![]() I am taking Baltimore’s shorthand name to heart. ![]() I have gone out on Thames Street (not pronounced the British way “in protest,” I was told.) On Thames last weekend, a friend shouted over the throbbing music while we stood in line to enter The Horse You Came In On, “this bar has been here since the 1700s!” And to really drive the point home “my MOM used to come here!” I first took the subway to Marketplace for work, but I’ll return for concerts and the aquarium. The air and clouds were crisp and Ravens fans were gearing up for the first football Sunday, announcing the start of autumn. I’m getting to know other areas I drew out the last days of summer at a free concert at Canton Waterfront, and wandered among Mount Vernon’s quaint restaurants and monuments one Sunday morning. Brandon, the studio owner noted to me, “a sanctuary being used for health and education is actually a pretty good alternative.” Although there was some controversy when the abandoned place of worship was bought out. I took a pilates and barre class there, and will be going back to try their other classes. The upper floors are open and inviting, with lots of light, exposed brick, and stained glass. ![]() ![]() Sanctuary Bodyworks is a formerly abandoned chapel converted into a health studio. On my way home sirens on the broad streets near the hospital and chic shops offering gluten-free cookies and fresh banh mi bring me back to New York colorful murals reflecting the working class and family-owned hardware stores give it a small town feel and the conversations I overhear in the growing Latino community remind me of Guatemala. I take a 10 minute ride on it every morning to work and amble for 25 minutes back in the evening. The free, eco-friendly circulator bus winds through the inner city. For now, I’m focusing on things that make me feel at home. I have a lot to learn about the city’s ins and outs its dissonance and triumphs and the role institutions like Johns Hopkins - where I work - have played in them. Rumor has it that it will be renovated into a boutique hotel, bought up by the founder of Under Amour, which has made its home in Baltimore. Each bar and tavern has its own past, independent shops have cute names and creative signage even the old, abandoned police department sitting by the dock has elegant brick arches, with the river and furls of steam from ships floating behind it. My new neighborhood, Fell’s Point, is a cobblestoned waterfront, colorful and quaint, where I hear throaty tones and trumpets that slide in between the layers of water and humid air every evening. At the same time, it is a blue-collar town, built by the water, seeping with history, passionate fans branded with Oriole orange or Raven purple, and vibrant live music. It is a big one, and as a city girl, I need and appreciate the mosaic of people, thought, and food world-class institutions a high-traffic airport and public transportation and a broad range of amenities. And yet, here I am, a few weeks out, living and working in Charm City. When considering places to explore or live in, Baltimore was not on my list, nowhere in my plans, not even considered as a passing thought. Sometimes you make things work, and other times, they just work out.
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