My B'more Research Trip Pt2: Auction + burnt out CVS from the riots

Part 1 covered the walkabout I had to get a feel for a few neighborhoods I am looking at in Baltimore, MD. There I discovered the "Land of No", as in no way, no how am I putting money there. Also saw some treasures that I'd really consider possible.

The other part of my trip was to observe an auction, and I'll cover that here.

Before I arrived in Baltimore I had a short discussion with the owner of the home I was staying with (AirB&B) and discovered she bought her home via auction.

So day of the auction, we get there 35 minutes before it was to start because on the auction website I thought I read something about the property being available for inspection a half hour before the start. We are there and nobody is there. As we were walking up to the location I thought the tent in front of the townhouse was for the auction. Nope, for the house next door and it's residents. I should mention there was zero shade on that side of the street. Where were we? We were on the 1900 block of North Avenue. It is not one of the neighborhoods I'm investigating. If the area that I am investigating included some bits of the "Land of No," this part of Baltimore was pretty much the center of "Oh Hells F*ing No." I mentioned in my previous post urban areas don't necessarily scare me. Not scared, just uncomfortable. Uncomfortable because I had my white-boy husband with me and I didn't like the area's vibe. 

We got more uncomfortable because the sun was brutal. After waiting 10 minutes we walked over to the corner looking for shade. I didn't like the first corner we turned down and so we walked back. Shade or no.  Then waited about 5 minutes, nobody.  Then we walked over to another corner behind a church for shade. Stayed for about 5 minutes, back out to the property. I lasted about 3 more minutes in the sun and we walked back to the shade of the church on the corner, where by that time a small gathering of older men were standing around. We said hello and found a spot to cool off. At about the time of the auction we walked back into the blazing sun. Still nobody. Someone from the house next door poked his head out and said "You know nobody lives there?" I explained we were there for the auction and asked if we could stand in his shade. Then two other people showed up, one to observe the auction and one maybe to bid. 

Maybe 10-15 minutes after the auction was to start the auction house people drove up. They unlocked the house and we took a quick look inside. The basement was dark and a mess, but not wet. The rest of the place needed work. After a short while (5 minutes maybe) the auctioneer rattled off some preliminary stuff while the other person from the auction house registered the one person bidding. 

The price didn't go above the opening bid. It was not sold. And with that everyone jumped into their vehicles and were off.

We walked to the subway station, on the shady side of the street. On our way there we passed by a burned out CVS. I believe it was the "famous" CVS set ablaze during the "unrest" as it is being called there. Everywhere else it's called the Baltimore riots. I tried to subtlety point it out to my husband, but he didn't really noticed it. He was focused on finding the entrance to the Penn/North station.

So lesson learned so far:

People in Baltimore are way friendly. It helps to be friendly too.

Those auctions go quick. It was like a drive by. From the time they showed up to the time they drove off couldn't have been more than 15 minutes. I really wish I could have been at an auction where something sold.

There is a lot in the Land of No.