The way I feel about Baltimore is how Katt Williams feels about Atlanta: "This is the most nastiest, dirtiest, ugliest, most beautiful, wonderful place in all of America." I grew up here, my family in Hampden sprawling outwards. I spent more time in the Rotunda Giant than anywhere else. Then my parents moved us northeast and settled. I took buses across town to school for seven years.
When learning to drive, I meandered around the city with my dad pointing out how to read street signs (not just speed, but how to know how far away I am from other places in the city) and nice little places to grab some food. He also pointed out where speed-traps and red-light cameras were, but this has less to do with the Baltimore scenery.
There are places like Charles Village, Mt. Vernon, Mt. Washington, Roland Park, Fells Point, etc. that are up-and-coming yuppie hubs. Roland Park has, let's face it, always been rather uppity-hipster, and please note that I'm excluding places like Towson — that's in the county, not the city.
I won't deny that these are nice neighborhoods, but the real gems are on the outskirts, places that Hopkins student may consider a wee-bit too sketchy.
We aren't The Wire. In the past five years or so, more Hopkins students have been killed by moving vehicles than by gunfire from city residents. Honestly, you are more at risk crossing at 33rd and St. Paul without devoting your attention to the frantic drivers than you are at risk walking to the Giant in Greenmount after dark.
Take a breath and maybe a risk. A lot of students don't like walking outside of a mile radius and abhor MTA. But it can be worth it. Buses aren't on time, but bring a book. Or a notebook. In fact, this rant was written with pen on a yellow legal pad, as Route 22 took me towards Bayview.
Sharky's in Canton makes one of the best gyros I've ever had. The Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch (TLDR: downtown library) is large, gorgeous and quiet. If you need to have a small study group, try for Federal Hill and then walk to street level to get some good barbecue — can't remember what the place is called, but it's a barbecue carry-out that's delicious.
Willing to "brave" West Baltimore? Tyrone's Chicken is delightfully greasy, fried, fairly small fowl parts (as if unhormoned) to the point that my brothers and I joked that it was pigeon.
It's not pigeon. Recession hasn't hit poultry yet.
Another fun spot: Lexington Market is fantastic, even if just to walk through. I'm sure some of you people from larger cities, such as New York or L.A., will be less impressed with an indoor market with stalls of fish (eyes and all!) and every part of a pig you could ever name. But there is beauty in everything. You have to see everything as it is not as a comparison.
For example, I was in West Virginia this past weekend with a friend. It was hard to sleep at night because it was so quiet after years of falling asleep to traffic and sirens. But I got around that. The trees soared and floated up the mountainside — though I missed my cracked sidewalks and strolls across median strips, watching cars zoom past on either side of me. I loved the way the stars glittered at night in the country — though I love walking around early in the morning in the city and staring at the pink-polluted clouds. I'm serious, I like the pink clouds. It's pretty. Forget pollution for a second and just enjoy how things are.
The water in the harbor is brown. There is no way that I'm going to deny that. But have you checked out the ponds in the parks? Or even enjoyed the stream through Wyman Park? That stream will take you from Remington all the way up through Roland Park and drop you off near (if not exactly at) Lake Roland. It's a beautiful daytrip. And if you go closer to the south for the harbor, it's not quite as gristled. If you've been to Fell's Point at night, you know that you can't tell what color the water is. You can just see the way the water moves just like it does anywhere.
Whatever city or neighborhood you're in, you can find something to love. I grew up mocking how pretentious Hopkins students looked. Now I can see that we approach the world differently. Oh! but the way the campus lights up at night with the lamps! Soak it all in for a change. Then go back to scrambling to finish homework.
