Ralphie on the Road #9: Not-So-Weird-Anymore-Austin & Cry, Cry Baby

    Ralphie on the Road #9: Not-So-Weird-Anymore-Austin & Cry, Cry Baby

    Carrier pigeon dispatches between my daughter Amelia and me on January 15, 2008 as I took my good old time approaching Austin, Texas from the west. Me: “Hello from the hometown of Davy Crockett – Ozona, Texas. I’m writing an essay about the greatest seafaring movies of all time at the Ozona public library.” Her: [...]

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    Crabtown Observed No. 16: Birds & Small Talk

    Crabtown Observed No. 16: Birds & Small Talk

    It’s the morning of January 11, 2012–a gray, cold Wednesday in Highlandtown–and as people wait outside for the bus on Eastern Avenue, Andy Farantos dumps a stainless steel tray of potatoes on the grill in the front window of G&A Coney Island Hot Dogs, the fried onions and chili sauce landmark started by his grandfather [...]

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    Bill Bateman’s Bistro Perry Hall

    Bill Bateman’s Bistro Perry Hall

    Tom Strawser has been to Indonesia. Germany. The United Kingdom. In all, he’s worked in six foreign countries and five different states opening more than eighty restaurants. But the Cumberland native is most proud of the restaurant he opened six months ago, Bill Bateman’s in Perry Hall. Strawser is the owner of the franchise at [...]

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    Crabtown Observed No. 15: East Baltimore Blues

    Crabtown Observed No. 15: East Baltimore Blues

    In Greektown, East Baltimore, the blues are alive and well. There may be more than 25 years between them, but local guitarists Pete Kanaras and Robert Frahm share an equal passion for traditional blues from Mississippi to Memphis to Chicago.

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    The Legacy of Patrick J Citroni

    The Legacy of Patrick J Citroni

    The call came to Adrian Citroni on the morning of September 18, 2008. The caller described his son with a touch of gray hair at his temples. When Citroni confirmed the gray hair, the next words he remembered the caller saying were that there had been an accident and that his son had expired. Citroni’s [...]

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    The Knotty Pine

    The Knotty Pine

    It was after the 2008 Super Bowl game when the New York Giants ruined the New England Patriots perfect season that the Knotty Pine was engulfed in flames. Ironically, it was also “the first weekend of the smoking ban in Baltimore” added Alice March, owner of the Knotty Pine, 801 South Conkling Street.

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Baltimore Bites

The Knotty Pine The Knotty Pine

It was after the 2008 Super Bowl game when the New York Giants ruined the New England Patriots perfect season ...

DiPasquale’s Marketplace DiPasquale’s Marketplace

For Joe DiPasquale, a trip to Italy when he was twenty-one changed his life. "I went to Abruzzo, Campagna and ...

Baltimore Cakery Baltimore Cakery

Jill Williams of Baltimore Cakery is charming. With an authentic Arkansas drawl, the Texarkana native has adopted Baltimore "because ...

Ikaros Restaurant Ikaros Restaurant

"Cooking is an art," said Xenos Kohilas of Ikaros Restaurant, 4805 Eastern Avenue. "First, you collect the ingredients," he said. "You ...

Chicken Rico Chicken Rico

The aroma of roasting chicken hits you before you reach the storefront of Chicken Rico at 3728 Eastern Avenue in ...

Crabtown Observed No. 16: Birds & Small Talk Crabtown Observed No. 16: Birds & Small Talk

It’s the morning of January 11, 2012–a gray, cold Wednesday in Highlandtown–and as people wait outside for the bus on Eastern Avenue, Andy Farantos dumps a stainless steel tray of potatoes on the grill in the front window of G&A Coney Island Hot Dogs, the fried onions and chili sauce landmark started by his grandfather [...]

Lawbreaker Beware Lawbreaker Beware

Wanna get spooked? Take a hard look at the Patapsco. No, not the body of water. I’m talking about the artist’s rendering of the Patapsco River that shows up on the “Lawbreaker Beware” signs all over the streets of Baltimore–be they safe or sorry.

The Legacy of Patrick J Citroni The Legacy of Patrick J Citroni

The call came to Adrian Citroni on the morning of September 18, 2008. The caller described his son with a touch of gray hair at his temples. When Citroni confirmed the gray hair, the next words he remembered the caller saying were that there had been an accident and that his son had expired. Citroni’s [...]

The Wire: A Streetview Tour The Wire: A Streetview Tour

View The Wire: A Streetview Tour in a larger map Shot on location during its five-year run on HBO, Baltimore was more than a backdrop and setting for The Wire. From its corners to its classrooms to the corridors of power, the city was the prism through which issues and themes were refracted. Here follows [...]

A Mural in Waverly A Mural in Waverly

A colorful cartoonish mural recently completed at the landmark intersection of Greenmount and 33rd Street may be among the last commissioned by the City of Baltimore. Over two steamy summer months, dozens of volunteer artists helped paint a design by cartoonist and writer Tom Chalkley.

Exploring the Waterfront Promenade Exploring the Waterfront Promenade

Whether you live here in Baltimore or are just visiting, there’s a trail great for walking that you’re probably missing. The Waterfront Promenade is a paved walkway that hugs nearly seven miles of the waterline of the Inner Harbor from Fort McHenry to the Canton Waterfront Park. The Promenade began in the early 1970s as [...]

The 1904 Fire and the Baltimore Standard The 1904 Fire and the Baltimore Standard

Sometime during the morning of Sunday, February 7, 1904, a smoldering fire burst into flame in the basement of the John Hurst & Company, a dry goods store located at Hopkins Place, near the present-day Baltimore Arena.

Three Creepy Places to Visit Three Creepy Places to Visit

Get into the spirit of Halloween by visiting places that appeal to the morbidly curious. We know where you can walk through a spooky catacombs, view miniature models of death scenes, and see an actual human corpse as you learn about body-snatching.

Good Sports Good Sports

Childhood favorites such as kickball and dodgeball are the rage, with teams cropping up all over town. Emphasizing on fun rather than athleticism, these sports are a good way to combine socializing with healthful physical activity.