Overall Score: 4.5/5.0 Amanda: 5.0 | Sean: 4.0 Location: Between E Lombard St. and E Pratt St. on S. Patterson Park Ave. Type: Scenic views | Cost: Free Time Spent: 10 mins | Walking/Climbing: Easy Crowds: A decent amount | Parking: Street In 90 degree weather, this may be the place you want to be to escape the heat. On a hot Saturday in July, the Pagoda at Patterson Park was open between 12 pm to 6 pm. Having made it there just around 1:30 pm with sweat dripping down our backs, we were greeted by an elderly couple lounging at the entrance. Once inside the pagoda, there's a donation box and history facts about the pagoda and Baltimore. Through the center of the structure is a four-flight winding staircase, no challenge to us youngings. We climbed to the top, where you can get a 360 degree view of the surrounding area, including Downtown and a few battleships out in the harbor. At an outside glance, you wouldn't think you would be able to see so much, but you can thank the hill that the pagoda was built upon. At the top, a nice, chilling breeze cooled us and shaded us from the hot summer heat. On one side, below us was a small community event with community vendors and families. Parking: There was plenty of free street parking along S Patterson Park Ave. There were no time restrictions for Sundays. I believe the only time restrictions were for Tuesdays, but I could be wrong. If you're from the area, please comment below with the correct time restrictions! #travel #pagoda #baltimore #park #views #scenic #free #md #maryland
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Our Overall Score: 4.0/5.0 Amanda: 4.0 | Sean: 4.0 Google Score: 4.7 | Tripadvisor Score: 4.5 Location: 2400 E Fort Ave., Baltimore, MD 21230 Type: Museum, National Park, Historic Site | Cost: $15 Time Spent: 1.5 hours | Walking: Easy Crowds: A decent amount | Parking: Lot Once again, we ventured outside in 90 degree weather to the site that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner". We began our visit with the Visitor Center, where there's a small exhibit and brief video. For the video, there's limited seating available within the exhibit. Sean and I were fine with standing right next to cannon. They incorporated additional effects to the videos (some cannon smoke) which can be viewed to the left and right of the cannon. If you were sitting in the main area, you would miss these, but if you did miss them, you wouldn't be missing much. We would recommend getting a seat or standing with a clear site of the screen for a special surprise at the end. Neither of us expected it and it did offer a great touch.
Between the Visitor Center and fort, there's an open park. People were lying on blankets, reading books or sunbathing when we visited. Afterwards we ventured into the actual fort, which requires a wristband. These wristbands can be purchased at the Visitor Center for $15 per adult. Those in the military or with disabilities appeared to get a discount. We won't go in to too much detail to spoil your trip, but the fort itself was pretty cool. There are a few small bunkers you can go in, but just be wary that some of them are false, like they're unmarked for facilities. We picked up the pace within 30 minutes and ended up skipping some of the small exhibits because of the heat. It was a nice one-time experience. If we had known ahead of time, we would have brought a blanket to relax in the park. #travel #baltimore #historic #museum #fort #fortmchenry #cost #maryland #md |