Belly of the Beast? Nope. Today, I Was in the Brain of the Beast!

If you enjoy Baltimore 21201... If you've lived in Baltimore for any period of time... If you love our city and its landmarks... and, if you've ever dreamed about being in a seemingly impossible place to visit... then you must have thought about being in the clock room of the Bromo Seltzer Tower. I was there today. It was a dream fulfilled. I was INSIDE the clocks.

I'm a fairly new member of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation and while I attend their Forum Series, I didn't know how wonderful these tours could be. Adam Blumenthal, BAF's executive director, served as tour guide and was a wealth of information. (He also drives an old, cranky, brass-cage elevator like a veteran.)

Adam found me -- and my blog -- by way of looking for information on Baltimore's BG&E building conversion to luxury apartments. It seems that if you Google "BG&E Building" this blog hits the top of the charts. Odd, but true.


Adam began the tour on the ground floor by way of explaining the footprint of the building. As we arrived on the third floor, we saw drawings of the entire building -- inside and out -- including the Bromo Seltzer bottle that was on top decades ago. We learned about the wind sheer that probably caused the steel and glass advertising fixture to be removed.

Here's the deal: If you want an opportunity like the one I had today, join the Baltimore Architecture Foundation and every group like it.

And on some of these tours be prepared to climb some radical stairs. It's all worth it.