This was my first trip back to Baltimore prior to the renovation of the Inner Harbor area. I had heard it had revitalized downtown Baltimore. I could clearly see that it had; adding all the most popular franchised and upscale restaurants and bars. The Baltimore Aquarium is there along with the Convention Center and five star hotels. Oddly enough, the harbor itself with the sailboats and yachts was beautiful and peaceful, while the new overhaul - overall - made me realize that the richness of Baltimore's images lay outside the harbor; Little Italy, Mt. Vernon district, Fells Point. This image represents to me what is the Inner Harbor; an overall attraction for tourists and visitors who need the stamp of commercialized familiarity to define the success of a city. And for all intensive financial purposes, it succeeds remarkably well.

I took this image too late. Sitting at a tiny sandwich shop across the street from the Walters Art Museum, I spotted these two women walking up the sidewalk due to the red hat on the woman in beige. Attempting to open the door to the museum, they discovering it was closed. It was then that the women in purple who had, all this time, been holding her hat, (which I had not noticed) gave the hat to the other women, turned to look in the glass, fiddled with her hair, took the hat from her friend and still talking amongst themselves non-stop, took several minutes to put it on just the right way, making sure the feathers and the mesh were just so. I suspect these two friends had made a pact that morning that by God, they were going to wear hats and bright ones at that as they ventured out that day. By the time I took the shot, the hat was in place, making the shot look practically ordinary, though colorful indeed. I bet these women have very rich lives and I hope they kept their promise.

This is not a great photo but I had to take the shot. One of the docents told me that I shouldn't miss the octopus on the third floor that was laying eggs as we stood watching the sharks. I had no idea the eggs would turn out to be hundreds of the small green slimey dots on the window. Most people looked at the slime and kept walking since the octopus wasn't moving and the glass was so dirty. As I stood there, I noticed a small hand-written sign in the upper left hand corner of the glass stating that once an octopus lays eggs and ensures their survival, she dies. I had to take the picture. She deserves the memory.