US Travel
Baltimore, Maryland, Charm City
By Melody Moser
Baltimore, with its picturesque Inner Harbor and charming historic neighborhoods, has much to offer visitors. And now's the perfect time to go — with a score of renovated buildings and $10 billion in new and planned development, Baltimore's a city on the move.
I recently spent a weekend in Charm City, hoping to see what's new, and I found there is more to Baltimore than can be seen at first glance. The Inner Harbor, one of America's oldest seaports, bustles with activity; Little Italy is a pasta lover's delight; Fell's Point still feels like a quaint English neighborhood with cobblestone streets; and now there's Harbor East, Baltimore's newest waterfront area that is quickly becoming one of the city's hotspots.
Arriving on a Friday afternoon, my friends and I checked into the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Baltimore, and then, to get an overview of the city, we decided to Ride the Ducks. This 70-minute land-to-water sightseeing adventure begins at Light Street Pavilion in the Inner Harbor, and provides not only entertainment but historically factual information about the city. To begin, guests get complimentary Wacky Quacker yellow-billed duck whistles (Okay, they're a little obnoxious but the kids love them. Think: lots of loud quacking noise.)
We then boarded the vehicle and met Captain Andy, whose enthusiasm and passion for the city really came through as the tour progressed. He sang, quacked and talked about the USS Constellation, the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, Federal Hill, Fell's Point and more as we passed by each place. We learned unique details about the city, too. For example, as we passed Edgar Allen Poe's Grave at Baltimore's Westminster Church, Captain Andy told us that every year on Poe's birthday, a mysterious stranger clad in a billowing, black cloak visits Poe's grave with a bottle of cognac and three red roses.
The vehicles used for the tours are 1945 era Army DUKWs (hence, Ride The Ducks), which use four driving wheels and an eight-cylinder engine by land and a marine propeller and rudder by sea. Half-way through the tour we splashed into the Inner Harbor for a cruise and a great city view.
The Inner Harbor, one of Baltimore's most photographed and visited areas, has been one of the major seaports in the United States since the 1700's, and the city's cultural center since the 1970's. This scenic waterfront area has dozens of retail stores, restaurants and attractions such as the National Aquarium, Fort McHenry, and Maryland Science Center.
We explored the Inner Harbor then chose to have dinner at the historic Brass Elephant. Built in 1850 by Benjamin Shaw Howard, the rooms of this grand antebellum house on Charles Street are filled with classical music and the quiet chatter of diners, and the contemporary Continental menu includes items such as a delectable Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast and flavorsome Vegetarian Phyllo.
On Saturday morning, we headed to Camden Station, built in 1856. Once the terminus for the B &O Railroad, it is now home to Sports Legends at Camden Yards. Opened in May, 2005, this Museum occupies the basement and first floor of the building, and offers sports artifacts and a wide range of interactive exhibits.
Much of the first floor is devoted to Babe Ruth and Maryland's other baseball heroes, but there are exhibits to entertain fans of many different sports.
Then, upstairs on the second and third floors we visited Geppi's
Entertainment Museum, whose exhibits span 230 years of American life. Rare
toys, comic books, and other pop-culture artifacts are arranged in a
sequence that takes visitors through each period of U.S. history in a
chronological progression.
A good lunch stop is Cross Street Market, where we grabbed a snack among
stalls of produce, fresh meats, and seafood. On Friday nights, we were told,
the place comes alive when locals flock to the sushi bar in the back.
Our next stop, the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park , honors Maryland's African American maritime history and ship-building tradition. Set on one-and-a-half acres of waterfront property, the 207 year-old site has captivating interpretive and hands-on exhibits that lead students and visitors through the evolution of shipbuilding and Baltimore's maritime history.
For dinner that evening we chose Pazo, restaurateurs Tony Foreman and Chef Cindy Wolf's latest culinary adventure. This hip yet sophisticated restaurant with soft-lighting and a Mediterranean-inspired palette is located in a defunct machine tool shop on Aliceanna Street in the Fell's Point neighborhood. Pazo is a Galician word meaning "grand house" – and the building lives up to its name: constructed in 1881, it has been meticulously restored, and now boasts soaring ceilings and original wood pillars of the 1880's era.
After dinner it was time to walk, and we chose to do so with some of Baltimore's more ethereal residents. Fell's Point Ghost Tours took us on a supernatural nighttime stroll through the cobbled streets of historic Fell's Point, a part of Baltimore since 1773.
I'm a huge fan of ghost walks, and this one ranks high in my opinion. First, imagine life in old Fell's Point: Seamen and sail makers, prosperous merchants and sea captains, all packed this once-rowdy seaport town's streets, as did foreign sailors who poured off ships, immigrants anxious to start a new life, and ladies-of-the-evening struggling to survive. Some of these residents never left… is it any wonder that many of Fell's Point's pubs, shops and residences are replete with ghostly characters?
Leanna, our spunky guide, regaled us with witty commentary as she showed us her favorite haunts, from the pub frequented by the restless spirit of Edgar Allen Poe to the building where Doc the dancing sailor can't stop doing the polka.
Finally, Sunday morning, before going home, we headed to the American Visionary Art Museum, a 100-year old building that was once a polluted copper paint factory and an even older whisky warehouse. Now it's the site of a thought-provoking museum that features eclectic artwork and one-of-a-kind giant sculptures. My favorite? Fifi — a giant pink poodle constructed with bicycle frames, gears and pink tutus, designed to travel on land and sea, for the American Visionary Art Museum's Kinetic Sculpture Race. What will they think of next?
If you have more time, be sure to see:
National Great Blacks in Wax Museum
Top of the World Observation Level
Star-Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum
Port Discovery Children's Museum
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture