Around Baltimore

Arrived into BWI without much incident yesterday. Delays at the airports, due apparently to some nasty weather around Chicago, but that same storm seemed to be kicking up some west-east tailwinds that kept us on schedule.

Slept in a little, a nice breakfast, then we all headed to downtown Baltimore to The Walters Art Museum. It's a pretty amazing collection, mostly historical pieces from ancient Egypt to ancient Greece, Rome, and to at least the Middle Ages (about as far as we got). And, with only a few exceptions, they're from Mr. Walters' private collection, mostly acquired in the early 1900s. Parts of the whole experience reminded me of The Wadsworth Atheneum, especially in the way there's an old building connected to modern additions, and seemingly endless rooms branching off them all. The rotating exhibit features the work of Louise Bourgeois — but not in any one space. The work was mixed in with the artifacts from ancient cultures, in a kind of odd scavenger hunt sort of way. It made for some interesting surprises, but made me wonder what else I was missing around the museum. We concluded with another rotating exhibit, early illuminated and printed legal books (much more beautiful that those you'll find today), and headed out.

The Bankos indulged me in a side trip to Atomic Books, which, years ago, when I first moved to the area, I remember hearing about as a dealer in design books and magazines. It's changed ownership since then, and is a popular independent book/zine/comic dealer. Picked up a few missing issues, the new Atomic Books-published Lulu Eightball collection — and left them with a copy of RBS to sell on consignment (so now it's all just sit back and wait for the Benjamins Hamiltons Washingtons to roll in).

Back home to a late lunch of pulled pork from Andy Nelson's. Gearing up now for some crab cakes . . .

(Remembered the camera, but not the cord to connect it to the machine; photos later).