Favorite things about Bawlmer, Merlin
When we first drove into town last June, our GPS wanted to show us the scenic route, so it took us on a winding road through a lovely forest full of bicyclists and joggers before leading us into one of Baltimore's grittier neighborhoods. (Prior to moving here, my knowledge of the city was drawn from a vague memory of a visit to the National Aquarium when I was six...and from what people told me about some HBO series.) After we drove through several blocks of boarded up houses and apparent drug deals, the GPS told me that I was less than a mile away from my soon-to-be home--and I began to wonder whether I should have enrolled in public health school in a different city.
Once we got settled in, my perspectives of Baltimore began to change...and I have actually found the city to be quite charming after all. There are certainly more sirens and police helicopters than I had seen previously, and the juxtapositions between extreme wealth and abject poverty are stark--but Baltimore is full of interesting people and fun things to do!
(And the crime is a result of decades of injustice and institutional racism--but that's a story for another day.)
{our neighborhood: Charles Village} |
My top 10 favorite things in Baltimore:
9. free art museums
8. Fort McHenry
{and other historic sites}
6. 36th Street in Hampden (HAM-den)
{especially Holy Frijoles and Trohv}
5. cute coffee shops
{Daily Grind and Carma's...and Teavolve, a tea shop--obviously}
4. summer street fairs
3. "Miracle" on 34th Street at Christmas
{just can't think too much about the electricity use!}
2. a year-round farmers' market
1. the diverse mix of people
{native Baltimoreans, plus people from all over the world brought here by Johns Hopkins}
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