Visiting Baltimore
Outside of the Washington DC area, Baltimore is the closest city to my hometown. Despite the fact I can get here in less than an hour, I’ve been to several countries like Japan or Chile more times than I’ve been to Baltimore! The majority of these photos were taken over ten years ago. Baltimore is actually one of America’s oldest cities, and has a population of over 650,000 people, with over 2.5 million people when including their suburbs. This photo above shows Baltimore’s city hall; taken with my pre-SLR camera!
There’s a lot of things to do in Baltimore, but the inner harbor is by far the main attraction. These photos above and below were taken in the early spring. It was probably the first nice day of the year, and lots of people were coming out of hibernation to walk around the city.
The inner harbor is packed with restaurants, shops, five star hotels, many museums and historical places of interest. There is actually a city trail that goes known as the Heritage Walk that passes by most of these places. The photo below shows a Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Maryland Science Center.
The historic ship above is the USS Constellation. The ship served in the American Civil War and along with its museum, is another place on the Heritage Walk. The large crowd in front of the ship was gathering in front of a stunt man. He along was doing some risky acts such as juggling torches while performing a balancing act.
As an older city, Baltimore has lots of historic places, but this simple house is one of the most important in the United States. In the war of 1812, the British launched an invasion which was known as the Battle of Baltimore. This house belonged to Mary Pickersgill, who had created the Star Spangled Banner flag. The flag was famously flown above Ft. McHenry during the battle. Later in the morning, when the flag was still flying, Francis Scott Key was inspired to write the poem the Star Spangled Banner, which later became the American National Anthem.
Some people from other states in the country have a bit of a negative view of Baltimore because of crime. Some neighborhoods have some legitimately high crime, but of course these are isolated locations where travelers would never find themselves. Visiting any normal parts of the city are no different than other major cities in the United States or Europe. As a matter of fact, Baltimore even goes as far to claim to be the “Greatest City in America”!
Another nice neighborhood to visit that makes up some of Baltimore’s culture is Little Italy. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the city saw the arrival of thousands of Italian immigrants. They settled in row homes like these above, and apparently later on this massive condominium below. I wasn’t even sure if it was part of Little Italy, but you can barely see an Italian flag flying at the top of the building.
This Italian cafe above and people below might have more of what you’d expect from an Italian neighborhood. Little Italy supposedly has the busiest restaurants in all of Baltimore. In addition to the restaurants, there are historic cathedrals, festivals throughout the year, and even a Bocce court!
Last but not least, no trip in Baltimore is complete without a visit to Edgar Allen Poe’s grave. Edgar Allen Poe is famous for his poems and short stories that usually carried darker themes. He was one of the first famous American writers and considered part of the American romantic movement, and no doubt about it one of the most respected American poets. He is buried by his wife Virginia, who died at only 24 years of age.
