Baltimore 5/20/06

Going to Baltimore next weekend. Any recomendations on things I should see, or shorte hikes in the area, I should do. (Oreoles are playing in Washington, Dammt! no excuse to go to Camden Yards )

Check out the Inner Harbor/Fells Point Area for dining and drinking
Check out Gunpowder Falls State Park or Loch Raven Res for hiking or mountain biking!!

PM me if you'd like detailed directions!

And BTW, I'm moving to Bmore in less than three weeks!!!

Sabrina

Annapolis is a nice city to visit in a touristy kind of way. Nice if you want to walk out on the pier and look at a bunch of Yahts and things.

Also consider a tour of the Patomic River. There are numerous climbing areas along the river, and you might also get a chance to see some kayackers heading down some rapids.

Washington DC is not too far away, and if you take the rail in from Greenbelt its a pretty pleasant experience. There is the mall and the whole washington Monument. I once took a paddleboat out on the pool near the Jefferson Memorial, that was a nice day.

-percious

I second the idea on Fells Point... Check out the Cats Eye Pub and the Wharf Rat, my two favorite bars... Ahhh so many great nights.

There is also a nice paved walkway around the Inner Harbor proper that is a great place to walk or run.

And of course Baltimore is the home of the best team in the AL!!! The O's... Grab some BBQ from Boog's if you can get to a game.

Don't forget the smoked oystahs at Bertha's...so many great pubs in Fells!

D'oh! How could I forget Berthas!!! I have the bumpsticker on the office wall above the 'puter right now!!!!

Great music at Berthas on many nights...

There was a thread several months back about hiking in the central maryland area. You might do a search for it... or here: http://www.vftt.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10299&highlight=baltimore+hiking

~Justin

Depending on how far you'd want to travel, there is TONS to see in the Baltimore area. Fells Point/Inner Harbor being one of the best bets IN Baltimore. Annapolis is only a 40/45 minute drive with a lovely harbor, great restaurants and of course, the US Naval Academy. I used to live between Baltimore and Annapolis for many years and can give you some great places to visit, if you'd be interested in heading down Annapolis's way.

If you want to go hiking, Maryland has a great state park system. I recommend Putuxent River State Park, Gunpowder Falls State Park State or Rocks State Park...check them out at the following website. If you are a birder, they are GREAT!

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/patuxentriver.html

If you will be there on a friday night after 5 pm... the baltimore aquarium has special admission for $5.00... its a really cool place. I think they just had a outer barrier reef exhibit from australia. Something I have wanted to check out for a while.

Thanks for all the suggestions... I will deffinately have to check out Baltimore Aquarium, i'm a fish nut. I'll deffinately check out that Fell's point area.

Baltimore is Playing the Washington Nationals...Not sure i'f I'll make the trip to DC though, have to see whats going on.

Great combination...

a nice long hike (Gunpowder Falls or similar as others have mentioned) to get the energy out, then drive to the Beltway and take the Metro to RFK for the Orioles/Nationals game. Can't beat it!

Hmm maybe I should see if I can get this moved to Trip reports now

Baltimore is a Great city. I highly reccomend a weekend there. Had a great time and ate some Great food.

Soldier's Delight Serpentine Barrens

I haven't yet visited one of these serpentine barrens that run in a belt from Oxford, Pa., southwest to Reisterstown, Md., but they're definitely on my to-do list. Serpentinite is the ore from which chrome is produced. The soil is inhospitable to most surrounding-area vegetation and many unique plants grow there. This rare ore was mined and exported from Baltimore all over the world about 150 years ago.
Try these websites:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/serpentine.asp
http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/features/soldiers.html
Soldier's Delight in Owings Mills, MD, 12 miles from downtown Baltimore, has seven miles of trails.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/central/soldiersguide.html
If you're old enough, you remember polishing the chrome bumpers on dad's car. You rarely see chrome anymore.
Serpentine, or Maryland Green Marble (it's not actually marble), was used extensively for trim inside the Empire State Building.