New Kids On The Block
Monday, October 30, 2006 (continued)
Our next stop on our lighthouse adventure after passing under the Bay Bridge was the Baltimore Light at the mouth of the Magothy River. One new owner, Mark, was already working inside and Jane arrived with us. I was very curious about this lighthouse since it was also built on a caisson. I wanted to compare design, styles, plans, and accessibility. The access is nearly as tricky as Craighill, although the ladder hangs down closer to the water. Up close, I realized the lighthouse is very different from Craighill. For one, it’s a lot larger and has a concrete deck on the main level, but the inside really blew me away! Especially when I found out they got it sight unseen! Wow, talk about lucking out! I have to admit to feeling a twinge of lighthouse envy during our visit and lunch hour there.
Wood, beautiful untarnished wood! Holy cow, the interior is absolutely gorgeous! Cullen even kissed a door (but shhh… don’t tell anyone!). Exposed brick and unpainted wainscoting, wooden doors and staircases. I had to blink to believe my eyes when we entered. The curtains in the galley were a nice touch too! We took the grand tour, beginning in the “basement” of the caisson. I was in awe of the arched doorways, arched ceiling sections… just, wow. With three floors of living space, the place is dreamy, particularly the watch room - just like an old play attic with dormers and angled walls. I’m really going to enjoy watching the place blossom under their stewardship (and hopefully get invited over sometime!).
From the lantern gallery I could see Craighill with a pair of binoculars and pointed out the location to Christopher after passing the binoculars since he hadn’t seen it in person yet. Very cool! We started joking about sending bat signals up and down the bay to each other from our lighthouses and picking a particular VHF lighthouse channel to chat on. Having them as neighbors is going to be a blast! Hopefully they won’t hold it against me that I didn’t hear the part about the tar on the deck still being tacky since I was at the end of the line of people, so you guessed it - stepped right on it and filled the crevices of my boots. Oops! I returned to the main level in my socks. Hee! A little WD40 and a large screw to pick it all out later and I was good to go again (and allowed to step inside).
Cullen was also doing an assessment for them, so took his photographic evidence and we all ate lunch. Something about being out on a boat tends to make me very hungry! We spied Howard snoozing down on his boat. Eventually, he roused and all of us, including Mark, hopped back in the boat to make the final leg of the northbound trip to the Craighill LR Front Light. The temperature had warmed up nicely in the sunlight.
To Be Continued…