Vacation Part V - Walters Art Gallery

Though my wife wanted to attend, there was no reasonable way to entice my 6 year old son to visit an art museum. My daughter, however, seems to have the refined fine arts appreciation chromosome that most of my family lacks.


On Thursday, we ventured downtown to Mount Vernon, named in honor of George Washington, the beneficiary of our visit two days prior. I made a wrong turn and somehow ended up near the Lyric. It could have been worse. I could have ended up on Monument Street in East Baltimore. I finally versed course and found the museum, which lies a block from the Baltimore Basilica and the Pratt Free Library.


After parking my Honda Pilot in a secured lot away from the vandals, we make our way inside. Like the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Gallery is free. That's FREE, like Alright Now. No money. My favorite kind of place.


Inside the museum is a piazza that Mr. Walters had built here after an Italian university. It houses statues, busts, paintings, and more. Additionally, there are exhibits on ancient Egypt, Muslim art, and religion. Each room has a guard standing by to apprehend any potential thieves. As expected, these guards boast admirable 300 pounds frames which would instantly spring into action should they awaken.

I finally saw some Bohemian woman snapping pictures, which I figured to be strictly prohibited. I felt compelled to inquire with one of the sleeping giants and was informed that it is perfectly fine to photograph anything in the museum. So let me get this straight - Martha Washington strictly prohibits me from taking pictures of her 200 year old rooms, but Mr. Walters has no problem with me taking photographs of 4,000 year old Egyptian artifacts? Where is the logic?


Our tour was brief, probably less than 2 hours. Sadly there were very few visitors to the museum. I found it interesting, though not fascinating. Perhaps I only retain half of that artistic chromosome. We left about 1pm and headed to lunch at one of those fancy schmansy restaurants, sort of a treat to my daughter and her high-dollar, yet distinguished taste buds.

Too many clowns, not enough circuses. Seriously, I have no idea where she gets it:


All in all, it was a good day, one that a father and daughter can enjoy. Definitely not a place to bring a whole family unless they are all bent on reading an admiring.

The original "peace out":


And the original Budweiser, "Wazzzzzup?"