Spring break is over and the semester is on its way out. That means most of y’all have only a limited amount of time left in Charm City before you go back to your lesser hometowns.
Some of you are leaving Baltimore for good, and who knows when you’ll get back to the Greatest City in America.
Therefore, I have prepared a bucket list for you: Things that you absolutely need to do before you leave.
I know I have harped on this multiple times, but it is a necessity. Y’all need to go to Lexington Market.
Not only is it the oldest continuously running market in the country, it’s also damn cool.
In it you’ll find the famous Faidley’s crab cakes. If you ask me, you’ll find no better crab cakes than in my mother’s kitchen, but people swear by Faidley’s.
If you can, coincide your visit to Lexington Market with an O’s game. You’ve already missed Opening Day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t watch the Orioles some other time.
Hopefully, with new manager Buck Showalter at the helm, I’m confident we’ll see a strong season.
Also, every Friday home game is student night. That means you can get in for a paltry six bucks. According to the team’s schedule, that gives y’all three chances to be Baltimorean.
After the excitement of a baseball game and Lexington Market, cool your jets with the air-conditioned rooms of Baltimore’s free museums.
First, the BMA is right next door. I strongly feel that if students don’t make it to the BMA within their first year at Hopkins, they should be expelled.
If you have already been to the BMA like the good honorary Baltimorean you should be, check out the Walter’s on Charles St. near the Washington Monument. It too is free, and right now, they’re exhibiting some awesome medieval religious art.
On a side note, once you finish perusing the Walter’s, go take a quick glance in the Peabody Library. It is absolutely gorgeous, and no one should go more than two months without seeing its interior.
When you get an especially beautiful Baltimore spring day, take a trip down to Fort McHenry.
I’m sure you all find history as boring as I do, but this is the birthplace of our national anthem. Plus, it was responsible for driving the British away during the invasion of Baltimore in 1812.
When you need a good group activity to do, allow me to recommend duckpin bowling. Although its origin is rather murky, the majority of Baltimoreans agree that it was invented in Baltimore.
Essentially, duckpin is bowling with a smaller ball and one less pin. The two closest duckpin lanes to Hopkins are in Stoneleigh on York Rd. and in Patterson Park on Eastern Ave. This is definitely an activity that requires a car unless you’re willing to walk four miles.
Finally, you need to treat yourself to dinner and a movie. The dinner should be crabs from Mr. Bill’s Terrace Inn in Essex (another car-necessary destination). I know I’ve already told you about crabs, but I have the sneaking suspicion that no one has actually tried them. It may be necessary to take a Baltimorean to teach you the ins and outs of cracking open this delicious crustacean.
The movie theater you’ll be going to is the Senator Theater, another place I’ve already extolled.
Seriously though, it is a squatter, prettier version of the Chrysler building (they’re both Art Deco style) and it always has a good movie selection. Well, it always selects one good movie to play. It is single screen, which gives it even more charm.
I understand that you are all very busy with impending finals and so on and so forth, but you would be doing yourselves and Baltimore a disservice if you left this great city without experiencing the greatness it has to offer.
