heading to baltimore

[confidant]

i'm going to be in baltimore for the weekend and i'm looking for some help on things to check out, especially any interesting neighborhoods and good places to eat or go out. i already know about shop gentei. i've also heard some stuff about hampden (w 36th st), station north, and fells point. any help, even the smallest stuff, would be great. thanks.

[poly800rock]

baltimore is a weird town. i feel like you have to either know someone from there or be from there to know what the inside scoop is.

get some crabcakes insted.

[shoreman1782]

I live closer to DC, but used to hang out in Baltimore a lot. I have no idea where to shop there.

I like the Brewer's Art in Mount Vernon for food and beer, but I'm kind of a yuppie, so make of that what you will. Charleston is the fancy restaurant in town. Bmore's Little Italy is maybe surprisingly good; Caesar's Den is a good spot for osso buco, etc. (not cheap). Vaccaro's for a giant cannoli. Pazo is the "hip" place--tapas and such. Cool look, but kinda nouveau riche crowd. Honestly, I couldn't tell you where to go for crabs/seafood, I don't go out for that stuff much in the city.

Fell's Point is mostly college and post-college frat types; there are any number of Irish-y bars and desperate singles scenes there. It's worth going down there if you like music, because the Soundgarden is one of the best record stores south of NYC (not saying much). Lulu's on Aliceanna is an OK dive and Max's has a lot of tasty beers. You could do worse than eating/drinking at DuClaw brewery, though it's a chain and kind of sterile.

Federal Hill and Canton are the other primary bar areas. Ropewalk in FH is a Republican bar, and pretty nice if you're cool with the bust of Ronald Reagan. There's an American Apparel down there, too.

The Ottobar is a good place to see a rock show or grab a cheap beer. The Talking Head is in the old Ottobar space, and has a similar vibe. Sonar has shows, too, but I would never go there just to hang out.

Make sure to drink some Natty Boh while you're in town.

Non-consumption-related: The Walters Art Gallery has some cool stuff. The Visonary Art Museum sounds interesting, but I've never been.

AVOID: Anything near "Power Plant Live"... the inner harbor in general, except for the Aquarium, which is cool once... the block (all strip clubs/xxx stores)... the greene turtle...

Sorry, I'm rambling. Enjoy Charm City.