Baltimore

This map covers the following areas:
Main Baltimore Map 1:25,000
Baltimore Area Map 1:180,000
Downtown Baltimore Map 1:12,500

The glory of spring in Maryland issues sights of trees budding, flowers blooming and a 13 foot tall pepto pink poodle bobbing in the Baltimore Harbor.

The American Visionary Art Museum, located on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, is the site of the annual East Coast Championship Kinetic Sculpture Race.

Kinetic sculptures are amphibious, human powered works of art, but they may be better described as colossal propelled pool gizmos engineered to run on ingenuityand inspired by, well the inspiration can be from anything.

Previous years’ entries included Cake on A Lake with a bee-hived hairdo beauty popping out of a tiered cake as the pastry made its way down the harbor (the beehive is one of Baltimore’s gifts to the world).

Past entries have also included a mobile beaver lodge, the Shrimptastic float complete with support shrimp on bikes, the nine-seater PLATYPUS (Personal Longrange All-Terrain Yacht Proven Un-Safe) and the perennial plastic poodle Fifi.

Sculptures are optimistically engineered to withstand the 15 mile course that encompasses city streets, a sand trap, a mud hazard and a regatta in the harbor. Bribes are de rigueur for the officials who line the course dressed in costumes holding chicken-on-a-stick signs.

After eight hours awards are bestowed including the Golden Flipper, Sock Creature of the Universe (a sock puppet is required of each team), Next to Last and the Dinosaur Award for the most memorable breakdown along the race.

Winners of the race are then eligible to compete in the World Championships in Arcata California, providing both pilot(s) and sculpture have survived.

Baltimore is also home to the Baltimore Orioles, the Ravens, art museums, shopping, historic sites, and several colleges. But let’s face it, for one day, all that matters is the race - For the Glory!