My favorite thing about the middle of the month...getting 500 pages of fashion, style, and things I cannot afford in the mail. But what do I love more? Turning to page 152 of
Elle Magazine and seeing none other than my very own home town splashed on the Style Dispatch page. Oh, the pride I felt for Baltimore in all her glory.
In the world of "New York, New York"s (as much as I love Frank Sinatra) and Indianapolis Colts, I can't help but feel a certain pride when I see me very own Baltimore being noticed. When Leanne Shapton described the Baltimore Aquarium sitting on the Inner Harbor, a smile came to my face because she was talking about the place my mother used to bring my brothers and I before we were in school. Edgar Allen Poe- who's ghost supposedly haunts "The Horse You Came in On Saloon," (where my dad once took my mom when they were dating).
Then there's
real Baltimore flavor (not New England flavor, Martha Stewart)--
Old Bay, thanks to a beloved German emigrant, Gustav Brunn. And though fellow Baltimorons put Old Bay on everything, the mention of it inevitably leads the discussion of crabs. Oh, you haven't had a crab until you've had one in Maryland. Crab soup, crab cake, crab salad, and just the crab (watch 'A Few Good Men' if you want to see Demi Moore annihilate a crab). More food: visit
Cafe Hon (pronounced "hun") and learn where that fantastic accent John Travolta sported in 'Hairspray' came from. It's called Bawlmerese, hon.
If mentioning
Sound Garden (a fantastic music joint where my dad and I like to go sometimes) wasn't enough, John Water's (the man behind 'Hairspray') name shows up if not once, several times.
Things she never did mention (which is okay, because these are local secrets) is the
Bromo Seltzer Tower where each floor showcases an artist's gallery (very cool, by the way). In the Summer on Wendesday night it is Films on the Pier night (watch 'Sleepless in Seatle' to see Meg Ryan sit on the very same pier). One can get in free and watch that week's movie. The movies they show range from 'The Birds' to 'Shine a Light'. Baltimore is great in such that one can walk the streets and feel at home. Everything about it is so personable (watch 'Home for the Holidays' if you want to see Robert Downey Jr. prancing down the streets of Baltimore).
But in reality, there are too many nooks and cranies to explain all of the wonderful and inspiring things about Baltimore. You will just have to go there and fall in love for yourself.
Abbie
