24 hours with: The fitness-loving National Aquarium employee
Four years ago, Kate Rowe would have never thought she’d be canceling phone calls or changing work appointments for turtle photo shoots and catfish counting.
- Up before the sun, getting ready to teach my Surfset class at Beachfit — a dynamic workout on top of a mock surfboard.
- I’m almost never satisfied with repeating the same workouts for my classes, so after class if I have time I always try to test out new moves.
- Back home for some much-needed fuel. Blueberries coming from Maryland now are amazing!
- Bat dog. Our dog Mahoney has ears for days and she’s always watching from her window perch…
- I’ve literally just learned how to actually curl my hair (where it stays) at age 30, although I’m still consistently nervous I’m going to singe my hair off.
- Acai smoothie for the road.
- Walking to work is one of the many benefits of living in the city.
- Oh hey, Aquarium. I’m coming straight for you.
- Despite what many people think, I don’t actually (always) work inside the physical Aquarium. Almost all our backup space is saved for pumps and filters and extra homes for our some 20,000 animals. I spend a lot of my days in this little hole (which yes, I decorate with lots of things).
- Quick run over to the Aquarium with my intern Katie (we didn’t plan that) on her last day. First visit is to see Animal Programs and some of my favorite lizards.
- Quick pass through Blacktip Reef. Still one of my favorite spots.
- Waving and trying not to distract Colline on the reef crest over Blacktip Reef. One day I just want to schedule a meeting there to see if anyone notices.
- Stairs, stairs, stairs, stairs and more stairs. You think you’ve been lost? Try navigating the Aquarium’s numerous stairwells. Pro tip: red is always good.
- We happened upon enrichment time with one of our aquarists, Katie, and our octopus. Not every internship gets you access to these kinds of coworkers.
- “With fronds like these, who needs anemones”
- Mantis shrimp are glorious. This photo does not even mildly describe how awesome they are. Look them up, but know you might lose some time as you continue to become more and more obsessed through the internet.
- Off to grab some quick food — Shake Shack is our new favorite spot. I love the windows and minimal lighting (oh and the burgers).
- Cue the drooling.
- Quick afternoon snack of fruit, chia pod and veggie Gundalow Juice (one of my favorite local small businesses) as I take a quick 15 minutes to finalize our upcoming BMOREtoned meetup with FloYo.
- “Hello” is one of the two words Margaret, our blue hyacinth macaw, knows how to say. Checking in with her for a special meet and greet.
- Macaws’ wingspans often reach up to about five feet when they’re fully grown.
- Quick tour through our newest exhibit, Living Seashore, where guests can actually touch the animals!
- Jellies touchpool in Living Seashore is one of my other favorite spots. Yes, they feel like jelly.
- View from the top. Did you know this fin whale skeleton inside the Aquarium is a juvenile whale? AKA whales are huge.
- Blue skies for days.
- After work, it’s time to head back to the gym for another class. This one is Surf Camp, where we mix the Surfset boards into a bootcamp cycle.
- Some of my awesome students crushing the workout!
- I’m a bit of a neat freak … in putting the kettlebells away, I had to rearrange.
- More walking … I love strolling along the water, especially around sunset.
- So much going on in Harbor East. Giants a popping up everywhere.
- I always try to stroll by this spot when I can … last year my husband and I got married right here on the Oval Terrace behind the Four Seasons. Such a great spot to watch the city go to sleep.
- Quick stop at Whole Foods for some fresh, local fruits and veggies. Peaches are my favorite.
- As soon as I get home, Mahoney always wants to get outside. Specifically, she wants to go out and sit on “her” lounge chair.
- Also, we have a cat. She’s clearly not the favorite furry child, but worth mentioning of course.
- In my opinion, you can’t get enough beautiful sunset/sky photos.
- “We should have a little of that fresh avocado for dinner tonight” – Tom. Cue me carving up two full avocados … that’s a little, right?
- Burgers with avocado, pico de gallo and Greek yogurt (key as fake sour cream)! Also worth noting, you can see Mahoney’s nose is creeping closer and closer and closer…
- “Where’s my burger?”
- While she doesn’t get a burger herself, she’s happy to lick any burger remnants off your entire face.
- Freeze pops — they’re not just for kids. A little dessert with Tom’s favorite, “America’s Got Talent.” Don’t ask me why, but Nick Cannon is one of his favorite people.
- Annnnnd we’re done. Time for a little reading, a little last minute email checking and a few minutes convincing Mahoney to sleep in her own bed instead of on top of us.
But now, as the head of the National Aquarium’s media relations department, such occurrences are de rigueur for the 30-year-old.
“I love animals, but I don’t have a biology background, so it is a surprise to everyone — including me — that this is the route I went,” she said. “There are things I say on a regular basis that I would have never said, [like] ‘Oh, that’s such a cute shark.’”
Rowe, who lives in Federal Hill, keeps busy with other aqua-inspired adventures when she’s not at her day job. The fitness blogger teaches FloYo Fit, a yoga class executed atop paddle boards on the water, and Surfset, an indoor class involving a pseudo-surfboard.
“If I can’t be in the water, I want to be fake on the water,” Rowe said.
Rowe has both discovered and contributed to a local fitness community through social media and the blog she started with two friends, BMOREtoned, after realizing Baltimoreans with similar interests were going on runs literally around the corner from her. Her status as an exercise enthusiast also landed her a gig as an Under Armour ambassador this year.
“There are friendships that I’ve built through working out and wellness and fitness that are more genuine than forced friendships that you find at a bar, which is what young people do to meet other people now,” Rowe said.
Though she’ll never get used to the parking, Rowe, a New Jersey native, is “almost fully adopted” to the city after living here for about seven years, a decision she made after expanding her post-grad job search beyond Philadelphia.
“New York was a little too big. D.C. was a little too political. Baltimore kind of fit the shoe just right,” Rowe said. “I held on to cheering for the Eagles for maybe a few years and then just couldn’t do it anymore.”
24 hours with is a series highlighting a day in the lives of Baltimore’s creatives and characters, from their perspective. Explore 24 hours with a professional drifter and the man who rarely wears pants.
If you would like to suggest someone to be featured, please email community coordinator Quinn Kelley at qkelley[at]baltsun[dot]com.