12/25/07

Day One - Saturday, 3 September 2005

To jump to the Baltimore/Washington trip a year later on Labor Day 2006, click this link

Trip Prologue

For most of us, Labor Day signals the end of Summer and the eventual lead-in to the Fall season.  It means most of us take our summer vacations towards the end of the Summer season.  However, the days before Labor Day 2005 will be remembered as the worst hurricane in U.S. history by the name of Katrina struck New Orleans and the surrounding area with Category 4 or 5 winds and the massive destruction Katrina has left behind.

A year ago on Labor Day 2004 I have taken a trip to Valdosta only to have to stay an extra day due to Hurricane Frances and the dangerous driving conditions on the day I was supposed to head home.

I am (along with plenty of Tampa/St. Petersburg area residents) very grateful that Katrina did not make a turn and head for the Tampa Bay area.  The Tampa Bay area has dodged the bullet on hurricanes for a long time; just who knows how long it will last is anyone's guess.

Now you are wondering why a trip to Baltimore and our nation's capital, Washington, D.C.?  Well, it is mostly leisure as with the Naples and Ft. Lauderdale trips in 2005 but the trip is also business:  Registering the copyright on the two web sites I own, which is EdwardRingwald.com (the site you are viewing now) and my sister site Interstate275Florida.com.  We'll get into the copyright issue later in this roadtrip.

I began preparing for the trip about two weeks in advance by preparing the forms plus the submittal that the United States Government requires for registration of a copyright (which, by the way, the submittal is called a deposit).  That involved printing out the HTML code (minus the Microsoft HTML junk, as the pages you see here are composed in FrontPage 2003) as well as the screen displays.  Believe me, it took a while to do but there's light at the end of the tunnel.

Saturday morning (3 September 2005) came and I was all packed and began to make the 15 to 20 minute trek across the Howard Frankland Bridge to Tampa International Airport to rendezvous with Southwest Airlines' Flight 163 non-stop service to Baltimore.  This time , the going was a little smoother than what I experienced when I went to Ft. Lauderdale for the 4th of July trip.

We left Tampa sometime after 1 PM and as our plane took off from Runway 36R from Tampa we were basically over the Suncoast Parkway and in a few minutes we were over the intersection of Interstate 10 and Interstate 75 and over the Georgia border.  About an hour and 50 minutes later we were crossing the Potomac River and, in a few minutes, touchdown onto the runway at Baltimore-Washington International Airport (which the folks in the Baltimore/Washington area refer to it as BWI).  I have seen BWI from watching the A&E TV show Airline; now I would be experiencing BWI first hand for myself.

After I collected my baggage I proceeded to the rental car center by way of shuttle bus to pick up my rental car at Alamo which would be my temporary form of transportation for the next few days.  Once I had the rental car in hand then it's off to the hotel which I would be calling home for the next few days, the Hampton Inn Baltimore/Washington Airport.  I chose it due to is convenient location to BWI and access to all major highways including Interstate 95 and the Baltimore/Washington Parkway (Maryland SR 295) via Interstate 195.

After I settled in I went out to check out Baltimore and Interstate 95, including a trip under the Ft. McHenry Tunnel which is a lot longer than the New River Tunnel in Ft. Lauderdale.  Toll is $2.00 and is payable in cash or by EZ-Pass, a prepaid toll program operational in several northeastern states similar to Florida's SunPass.  However, I could not use my SunPass up here because it would not work.  Wouldn't it be nice if you could use your SunPass in the Baltimore area as well as the other toll roads and bridges that accept EZ-Pass?

Pictures from Day One

Last chance to turn around on 4th Street North before Interstate 275 northbound.  Prepare for a seven mile drive on the Howard Frankland Bridge if you didn't pay attention!

Northbound on Interstate 275.  Notice the distance sign to Tampa and Lakeland (from the days when the Howard Frankland was part of Interstate 4).

On the tarmac at Tampa Airport just as we are getting ready to push back from the gate.

Over SR 54 as we are climbing out.

Spring Hill and US 19.

The interchange of Interstate 10 and Interstate 75.  This view is looking west.

Nice afternoon cloud deck view.

Passing over Richmond, VA as we begin our gradual descent to Baltimore and BWI.

Nice view of the Potomac River.

You can see Washington, DC in the background (barely visible) as we are making our descent into Baltimore.

On the tarmac at BWI!

A look inside the Southwest concourse at BWI.

Signage for Exits 2A and 2B, the Baltimore/Washington Parkway, from Interstate 195 eastbound.

Signage for Exit 1B, Maryland SR 170 to Odenton and Exit 1A, Linthicum, from Interstate 195 eastbound.  Notice that all trucks have to exit and are not permitted in BWI.

Signage for Exits 2A and 2B, this time from Interstate 195 westbound.

Just a reminder:  Maryland, like Florida, doubles fines for speeding in construction zones.

Signage for Exits 4A and 4B, Interstate 95 to Baltimore and Washington.

Signage for Exit 49A-B, Interstate 695 to Towson, Glen Burnie and the Francis Scott Key Bridge.  Due to the upcoming tunnels all through traffic hauling hazardous cargo must use Interstate 695 to loop around the Baltimore metro area.

Approaching downtown Baltimore on Interstate 95 northbound.

First advertisement for the Ft. McHenry Tunnel 3-1/4 miles ahead on Interstate 95 northbound, including the hazardous materials prohibition sign in case you missed it before Interstate 695.

Your second advertisement for the Ft. McHenry Tunnel is just around the corner on Interstate 95 northbound.  You can exit for downtown Baltimore via Interstate 395, which is a short interstate spur just like Interstates 375 and 175 in St. Petersburg.

Final signage for Exit 53, Interstate 395 north to downtown Baltimore.  Also notice the signage for Interstate 95 north to New York City which is 200+ miles away.

Signage for Exit 54, Hanover Street and Exit 55, Key Highway.  Notice that on a brown background that this is the exit for the Ft. McHenry National Monument; also Exit 55 is your last opportunity to get off of Interstate 95 before the toll tunnel and the next round of no hazmat restrictions north of Exit 55.

O'er say can you see?  By Exit 55's early light!  In other words, hazmat vehicles must exit Interstate 95 at this point and this is the last exit before paying the $2.00 toll on the Ft. McHenry Tunnel just ahead.

Inside the Ft. McHenry tunnel.  Notice that lane changing is prohibited.

I stopped by the Ft. McHenry National Monument to get this picture...

...and this picture as well.

Proceed to Day Two:  Sunday, 4 September 2005