Druid Lake, Baltimore

We went for an ill-fated walk around Druid Lake in the middle of Baltimore, Maryland. It started out just fine except for the view of the lake which was unusual. At least where we started, there was no water and plenty of fences and construction equipment. This was not the ill-fated part of our walk.

We're not even in a drought!

Right by the lake is a statue of William Wallace, the Scottish warrior made famous in Mel Gibson's Braveheart. The statue was originally give to the park by William Wallace Spence in 1893, so the gift was definitely not inspired by the movie.

William Wallace

Walking clockwise around the lake we spotted two carvings from dead trees, though one was hard to photograph due to fences. The artist clearly chose appropriate subjects for carving in wood: The Druid and The Green Man.

The Green Man looking the other way

The Druid pondering a dry lake

As we went further, we discovered the lake (which is a reservoir for Baltimore) does have water. The nearby buildings make a modest skyline.

The wet park of Druid Lake

Construction on the lake

Further on, we discovered the Chinese Pagoda, a nice open-air pavilion that served as a trolley stop back when it was built in 1865. No trolleys run in the park anymore.

Chinese Pagoda

We got closer to the building that looks like it was on fire but the smoke was coming from some distance behind it. This was not the ill-fated part of our walk.

Smokin'!

We took a break but the kids did not want to smile for the camera.

Here under protest

At the far side of the lake from where we parked, we had a nice downhill view of Route 83 and the Jones Falls valley.

Bridges!

At the southeast corner of the park is the Moorish Tower (also known as the Turkish Tour) that has interesting club-shaped windows. The tower was not open for climbing, which was too bad because the top probably has some very good views of the park and the city. This was not the ill-fated part of our walk.

Moorish/Turkish Tower

The lake looked a lot better from the south side. Having the park in the background makes it seem less urban.

Druid Lake

People drink this water, don't poop in it!

We were curious about the tower in the middle of the lake but could find no information on it.

Tower in the lake

Shortly after spotting the tower, we made it to the ill-fated part of our walk. As we were three-quarters of the way around the lake, we discovered the construction included the walking path around the lake. The fenced-off work area went all the way to the busy road below, so we had to turn around and go back. It was not a popular decision.

On the way back, we spotted the Sun Dial Pavilion, though we did not see any sun dials in the neighborhood.

Sun Dial Pavilion

We also saw a George Washington memorial that unfortunately was defaced. 

George Washington monument

We made it back to our starting point, leaving William Wallace on guard.

Back of Wallace

Druid Park also has a historic mansion, which the kids do not want to visit, and the Baltimore Zoo, which the kids do want to visit. We are sure to come back sooner or later, once or twice.