Baltimore

(22 photos)
  • View of Baltimore's downtown skyline from Jones Falls Expressway.
  • Guests at a wedding reception near Baltimore's Inner Harbor area.
  • Rowhouses and ice cream truck in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood.
  • "Arabbers" (pronounced AY-rabbers) seem on the edge of extinction. The century-old African-American tradition of selling fruit and vegetables from horse-drawn carts is threatened by dwindling numbers, city regulations, animal rights activists, and changing shopping habits. In the past, Arabbers were plentiful in US east coast cities. Today there are only a handful of Arabbers keeping the heritage alive in Baltimore, and their future is uncertain.
  • Anime convention, downtown Baltimore.
  • Kids play in Baltimore's new downtown convention center.
  • Weekend game of bocce in Baltimore's Little Italy neighborhood.
  • "Arabbers" (pronounced AY-rabbers) seem on the edge of extinction. The century-old African-American tradition of selling fruit and vegetables from horse-drawn carts is threatened by dwindling numbers, city regulations, animal rights activists, and changing shopping habits. In the past, Arabbers were plentiful in US east coast cities. Today there are only a handful of Arabbers keeping the heritage alive in Baltimore, and their future is uncertain.
  • Sudden storm at a wedding reception near the city's Inner Harbor area.
  • Rowhouses in East Baltimore.
  • "Arabbers" (pronounced AY-rabbers) seem on the edge of extinction. The century-old African-American tradition of selling fruit and vegetables from horse-drawn carts is threatened by dwindling numbers, city regulations, animal rights activists, and changing shopping habits. In the past, Arabbers were plentiful in US east coast cities. Today there are only a handful of Arabbers keeping the heritage alive in Baltimore, and their future is uncertain.
  • Passengers wait at Baltimore's Penn Station.
  • Suburban development.
  • View from tram approaching downtown.
  • Preparing a retro look for yearly Hon Fest in Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood. "Hon" is short for "honey", and is considered a uniquely Baltimore expression used by the city's waitresses ("What can I get you, hon?").
  • Tram passengers on Baltimore's light rail line.
  • Crowd at public concert in a downtown parking lot.
  • Little Italy festival parade in Baltimore.
  • Domino sugar factory in Baltimore, seen from parking garage.
  • A girl waits on a tram platform.
  • "Arabbers" (pronounced AY-rabbers) seem on the edge of extinction. The century-old African-American tradition of selling fruit and vegetables from horse-drawn carts is threatened by dwindling numbers, city regulations, animal rights activists, and changing shopping habits. In the past, Arabbers were plentiful in US east coast cities. Today there are only a handful of Arabbers keeping the heritage alive in Baltimore, and their future is uncertain.
  • "Arabbers" (pronounced AY-rabbers) seem on the edge of extinction. The century-old African-American tradition of selling fruit and vegetables from horse-drawn carts is threatened by dwindling numbers, city regulations, animal rights activists, and changing shopping habits. In the past, Arabbers were plentiful in US east coast cities. Today there are only a handful of Arabbers keeping the heritage alive in Baltimore, and their future is uncertain.

Driving past Baltimore on the I-95 overpass, for many the urge is to keep going, onward to Philly, New York, Boston. Somewhere important. But dive into this city and there's a unique soul worth knowing. You won't ever really KNOW its soul, but that elusive quality is part of the attraction, seduction even. One minute you can squint a little and get a whiff of the odd, fragile goulash of Baltimore's signature cultural icons: John Waters' kitsch, Poe's melancholy, Mencken's pugnaciousness,...
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