Going to Baltimore over July 4rth weekend to see SO.

I have no idea what to do except go to the aquarium. Is anyone familiar with the area that can give me some tips?

Was going to D.C. but heard you can have just as good of a time in Baltimore and I can get a cheaper flight and better times to Baltimore.

Any advice is appreciated. Hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc.

Any restaurant in Little Italy. The Inner Harbor has other things besides the Aquarium. Camben Yards. Lots of historical places.

This is where the Star Spangled Banner was written - got to have some great July 4th things going on.

[This message has been edited by anaggiemom (edited 6/27/2009 10:54p).]

Baltimore is an interesting city. I think it would be an ok place to live with its own unique charms, but there is definitely not as much to do in Baltimore as DC for visitors.

Downtown has the harbor, which is very touristy, along with Camden Yard for Oriloles Games, the B&O railroad museum, and Edgar Allan Poe's grave. If you love seafood I suggest braving Lexington Market and heading to Faidley's.

South of the Harbor is federal hill (an interesting neighborhood) and fort mchenry. Fort Mchenry is the object of Key's poem the star spangled banner and has some excellent exhibits regarding the writing of the star spangled banner and the war of 1812.

North of the harbor is the mt. vernon neighborhood. This is a yuppy/gay neighborhood and contains the original washington monument. Even further north is the collegiate part of town near the campuses of Loyola and Johns Hopkins. That part of town has an east coast college vibe with all that entails.

There is nothing to see in either East or West B'more unless one is in to urban decay, derelict homes, and crime. Hopkins Hospital interests some people, but those are mostly medical geeks.

There is not much to see in Baltimore.

There were nice fireworks but the best thing there was food.

I had some amazing fudge and ate crabcakes 3 times because they were so good.

It is the most ghetto city I have ever been too. There are homeless people EVERYWHERE and ambulances running up and down the street all day.

Outside of my hotel on the 4rth, 3 juveniles were stabbed. There were groups of 5 to 10 thugs on ever block and a fight was bound to happen even though there were cops on every block.

Oh well, its good to see everything once.

Where did you stay? It is a rough town, even down at the Inner Harbor. I used to work and live at the harbor, and walked to work. I turned down the same bums every day. There was a major youth violence problem there, and it sounds like it is still there.

If you think Baltimore has a lot of homeless people then not going to DC was a good idea.

I stayed at the Radisson downtown. There are certainly nicer places, but even some of the more expensive places were right around the Radisson.

The Hyatt is so close to the inner harbor and therefore you could get back and forth without too much trouble, but I would not walk to the inner harbor at night with my gf. I felt unsafe by myself much less with a girl beside me.

I heard D.C. was bad, but at least there is plenty of significant history, past and present.

I think that D.C. would surprise a lot of people who remember the D.C. of the 80s and 90s. The city has gentrified considerably with a significant reduction in the homeless. The former suspect neighborhoods (NE, Columbia Heights, Petworth) are now nightlife destinations and desirable places to live. Anacostia and Fort Totten are the only really bad parts of the district, and I would wager that both of those neighborhoods are better than unincorporated Prince George's County.

For my money, Baltimore is currently far worse with reagrad to social problems (the conniving liars of government excluded).

I agree 100%, Billi. Philly is safer than Baltimore. I cannot remember where that hotel is, but if it is more than a block off the harbor, it is suspect after dark. I lived in some high rise condos at east Pratt and President st. directly across from Little Italy in the early 90's. It is majorly developed now, but then there were high rise projects two blocks away. I heard gunshots and multiple sirens every night. The Wire and Homicide are deeply based in truth. That place is nuts.

I don't know if I'd call Petsworth, Columbia Heights, and NE destinations exactly. The wife and I looked at living in Columbia Heights since there are a couple of blocks that are ok, but there is more than enough bad to go around.

And still tons of bums in DC. Baltimore and DC are probably pretty similar in bums per capita.

There are probably more actual bums living on the street in DC. Most of the bums I came across in Baltimore looked like they had a roof over their heads, but took advantage of the tourists at the harbor.

Ahh, but you were at least considering living in one of the aforementioned DC hoods. The idea of a middle class couple looking at domiciles near druid hill park or going out for dinner and drinks near coppin state university just crack me up.

I yield to no man in my disgust with Baltimore City. I took my brothers from out of town to an Orioles game earlier this year, and we stopped at Lexington Market to eat before we walked to the game. No joke, my brothers made a game out of counting all the people who were obviously high on the way to the stadium, and the number got higher than we could count on 2 hands.

My wife and I chose not to live in the district (that has more to do with giving up representation in the house and the senate than crime though). I judge "bad" neighborhoods on a single criterion: Would I be fearful if my car suddenly broke down in this neighborhood. No areas of DC fit that bill, lots of areas in Baltimore fit it.

Amen. The neighborhood where the zoo is is a good example. I lived there when I was young and did not give a sh@t. I would never ever consider it now or with a wife or family.

Agree with everything in this thread...unfortunately.

I moved the family (wife and 2 young kids) to Delaware 1.5 yrs ago and really looked forward to spending time in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area. We have been once. Though we had a good time (aquarium, harbor taxi, camden yard, etc) I could not get comfortable the entire time we were there.

This said, Philly has been a wonderful suprise! The museums, ballpark, pedestrian downtown, etc have all been more than expected from this Texan family!

I remember when you originally posted, stillburnin. Is the northeast wearing on you yet? At least you had cooler temps this summer than we did down here. I am glad you had a good experience in Philly. It sounds like things have improved there.

[This message has been edited by falls91 (edited 8/11/2009 5:21p).]