16

Go Bar Hopping

Baltimore has long been known as a drinking town. Its high concentration of narrow row houses in the city core led to the proliferation of the corner bar on nearly every block in many neighborhoods. Over the years many of the corner bars have closed and made way for more residential housing, but in their place rose concentrated areas of taverns, night clubs, and bars in three entertainment districts. These concentrated night life areas in Fell's Point, Canton, and Federal Hill have made bar hopping the unofficial city sport for many. Recently a new planned district, Power Plant Live, was built just outside of the Inner Harbor as a fourth night life district.

There are a wide variety of watering holes in Charm City. You can find anything from trendy blazer wearing yuppie hangouts to salty port worker taverns and everything, and I do mean everything, in between. One of the best ways to experience the Baltimore bar culture is to pick a district and go from bar to bar. The districts make it convenient to do this as there are dozens of drinking establishments within a few blocks of each other.

While a night out on the town can be a blast, it also can turn very ugly if you go overboard. So remember to drink in moderation, the bars are not going anywhere, and try to add a few non alcoholic drinks in with your ales, vino, or highballs. Always use a designated driver if you're driving into a district. If one is not available and you or anyone else in your party gets a little too tipsy to make it home safely, ask your bartender to call a cab.

• Canton's bar scene revolves around O'Donnell Square in the heart of the neighborhood.
• Fell's Point's district is centered around the square at Broadway and Thames Streets.
• Federal Hill bars orbit the Cross and Charles Streets intersection.
• Power Plant Live Is Just North of Lombard Street on Market Place.
• Call Checker Cab 24/7 at: (410) 685-1212.

17

Have a Crab Feast

Crabs may be fearsome looking creatures with their claws and spiked shells, but they're no match against a group of mallet wielding Baltimoreans. For generations people have gathered together to pick & eat the steamed blue crabs that have become the unofficial mascot of the city.

For newcomers to the area looking to dive into this tradition you have a couple of ways to pull off a crab feast depending on how "hands on" you want to be. The simplest way is to grab a bunch of pals and head out to a crab house where long tables piled high with steamed crabs await. The crabs are fresh, the beer is cold, and the prep & cleanup are easy. Not a bad option anyway you look at it. Baltimore has many of these crab houses throughout the area. Nearly everyone has their personal favorite and they tend to be very loyal to their house of choice.

The next step up is to host your own feast and buy the crabs from a crab shack, the takeout window of a crab house, or straight from the dock. Many places will even deliver the crabs to your door if the order is big enough. They can be purchased by the dozen or by the bushel. The size and weight of the individual crabs determine how many are in a bushel. Typically there are 70-80 medium sized crabs in a bushel. You can buy the crabs live and steam them yourself or you can get them ready to eat from a crab house.

The most intensive process is to head out to the water yourself armed with chicken bait loaded crab traps and go crabbing. Crabbing in and of itself is another time honored tradition in Baltimore. Once you've trapped all you need, head back home, fire up the steamer, pile on the Old Bay seasoning, and call your friends over.

No matter how you pull off a feast be sure to have the proper sides to go along with them, namely Eastern Shore corn on the cob and cold beer. At the end of the feast you're sure to end up elbow deep in a pile of tasty crab shells after swapping sea stories and other large tales amongst the company of friends.

18

Go House Hunting

Are you sitting around on a Sunday with no plans? Well if you're looking for something fun to do, grab a copy of the Sunday Baltimore Sun and check out the open house listings for the day and go on a house hunt! There's no need for a real estate agent or serious buying plans to go on an open house tour. In fact most people that go through open houses are just casually looking, either for the fun of it or to compare open houses against their own property.

When you go on an open house circuit you can see what other people have done to decorate their home, get ideas for rehabbing that old bathroom of yours, or learn what type of houses are available in a particular neighborhood. Open houses are also your chance to get a close up look at new construction houses with little to no pressure from agents and salespeople. Most open houses are held on Sunday mornings either before or after lunch. You can plan out your trip using the listings from the paper and an online mapping service such as Google Maps. Hit the morning ones that you're interested in seeing stop for a quick bite to eat, and then finish up with the afternoon set. You never know, you may just find something that you will fall in love with that you never would of known about.

• Online Baltimore Open House Resources:

• Long and Foster They have an open house search where you can find the latest listings.

• Coldwell Banker Search for a Baltimore neighborhood local office to view their upcoming open houses.

• Baltimore Housing Maps Directly plots houses for sale in the Baltimore area on interactive Google Maps.

19

Ride a Bike

There's a lot to see and do in Baltimore. Even life long residents are constantly surprised at how many places in town are continually improved from the last time they were there. So what's a person to do to keep up with all that's going on? The only way to stay with it is to get out and about town. One of the best ways to do that is to take a ride on a bicycle.

Unless you're a Kenyan marathon runner a bike will get you around faster than you could on foot. A bike will also allow you to take in more of the sights without the obstructed view of a car window and the restrictions of car traffic.

Baltimore City's bicycle master plan, which includes opening up the promenade for bicyclists in the mornings, installing more bike racks, and making roads bicycle friendly, is now beginning to be implemented so it has never been a better time to ride through the city. So if you're ready to get going, check out the list below for bicyclist resources in Baltimore. Without a doubt riding a bike is the the most fun you can have while exploring the city.

• Light Street Cycles Is a full service bike shop in Federal Hill that will not only sell you a new or used bicycle, but they'll also rent one if you're just visiting or want to try a bike out before taking one home for good.

• Joe's Bike Shop is located in Mount Washington and they are an excellent shop for people looking to purchase or repair their bikes. Joe's sponsors many riding clubs and events throughout the area. Stop by to get more info about upcoming bike events.

• Baltimore Bicycle Club Is a great organization of bike enthusiasts who have been around for over 40 years. Their website has info on joining the club, upcoming bike rides, and a great list of bike trails and paths in the Baltimore metro area.