Baltimore is an hour's drive northeast of DC, and to some people, seems a planet or two away. New Yorkers and Washingtonians often look down upon this city of 700,000 that twenty years ago was the armpit of the East Coast. Baltimore has since become a shining example of urban renewal, however, and while there are some scars from blight and crime, it's still a great place to live and visit. There's a great neighborhood feeling to it: bar maids will call you "hun" and strangers will complain to you about the local baseball team, the Orioles. You've got more to do here than in nearby Philadelphia, a city twice its size. Baltimore has a flourishing art scene, where you can savor yesterday's masterpieces in Baltimore's fine art museums or view the latest at the local art institute and in galleries on Charles Street. You've got great choices if you're craving ethnic cuisine, so eat around the various neighborhoods that are woven together into one fine city. The three years I lived in Baltimore were among the best in my life!
WHAT TO SEE:
The two largest art museums, the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walter's Art Gallery, are impressive and will take a few hours' each to explore. If that wasn't enough art, check out the galleries on Charles Street: they stay open late on the first Thursday of every month, so enjoy the wine and cheese and pretend you're sophisticated and cultured for an evening. You must go to Meredith Gallery, on the 800 block of Charles Street, which specializes in art furniture, yes, art furniture! Baltimore was once an industrial powerhouse, and its past comes alive at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, 1415 Key Highway. Federal Hill gives a great view of downtown Baltimore and the Inner Harbor, a catalyst for urban renewal projects across the United States.
WHAT TO DO:
If you take the train to Penn Station, walk down Charles Street, loaded with fun shops and great restaurants. Mount Vernon Square is one of the prettiest plazas I've seen anywhere, and if it's open, the very phallic Washington Monument offers a panoramic view of the city. Bolton Hill's streets are lined with graceful brownstones, and Federal Hill is full of adorable row houses. From the Inner Harbor, take a Water Taxi to Fells Point, an old maritime neighborhood that has a boisterous, or to some, obnoxious night scene. Southwest Baltimore is another district making a comeback, and near here is what's left of Little Lithuania. Check the local papers for the ethnic festivals, which run the gamut from Mexican to Ukrainian.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Don't bother with Fort McHenry unless you have a lot of time on your hands. Yes, it's where the Star Spangled Banner was written, but every tour through which I've suffered has been so painfully corny I felt as if I were in a Saturday Night Live skit. Yes, there is a high crime rate here, but if you stay in the areas I mentioned above, you'll be fine. As in any American city, the horrors broadcast on the 11:00 p.m. news occur in areas to which you wouldn't venture in the first place. Don't eat anywhere in the Inner Harbor: the food is overpriced and I always found meals there disappointing.
WHERE TO EAT:
Start lunch early! You're in a city that'll stretch your stomach. A simple pleasure of Baltimore life is grazing in Lexington or Cross Street markets. Goodies include, but are not limited to, fried chicken (cheaper if you buy it just before the markets close), pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, Caribbean food, freshly baked cakes and pies, crab cakes, soul food, breakfast sandwiches, homemade sandwiches . . . you're in the wrong town if you're craving tofu and organic endive salads. Now, dinner. Oh boy! Little Italy has an abundance of eateries . . . and dessert at decadent Vaccaro's is an imperative. Ikaro's in Greektown is a mainstay, and Harlan's in East Baltimore has been around for years. Louie's Bookstore Cafe, on the 600 block of Charles Street, has a lively menu and awesome desserts! For a good breakfast, Harry and Jeff's Deli, a few blocks south of Penn Station on Charles Street, is a favorite. Oh, and in Fells Point, Bertha's has great mussels and a jovial atmosphere. Miss Anna's, in Cockeysville, has great Korean meals: the chef has been known to whip up gargantuan kalbi meals for construction crews in a jiffy!
WHERE TO STAY:
As in any big American city, you have limited options if you are on a budget. The Baltimore International Youth Hostel, 17 West Mulberry Street (410-576-8880) is in a great location, smack in the middle of downtown.