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!

• Insider advice on the popular attractions, and hidden gems, from where to find the best crabcakes in Baltimore, to exploring the small towns on the Chesapeake Bay. Plus tips for planning your vacation “down the ocean” at Maryland and Delaware’s beach resorts.
• Where to find the best fishing and crabbing, the best baseball (major and minor leagues), the best local seafood, and the best places to bag a bargain antiques shopping.
• Insightful commentary on the historic past of Maryland and Delaware, from the American Revolution, through the Civil War to their different roles and changing environments today, with side trips to Harpers Ferry and Gettysburg.
• Opinionated reviews. No bland descriptions and lukewarm recommendations. Our expert writers are passionate about their destinations--they tell it like it is in an engaging and helpful way.
• Exact prices listed for every establishment and activity--no other guides offer such detailed, candid reviews of hotels and restaurants. We include the very best, but also emphasize moderately priced choices for real people.
• User-friendly features including star ratings and special icons to point readers to great finds, excellent values, insider tips, best bets for kids, special moments, and overrated experiences.

Baltimore Trails is a comprehensive and detailed guide to trails on public lands in and around Baltimore. Discover Hemlock Gorge, a small slice of Appalachia transported into northern Baltimore County, with its timeless peace and ancient gnarled hemlocks; or Black Marsh, where birds skulk among the vegetation of pristine freshwater wetlands; or the unique landscape of Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area, which shelters more than 38 rare plant species. Baltimore Trails answers the needs of hikers and mountain bikers, offering accurate maps, up-to-date access information, and reliable trail descriptions.

Bryan MacKay, a lifelong Baltimore resident and avid naturalist, walked, cycled, and explored nearly 80 trails in local state, county, and city parks, as well as area watersheds. He provides a detailed description, topographic map, and the length, location, and degree of difficulty for each trail. Some trails offer an easy afternoon stroll, while others provide a day of rugged hiking or biking. Thumbnail essays offer scenic highlights and discuss typical plants, animals, and local ecology.

Every trail was field-checked in 2007 for the second edition. Miles of new trails are included, as is updated information on recent trail reroutes.

This newly revised and expanded edition of Baltimore Harbor provides a lively, heavily illustrated history of a vital American port that connects the Chesapeake Bay with the rest of the world.

Using photographs, historic illustrations, and stories, Robert Keith traces the harbor's fascinating history. An ideal hub for the bay's network of paddlewheel steamers, the working port grew quickly alongside the shipbuilding industry at Fells Point and Federal Hill. This growth continued as the nation's first public carrier railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio, linked the wharves of the Patapsco River with the coal fields of Appalachia and the towns and farms of the Midwest.

Today Baltimore harbor is better known for trendy shops than container ships. Tourists strolling the sidewalks of Harborplace are probably unaware of the port's colorful past—and its important role in contemporary maritime commerce. Keith's book connects the harbor's vibrant present with its storied, equally energetic past.