Baltimore, Maryland
By Andrew Collins

If you haven't been to Baltimore in a while, you owe yourself a visit. This friendly, unassuming city has experienced a virtual rebirth over the past 15 years, rehabilitating its handsome Inner Harbor by converting dilapidated piers and wharves into museums, shops, restaurants, hotels, and condominiums. Often featured in the movies of camp filmmaker and native son John Waters, Baltimore has also developed increased cachet as a welcoming gay and lesbian destination, with its many GLBT-friendly businesses.

Fortunately, the city's success hasn't gone to its head. It's hard to find a more genuine and down-to-earth breed of urbanites than the residents of Baltimore, who retain a special affection for their hometown. You may be lured to Baltimore by the many highly publicized attractions set around downtown's Inner Harbor, and indeed most of these museums and entertainment centers live up to their billing. But be sure to save time to explore the many quirky residential neighborhoods, a few of which - Mount Vernon, Federal Hill, Fells Point - are within easy walking distance of downtown.

The Inner Harbor thrived for years as a shipping crossroads before falling into a state of blight. Its conversion into an entertainment and museum district has made it one of the most engaging and picturesque harbors in America. Popular attractions include the glass-enclosed Harborplace pavilions, where you can browse through dozens of shops. Also check out the Baltimore Maritime Museum, National Aquarium, and World Trade Center (which offers fine views from its 27th-floor observation deck).

A regal grassy knoll south of the harbor, Federal Hill Park rises majestically above downtown and the Inner Harbor. It's an ideal spot to laze under the sun on warm afternoons. The surrounding eponymous neighborhood has loads of inviting cafes and bars, and the neighborhood's American Visionary Art Museum ingeniously blends two historic warehouses within a striking contemporary structure. East of the Inner Harbor, Fells Point may be America's best-preserved Colonial waterfront, with its perfectly maintained Federal-style town houses.

Baltimore's gay epicenter lies north of downtown in historic Mount Vernon, which you reach by strolling north from the Inner Harbor up the city's backbone, Charles Street. The neighborhood is anchored by Mount Vernon Square and its 178-foot-high Washington Monument. Nearby are the outstanding Walters Art Museum and the Peabody Conservatory of Music, the oldest and one of the most prestigious classical music schools in the country.

You'll need to drive or take a bus up Charles Street to reach the leafy 140-acre campus of Johns Hopkins University, which is ideal for strolling and is next to the state's largest museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art. West of Johns Hopkins, Hampden is a good old-fashioned "Bawl'mer" neighborhood, a former mill-workers' community that has more recently developed a bounty of hip boutiques, galleries, and cafes. (John Waters, who lives nearby, occasionally strolls these parts and set his movie Pecker here.)
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