Cute Kid Pix July 2024

More photos that didn't make their own post...

Our church had their Vacation Bible Camp with a birthday theme. I was there as a volunteer leading a different group than my son's. I only got pictures of him on the final day, with the carnival and dance performances.

Knocking down a pyramid of cans

Action shot

Ring toss

My daughter volunteers

Coin toss

Coin in the air

Crafts and things from VBC

We went to Baltimore's Book Thing, a free book exchange in the city. People donate books they don't want anymore and people come browse through the books and take ones they want. It is very popular and only happens one weekend each month. I grabbed some theology and mythology/folklore. I tried to check out the sci fi section but someone was squatting there. It was a lot of fun, except for parking!

The line into the Book Thing

I managed to sneak off to the Guinness Open Gate Brewery while everyone else was off on other adventures. I sampled some new brews--Smoked Woods (a smoked brown ale, 6.3% ABV), English Summer Ale (English Golden Ale, 4.5%ABV), and Hefeweizen (Weissbier, 5.1% ABV). The Hefe was a little too light for my taste and the summer ale seemed like a watered-down IPA, which is not my favorite style of beer. So I ordered a full Smoking Wood which has a nice, toasted flavor from smoking the malt. 

Smoking Woods, English Summer Ale, Hefeweizen

Lunch is a well-balanced meal

In Baltimore proper, we visited Graffiti Alley, a short street where graffiti is legal. So there is a lot of it!

Parking by the alley

More art outside the alley

Walking into the alley

Blue man group?

Covering a previous mural?

Candle holder?

Where is your head?

Around the corner from the alley is Mobtown Ballroom and Cafe. The building has a bar serving breakfast items. It also has a stage and a large, nice dance floor. Maybe we will come back some evening to enjoy the Ballroom part of the venue.

Mobtown Ballroom and Cafe

The stage

Tables that probably are on the sides at night

The bar

Our snack

We drove over to Enoch Pratt Free Library, which is an amazing and large library in the heart of Baltimore. We had fun exploring.

Library exterior

Inside the lobby

More of the lobby

A model of the bookmobile

The evening before we walked along the Patuxent River and enjoyed a playground.

Working together

While my youngest was at a bass camp in Towson, I went to World of Beer in nearby Owings Mills for lunch one of the days. This location was special to me because right next door is the local branch of the Baltimore County Library (which is a different system from the Enoch Pratt Library which is Baltimore City). I ordered a flight of beers and the BBQ chicken flatbread.

The meal

Beers

From left to right, the beers were Mean Old Tom Nitro from Maine Brewing Company (6.5% ABV), a classic stout not as smoky as a Guinness Stout but still quite delightful; Guilford Hall Belgian Golden Ale (8.5% ABV)which was smooth but not as flavorful as brews from Belgium; Lexington Bourbon Barrel Ale (8.2% ABV), which looks like a red but has a strong, strong bourbon flavor (which I liked a lot); Kona Big Wave (4.4% ABV), an American blonde from Hawaii that had a mild grapefruit flavor, not the overpowering (and unlikeable) flavor of an IPA, but actually refreshing. My favorite was the stout, though the bourbon ale was a close second.