Road to the Battle of the Vowels, Part V: Making It To Charm City

In the last part of this entry, we finally make it to Baltimore. But first, we have to get off the Capital Beltway.

Ugh, Clearview numbers.

Here's our exit.

The A is missing.

Crap, we're in the wrong lane...

Traffic.

Let's try this again...

There we go. This part of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway is maintained by the National Park Service.

Faded signs.

Transitioning to the SHA-maintained part of the Parkway, where MD 295 shields appear.

The alignment of "Blvd" on this sign gets me every time.

Older-style I-195 and I-95 shields.

Temporary-looking signs for West Nursery Road.

Approaching I-695, the Baltimore Beltway.

I'm guessing this will be part of a flyover.

So if you have hazmats, you should take I-695.

I-695 changes from North-South to East-West here. Just do what NCDOT does and make it Inner-Outer.

Just after I-695 is I-895, which, as always, had work being done on it.

Baltimore city limits.

Old, but not quite button copy.

Here's some button copy for you.

Finally. Only 2 hours later than we should have been there.

Now on foot, outside M&T Bank Stadium.

The MD 40 shield should be US 40.

The view from the upper deck of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. You can see a lot of I-395 from here.

I'll save the game itself for a future entry. Here's the same spot after the game.

On the way back to the van.

Took a wrong turn trying to get back onto MD 295, so we ended up heading into town. I don't normally keep photos like this, but I like the double exposure effect this one had.

The trip home was much quicker, lasting about three hours. I made a few videos, but only one short one was any good. I was disappointed I couldn't walk around town to find some other old signs there, but there's always next time.

Road to the Battle of the Vowels, Part 4: More Capital Beltway

Now on land in Maryland, we see the exit for MD 210 coming up.

Access to MD 414 is also gained from said exit. This is looking southbound.

Dismantled gantry.

A direct exit with MD 414.

The first of several Sponsor A Highway signs I saw on the Beltway.

One type of I-95/495 shield setups seen in Maryland. This was the only one I saw where the 495 shield was on top.

Approaching Exit 7, MD 5.

Translation: roadblock area.

And now approaching MD 337, exit 9.

This was not the only one of these I saw.

Looks like it may fall over at any time, doesn't it?

Exit 11 is Pennsylvania Avenue. Yes, that Pennsylvania Avenue. Well, sort of.

This is the more commonly seen style of shield assembly on the Capital Beltway. I almost missed it.

Oh no! Unsponsored highway! What will we do for money now?!

I find it interesting that MD 4 is signed all four directions here.

At least it's local establishments on the Sponsor A Highway signs. (I think that says "Seat Pleasant" at the bottom.)

Upcoming exits.

More sponsorship.

Approaching Richie-Marlboro Road.

GT-R SIGHTING! Yes, this was the car of the day. Excessively high-powered automotive solutions for comparatively pointless travels.

Now back to our regularly scheduled roadgeeking. Here's the exit for MD 214, Central Avenue.

Insert self-righteous statement here.

"Divide" is somewhat hyperbolic. In other news, I just used the word "hyperbolic".

Oh wait, there's a rumble strip. That'll keep 'em from switching lanes.

Approaching US 50 and the hidden I-595.

Past US 50 is MD 450.

I'm guessing Annapolis Road eventually goes to Annapolis.

Up next, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

All right! We made it a whole entry without a traffic jam! That'll change in our conclusion, though.