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 Back Streets of Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland

Skip the slick, predictable tourist spots and head for the seamy side of Baltimore. Home to both Edgar Allen Poe and cult filmmaker John Waters, Baltimore has always attracted its share of oddballs and eccentrics. Take a water taxi to the hip quarter of Fells Point to hang out with the natives and take in the funky local color. Walk through the galleries of quirky outsider art at the exceptional American Visionary Art Museum. And send literary chills up your spine with a stop by Poe's grave.

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BEST OF THE ROAD:

Alabama
Crossing the Heart of Dixie

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Desert Adventures

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Cruising the Florida Coast
Florida's Cultural West Coast

Louisiana
Let the Good Times Roll

New York
Cultivating New York

Texas
Culture in Cowboyland
Head for the Hill Country


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Alabama
Alabama Coasting
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History and Music
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Sunbathed Shopping on Mobile Bay

Arizona
Arizona to Santa Fe Via the Four Corners
Jerome, the Town that Wouldn't Die
Phoenix and the Old West

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La Jolla Jewel Weekend
Los Angeles OffRamp

Florida
Beyond the Theme Parks
Florida Everglades and Alligator Alley
Landing in Lakeland
Oldest City St. Augustine Day Tour

Georgia
Gothic Savannah
Mostly Macon

Illinois
TheatreTown Chicago

Louisiana
Kicking It Up in Cajun Country

Massachusetts
Headache-Free Boston

Maryland
Your Trip Selection Back Streets of Baltimore

Michigan
That Car of Yours Built a Lot of House

New Jersey
New Jersey Pinelands

Ohio
From the Cuyahoga to Cleveland

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Northeast Oklahoma Via Route 66

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Oregon's Oregon Trail Country

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Funky Folk Art Menageries
Riddle of Wichita Falls
The Mother Road Through the Lone Star State
Tyler: The Yellow Rose of Texas

Vermont
Knocking Around Burlington

Washington
Oregon/Washington Scenic Coast
Seattle: It's Not Just Grunge

Wisconsin
Milwaukee Beer and Brats

 
  
American Visionary
Art Museum

800 Key Hwy
Baltimore, MD 21230
Call (410) 244-1900

The American Visionary Art Museum houses a fascinating collection of "outsider" art. Pieces created by farmers, homemakers, neurosurgeons and the homeless combine to bring the marginal into the mainstream. Embroidery, tattoos, and toothpicks take on new life as celebrations of the protean vitality of the human imagination. The vision of the outsider is celebrated in seven galleries on the south side of the Inner Harbor complex. Metered parking is available on nearby streets. Galleries are open from 10am-6pm Tuesday through Sunday. Closed Mondays.
  
Harborplace & The Gallery Shopping Centers
200 E Pratt St.
Baltimore, MD 21202
Call (410) 332-4191

Located on Baltimore's dynamic Inner Harbor, Harborplace offers myriad opportunites for shopping and dining. Some 200 specialty stores, restaurants, and eateries are set against a background of sparkling blue waters. Events take place here throughout the year and attractions like the National Aquarium are only a short distance away. For lunch, sit at a raw bar and watch the knife-wielding oyster shuckers perform with amazing speed, or enjoy a famous Maryland crab cake as you watch the yachts bobbing by the dock outside. Harborplace is open from 10am-9pm Monday through Saturday, and 12pm-6pm on Sunday. Some restaurants open earlier and close later for the night-owl crowd.
  
Water Taxi to Fells Point
Baltimore, MD 21228
Call (410) 563-3901

Hop aboard one of the water taxis that ply the Inner Harbor waters for a trip to Baltimore's oldest and liveliest quarter. Well-known for its night life district, Fells Point is also home to eclectic shops, coffee houses, funky restaurants, and lots of local color. Wander through the many bookstores, and check out the local music scene at music stores or live performances. Baltimore is the hometown of filmmaker John Waters (creator of bad-taste classics such as Pink Flamingos and Polyester), and local shops offer fans all sorts of Divine memorabilia. Nearby City Recreation Pier was the primary filming site for the early '90s TV show Homicide, Life on the Street. Relax in a waterfront pub with a cold beer before jumping back on the water taxi to head home. Water taxis make stops at 17 landings along the waterfront including HarborPlace and Fells Point.
  
Westminster Cemetery and Catacombs
Baltimore, MD 21201
Call (410) 706-2072

Here lies Edgar Allan Poe - short-story master, father of detective fiction, and favorite of Gothic bookworms everywhere. While "The Tell-Tale Heart" and other works from his creepy oeuvre have earned him a place in American literary history, Poe is also famous as the center of a posthumous personality cult. Theories about his mysterious death at age 40 abound, and each year on his birthday, three red roses and a bottle of cognac appear on his grave. Visiting the gravesite is free, though it's traditional to leave a penny on the monument to Poe that lies on the grounds. 
    
 
 

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