where every plastic toy has found a joyful purpose, and you can get the sea salt caramel milkshake of your dreams.

I mean, literally, every surface is eye candy; even the ladies’ room has a PEZ collection for miles.

Look, the salty parents pose outside the diner.

Photo by Daisy Braun

Daisy brought us to a surprise place she discovered.

Wow! The George Peabody Library is an impressive chamber of knowledge.

This non-circulating library is open to the public, and Daisy has found a haven there for her studies.

After an afternoon of errands, we celebrated a new semester with Daisy’s roommate, the talented Ellie MacInnes. We dined at Cosima, where Executive Chef Donna Crivello stopped by to chat. She and Marty once shared a desk at the Boston Globe in another life.

The food was stellar as always, and the company shines bright!

The next morning we ventured into a history museum a few doors away from Daisy and Ellie’s apartment, the Lillian Carroll Jackson Museum of Civil Rights.

Lillian was born in 1889, and as a young girl delivered fresh laundry to the front door, where she was rebuked by the white woman who answered the door. Blacks were only allowed in the back door. She proudly declared that someday she would own this house, and in 1953, she did. Lillian became the President of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP in 1935, and grew the membership so much that Baltimore became the largest chapter in the country. Her advocacy and collaboration with Thurgood Marshall advanced significant legislation for civil rights.

I thought the dress on display was her wedding dress, but it was the dress Lillian wore upon graduating from a black high school, a rarity at the time. Our docent, Sky Malone, is a Morgan State University film major, and created the compelling film we saw of Lillian’s life.

Her living quarters on the first floor display many of her personal items. Dr. Jackson’s home became a hub of civil rights organizing for decades before her death in 1975.

In the upper floors, there are fascinating displays and short films.

If you’re in Baltimore, stop in and learn about the first privately owned museum named for a black woman who is considered the “mother of the civil rights movement.”

We stopped at the new MICA store.

It was hard, but I refrained from buying any MICA swag for the quick flight home. This is my humble haul.

Today Daisy begins her Interdisciplinary Sculpture thesis class and lands in a new studio. May every single student have a fantastic semester of growth and creativity!

We’re off to Nova Scotia tomorrow for another moto adventure to visit friends and family. This is Daisy’s painting of a view from the Jenny House where we last stayed in June of 2016.

Stay tuned for more travel sketching!