Baltimore

[wolf]

So, another two years has passed, which means that it's time for me to head to Baltimore for a conference.

The parent organization is based in Ellicott City, and despite being the International organization, the World Congress is always in Baltimore. The Aussies occasionally threaten to stage a coup and make everybody come to them, but they seem to have some organizational issues and haven't yet managed this. They are the best guys to hang out and party with, though. At the Eighth World Congress they adopted a homeless dude that was sleeping out near the hotel somewhere. I briefly adopted a drunken Finnish Psychologist, because that's the sort of thing that goes on at conferences.

This is the Tenth World Congress, so, as with anything involving numbers that end in zero, it's a big deal for the organization. I've been attending since the Fourth World Congress, and have been going down since the Second (I used to go to babysit my friend's kids who were too young to be left to their own devices).

Over the years I have stayed in a variety of hotels, from the very plush Renaissance Harborplace (the one attached to the three story mall), to the downright scary Omni (which is located in the Badlands and has a Baltimore City Policeman station in the lobby ... and if you go out the front doors at night, the doorman says things like "Hon, don't you go so far away that I can't see you."

The last two conferences have been at the Marriott Inner Harbor Waterfront, where, because my room was booked by someone who does a lot of business travelling and has Platinum level status in the Marriott loyalty club, I had concierge level access and awesome harborside views.

This year is a year of some firsts.

One of them is that I will be staying at the brand new Hilton Inner Harbor.

The other is that the person that usually goes with me has a family emergency and I am on my own for travel, so instead of driving I'm taking the train. It turns out that I will save at least $50 by doing this over the costs of gas, tolls, and valet parking.

What I need to know ... what's the best way to get from Penn Station to the Hilton, which is supposed to be near the Convention Center? Obviously I can take a cab from Penn Station, but if there's a close enough light rail stop, I might consider that, since it's $1.60, and you don't have to tip the conductor.

I've planned my arrival in Baltimore for early afternoon.

Surely there will be a helpful person in the information kiosk, but I figured someone here might already know.