BALTIMORE: Ceasefire! No Shoot Zone (except photos)
It's now 11 years since I moved away from Baltimore. These are my pictures from my recent return visit.
1813:
204 years later you might say the same could still be said...
The Baltimore Ceasefire was an activist-led call for no killings in the city for 72 hours from Friday 4th - Sunday 6th August 2017 due to the city's record high murder rate.
There were two fatal shootings over the weekend.
Meanwhile down at the Inner Harbor, a shiny new skyscraper is being constructed (414 Light Street).
And Mr Natty Boh still thinks this is the "land of pleasant living"...
Mr Trash Wheel works hard to keep the harbor clean:
Harbor East also continues to be built out. Here's the future Liberty apartments with a new Whole Foods on the ground floor, twice the size of the existing store a block away:
The existing Whole Foods will have to do for lunch. They had red bananas! I haven't seen these in the UK for about 20 years.
Harbor East gives way to the smaller scale of Fells Point beyond:
Fells Point remains as charming as ever.
In fact, Fells looks even better than it did before since Mr "Under Armour" Kevin Plank's Sagamore Development has brought the former Rec Pier back to life as the Sagamore Pendry Hotel:
There's also a Sagamore shop across the road...
...and a Sagamore Spirit distillery visitor center at Port Covington, site of the company's future city within a city:
Another building brought back to life is the "Pabst Castle" former bottling plant in South Baltimore:
Moving north to Mount Vernon...
...I paid my first visit to the George Peabody library. It feels surreal looking up at all those floors of books.
Meanwhile on North Avenue...
This billboard refers to prosecutor Michael Schatzow's claim that Freddie Gray died after a "rough ride" in a police van, prompting the 2016 riots:
It's not all bad. North Avenue has seen two theaters restored and reopened in the last couple of years. The former Centre Theater reopened in 2015 as the JHU-MICA Film Centre (Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Institute College of Art):
While the Parkway reopened this year:
Some nearby murals:
Former Schanze Theater:
I also paid my first visit to the beautiful Rawlings Conservatory in Druid Hill Park:
Nearby in the Remington neighborhood, a former car body repair shop has been turned into "R House", a food hall for up and coming chefs:
Paper Moon Diner around the corner:
Clifton Mansion in Clifton Park was built in 1802 by Henry Thompson from Sheffield, England, and later owned by Johns Hopkins:
Excellent photos-- thank you for posting. We visited Baltimore this past weekend to watch the Angels play the Orioles and to go to Heavy Seas. It looked like Harbor East and Fells Point are booming.
My wife and I had brunch at Paper Moon Cafe. The restaurant is eclectic and the food was delicious. The next time we visit, we're going to have to try R House. We also wanted to go to Lexington Market but it was closed on Sunday. I definitely want to visit the Rawlings Conservatory and the Johns Hopkins library as well but there is only so much you can see in one day.
We also visited the Hampden neighborhood, which seemed interesting.
__________________
"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
My wife and I had brunch at Paper Moon Cafe. The restaurant is eclectic and the food was delicious. The next time we visit, we're going to have to try R House. We also wanted to go to Lexington Market but it was closed on Sunday. I definitely want to visit the Rawlings Conservatory and the Johns Hopkins library as well but there is only so much you can see in one day.
We also visited the Hampden neighborhood, which seemed interesting.
I would recommend R House. It's not the cheapest considering it's basically fast food, but not the priciest either, and lots of interesting stuff to try. I wished I'd seen the free water on tap before buying drinks! The Rawlings Conservatory doesn't take long but I recommend it; beautiful inside and out. It's been a long time since I went to Lexington Market and Hampden. I must revisit them on a future trip.
__________________ Laid by Monty: Celebrating the architectural heritage of Montague Burton's Art Deco shops in the UK & Ireland