« August 2005 | Main | December 2005 »

November 26, 2005

Boating around Baltimore, Maryland

In June, I decided to take a position in Baltimore, Maryland so that I could live on Livin' Nauti' and walk to work from the Baltimore Marine Center. Several months before, after searching and visiting several marinas, BMC seemed to the best as far as amenities and location. So, when a new Technology Quality Management Director position was offered with a national Long-Term Care Pharmaceutical company 3 blocks from the marina, I decided it was obviously meant to be.

The position started on July 6th, so I worked for about a week and a half and then the NPYC 10 day long cruise started. At the end of the long cruise, I brought the boat to Baltimore. I had taken a year's lease as I didn't plan on leaving. No more stressing over commuting in the DC area. No more getting up at 5:30 in the morning to try to beat traffic. Everything that I needed was within walking distance. Even the Safeway was literally between the marina and the work place. Everybody was nice and asked if I needed something. People would actually go out of their way to open doors.

At the marina, there was always somebody around somewhere so I never felt 'alone'. There were several restaurants and bars on the premises, 2 of which are well known for outside bands. So there was literally something going on all the time if you wanted to partake of it. However, once I was on the boat, I could either be available for socialization or not. Living on the boat afforded the opportunity during the week to do those little chores that take up precious time on the weekend. I typically went back to my house in Alexandria on Tuesday and Thursday evenings because I had a personal fitness client that I trained those two nights plus I have cats at the house that haven't been trained to live on the boat.

Well, sometimes you just have to wonder. Our competition bought our company through a hostile takeover (in order to get our customers) and started laying us off. By the end of August, I was no longer employed in Baltimore and it's not the technology, quality, or regulatory mecca that DC is, so I took a position back in DC to start after Labor Day. I brought the boat back to DC on November 13th.

We took a few trips while I had the boat in Baltimore. However, my observation is that Baltimore is actually too far north on the bay to get to most of your destinations in a normal weekend. Therefore, you need to be able to leave on Friday morning or come back on Monday. Having a new job obviously did not afford that option. We went down to the Inner Harbor quite a bit with the boat, but people do not hang out on the boats like they do in Georgetown. It's more like a place to dock your boat while you do Inner Harbor activities. It's also a very long haul out of the Baltimore Harbor to get to the Chesapeake Bay.

I actually did enjoy living in Baltimore though. There is so much to do within walking distance. There are also lots of activities and festivals to go to all the time. There are also lots of places to go and be outside. In the DC area, that is limited to a few choice areas. I also enjoyed living on the boat and being around the boating community all the time. Baltimore is definitely better situated for more northern bay trips than mid-bay, so it definitely is a personal preference and lifestyle decision. If it is a weekend-only boating lifestyle, Baltimore is actually a little difficult because you can never pre-determine the commute. Some days would take an hour and some days would take 3 hours because of some mishap or construction somewhere. But I think it's a good destination for boaters and a good place to actually live on your boat and still be in the city atmosphere.

Posted by Kimberly on November 26, 2005 11:44 AM