-el rancho grande: i just stumbled upon this place recently, but its a hands-down favorite for me. located at the intersection of falls road and 36th ("the avenue") in hampden, it is one of the few late-night coffeehouses in this city. the place feels simultaneously funky, home-like and southwestern and has awesome decor. the prices are a little steep-- i usually get an iced coffee for $3-- but i like contributing to this small establishment. i've heard there are jam sessions there on wednesday nights; often, concerts take place on saturday nights. the fact that it is open late at all is wonderful for those of us under 21. i would highly recommend making a trip here (from goucher, i'd recommend taking the light rail to woodberry, walking up union ave and then taking a right on falls).
-common ground: also located in hampden, this rowhouse-cafe is a real destination. great coffee, artsy atmosphere, interesting people, reasonable prices, walking accessibility, and solid air conditioning. the counter is a pretty tight squeeze, but they have a cute front room as well as a more expansive back room and back deck. i've heard their iced chai shake things are good, and i will totally vouch for their coffee.
-zia's cafe, in towson, is another hotspot. this is clearly an ideal location-- on allegheny avenue-- for goucher students. their vegan/vegetarian focus is genuine and their coffee is also delicious. if i could change anything it would be their hours (i've repeatedly tried to come here on sunday afternoons, always forgetting they are closed) because it seems like a good place to get some studying done.
-donna's: is pretty much entirely out of my price range, but great for a treat if you are wandering around mt. vernon or charles village. i had their iced-coffee-sundae thing last summer and was entirely satisfied for quite a while... unfortunately, it was $6 and i haven't been back since. this definitely has an upscale feel to it.
-one world cafe: located by hopkins on university parkway (goucher kids- take the colltown shuttle), i am a huge fan of this organic, wholesome, and refreshing cafe. i thoroughly enjoyed a meal here once, but i've also sampled some of their coffee and loved it. this is also vegetarian-themed but is quite a bit more expansive than zia's, as well as closer to other attractions, such as the baltimore book thing, the 32nd street/waverly farmer's market, the bma, and hopkins itself. this is a good place to meet up and chat with an old friend or take a date.
-i've heard xs, in mt. vernon, is another good late-night coffee place, but i haven't been there myself. would anyone care to give their opinion?
also, i forgot to mention this event going on next weekend as well: the charm city roller girls "saturday night roast". i went to one of their bouts in june and it was pretty over-the-top. i'm still a little confused about the rules of the game, but from what i can tell, it's serious, competitive, and can get pretty rough. it was also a whole lot of fun. the crowd was a mix of fancy twenty-somethings, grunge dads and other artsy folk who had been at honfest in hampden earlier that day... the arena is over in the canton area and tickets are $10, but this is definitely worth it to experience once.
for those of you that didn't catch artscape or whartscape this weekend, i've attached some photos. i was really impressed with artscape-- the scope of this event is so enormous, i can't imagine organizing all the vendors/performers/volunteers/etc.-- but it did have some corporate undertones (ie. it was co-sponsored by target). seeing sisqo and dru hill perform was something i wouldn't have paid money to see, but it was entertaining until some kid threw hot dogs at us and the grassy hill became too uncomfortable. my favorite part of the event was seeing the variety of people it attracted, including the art groups and artists i've read about, lovely goucher people, experimental and somewhat frightening installations, plenty of out-of-towners, etc. i felt very out of place at whartscape-- i am totally not cool enough for that crowd-- but it was eye-opening in a different way. i was pretty disappointed with the "music" we heard there, although i'm not sure screaming obscenities while crowd surfing, accompanied by '90s jams and eerie noise, really counts as music. i enjoyed people-watching there but found the ultrahipster uniform of tight, short shorts, beat-up shirts, big glasses, intentionally ugly haircuts and '80s sneakers to become pretty mundane. why try so hard to look different when everyone's idea of "different" is the same?
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