Visit Baltimore : Buzz

It turns out that Maryland crabs are loved by all, not just us folks who live in the Free State.

Readers of USA Today and 10Best travel website named crabs sold in Baltimore among the best iconic American foods. Maryland crabs were No. 2 on the list.

USA Today reports that Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas cruise ship has beaten the heat, and returned to Baltimore Harbor this past week.
 
Royal Caribbean's Executive Vice President for Operations, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, tells USA Today  “we're back, and we're ready to provide loyal service to Baltimore city."
 
The Grandeur makes its return to the Harbor after six weeks of intensive repairs, prompted by a serious on-board fire in May. 
 
Royal Caribbean's Grandeur return comes just in time.  Carnival Cruises, a rival cruise line, recently announced it will end all services in Baltimore in 2014, due to the city's new, stricter anti-pollution policies.
 
Read more about Royal Caribbean's return to Baltimore here.
 

You can read more about the destination here.

Atlantic City is launching a promotional tour that will bring its famous boardwalk to Baltimore, Philly.com reports.

Entitled “Do AC,” the tour brings all the elements of Atlantic City's boardwalk—the photo booths, massage stations, games of chance, giveaways, and DJs—except they've all been stuffed into a 750-square-foot trailer that's on the move. The tour launched in Philadelphia's Penn Landing this past weekend and will be traveling to Baltimore July 19-21 at the Artscape festival, before packing up and rolling to New York.

The tour “was specifically created to introduce Atlantic City to people in a new way, create a social media buzz and represent all 12 casinos in key markets," Liza Cartmell, president of the Atlantic City Alliance tells Philly.com. The tour is sponsored by Atlantic City's casinos, and is part of the city's annual $30 million dollar “Live from AC” promotional campaign.

Read more about the portable boardwalk here.

A bar mitzvah is usually celebrated when a boy turns 13, but the Jewish Museum of Maryland is making a special exception for Superman.

The museum, located in Baltimore's Jonestown neighborhood, held a bar mitzvah on Sunday for the comic book superhero, who was created 75 years ago by Jewish artists. The superhero himself will be attending the event, which will also include dancing, music, food and a bar mitzvah cake, the Washington Post writes. 

The event will celebrate the new movie on the superhero as well as the museum's exhibit on Superman, which is on display through Aug. 18.
Read more about the exhibit here.

The Maryland House of Delegates chamber will be getting a Hollywood makeover this week for the political thriller “House of Cards.”

The television drama, which airs on Netflix, will be transforming the House of Delegates chamber to resemble the U.S. Senate, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Gov. Martin O’Malley, the lieutenant governor and their staffs will have access to the building during filming and O’Malley himself will make a cameo appearance in the show.

This weekend, the show’s crew will be completing set construction on the State House and the building will be closed to the public Monday and Tuesday, June 17-18 for filming.

The Maryland-filmed political thriller starring Kevin Spacey brought $140 million in spending to the state, according to the Maryland Film Office.

Read the full story here.

National Geographic Traveler recently highlighted Baltimore’s best destinations in its June/July issue in a piece called “48 Hours: Baltimore, Maryland.”
 
NatGeo explored Mount Vernon, Hampden, Highlandtown, Locust Point, Little Italy and the Inner Harbor in its two-day itinerary.
 
It begins in Mount Vernon, noting the contributions of the “Gilded Age Industrialists" behind free institutions like the Walters Art Museum and the Peabody Library.

The article also explores the diversity of Highlandtown, “old-world bakeries” such as Vaccaro’s and crab cakes in Fells Point.

Read the entire story here.

Harry Connick Jr. has come out with a new album, "Every Man Should Know," and is kicking off the concert tour to promote it in Baltimore. 

The crooner will perform June 19 at the Patricia & Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric, located at the edge of Mount Vernon. Connick wrote the lyrics, music and arrangements for the new album, writes USA Today. 

"I've done just about every kind of record you could do," Connick tells USA Today. "I've never had a pop hit, which is a blessing — because I've never had to base anything I do on the last record."

You can read the entire story here. 

Baltimore is the fourth best city for recent college graduates, according to a report from personal finance site NerdWallet.

The analysis took into consideration factors such as the percent of residents in the 18–24 age group, the city's entertainment options, transportation, cost of living and job prospects.

The list placed Baltimore just below Denver, Colo., and above Philadelphia, Pa. Boston ranked No. 1, followed by Seattle. 

Baltimore got on the list because of its high percentage of young people, its walkability and its moderate cost of living, according to NerdWallet.

The list also included a chart that showed additional characteristics of the ranking cities, such as the cost of a Pizza Hut pizza and local movie ticket prices.

See the list and chart here.

USA Today has recognized Baltimore's Inner Harbor as one of the best waterfronts to visit across North America.
 
The site featured nine U.S. cities in the list, including Baltimore, as well as one location in Canada.
 
Baltimore was joined on the list by cities such as Sarasota, Fla., San Francisco and New York City.
 
Baltimore was noted first and was commended for the many attractions that it offers along the Inner Harbor, as well as the street performers that provide entertainment.

See the full list here.

The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum is currently on schedule to reopen Oct. 4 of this year, after having been closed since September due to budget issues, the Baltimore Sun writes.
 
According to the organization Poe Baltimore, which intends to make the house a for-profit institution, the reopened Poe House will include a walking tour and other interpretive exhibits that will give visitors the story of Poe’s experiences in Baltimore.
 
The attraction will likely open weekends until spring 2014, the Baltimore Sun reported. After this date, the hours will be expanded, if all goes according to plan.
 
Read the full story here.
 
 

The Baltimore Pride festival will host a mass same-sex wedding with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake presiding over the ceremony, writes the AP in a story that ran in the Washington Post. The June 16 event will take place in Druid Hill Park.

The mayor has officiated other same-sex marriages since gay marriage became legal Jan. 1. Event planners and marketers in the wedding industry said last year that legalizing gay marriage would boost business. 

 





 

Why does John Waters still live in Baltimore?

Well it's got the "cutest boys" and it's where the writer-director has the most fun, Waters tells the Huffington Post.

"It's where I get all my ideas. It's where the cutest boys are. I have the most fun here. It's the most mixed. It's the most radical. We got edge here. Come on down."

Other highlights of the Q&A: The "Hairspray" director likes making Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley "umfortable;" he decided to hitchhike last year because at his age, he needs to take chances; and, he's not on Twitter because he already knows enough people.

"The only reason for any of that is to see people you wanted to have sex with," Waters says of using Twitter. 

You can read the entire interview here. 



 

Ah summer. It's the time to slap some meat – or tofu burgers — on the grill.

Forbes features a rundown of some of the best places to brush up on your grilling technique, including a class in Baltimore. "Despite how simple it looks, grilling isn’t the easiest of cooking methods," Forbes writes.

Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore BBQ 101 "is a fun way to kick off the summer barbecue season," Forbes writes. Executive Chef Oliver Beckert will demonstrate a variety of tailgating and barbecuing techniques at the $65 event. Read the entire story here. 

Celebrity chef Michael Mina is about to open an American gastropub in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

1842 Pub, which will feature craft beer, sausage, seafood and burgers, echoes his Baltimore restaurant Wit & Wisdom, writes Forbes.

"Mina may be the latest celebrity chef on the Vegas gastropub bandwagon, but he already has one under his belt in Baltimore: Wit & Wisdom at the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore," Forbes writes. 

"Wit & Wisdom might well be a preview of 1842, describing itself as a 'modern American tavern' that 'redefines the ordinary tavern and elevates it,' with a focus on the area’s abundant seafood," Forbes says. Read the entire story on the "Celebrity Chef Gastropub Craze" here.