books and pastries

the highlight of last weekend for me was going to hoehn's bakery in highlandtown and enjoying some of their fatteningly delicious pastries (i tried a marshmallow-filled, chocolate-covered donut for 70 cents!!) in patterson park (where we randomly stumbled upon a great flea market, which was also just fantastic). hoehn's is a family-owned bakery that has been in operation in highlandtown since 1927. definitely a must-see for the sweet teeth of baltimore!!




so...coming up this weekend (september 26-27) is the great baltimore book festival. whether hearing authors, buying books or people-watching, you're in for a good time! there's also the greater lauraville fair in heinz park. i'd like to go because i am not at all familiar with this area. the fair features food, drinks, kids stuff and live music.

coming next weekend (october 2-3) is grundlehammer, a premiere of the baltimore rock opera society. the minds behind this-- some of whom went to goucher!-- have been working on it for years. should be really absurd and terrific!

also coming up in october (7-11) is the autumn glory festival. it will be the 42nd annual of everything harvest in western maryland. i went last year and was beside myself with all the craziness. besides the memorable gospel puppet show, the tri-state parade, a living history tour of the county court house, a glass blowing exhibit, a quilt show, farmer's market, history museum and clogging performance, i got a sense of the area by camping in the gorgeous deep creek state park. i was so impressed with what western maryland had to offer-- the foliage was gorgeous, the people were so friendly, and there was a hugely different pace of life. the four-hour drive was long but pretty, and a stop in the oddly empty town of cumberland was great. i would really, really recommend making a trip to see autumn glory!! if that's not possible, however, you can check the state's foliage hotline to find out the scoop on fall's most interesting feature (i LOVE the fact that the state has this): 1-800-LEAVES-1.

planning ahead to the end of october-- i am really looking forward to the 10th annual great halloween lantern parade in patterson park!! a wonderful collaboration between the nana projects, the creative alliance and the communities of highlandtown, it is a mighty sight to behold. you can build your own lantern at workshops throughout the month and then walk in the parade, or just come to take in this otherworldly spectacle. it takes place on oct. 28, the same night as "thrill the world." thrill the world is a global michael jackson tribute that aims to break the world record for largest number of people doing the same dance. baltimore's will take place at 8:30 pm at harborplace.

also, don't forget about $1 orioles tickets. you have to buy them online and thus accrue some service charges, but all in all a night at camden yards is worth the $4!!


will cozy fall nights ever come to this humid place?

august 20-23

if you do not have weekend plans, you're in luck. maryland is bursting with stuff to do this weekend. among others, check out:
-the "golden westival": music festival at the golden west cafe in hampden. many of the staffers are musicians, and despite the $8 charge per night and high probability that pretentious attitudes will run amok, it could be cool. i am a fan of jana hunter, who is playing tonight at 10!
-the inaugural inner harbor arts festival. although the inner harbor is not known for its authentic arts scene, this is an interesting collaboration between the city and a nonprofit called maryland art place. definitely worth checking out considering it is free and conveniently located...
-augustoberfest in hagerstown. the bad news is that hagerstown is 1.5 hours away. the good news is that it is a pretty drive, and they are throwing their 14th annual festival and fundraiser to send students to their sister city in germany. sounds like a riot!
-there's also latinofest going on in a park in dundalk. may be a bit of a drive for some of us but sounds exciting as well!

antiques and fall festival preview

last saturday i went swing dancing at the odd but cool dickeyville mill. dickeyville is a quiet, historic enclave within gwynns falls park, in west baltimore. to get there you turn off forest park ave into a densely wooded village, then follow the one main road to an old mill-- all quite out-of-the-ordinary for baltimore! once inside, however, it is awesome. the building looks like it was recently renovated and makes a gorgeous hall for dancing. at first i thought $12 might be a bit steep for the evening, but for an class and social dance, accompanied by live music, it was definitely worth it. i'd recommend checking out chileswing (link above) for classes or social dancing if you're interested or experienced!

i also made it to the fells point antique market last weekend, a monthly venture that occurs on the second sunday in each of the warm months. put on by the fells point preservation society, the entire plaza just south of broadway market was bustling with vendors and their wares. the next (and last, for 2009) markets are september 14 and october 12-- hopefully those won't be as stiflingly hot as last sunday! the heat did lead me to a fabulous coffee shop, however, called latte da. their iced coffee is made with coffee ice cubes (ingenious!) and their cupcakes might be the best i've ever had.

speaking of antiques, the baltimore summer antiques show is coming up september 3-6 at the downtown convention center. i haven't been, but i sounds fascinating! it is an international spectacle in its 29th year-- clearly, a big deal for some folks.

this fall will be greeting us with a variety of interesting events and spectacles, as per usual. it seems like september will be especially busy, with the korean festival, hampdenfest, and the ukrainian festival all taking place on september 12. the book festival hit mount vernon on september 25&26. in october we've got the poe funeral on october 10 (not quite sure what this yet) and the russian festival on october 16-18. although it's still a ways in the future, don't forget about free fall baltimore! the month-long program through the baltimore office of promotion and the arts promotes area institutions and events with free or discounted passes. definitely worth checking out!

in the mean time, catch an orioles game (fireworks coming up on august 14!), have a snoball, and try to find some place with air conditioning!

arts/festivals/august

first of all, what is with all these insane thunderstorms lately? they make it hard to be outdoors and frankly, they scare me with their intensity!


i hope everyone had a great artscape!! i was shocked at how crowded it was, but it could have been more unpleasant if the humidity had acted up. it is really inspiring to see so many people out and about for the arts-- but it sure is tiring to be stuck in a crowd the whole weekend. i tried to watch cake but ended up having a much better time at the side stage listening to noble lake, a cool local folk-y duo. speaking of local folk-y musicians, there's going to be a great concert at golden west cafe in hampden tomorrow night: paul mason and caleb stine. i'd recommend it!! oh, and speaking of upcoming shows, providence-based folk group the low anthem will be playing at the ottobar on august 15-- should be good!

today i went to the chesapeake folk festival at the chesapeake bay maritime museum in saint michael's, on the eastern shore. although being caught in traffic for a few hours dampened spirits, it was a really awesome day. if you ever get the chance to go to saint michaels, go to the museum!! it is huge and well worth the entrance fee. they put on a great festival!
[they had smith island cake, boats, and many other chesapeake classics]





and in the next few weeks there are some cool events coming up:
i would definitely recommend going to local performance troupe fluid movement's water ballet next weekend, august 2, at patterson park. i went to their water ballet last year and it was great-- really quirky, light-hearted, and fun.

also next weekend is the international festival at poly/western high school off cold spring lane in medfield (just north of hampden). it includes a huge variety of activities and nations-- a soccer tournament, performances, food...

keep in mind there are also county fairs pretty much every weekend until september-- for a more complete list, see the maryland office of tourism's monthly newsletter (online here). i subscribe to that and the baltimore fun guide, both of which give some great tips on cool stuff to do in the area.

fourth fun + agristuff

we've made it to july and for most of us, it is a long weekend. this means a spectacular opportunity to do some baltimore event-hopping-- my favorite!!

here are a few ideas for celebrating the fourth of july:
-go to the pet parade at AVAM. 10 am- 12:30 pm. free!
-listen to the baltimore symphony orchestra at oregon ridge park in baltimore county-- and see fireworks integrated into the concert-- on july 3 or 4 at 8 pm. $9-18.
-watch the fireworks over the inner harbor from federal hill. begins at 9:30 pm.
-check out the historic carroll mansion on saturday or sunday between 12-4 pm. 1/2 price if you wear red, white and blue!
-go to the african-american heritage festival at camden yards, held july 3-5.
-take the train down to washington d.c. to catch the smithsonian folklife festival. this year they celebrate wales, latin music and african-american storytelling. free on the national mall. (mariachi serenade pictured below)


and here are a few things you could do this weekend, or later:
-free daily cultural walk of mount vernon! every day at noon. meet at visitors center on light street in the inner harbor. this sounds great, i can't wait to try it!
-free heritage walk. meet at the inner harbor visitors center. monday-friday @ 10 am, saturday/sunday @ 10 am or 1 pm
-take a guided hike at the lovely gwynns falls park in west baltimore. saturday at 3 pm (that will cost you $1), thursday 9-10 am or second sunday from 1-4 pm. or, any time on your own!
-outdoor movie at AVAM (thursday nights) or little italy (friday nights)
-station north flea market on saturday mornings from 9-2. north avenue
-see the "east side images" exhibit at the reginald f. lewis museum or a joint exhibition at the james backas gallery located at the maryland state arts council's offices in south baltimore.

other upcoming events of note:

-stoop storytelling series-- supposed to be just awesome. july 9-11 at 7 pm, centerstage theater. the reason i haven't gone yet...it is $20.
-caribbean carnival at druid hill park. july 10-12. colorful!
-roots music festival at the carroll county farm museum in westminster, july 11-12.
-artscape, of course, is going to be fantastic. huge, hot, overwhelming, and just great. make sure to check out the painted screen society booth! in the bolton hill/MICA/penn station/charles area, july 17-19.

summer is a great time to do some traveling, of course, and there is plenty to see even within maryland. the eastern shore offers more than just ocean access-- if you are interested in agriculture or traditional ways of life, check out:
-taste of cambridge festival on july 11.
-agricultural tours of talbot county (july 21), caroline county (july 22), dorchester county (july 23)
-chesapeake folk festival at the ward museum of waterfowl art in st. michael's, maryland on july 25.
-venture to smith island, dubbed "an island out of time," in the chesapeake. take the twice-daily ferry from crisfield (on the lower eastern shore, close to virginia) for a real treat-- and of course, don't forget to try their famous ten-layer cake.

as for the rest of maryland, there are plenty of other opportunities:
-potomac jazz and seafood festival in st. mary's on july 11
-baltimore county 4H fair, july 16-19 in timonium
-washington county fair july 17-19 in sharpsburg (a really quaint place i'd recommend visiting at some time)
-cecil county farm fair, july 24-august 1 in elkton
-harford county farm fair, july 30-august 2 in bel air

maryland just keeps these events coming! i love it. hope to see you at one of these great opportunities!

free wednesday night concerts

baltimore's back in full swing of summertime activities-- thankfully, many of which are free or very cheap! this weekend i paid a whole $6 for great seats at an orioles game, had a great time at honfest in hampden (see photos), and took advantage of the free outdoor movie series at the village of cross keys. although i found cross keys very odd in that it is an extremely pre-planned enclave that is extremely different from the rest of the city (mostly in terms of demographics), it was a great setting to watch a movie on a calm summer evening. last night's show was avalon, one of barry levinson's classic films about growing up in baltimore-- i'd highly recommend any of the four films.






as for upcoming events, i was excited to read about the summer concert series at the museum of industry, 6-9 on wednesday nights. these are free (!) and look awesome. june 17th features jah works and dj who. by the way, the museum of industry caught me off guard with its fascinating, familiar exhibits-- definitely worth going to.

if you are looking for a neighborhood to check out, i live in remington and find it very genuine in its diversity and appeal. we're home to familiar landmarks such as the dizz, ace of cakes, and the papermoon diner as well as lesser known places like sterling's crab house on the corner of 29th and miles. the wyman park dell, just across from the (free and wonderful) baltimore museum of art, is a lovely spot to catch some afternoon relaxation. we're in walking distance of hampden, druid hill park, and hopkins/charles village. a few shots:

Maryland Traditions Showcase on June 11!

Charm City Confidential is back in action!


I am back in Baltimore after four months in Copenhagen and what a great place it is. From an urban studies perspective, Copenhagen is a really well-planned place with reliable and extensive public transportation, cutting-edge architecture, and incredible designers. I would really recommend it for those interested in learning about the history of a Northern European city-- there are many great museums, and most everything is in English as well as Danish. Here are a few shots of my last day there:





However, the reason for this post is that there is yet another exciting Baltimore event coming up! I trust summer 2009 will be just as fruitful as last summer in terms of quirky events in Charm City. I happen to be interning at the Maryland State Arts Council's Maryland Traditions program and thus am working hard on this event. Below you will find a bit about it:

Maryland Traditions, a program of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Maryland Historical Trust, will present a traditional and folk arts showcase on Thursday, June 11 at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. The afternoon session— from 4:00 to 7:00 pm— includes a roundtable discussion with Maryland instrument makers, insights from esteemed local cooks, and demonstrations of material arts (such as screen painting and Smith Island cake baking) followed by a dinner of traditional Maryland foodways. The evening portion features performances by boogie-woogie piano master Daryl Davis, ngoni (pre-banjo) player Cheick Hamala Diabate, South Indian Karnatic musicians P.K. and Lalitha Swaminathan and urban hip-hop dance master Junious “House” Brickhouse. The program also includes the Maryland Traditions 2009 ALTA (Achievement in Living Traditions and the Arts) Awards ceremony and recognition of the 2010 recipients of the program’s Master and Apprentice and Project Grants. Tickets are $6 and available at creativealliance.org, by calling 410-276-1651 or at the door.

This weekend, however, don't miss the Frederick Festival of the Arts, the Charles Village Festival (check out their website-- it is really visually interesting!), and the Texas Two-Step dance at the Creative Alliance! More events to come, of course...

here is a little collage i made yesterday...

blog hiatus

hello! i am just letting any readers out there know that i will be studying abroad in copenhagen, denmark next semester (january-may) and thus will not be updating this blog until then. of course there's always options like first fridays on the avenue in hampden, the free walters art museum, the washington monument in mt. vernon (which you can climb to the top of for just $1!), the baltimore basilica (first catholic church in the united states!), lexington market, the museum of industry, little italy, a movie at the charles theatre, the great blacks in wax museum (unveiling their new barack obama wax statue on january 19!), etc.

here's a list of where i get my info, so you can continue to find cool events on your own--
baltimore metromix
City Paper
Baltimore Collegetown Network
baltimore.org
baltimore fun guide
the creative alliance

have fun exploring charm city!