Page 8 - Baltimore LGBTQ 2018 Visitors Guide

ONLY IN BALTIMORE
WHAT SETS BALTIMORE APART IS A DELIBERATE EMBRACE OF THE QUIRKY — the sheer, everyday weirdness that makes the city unique.
On any given weekend, you might find yourself witnessing such one-of-a- kind annual events as the toilet bowl race through the streets of Hampden, the racing of the pigs through Baltimore’s Pigtown neighborhood, or Honfest, a summertime Hampden festival celebrating the beehive hairdos, fearless fashion choices
and no-bull attitude of Baltimore’s working-class “Hons.”
The undisputed godfather of the city’s loveable looniness is John Waters, the cult filmmaker (among many other things) responsible for such films as “Hairspray,” “Female Trouble” and the truly outrageous “Pink Flamingos,” whose characters, most memorably played by the immortal drag queen Divine, are driven by single-minded dreams.
Baltimore is the setting for one of literature’s great unsolved mysteries — the
death of Edgar Allan Poe, who was found delirious and dishevelled in front of a tavern, not wearing his own clothes. Poe fans from all over
the world
come to Baltimore
to visit
both his gravesite
and the tiny West Baltimore house where he lived, now the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum.
Speaking of cryptic, the Ouija board was born in Baltimore and first patented by Elijah Bond.
DIVINE
HONFEST
Head to Green Mount Cemetery in the Greenmount West neighborhood to visit Bond’s grave, whose headstone looks just like his famous invention. John Wilkes Booth is also buried at Green Mount.
The American Visionary Art Museum produces the annual Kinetic Sculpture Race in May. The enduring symbol
of the race is Fifi, a mammoth pink poodle covered in 300 yards of ballerina tulle and plastic pom-poms. For the rest of the year, Fifi is on exhibit at the museum, as is a larger-than-life sculpture of Divine.
But the best way to witness the
city’s quirky culture is exploring
its neighborhoods. Look for architectural marvels like the historic Patterson Park Pagoda, built in 1827 as an observation tower for viewing the city, and the Bromo Seltzer Tower, an Italianate skyscraper adorned with a still-functioning tower clock. Now known as The Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower, it houses 15 floors of artist studios, showcases exhibitions, and offers clock tours and free events.
Street art has been around for centuries; however, Baltimore has taken it to the next level by creating a vast street art project called
Open Walls, an outdoor exhibition of 23 murals and installations in the Station North Arts & Entertainment District. You’ll find other remarkable murals throughout the city, including a striking depiction of Baltimorean Billie Holiday on Pennsylvania Avenue and an anaglyphic mural (best viewed with 3-D glasses!) in Woodberry.
While you’re here, don’t miss what is arguably Baltimore’s most famous attraction: the National Aquarium. Explore a tropical rainforest, the animals of the Australian Outback, an
Atlantic coral reef, 4-D immersion films
and a touch pool that lets you
get up close to jellyfish,
horseshoe crabs and
more.
FIFI
TOILET BOWL RACES
PATTERSON PARK PAGODA
NATIONAL AQUARIUM
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Baltimore LGBTQ Visitors Guide 2018-19
EVAN SERPICK