Who was Johns Hopkins?

Seeing as my friend is now employed by Johns Hopkins University, we thought it fitting to spend some of our time in Baltimore exploring the campus. The campus is beautiful and very nicely taken care of. The architecture is nice brick, and the buildings were impressive. I think what struck me most, though, was the seeming consistency and plan of campus.

My main experience with college campuses is UNC, which maintains many of the signs of early efforts to plan a uniform and harmonious campus. There are clear quads with rectangular buildings of a matching architectural style. But there are also "riot proof" concrete blocks of buildings that sit beside some of the older structures. The campus clearly sprawled and adapted as the university grew. Granted, we only saw part of Johns Hopkins, but it all seemed much more planned and regular than to what I am accustomed.

That Johns fellow must have really known what he was doing when he designed all those buildings.

Good morning, Baltimore.

I realize that it has been almost a full month since I last shared an image. I apologize, but I've been busy having lots of adventures. I'll try to share them on a more regular basis.

I traveled to Baltimore a few weeks ago to have a mini reunion and visit a friend who is now working at Johns Hopkins. We enjoyed a lovely long weekend exploring the Charm City, wandering along the water, eating ice cream, and catching up. 

This old wharf building is in the area known as Fells Point (or apparently Fells if you want to sound cool). It was a nice section of the city along the water, and we found a grassy area with benches to sit and relax beside this massive old wharf building. Our sitting and relaxing quickly turned into laying down and napping, and I wouldn't have traded that option for anything. I found this large building with the graphic words particularly intriguing. I was determined to make a mental note of the full building name so that I could remember it later, but of course I have forgotten. It has been turned into some type of mixed use business building, and it was nice to see a successful adaption of a presumably historic building.

I also loved Baltimore's diverse, abundant, and diversely painted row houses. I don't think any of my pictures quite do them justice, but I loved walking around and being constantly surrounded by the urban house type. Maybe it is because I grew up in rural/suburban areas, but I am drawn to the claustrophobic nature of city architecture.

Sassy Savannah.

When I moved to Charleston, my friend Emily gave me the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We were both fully aware that the book took place in Savannah, not Charleston, but it still seemed like a good read for someone moving further south. On Saturday, I went with a group of friends to Savannah, to see the city of spirits, parties, murder, and a walking streak of sex.

Since reading the book I had introduced 3 of the five people in the group to either the book or the movie, so of course we had to see the Mercer House. The Mercer House sits on Montgomery Square and was once the home of musician Johnny Mercer. In the book it is the residence of art collector Jim Williams, and it also serves as the setting for what becomes the major plot line of the story. Since the book is non-fiction, it was neat to see the house where everything really happened. It serves as an example of why I love houses and architecture: a building has seemingly little significance, until one learns of what has taken place inside. And this house could tell quite a few stories.

Disclaimer: It is very difficult to write a blog post about SavannaH when ones "h" key is sticking. I apologize for any missing "h"s that you may notice. I did my best to catch them all.

43 Meeting.

One of the perks of my job is that I get to see a lot of fancy private homes in Charleston. One of the houses that keeps finding its way into my work is the James Mitchell House at 43 Meeting Street. The house was on tour in the fall, and then used again for a reception for the recent Vitruviana symposium. I have now been in the house three times, and I would happily take any opportunity to return.

The house was built circa 1798 and is a typical Charleston single house. It has been through many alterations in its life, and at one time was bright pink and lacking a piazza. The house recently underwent a massive preservation effort that restored the piazza and returned it to a historic coloration, among other expansive tasks. The recent project earned the house a 2013 Carolopolis award recognizing it as a preservation success.

Maybe it is because I have gotten to see this house multiple times, but I do love it. I have some sort of attachment to it, as if I have an insider connection to the building. But I feel a similar claim to many of the houses I have written on in Charleston - I've just been lucky enough to also see this one.

Lois Lane Properties did a blog post on this house in March, which provides additional information and images, including pictures before and after various renovations and preservation projects. I strongly encourage you to CLICK HERE and take a look.

The Baptist Catholic, or the Catholic Baptist.

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist sits on Broad Street. My work parking spot used to be in their lot, but I recently was moved to a neighboring space. Regardless of my assigned parking location, I see this cathedral just about every day. It is beautiful, large, and different. The brown exterior is different from the typical quite or gray church buildings found on the peninsula. The interior is grand, and reminded me of visits to old gothic cathedrals in Europe. It is much more elaborately embellished than churches I have experienced most, a reminder that I am a protestant. But buildings like this make the art history major in me wake up. Somehow I have managed to get used to the beautiful architecture of Charleston. I look at these buildings without really seeing them, but this is one worth seeing.

I do frequently have trouble remembering what denomination this church belongs to. I know if I really thought about it, it should be obvious that this building is Catholic. But it's the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, so I tend to think of this as a Baptist church. It most definitely isn't. It's a Catholic church named for a Baptist. Or something like that.

Definitely Presbyterian.

Since coming down to Charleston, my dad has been asking me if I have attended First Scots Presbyterian Church. Today, I finally went.

I tried to take a picture where you could read the sign, but nothing really came out. It was an overcast and rainy day, so taking a good picture was difficult.

First Scots was established in 1731, which makes it a very old Presbyterian church. The whole experience just reminded me of how strongly I identify as Presbyterian. They had the blue hymn books that are oh-so-familiar. The church strongly celebrates it's Scottish heritage, as suggested in the name, and at least one person in attendance today was wearing a kilt. The church has an annual Kirkin of the Tartan, which I sadly missed in September. And on top of being a comforting Presbyterian place, the interior of the building was really beautiful.

Getting Over It.

I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was preparing for the Cooper River Bridge Run. Today was race day and I successfully completed my first 10K. Before today, the most I had run was maybe 5.5 miles, so 6.2 felt like a lot. But I did it and I was able to run the whole way.

This is the pre-race picture. If you can't tell, it's still dark outside. The race started at 8:00, but with 40,000 in attendance, we had to get to the starting point rather early. I don't remember the last time I woke up at 4:30, and I don't plan to do it again any time soon. It was kind of nice to watch the sunrise, but not that nice. The race was fun, and it was nice to feel like a part of Charleston. People come from all over to run this race - the winner was from Ethiopia - but I felt like I had an advantage being local. I'd run over the bridge before. I got to run through areas of downtown that I don't frequently see, but that I am familiar with. I knew my way around the area after I finished. I don't think I'll sign up to do another 10K in the immediate future, but I am really glad I ran the bridge today.