I stood underneath the bridge, not looking down more than 800 feet to the river below. 

I had already walked, untethered, along a narrow open catwalk. I grabbed a metal railing, stepping up to climb over and launch off one of the tallest arch bridges in the world, the New River Gorge Bridge in Southern West Virginia.

I should mention—heights terrify me.

My mouth dry, I managed to step blindly backwards, my toes trying to find the lower rim of a girder. I asked the rigging guide: “Can I hold your hand? 

“Yes,” he replied, “but you can’t take me with you.”

The next second, I broke free. And whooosh, I was sailing down the gravity zipline, out beyond bridge steelworks, whirring past a glorious autumnal tree canopy.

“Wooohoooo,” I yelled to the tiny people below.

My zip line exit—designed for amateurs, which I am—is a big hit with visitors to this adventure-charged region of Wild and Wonderful West Virginia, a stretch of Appalachian Mountains also home to eclectic towns like Fayetteville, abundant national forest lands and parks, and some of the East Coast’s most challenging whitewater rapids.

I was in town for Bridge Day 2019—the region’s signature bash which just celebrated its 40th anniversary as America’s largest legally sanctioned BASE jump event. That October weekend, about 400 BASE jumpers plunged from the bridge’s edge (nearly Eiffel Tower height), relying on nothing but the extreme sport’s modified parachutes. Most athletes floated down onto beaches along the New River Gorge National River. Or, if the winds were squirrely, they plunked into tree branches or chilly shallow waters. 

Sadly, Bridge Day, which draws more than 80,000 visitors, is cancelled this year due to the pandemic, though one can get a taste via Virtual Bridge Day this Sat. Oct. 17 with past BASE jump videos, local history chats, and a virtual day-long raffle. (If you’re interested in going to still-planned Bridge Day 2021, area lodgings are often booked well ahead, so no harm in reserving.) The cherished event also features a 5K race, “Taste of Bridge Day” fundraiser, massive craft-and-food fair, and a Chili Cook-Off & Craft Beer Festival in downtown Fayetteville. There’s plenty of spectacle too: BASE jumper “toys” include a red, yellow, and green catapult aptly named “The Human Rastapult.” (An activity definitely not for the faint of blood pressure.) 

Despite the canceled event, this Appalachian wonderland remains a breathtaking outdoor getaway during the pandemic, or any season. The region’s fall color hits its peak in late October, with a sunset-colored tableau of Red Maple, Tulip Poplar, and American Beech. The area boasts hundreds of miles of hiking and biking trails, family-oriented and world-class whitewater rafting, rock climbing, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, and a plethora of other adventures.

In fact, Fayetteville, 1.8 miles from the bridge, was named among USA Today’s 2020 Best Small Towns for Adventure for its “small town vibe with big adventure right at its doorstep.” A few town favorites have closed partly due to the pandemic, such as the Twisted Gypsy’s boutique, though new businesses are quickly filling spaces, like The Thread vintage shop on West Maple Avenue. Downtown also spotlights 75 historic homes and buildings, as well as a throwback Ben Franklin Five & Dime, a vintage shop called The Hobbit Hole, and NRG Ink with its welcoming sign: “YAY TATTOOS.” Many of the restaurants have quickly adapted, setting up outdoor seating and staying relatively busy. 

“In a sense we’re lucky,” says Tabitha Stover, executive director of the Fayetteville Visitors Center. “We’re an outdoor town and lean toward outdoor spaces. Social distancing is kind of our jam.” 

In fact, there’s a boom-and-bust, survivalist spirit of reinvention in this longtime coal country. Abandoned, ghost-signed company stores can be seen along winding country roads. And King Coal history can be widely explored, including by car on the 187-mile Coal Heritage Trail, part of the National Coal Heritage Area.

Wider Fayette County is also a rural, patriotic locale. A highway sign in nearby Oak Hill marks the “38th Parallel North: In Honor of Korean War Veterans.” A blend of country traditional and eco-minded hip, there’s something here for nearly every age and point-of-view. (And that’s not surprising, as Fayetteville was apparently fought over during the American Civil War no fewer than four times, held by both the North and South.) 

Here’s what to note when planning a trip:

→ STAY

 

The Fayetteville area is about a five-and-a-half-hour drive from Baltimore and an hour east of Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV, so staying over is a must. Since I was focused more on adventure than lodgings, I bunked at the Comfort Inn New River, which was comfortable, clean, reasonable, and included a free hot breakfast. 

A bit of Fayetteville history: Though he didn’t actually sleep here, Marquis de Lafayette, advisor to George Washington, inspired the town’s name. Lafayette’s statue resides downtown, standing tall in front of the Fayette County Courthouse, and you can stay close by at the historic-yet-modern Lafayette Flats.

Area lodgings range from quaint B&Bs, such as the Historic Morris Harvey House, to rustic park cabins, secluded mountain home rentals, and various chain hotels. A nearby woodsy resort, Adventures on the Gorge, specializes in cabins, including those with cable, WiFi, and hot tubs. The resort also boasts an accordion-brochure full of outdoorsy activities, such as mountain or Fat Kat biking tours, smallmouth bass fishing, tree canopy courses, rock climbing, and rafting.

Numerous private vacation rentals are also available, with names like “Red Roost” and “New River Lofts.” Or digs like “The Bungalow on Maple” if you’re into a townie vibe. (See possible listings at Visit Fayetteville.)

If your goal is getting much closer to nature, camping options also abound in the New River-Greenbrier Valley, including 52 tent sites at Babcock State Park, and other park or private campgrounds with names ranging from Rifrafters Campground to Cooter’s Cabins & Campin’.

→ EAT

 

To get the lay of the culinary land, before travelling I asked BASE jumpers where the best eats could be found. Top of the list: Secret Sandwich Society, where sandwiches are named for world leaders. (The “Roosevelt,” for example, stacks roast beef, bacon, horseradish mayo, and white cheddar on a toasted baguette.) Also on the carry-out menu: fries seasoned with Society “magic powder” and a litany of dipping sauces, such as French onion. (If you can’t decide, each additional sauce only costs 75 cents). 

Fayetteville, in fact, provides fabulous foodie fare: farmer’s markets, restaurants, and cafe combos such as The Stache, where you can buy ice cream and toys. Heartier fare can be found at Pink Pig pit-cooked BBQ or The 304, whose specialties have included the “Southern Mother Klucker” sandwich. (Just be careful how you pronounce that, though I doubt anyone in town would really mind.)

If you want takeout, there’s trendy Pies & Pints pizzeria. And for a down-home feel, stop by the famous Tudor’s Biscuit World for biscuits any time of day. 

“If the apocalypse comes, we’ll always have a Tudor’s and Ben Franklin,” says Stover, who adds that her grandmother is obsessed with the Ben Franklin Store, town purveyor of jams, crafts, and Amish bulk food for 65 years. “Whenever she comes to visit, Ben Franklin is always first on the list.”

→ DRINK

 

At Rafters Lounge in the Holiday Lodge Hotel, where BASE jumpers gather throughout Bridge Day weekend, sports bar-style beers are on tap. Fayetteville visitors can also easily find locales for coffee and tea, or tap into the best of micro-brewed beers or signature heart-of-Appalachia craft moonshine.

For morning bean grinding, there’s Cathedral Cafe, Range Finder Coffee, Wood Iron Eatery, The Station, and elsewhere. (Note: check establishments’ websites for possible closures or COVID-19-related adjustments.) Check out craft beers at Freefolk Brewery or Bridge Brew Works. Or grab a draft at Southside Junction Tap House, Maggie’s Pub, and other dives where patrons can social distance on outdoor patios.

 

→ SHOP

 

For such a small town, there’s a robust downtown shopping scene with one-of-a-kind independent shops, such as dog-friendly Wild Art Wonderful Things—which celebrates West Virginia with handcrafted local crafts, art, and eco-items including Sasquatch stickers and natural pumpkin spice deodorant. One can go antiquing or thrifting and, in the spirit of supporting small businesses, virtual shopping options exist even if you can’t make the trip. 

In fact, one of my favorite stops was The Hobbit Hole, a tucked-away retro store on South Court Street specializing in antique furniture, clothes, jewelry, and “ephemera knickknacks and paddywacks to help you enhance your unique style.” Among the shop’s evolving showcase, online or in-store: a country farmhouse-style lard bucket and a 1988 Buffalo Nickel belt buckle. As owners sum up on the store’s Facebook page: “It is of absolute importance that we keep it kitschy and vintage and weird at all times.”  

 

→ DO & SEE

 

The New River—which is actually one of the oldest rivers on the continent—has worked its geological magic for millions of years, carving out layers of sandstone to create the massive V-shaped gorge, whose deep cliff sides have contained rich, accessible seams of coal. Remnants of the boomtown coal mining industry can be spotted via the nearby Kaymoor Miners Trail (also called Kay Moore), which winds down steep stairs to the abandoned mine with its old coking furnace.

To learn more about regional history and landscapes, visit the Canyon Rim Visitor Center—a beautifully crafted sandstone-and-red oak building off U.S. Route 19 at the bridge. The center, which documents the span bridge’s construction, is closed amidst the pandemic, but park rangers are staffing an outdoor information site. There’s also a short hiking trail, handicapped-accessible wooden boardwalk, and bridge observation decks. And, if you like a catwalk adrenaline rush, you can book an official tethered Bridge Walk, a dizzying bridge-underbelly tour.

Overall, the region’s famous multi-season draw will always be the righteous whitewater rapids—which are relatively calm along the Upper New River and ramp up to Class V on the Upper Gauley River, known as the “Beast of the East.” If you’re in need of gear, Fayetteville is also packed with outfitters such as Water Stone Outdoors and New River Mountain Guides.

Those bound to the earth for exercise can check out abundant hiking trails in the 70,000-acre New River Gorge National Park, including the signature 12-mile Arrowhead Trails (mostly easy to intermediate) created by national Boy Scouts in 2011. Biking trails crisscross the county, including the eclectic Arrowhead Bike Farm and Campground, where you can rent a mountain bike, nosh on a Mojo pork taco, throw back a Punk IPA, and sleep over via RV or tent.

Yet overall, Bridge Day is truly the uber-exciting annual attraction. The High Line I zipped down (launching near one end of the bridge, you slide diagonally 700 feet, dropping 300 feet, or Statue of Liberty height. So take that, fear!) is staged only that weekend. I was inspired to hit the gravity line by all the BASE jumpers’ infectious enthusiasm.

While Fayette County and environs vibrate with fun, Bridge Day is juiced with adrenaline (and Red Bull), yet also remarkably chill. BASE, after all, carries the relaxed, rebel vibe of surfers, skateboarders and snowboarders: Wild West athletes on the forefront of their not-always-sanctioned sport.

As I heard one jumper, who witnessed a multi-backflip freefall, respectfully toast: “F*ck, dude. That’s rad.”

This spring, one saving grace during the spread of the coronavirus across the state has been access to Maryland’s great outdoors. And now with Governor Hogan’s eased restrictions on many outdoor activities, as well as the stay-home order lifted for non-Baltimoreans, there are plenty of ways to safely get some more fresh air. Here’s the latest on getting outside during the continuing times of COVID-19. One key takeaway: not all has returned to normal.

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PARKS

Maryland’s dozens of state parks offer a great escape during the times of a global health crisis. From the mountains of Western Maryland to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, most have remained open throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but several previously closed locations will now reopen as well, including Sandy Point outside of Annapolis, Assateague on the Eastern Shore, and Swallows Falls in Western Maryland.

Plan ahead for potential filled-to-capacity closures at the likes of Patapsco Valley, North Point, and Gunpowder’s Hammerman Area, as well as continued closed portions, such as the Houck Area of Cunningham Falls in Thurmont, certain trails at Elk Neck in Cecil County, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Cambridge. All visitor’s centers, administrative buildings, nature centers, and most concessions also remain close, while playgrounds have reopened for kids and families. All visitors are encouraged to social distance, as well as provide their own soap or hand sanitizer, stay home if sick, and visit parks close to their homes.

Meanwhile, all Baltimore City and County parks are still open to the public, as they also have been throughout the pandemic, with social distancing and face coverings encouraged, though the use of playgrounds and exercise equipment continues to be prohibited. The Canton, Latrobe, and Howard Street dog parks are limited to a maximum of five visitors at a time, while the Patterson Park dog park is limited to 10.

CAMPING

If one thing is certain in these uncertain times, there’s never been a better one to sleep under the stars. With the wide-scale reopening of state parks, several state-owned campgrounds, which typically make up some 2,000 campsites, will also begin reopening on a gradual basis for tent and RV camping, though cabin rentals currently remain closed as locations consider reopening strategies. All campers must be with immediate family members or people with whom they reside, in groups of no more than 10, and abiding by social distancing guidelines. For reservations, visit the Department of Natural Resources’s website.

BEACHES

With the announcement of the lifting of the state’s stay-home order, we could almost feel the traffic begin to build at the Bay Bridge. Though previously closed in their entirety, all state-owned beaches, including Hammerman Beach at Gunpowder Falls, as well as Hart-Miller Island, Calvert Cliffs, and Assateague have now reopened, though do note that the latter’s National Seashore is still off-limits. Under social distancing guidelines, most forms of outdoor exercise can resume, such as walking, running, swimming, and fishing. But leave the seating home, as chairs, blankets, and picnics are still prohibited.

Meanwhile, Ocean City has reopened to the general public with social distancing and gathering limitations in place. It’s largely business as usual, besides beachcombers being encouraged to remain at least six feet apart and in groups no larger than 10. Lifeguards are on duty for swimming, boardwalk restaurants are open for carryout, and lodgings have since reopened to visiting guests. Up the road, however, out-of-state visitors are still prohibited from the likes of Dewey, Rehoboth, and Bethany beaches until at least May 31 under Delaware’s stay-home order, which remains in place. Many restrictions apply to locals, as well, such as bans on sunbathing, swimming, and surfing.

BOATING

After weeks of pressure on Governor Hogan, recreational boating is back on the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waterways. In addition to personal watercraft like kayaks and canoes, the use of both motor and sail boats is once again permitted after a brief hiatus during the recent stay-home order.

All boaters must be with immediate family members or those with whom they reside and in accordance of social distancing guidelines. Regardless of vessel size, parties larger than 10 are prohibited, as are gatherings on the likes of piers, boat ramps, beaches, or via raft-ups, in addition to docking at waterfront restaurants. Many marinas have already reopened, though they may do so at their own discretion, so be sure to call ahead. Be it on water or land, recreational fishing has reopened, too, where standard rules and regulations still apply.

GOLF

If there was ever an ideal sport for social distancing in the great outdoors, golf would be it, and sod is once again soaring across the state, with Maryland courses now permitted to reopen at their own discretion. Open greens in the Baltimore area include Bulle Rock in Havre De Grace, Rocky Point in Essex, Greystone in White Hall, and Fox Hollow in Timonium, as well as all Classic Five courses, with tee times reserved online and all high-touch items removed from clubhouses, cars, and ranges. Restrictions and safety measures vary from location to location, though all golf carts are limited to two players from the same household.

OTHERWORLDLY ART

This Earth Day, Wednesday April 22, American Visionary Art Museum founder Rebecca Hoffberger will lead viewers through a free virtual tour of AVAM’s brand-new exhibit, “The Secret Life of Earth.” Now extended through January 2021, the environmentally focused exhibit speaks to the importance and interconnectedness of nature. Filled with a range of whimsical artworks, expect the likes of paper flowers, driftwood sculptures, intricate beaded animal sculptures, recovered plastic litter installations, satellite images from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and a brief pollinator film by Fantasic Funghi director Louie Schwartzberg.

GREEN LIVESTREAMS

Blue Water Baltimore is evolving in the times of coronavirus with a schedule of virtual events. This week, the local environmental nonprofit is hosting an Earth Day Q&A happy hour, featuring conversation with Baltimore Harbor waterkeeper Alice Volpitta and the launch of their 2020 Baltimore Water Watch report on the health of the Gwynns Falls, Jones Falls, Baltimore Harbor, and Patapsco River. It takes place this Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. via Zoom with a $10 suggested donation. Check back each week for more Facebook Live Q&As on Wednesdays at noon, featuring topics like native gardens, tree plantings, and water health, as well as Fridays at noon, for all things flowers with Herring Run Nursery.

CRABS IN THE TIME OF COVID

On April 1, Maryland’s commercial crab season opened to an unusual start in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic. With many restaurants closed under Governor Hogan’s social distancing restrictions, one of the industry’s main markets—crab houses touting the state’s iconic crab feast—virtually disappeared overnight. Meanwhile, three of the state’s nine crab-picking houses have received a portion of their seasonal guest workers, who arrive each spring on H-2B visas from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, with new safety measures in place such as six-foot workspace spacing, daily temperature checks, and personal protection equipment. Failing to receive workers in the federal lottery system, the other six processing houses remain closed. Meanwhile, seafood markets remain open, with some sighting similar business to years past, while watermen are looking for new ways to distribute their catch, with eateries like The Local Oyster now selling steamed crabs for carry-out. Some watermen fear decreased demand will lead to increased supply and effectively lower crab prices, though with crabs largely not inundating Maryland waters until late spring and early summer, it is unclear how the industry will be impacted long-term.

MPT’S CHESAPEAKE BAY WEEK RETURNS

In the midst of coronavirus quarantine, Maryland Public Television’s annual Chesapeake Bay Week, now in its 16th year, couldn’t have arrived at a better time, with a full evening lineup of local programming on the nation’s largest estuary, on air through April 25. Learn about the likes of the bay’s iconic lighthouses with the brand-new Chesapeake Beacons, rising sea levels with Tidewater, local river-keepers with A Voice for the Rivers, the state’s historic shad fishery in Shad Run, and all things oysters with Oysterfest, as well as some of MPT’s highest viewed specials, Eatin’ Crabs: Chesapeake Style and Eatin’ Oysters: Chesapeake Style. The programs are also available for livestream viewing via mpt.org.

FERRY SERVICE

The Maryland Department of Transportation has struck down the proposal of a publicly operated car ferry as an alternative to a new third crossing of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. In a recently released 43-page report, MDOT argues that, as a stand-alone option, a ferry would not alleviate congestion at the current spans along Route 50 between Anne Arundel and Queen Anne’s counties, and would also cost up to $3.4 billion to build and operate. (Past estimates project a third span could cost upwards of $7 billion.) Officials have recommended that such operations be considered in combination with other transportation alternatives. Several car-carrying ferries used to operate on the Chesapeake before ceasing operations in 1952 following the completion of the first existing span.

TOXIC TAKEDOWN

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this spring’s Maryland legislative session was adjourned early for the first time since the Civil War. But while some eco measures fell to the wayside, such as a push for sustainably designed state buildings, the General Assembly did pass a win for environmentalists during the final minutes on March 19 with a ban on chlorpyrifos, a harmful pesticide linked to brain damage in children, as well as disorientation and death in wildlife. The European Union, plus California, New York, and Hawaii, have also banned the chemical, making Maryland the fourth state in the U.S. to do so. Though final amendments included a sunset clause for June 2024, as well as waivers for particular green bean growers and orchardists, advocates feel the legislation is still a step in the right direction.

TRASH TALK

As coronavirus-related quarantine orders are creating positive environmental impacts across the globe, the Order of the Wheel, a secret society of Baltimore’s beloved Mr. Trash Wheel, has returned to recruit its third pledge class of green stewards who will work to protect local waterways. Run by Waterfront Partnership—which oversees the garbage-eating, water-cleaning receptacles around the region—applications are open through May 11, with participants required to complete five green tasks over five weeks times. Each is tailored for at-home or socially distanced outdoor activities, such as recycling used goods and creating your own water filter. As of Monday, some 470 residents have signed up, with approximately half being new pledges.

BAY UPDATES

The Chesapeake Bay Program has released its annual Bay Barometer health report with a new look. Focused on updates to the goals and outcomes of the multi-state Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, the report now highlights only the latest indicators of progress, many of which have been previously reported. For the 2018-2019 year, seven key takeaways include that record rainfall led to the highest amount of freshwater entering the estuary since monitoring began in 1937, contributing to lower salinity levels in parts of the bay and the largest observed dead zone in the past five years. Meanwhile, the Department of Natural Resources’ 2019 winter dredge survey suggests the population of blue crabs increased nearly 60 percent last summer—news that incited a flurry of headlines at the time—while harvests were below the overfishing threshold. The 2020 survey is due out in late spring. In addition, underwater grasses are slightly down, but still make up an estimated 91,559 acres of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries. The report also pointed to increased efforts in land conservation, pollution reduction, and public access.

HARBOR REFRESH

This fall, Baltimore City approved a $17-million redevelopment of Inner Harbor’s Rash Field Park between the Maryland Science Center and the Rusty Scupper restaurant. The first phase of the urban greenspace’s major makeover will include the creation of a children’s nature park, kinetic playground, shade lawn, a dedicated skatepark, and a pavilion with an overlook and outdoor café. Construction is set to begin in January 2020 and completed by spring 2021. Fundraising efforts are also underway for Phase II, which is slated to include an updated beach volleyball court and beach, jogging lanes, and a bird and butterfly lab. The goal is to create “a safe and central place for families city-wide,” according to the Waterfront Partnership website. The nonprofit has been working on this 7.5-acre project since 2015.

NO BAGGAGE

In late November, the Baltimore City Council approved a citywide plastic-bag ban, which will prohibit single-use plastic bags at retail locations. Shoppers will now be chargeda five-cent fee per bag taken at checkout, including plastic, paper, and compostable bags, which lawmakers hope will reduce plastic bag waste and encourage the use of reusable bags. After eight prior attempts at plastic bag reduction ordinances since 2006, the current bill passed 13 to 1, and it now advances to the desk of Mayor Jack Young, who has expressed support for the initiative.

FOAM FREE

In late October, Baltimore’s ban on Styrofoam containers went into effect, prohibiting the use of polystyrene foam to-go boxes, trays, bowls, cups—we’re looking at you, snowballs—and more, with fines for restaurants, grocery stores, and other food providers failing to comply starting at $200. Maryland will become the first state in the country to take such measures when its statewide ban, approved in late May, goes into effect next year on July 1, 2020. Maine passed similar legislature a few weeks prior, with its bill going into effect on January 1, 2021. The moves are seen as a win for environmental advocates as the material often ends up in the Chesapeake Bay and does not break down.

UP, UP, AND AWAY?

Months after the Eastern Shore’s Queen Anne’s County passed a legislation that imposed a civil fine of $250 on the release of helium-filled balloons, becoming to the first county in Maryland to approve such measures, Senator Clarence Lam of Baltimore and Howard counties introduced legislation in late November that would impose similar sanctions statewide. Advocates argue that released balloons are an environmental hazard, often polluting nature and waterways, with the potential for harming wildlife if ingested. The bill will be considered during the next legislative session, beginning in January 2020.

BIRDS IN FLIGHT

Shortly after it was announced that the Trump administration is considering dramatic cuts to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, a new study published in the journal Science reported that North American bird populations have plummeted by nearly 30 percentsince 1970. That’s the loss of some three billion birds over the past half century, which avian experts have called a “full-blown crisis.” Myriad causes likely include habitat loss, building construction design, and use of pesticides. The Endangered Species Act is noted for helping to recover wildlife such as the bald eagle—an icon of the Chesapeake Bay whose populations had been dramatically impacted by the use of pesticide DDT. According to the study, two out of five Baltimore orioles have disappeared.

TREES OF LIFE

In late October, Blue Water Baltimore planted more than 70 trees in honor of late Baltimore native, Congressman Elijah Cummings, who passed away in October. In collaboration with the Port of Baltimore and the HeartSmiles youth program, nearly as many volunteers, including the likes of Congressman John Sarbanes, planted oak and evergreen saplings along Broening Highway. “Congressman Cummings advocated for all of Baltimore and for a greater degree of civility and compassion in all our collective work,” said BWB executive director Jenn Aiosa. “Coming together for this tree planting represents his vision and what he stood for.”

The idea of an elite professional cycling event in Baltimore on Labor Day weekend might conjure images of the erstwhile Grand Prix (born 2011, died 2013), for those who remember it.

There was the downtown construction and traffic, a lawsuit over uprooting trees in the city, people racing through the streets for multiple days (in engine-powered Indy cars, not on human-powered bikes), crowds enjoying food and beverage in hospitality areas, and unpaid debts by race organizers. Ah, memories.

But the vision for the first-ever Maryland Cycling Classic on Sept. 6, 2020, held in and around Baltimore, is distinctly not that.

First, the race route will be for cyclists, and it will cross through the city and potentially multiple counties around Baltimore—not just exclusively through downtown or the Inner Harbor. And, second, there won’t be any new construction and likely nothing close to the traffic headaches, as Maryland Sports Commission executive director Terry Hasseltine describes it.

The one-day, elite-level pro cycling event next year will mark only the second of its kind in the United States—a prestigious Union Cyclist International (UCI) ProSeries race that ranks one step below the series that includes the Tour de France. This is serious stuff, and will attract some of the best riders in the world to compete on a to-be-determined 100-plus mile route.

According to Al Hutchinson, the president and CEO of Visit Baltimore, there will possibly be 100,000 spectators in attendance in what is typically a festival atmosphere.

On the paved Maryland roads, picture a tightly-packed peloton—a main group of 100 or so riders, wearing spandex, shorts, and sponsors—carving through Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, or Frederick Counties near 30 miles per hour in flat areas, perhaps crossing a finish line somewhere downtown.

“This is professional cycling at its best, and it’s a pretty cool spectacle,” Hasseltine said when we spoke to get more details after the race’s official announcement earlier this month. “We think that up and down the Atlantic corridor, there’s a clamoring for primetime cycling. And because of that, we’re going to get a huge draw.”

Here’s more on what we know about the Maryland Cycling Classic so far:

Some of the best cyclists in the world will be here.
If Lance Armstrong were still racing, he might be in this. UCI, the international governing body of cycling, sanctions the top races around the world. And many of the same riders who will ride the roads around here will have competed in the Olympics in Tokyo a month earlier. The concept of the Maryland Cycling Classic is akin to similar multi-day and stage events worldwide and in the U.S., including Utah, Colorado, and California.

It’s a one-day, 100-plus mile event.
The race’s length will be somewhere between 110 and 125 miles, per standard rules. But that doesn’t mean the race route will be a straight shot from western Maryland to downtown Baltimore, for instance, though it theoretically could. There might be at least one “circuit”—aka a temporary track—where a few laps could be run.

The official route has not been determined, but here’s an idea of what it could look like…
The route is expected to be announced in early 2020, but a lot rides (pun intented) on discussions that host committee chair John Kelly (of Kelly Benefit Strategies and its Baltimore-based cycling club) and the Maryland Sports Commission—as well as partners Visit Baltimore, event management company Medalist Sports, KOM Sports Marketing, and USA Cycling—will have over the next two months.

But here’s what a map of the course might look like: “To get in 125 miles, we might be out in countryside to get 80 miles, with four 20-mile circuits, then have a straightaway to another circuit to get the other mileage in,” Hasseltine said. “Some people are talking about maybe identifying a ‘point to point,’ where riders do a couple circuits somewhere, then head somewhere else to do a couple more circuits, then finish. That’s the stuff that we have to work on logistically.”

Discussion items include developing a route that meets the UCI’s competitive requirements in length and difficulty (uphill and sprint sections, for example); looks good in person and on television (“A vibrant, tell-tale postcard impression of the state,” Hasseltine said); provides areas for viewing and hospitality setups; and minimizes road closures, which should be minor given the speedy here-and-gone nature of pro cycling. “The peloton is so tight in most cases that you do just rolling closures,” Hasseltine says. “Cyclists come through and then the road opens back up.”

Expect a ‘festival type’ atmosphere.
If your annual dose of cycling comes from video clips of flag-clad and sign-carrying people running alongside the route of the Tour de France in old European towns and hillsides, getting dangerously close to the riders, that’s about what you can expect here, too. The sound of cowbells. People in costumes. Food, drink, and international visitors. It will be broadcast to more than 100 countries. In its sponsorship materials, organizers estimate more than $20 million in economic impact.

So, like those who plunk down a folding chair or orange cone to save their city-street parking space during a snowstorm, you might want to claim a roadside viewing spot early come Labor Day Sunday, wherever the route may be.

The summer heat has finally eased up, and a pre-holiday autumn glow has swept over Charm City. You can smell it on the crisp morning air, taste it in a rich apple cider, and hear it in leaves crunching underfoot. Whether you’re looking for some family fun, a new neighborhood to explore with friends, or just want to take in the fresh fall foliage, check out these events to ring in the season right.

FALL FESTIVALS

OCT. 11-13: SUGARLOAF CRAFT FESTIVAL
Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd. Timonium-Lutherville, MD 21093. $8-$10.
Meet the artists at this craft festival dedicated to hand-made works, featuring everything from ceramics and metal-work to fine paintings. Hundreds of exhibitors will show off their wares to the soundtrack of live music, and there will be plenty of tasty local food and activities for kids.

OCT. 12: CANTON FALL FESTIVAL
Patterson Park. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Free.
For downtown Baltimoreans who need an escape, get lost in Patterson Park during this second-annual day of fall festivities. There will be live music, food trucks, beverage gardens, and kids activities, as well as an enticing Moscow Mule drink package.

OCT. 12-13: FELLS POINT FUN FESTIVAL
Broadway & Thames Sts. Times vary. Free.
Celebrate the historic beauty of Fells Point framed by an autumn explosion of colorful leaves. Enjoy dozens of drink options, shopping at local retailers, and two live music stages—one of which will be headlined by alt-rockers Gin Blossoms.

OCT. 18-20: FALL MARYLAND HOME AND GARDEN SHOW
Maryland State Fair Grounds, 2200 York Rd., Timonium, MD 21093. Free-$9.
Whether you’re just looking to spruce up your home’s decor with some fall flair, or you’re preparing for a total renovation, browse 300 home improvement exhibitions at this can’t-miss home and garden show.

OCT. 26-27: FALL FESTIVAL AT RYE STREET TAVERN
Rye Street Tavern, 13 Rye St. Free.
The Port Covington restaurant is transforming its waterfront into a fall wonderland complete with hay bales, lawn games, live music, and plenty of hot dogs and hamburgers to go around. Parents can sip whiskey cocktails from the outdoor bar while watching their little ones paint their own sugar pumpkins.

TO NOV. 3: FALL FUN FESTIVAL AT GAVER FARM
Gaver Farm, 5501 Detrick Road, Mount Airy.
Enjoy the scenic drive to this Mount Airy farm, which offers daily seasonal activities including a petting zoo, giant slides, jumping pillows, and a massive corn maze. Before heading home, don’t forget to stop by the farm’s onsite market for pre-picked squash and gourds, jams, honeys, preserves, candles, and lots of signature baked goods.

SEASONAL SIPPING

OCT 11: BALTIMORE HARD CIDER AND DOUGHNUT FEST
The Point in Fells, 1738 Thames St. Baltimore. $17-$28.
Indulge in the sweet and boozy celebration of your favorite fall flavors on the cobblestone streets of Fells Point. Check out premium hard ciders from five bars and restaurants, and choose pairings from more than 2,000 donuts

OCT. 12 & 19: CRUSH 19
Boordy Vineyards, 12820 Long Green Pike, Monkton. Sat. 12-5 p.m. Free-$15.
Head to Boordy Vineyards for the perfect boozy fall picnic featuring live music by the likes of Nellie’s Echo and The Crawdaddies, eats from Lib’s Grill and Keyes Creamery, and, of course, delicious wines. Be sure to swing by a few of the educational tastings to hear all about the the process of how Boordy’s grapes eventually end up in your glass.

OCT. 19: OKTOBEARFEST
The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, 1 Safari Pl. 12-4 p.m. $29-69.
Do you love animals? What about drinks? Why not both? Stroll around the Maryland Zoo’s annual fundraiser to sip more than 70 seasonal brews while you enjoy food and music amongst your new furry friends.

OCT. 19: HARVEST AT THE HILL FESTIVAL
Manor Hill Brewing, 4411 Manor Ln., Ellicott City, MD 21042. 1-5 p.m. Free-$30.
Tour this beautiful 54-acre working farm in Howard County with live music, harvest games, and home-brewed beers from Manor Hill Brewing. Plus, there will be a full-blown food truck rally set against the backdrop of the farm’s hop yard.

OCT. 19: OKTOBERFEST LIVE!

Power Plant Live!, 34 Market Place. 3-7 p.m. $30-40.

Gorge on bratwurst and pretzels, do the chicken dance, and sample more than 125 craft beers at an Oktoberfest celebration that promises to knock your lederhosen off.

OCT. 25: PUMPKINS ON THE GREEN

Irvine Nature Center, 11201 Garrison Forest Rd., Owings Mills. 7-11 p.m. $150.

Join this community nature center for an “un-gala”—a blue-jean affair with music, wine tasting, and plenty of nature to go around. All proceeds directly benefit Irvine’s environmental education programs.

NOV. 2: BALTIMORE CRAFT BEER FESTIVAL

Canton Waterfront Park, 3001 Boston St. 1:30-5 p.m. $40-55.

Baltimore is no stranger to appreciating beers. Come support your favorite local breweries or discover new releases from the 50-plus vendors, sway to the live music, or soak up the suds with fare from local food trucks. A portion of each ticket supports not only the brewers, but also Strong City Baltimore’s various community initiatives.

NOV. 9: R. HOUSE HARVEST FESTIVAL

R. House, 301 W. 29 St. 12-5 p.m.

Head to this Remington warehouse-turned-food hall for seasonal festivities like crafts, games, a petting zoo, and pony rides for the kids, as well as Harvest Punch and fall brews from Monument City Brewing Company. There will also be live music from local Americana group Rattlewood.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY FARM ADVENTURES

OCT 12: FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL

2175 Cromwell Bridge Rd, Parkville, MD 21234 10-4PM. Free.

From hay rides to apple butter-making, Cromwell Valley Park hosts comforting fall activities for the whole family. Try your hand at earth-oven cooking (an ancient method that bakes, steams, and smokes food in the ground) and beekeeping, or just take in the fall scenery.

OCT. 12: PUMPKINFEST

Irvine Nature Center, 11201 Garrison Forest Rd., Owings Mills. 12-7 p.m. Free-$15.

Enjoy hayrides, pumpkin painting, and other fall festival staples alongside the devoted nature center staff.

OCT. 19 & 26: GREENSTREET GARDENS FLASHLIGHT MAZE
Greenstreet Gardens in Lothian, 302 West Bay Front Road Lothian, MD 20711. 7-10PM.

Can you wind your way out of a corn-maze? How about in the moonlight? Grab some friends to take on this year’s Harry Potter-themed challenge with flashlights in hand.

OCT. 20: WHITELOCK HARVEST FESTIVAL
Whitelock Community Farm, 930 Whitelock St. 12-4 p.m. Free.

Join Reservoir Hill’s community farm for its annual cookout and fall celebration, which features a health and wellness fair, live music, and plenty of family fun.

NOV. 2: THE BLACK HARVEST: CHERRY HILL

Cherry Hill Urban Community Garden, 900 Cherry Hill Rd. 12-4 p.m. Free.

Nonprofits Blue Water Baltimore and TreeBaltimore are partnering with Cherry Hill’s community farm to host a tree giveaway which will also include food, live music, and live poetry.

TO NOV. 3: RODGERS’ FARM AND MAZE

1818 Greenspring Valley Rd., Stevenson, MD 21153. Free-$10.

With a petting zoo, hayrides, a pick-your-own pumpkin patch, and other attractions, this would seem like a pretty typical fall-themed farm festival. But don’t miss the hedge maze that has a different theme each year. This year’s inspiration? Emojis.

TO NOV. 3: SHARP’S AT WATERFORD

4003 Jennings Chapel Rd., Brookeville, MD 20833. Free-$11.

Here’s your chance to explore this 530-acre Howard County farm—which hosts open days and special fall events with outdoor activities like hayrides, campfires, nature trails, and an expansive corn maze throughout November 3.

TO NOV. 3: CLARK’S ELIOAK FARM

10500 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City, MD 21042. Free-$8.

As if beautiful pastures with a petting zoo, hayrides, and organic produce isn’t enough, this farm just outside of Ellicott City also features an Enchanted Train and Enchanted Forest to keep the kids captivated by the magic of the season.

FACE OF DANGER

In mid-August, the Trump administration announced that it would make changes to the Endangered Species Act, which has been called the nation’s “bedrock conservation law” and is credited with saving the grizzly bear, the American alligator, and the bald eagle from extinction since its inception in 1973. The new rules, expected to go into effect this month, would make it easier to remove species from the endangered list and weaken protections for those that are threatened. For the first time, it would also allow for economic considerations when evaluating the necessary level of protection for a given species—which opponents of the revisions believe would open up critical habitat for mining, oil and gas drilling, and other development—while also making it harder to consider climate change and its potential threats to wildlife in the process. According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay’s 64,000-square-mile watershed is home to 113 animals and 46 plants currently protected by the Endangered Species Act, including Atlantic sturgeon, freshwater mussels, and the leatherback sea turtles.

SHELL UNCERTAINTY

After it was reported last winter that wild oysters had been overharvested in more than half of Maryland’s public oyster beds in the 2017-2018 season, the Department of Natural Resources is now considering cutbacks to the upcoming annual oyster harvest, according to the Bay Journal. Last November, the DNR, in consultation with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, released a stock assessment that found the shellfish’s adult population to be half of what it was in 1999, even after periods of decline and rebound in the interim. According to the Journal, officials have told the state’s Oyster Advisory Commission that they are considering a shorter harvest season—which typically runs from October 1 through March 31—as well as reductions of up to 20 percent for the daily commercial catch limit, which in recent years has been a bushel a day. They also suggested the possibility of prohibiting the harvest of certain oyster beds due to unusually low populations. New regulations will be announced in the coming weeks by public notice.

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

This month, the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, a Baltimore County nonprofit that works to preserve and restore the Gunpowder watershed, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Founded in 1989, the organization has preserved 1,600 acres of land and hosted hundreds of tree plantings and stream cleanups throughout the region of the Gunpowder River and Falls—which runs through Baltimore, Harford, and Carroll counties before reaching the Chesapeake Bay. On Saturday, September 14, their environmental stewardship will be celebrated with an annual evening fundraiser gala at the Conrad’s Ruth Villa waterfront park in Middle River.

GREEN PARTY

Also on Saturday, September 14, Blue Water Baltimore will be hosting its annual fundraiser, the Blue Water Bash, at Barcocina in Fells Point. The nine-year-old organization works to restore the quality of Baltimore’s waterways with community projects, a native plant nursery, and myriad volunteer opportunities such as tree plantings and storm drain stencilings. From 1-5 p.m, there will be food, drinks, music, and a silent auction all to benefit the local environmental group.

DOWN THE DRAIN

A recent report by the Environmental Integrity Project found that a large amount of sewage pollution in the Chesapeake Bay comes not just from the continued overflows of Baltimore City, but even more so Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Raw sewage can introduce harmful bacteria into the waterways that can be harmful to humans who come into contact with the water and affect local ecosystem. In 2018, nearly 1.4 billion gallons of sewage and stormwater flowed from the commonwealth’s state capital into the Susquehanna River, aka the main source of fresh water for the upper Chesapeake, compared to Baltimore’s 260 million. Last year, Harrisburg authorities released a new $315 million plan to reduce such pollution over the next two decades, but Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan has since called on Pennsylvania, whose latest cleanup plans still fail to meet nitrogen reduction goals by 2025, to increase its efforts toward bay health.

PLANNING AHEAD

Late last month, Maryland submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency the final plans for its part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan—a multi-state clean-up initiative developed to reduce pollution in the estuary by 2025. Considered an “aggressive but achievable” strategy by the Department of Natural Resources, this third phase identifies local and state-wide strategies across multiple sectors—such as upgrades to stormwater and septic systems, improved land conservation and land management in agriculture, and greenhouse gas and emissions reductions in transportation, to name a few—to meet the initiatve’s goals in six years’ time. For the first time, it also factors in potential impacts posed by climate change, as well as considers ways to reduce the heavy pollution of the Conowingo Dam on the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay.

IN BLOOM

On the eve of fall, social media feeds will soon fill with a steady stream of selfies, engagement shots, and photographs of friends and families in front of the seemingly endless sunflower fields at Clear Meadow Farm on Jarrettsville Pike in Monkton. Every year, locals and tourists flock to this rural farmland in Baltimore County to watch the rolling hills turn gold as thousands upon thousands reach their peak bloom. This year, expect that moment to arrive at the end of the month, much like that of the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council in Cockeysville, where, for a small fee, visitors can pick-your-own from sunrise to sunset. Meanwhile, this weekend, giant flowers are already open at the aptly named Sunflower Garden on Manchester Road in Westminster.

CRABS GONE WILD?
According to an annual advisory report published by the Chesapeake Bay Program, Maryland blue crab populations have increased 60 percent over the last year. Despite last year’s heavy spring rains, which can impact water salinity, visibility, and oxygen levels, as well as a slow start to this year’s spring harvesting season, adult females were up 29 percent, adult males up were 38 percent, and juveniles were up 50 percent, though many watermen throughout the state have complained of poor catches. The resurgence could reduce prices throughout the summer. New research from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science also suggests that blue crab season, which are notoriously fickle year over year, might become longer and more plentiful in future decades due to the milder winters of global warming, though warmer waters could also lead to other new environmental issues for the estuary ecosystem.

GRASS IS GREENER

Despite last year’s record rainfall, the Chesapeake Bay’s underwater grasses proved resilient with nominal losses in 2018. More than 91,000 acres of underwater grasses were recorded baywide, compared to 2017’s 105,000 acres, with an estimate 50,000 acres in Maryland and some waterways still surpassing their restoration goals for aquatic vegetation. These grasses require clear water to survive and provide important habitat for wildlife such as blue crabs, fish, and waterfowl. Last year’s heavy rains carried a deluge of sediment and nutrients from fertilizer, sewage, and pollution into the bay, which impact clarity and oxygen levels. As a result, this summer’s “dead zone,” aka the annual summer area within the bay with little or no oxygen, is also forecast to be one of the largest on record this summer.

SHELL YEAH

Since launching in 2014, the Greater Baltimore Oyster Partnership, a collaboration between the Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and numerous downtown businesses, have announced that they have grown their millionth oyster in the Inner Harbor. With the help of corporate volunteer oyster gardens and restoration projects along the Patapsco River, the initiative aims to increase the health of local waterways, as an adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water each day. And just yesterday, five million spat, or baby oysters, were planted in the Patapsco River, officially meeting the partnership’s goal of doing so by 2020.

WATER WORLD

The Middle Branch of the Patapsco River will soon be getting a facelift with ambitious new plans recently winning approval in a design competition for the multi-year renovation of the South Baltimore waterfront. If finalized, it would include an overhaul of the century-old Hanover Street Bridge into a no-traffic green space, as well as an 11-mile waterfront park that runs along Cherry Hill, Brooklyn, Westport, Riverside, and Port Covington with park trails, boardwalks, boat launches, an amphitheater, and other recreational spaces, while also constructing a new road to the nearby neighborhoods. The plans, submitted by Dutch architecture firm West 8, have been given the green light by Mayor Jack Young and are currently under review by city agencies.

SCI-FI NATURE
Earlier this summer, a carnivorous plant called dwarf sundew was discovered in Maryland for the very first time. One of nearly 20 types of carnivorous plants in the state, the small plant has pink petals and paddle-shaped leaves that form a rosette at the base and are covered in green and red hairs that exude a stick liquid that attracts and then traps insects. It was found on the lower Eastern Shore in Worcester County.

RENEWABLE RULES
Earlier this month, the Maryland Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the state’s public service commission could trump the power of local government to approve future power plant projects, particularly relating to solar and wind energy. Citing state law that mandates reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the ruling in accordance with state law. Advocates have said that local jurisdictions have hindered development, while critics have cited residents’ concerns over eyesores and agricultural disruptions in rural communities. Legislature passed earlier this year also requires that Maryland get half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. At last count in 2017, water and solar accounted for 10 percent of Maryland’s total net electricity generation.

Cooperstown, a small village in central New York that’s home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the legacy of 19th century writer James Fenimore Cooper (his famous Leatherstocking Tales include “The Last of the Mohicans”), is one of the most American places in the country.

Nestled in a bucolic paradise of farmland with rolling hills and mirror-like lakes, the village is like a movie set for a romanticized ideal of small-town American life. Mint-condition 19th century homes like life-size dollhouses surround a Main Street that is three blocks long, punctuated only by a single stoplight and a tall flagpole, and often filled with kids and dads in baseball caps doing Norman Rockwell things like eating ice cream or playing catch.

The village of 1,800 is the most-visited in America, luring more than 400,000 people each year. Summer is the height of tourism season—thanks to induction weekend at the National Baseball Hall of Fame (July 19-22 this year), two popular baseball tournament camps for players 12 and younger, lake activities, and the renowned Glimmerglass Festival of opera and musical theater.

Here, we break down must-see sights, where to stay, and what to do during a visit to the idyllic destination—which is about an hour drive from the Albany airport and a five-hour drive from Baltimore.

Baseball Galore

A reverence for the romanticism of baseball reaches fever pitch at The National Baseball Hall of Fame, which attracts legions of sports lovers more than willing to make the pilgrimage to the somewhat secluded village.

Joining the ranks of the very exclusive club of inductees at this year’s ceremony on Sunday, July 21, are three former Baltimore Orioles. Perhaps most notably is pitcher Mike Mussina, who split his career between the Orioles and the Yankees. Also being inducted are one-time Orioles Harold Baines (an Easton native) and Lee Smith. The other inductees in this year’s class are game greats Roy Halladay, Edgar Martinez, and Mariano Rivera.

An interview with Cal Ripken Jr.—whose 2007 induction attracted the largest crowd—opens the short film “The Baseball Experience” shown every half hour in the second floor Grandstand Theater, where the Hall recommends visitors start their experience. He tears up talking about the honor of following in the footsteps of greats like Lou Gehrig, and by the end of the 15-minute movie, it’s hard not to also be inspired by the beauty of the game.

Areas of interest for Orioles fans include a modern-day locker with artifacts like Chris Davis’ baseball cap from 2017 and Matt Wieters’ mitt. Camden Yards is highlighted as breaking the stadium mold by inspiring a trend in retro design for ballparks, and record-breakers like Eddie Murray, Brooks Robinson, and Ripken Jr. are featured. Babe Ruth’s Baltimore beginnings are explained in his exhibit.

The Hall is at the far end of Main Street, which is packed with more baseball souvenir shops than you can dream of. If you can’t find a jersey, hat, or Lego version of your favorite baseball player, you’re not searching hard enough. Check out Mickey’s Place, which carries caps with many of the Orioles’ logos throughout the team’s 118-year history, as well as Negro League and Minor League baseball team caps.

History and Culture

References are everywhere to Cooper’s five novels that make up the Leatherstocking Tales, which are set in the author’s native Cooperstown. His father, a judge from New Jersey, founded the village in 1789. Various nods to the books are apparent around town, including Glimmerglass, the name Cooper gives Otsego Lake in the books.

Between July and August, the Glimmerglass Festival, with a campus on Otsego Lake about 10 miles from the village, presents the most performances of any opera company other than the Metropolitan Opera. It attracts emerging and established artists from all over the country.

This season includes hits like La Traviata and Show Boat, as well as Blue, a world premiere opera by Broadway music hitmaker Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Caroline or Change, Shrek the Musical) and librettist and director Tazewell Thompson—who has recently directed plays at Everyman Theatre, as well as dozens of shows in Arena Stage and other D.C. playhouses. Blue, about a modern-day, middle-class black couple whose teenage son is killed by a white police officer, will be presented in 2020 at the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, whose artistic director, Francesca Zambello, is also the artistic director of Glimmerglass.

In addition to opera and musical theater, this year’s festival includes speakers such as Baltimore native Ta-Nehisi Coates and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been speaking at the event about her love of opera and her perspective on law in the arts since 2011. Her event has been sold out since January, with a 15-page waiting list.

The Fenimore Art Museum is another must-stop for art and history lovers. With nearly 900 objects in the Thaw Collection, the museum houses one of the largest collections of American Indian art and artifacts. It is also noted for its impressive collection of American folk art, which began with gifts from Stephen C. Clark—a founding member of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and heir to the Singer Manufacturing Co. Clark was also responsible for establishing the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Across from The Fenimore is the Farmers’ Museum, which Clark founded shortly after the creation of the Hall of Fame as a living history museum inspired by genre paintings depicting 19th century American farm life. Here, visitors can witness a blacksmith making an anvil in the historic village or take a ride on the vintage Empire State Carousel.

Where to Stay and Play

Seemingly captured in time is the lakefront colonial-style grand dame of a luxury resort hotel, The Otesaga—which, like Cooperstown, hasn’t changed much since its opening in 1909. The hotel maintains an early 20th century nostalgia thanks to impeccable décor. It offers activities like tennis, boating and golf (on the property is the picturesque Leatherstocking Golf Course). To stay closer to nature, check out a selection of glamping sites on the lake and in the woods. Like many quaint towns in the country, Cooperstown has a wealth of bed and breakfasts. Cooperstown Lakeview Lodge offers log cabin-styled suites right on Otsego Lake with amenities like fireplaces and a jacuzzi.

It’s also possible to rent an entire house on the lake. Cooperstown Luxury and Cooperstown Stay list weeklong and nightly full home rentals on Otsego Lake, as well as nearby Canadarago and Goodyear lakes, each of which are about 20 minutes from the village. The lakes are a major part of life in and around Cooperstown, and will make your Instagram followers envious. (Search #OtsegoLake and drool.) Boat, kayak and other water crafts can be rented at Sam Smith Boatyard and Canoe and Kayak Rental and Sales.

Where to Eat and Drink

At the seasonal Origins Cafe just out of town, diners can savor vegan dishes or paninis with chicken and beef from local farms in a greenhouse surrounded by flowers and plants native to New York. Serving inventive and homey dishes like grilled pork loin with rhubarb peach chutney in the first-floor of a Victorian-style house, Rose and Kettle in nearby Cherry Valley is a favorite for opera goers. Another well-loved spot is Alex’s World Bistro, which embraces a global menu with options like a banh mi sandwich, Egyptian falafel, and Thai duck red curry.

One of the best options to take full advantage of the postcard views of Otsego Lake is the Hawkeye Bar and Grill at the Otesaga Resort Hotel. The Hawkeye—with a consistently solid menu of elevated casual dining items like fish tacos, meatloaf and burgers—has an outdoor patio overlooking the lake, as well as the Fire Bar, popular with locals and tourists. The dining porches at the Blue Mingo Grill, located at Sam Smith’s Boatyard, is one of the only spots where you can dine directly on the lake. It’s a favorite for lunch, with a range of salad and sandwich options—including a respectable crab cake.

This area of upstate New York once produced 85 percent of the hops for the country’s beer. That legacy continues with several breweries that can be visited on the Cooperstown Beverage Trail. You can collect a pint glass for visiting all nine locations on the trail, which include wineries, a cider mill, and a distillery. The Duvel-owned Brewery Ommegang produces Belgium-style ale that is distributed in 48 states. The brewery is like an amusement park for beer lovers, with tours, tastings, a gift shop, weekly live entertainment, an outdoor bar, and a 200-seat cafe that’s family friendly with corn hole and other lawn games.

Less than a mile away from Ommegang is Red Shed Brewery, which has ample outdoor seating and is committed to using New York State hops and grains. About a five-minute drive from both breweries, in nearby Milford, is the Cooperstown Brewing Company. Located in a former creamery behind antique Delaware and Hudson Railroad cars (which are still in service for special events, including the weekly live music cruise Cooperstown Blues Express), it serves a line of sodas and serves ice cream floats—including an alcoholic version with the Benchwarmer Porter. The company also has a variety of baseball-themed beers like the Bambino American Amber Ale, which it created with Babe Ruth’s grandchildren. Though you might be five hours from our own shrine to the Sultan of Swat, sipping the beer—much like visiting the Orioles exhibits at the Hall of Fame—serves as a nice reminder of home.

When life’s stresses are weighing you down, you’ll probably feel like hitting up the bar where everybody knows your name. What might actually serve your soul in a genuine way is to go where no one does. Because when your brain is as buzzy as the city streets, you need a real reprieve.

Getting out in nature, whether it’s for a picnic or a walk in the woods, can help you reclaim your calm, find your center, or whatever zen mind trick you’re trying to pull. Luckily, you don’t have to go far to find a spot to embrace the outdoors, unplug, and recharge. Here are seven peaceful spots in Baltimore to unwind.

The Red Trail at Lake Roland: The park and nature center at Lake Roland are big hits, especially in the springtime. But off the beaten path, you’ll find tons of trails to wander. The red trail, which juts off the main part of the park (between the playground and the dog park) follows Falls Road north for two miles. On it, you’ll find streams, bridges, and art installations. Higher traffic times are in the morning and late afternoon, but around midday, only a few folks can be found snapping twigs under their heels. Whether you’re looking to have a walking meditation or a workout, this shady trail can’t be beat. 1000 Lakeside Drive

Sherwood Gardens: If you’d rather relax and snack than move and sweat, bring the blanket and the charcuterie over to Sherwood Gardens in Guilford. The six-acre park houses over 80,000 tulips which makes it the perfect place to breathe deep and let go of your troubles. The evening brings tons families to the park to play, so if you’re aiming to get your “om” on without having to worry about getting clocked in the jaw with a frisbee, an early afternoon picnic and siesta is your best bet. Yawn . . . it really does sound ideal. 4310 Underwood Rd.

Soldiers Delight: Over in Owings Mills, you’ll find another trail to cure what ails. What’s unique about the land here is that it’s a serpentine barren, meaning the rock that underlines the area is made mostly of serpentine, making it a sandy, stony, sparsely vegetated space with some rare flowers, insects, and plant species. There are about seven miles of marked trails and, because of the sensitive nature of the environment there, cyclists aren’t permitted on the trails. Wanderers, however, are more than welcome. 5100 Deer Park Rd.

Quarry Lake: If you’re in need of a nearby loop where you can walk off your lunch and still make it back to work on time, Quarry Lake is a solid midday stop. The manmade lake is one of the deepest in Maryland and makes for a beautiful reprieve for its community members and neighbors. At the quarry, you can sit and eat a bagel, have a peaceful walk, or people watch. 2700 Quarry Lake Drive

Loch Raven Reservoir: If the woods are calling, there’s no better place to find your way (or lose it) than Loch Raven Reservoir. There are lots of shady trails to hike through, though some are a bit tricky with steep inclines and bumpy terrain. Take a break for a snack or some quiet time on the rocks overlooking the water. And before you leave, make sure to feed the ducks some corn, lettuce, or duck pellets (no bread, though)! A word a to the wise: Watch out for the geese because those are huge, loud, and, uh, kind of scary. Morgan Mill Rd and Loch Raven Drive

Baltimore Waterfront Promenade: For those looking for the perfect waterfront walk, the 4.3-mile trail running from Canton Waterfront Park to Fells Point is just the one. It’s easy walking, and the water views make the time fly by. Of course, you’re bound to see some passersby here, because you’re not exactly lost in the woods. But taking a stroll while looking out over the water still makes a great getaway (if only in your head). The promenade is dog-friendly, too. Just make sure to pick after your pup and keep them on a leash. 3001 Boston St.

Patapsco Valley State Park: Whatever you’re in the mood to accomplish (or not accomplish), you can probably achieve it here. This Howard County park runs for miles along the Patapsco River and has eight developed recreation areas. Tame your mind with a hike or a bike ride along one of the many trails, or hop in a canoe and let your troubles drift away. The Cascade Falls Trail in the Orange Grove area of the park is popular spot for its waterfalls and swinging bridges. And if you’re just looking to post up in a pavilion for the day and watch the world go by, you can totally do that, too. At least until your boss calls. Or the school wonders why you haven’t picked your kids up, yet. Okay, get zen, but maybe check the time every now and then. 5120 South St.

Those of us who are city residents tend to regard our relationship with nature as an afterthought. Our interaction with wildlife typically involves securing our trashcan lids to deter rats and the occasional smell of fresh-cut grass feels like nothing short of a revelation.

But, in truth, people living in urban areas are surrounded by nature—whether we realize it or not. And the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) wants to remind city residents there are things they can do to protect biodiversity and watershed health right in their own backyard. For the second year in a row, the national organization is hosting Baltimore Wildlife Week from May 3-11, a chance for community members to come together to increase green space, mitigate nuisance flooding, improve water quality, and beautify neighborhoods.

“We were really inspired by similar events in Los Angeles and Seattle, but this is the only event like this on the East Coast,” says Holly Gallagher, NWF regional education manager. “In Baltimore, specifically, it will be a lot about focusing on pollinators, the Chesapeake Bay watershed and iconic species that people can relate like orioles and oysters.”

The organization has worked with a number of partners over the past eight months to plan the week-long program including the National Aquarium, Waterfront Partnership, Blue Water Baltimore, neighborhood associations, and what may seem like an unlikely partner in Charm City Meadworks—which has really embraced the cause and ran with it.

“We produce a product that relies heavily on clean water, bees, and other pollinators every day,” says Derek Vaughn Brown, marketing coordinator at Charm City Meadworks, which is making a special mead with local ingredients for the occasion. “It’s hard to sit idly by when you make something that relies on nature and so we’ve help take the lead on bringing people together and creating some fun events.”

Those events kick off these weekend in the Meadworks taproom, first with a dance party where urban creature costumes are encouraged and a portion of the proceeds go to Baltimore Wildlife Week. The taproom will also feature a pop-up exhibition curated by local artist Bridget Parlato, a show where scientists will discuss their research and get “gonged” if it gets too wonky, and a Jones Falls Watershed walking tour on Sunday that benefits Blue Water Baltimore and Baltimore Heritage.

“The easiest way to physically show people how close we are to nature is take this two-mile walk from Druid Hill Park down to Round Falls,” Brown says. “The idea is to walk along the river, ask thought-provoking questions, and realize nature is all around us.”

Beyond that, there are a ton of other environmental events throughout the week, including a volunteer cleanup on May 6 at Camden Yards, where NWF created a 10,000-square-foot oriole habitat to try and attract the real birds to the stadium. Plus, community conservation forum will take place at Whitelock Farm in Reservoir Hill, the B’More Wild Fest & GreenScape will take over Middle Branch Park, and the first community-preserved forest in Baltimore City will be celebrated in the Glenham-Belhar neighborhood.

“Our big goal is to make these events accessible to different neighborhoods and utilize underused space in the city,” Gallagher says. “We try to focus on issues that are important to people—whether it’s reducing trash, saving money on energy bills, or improving your mental and physical health by having a green space to walk to.”

Gallagher stresses that, while this is a wonderful week to focus on the environment, NWF is working on these initiatives in urban areas all year-round. In fact, last year the organization helped establish Baltimore City as a certified Community Wildlife Habitat, something that may come as a surprise when you choose to only see brick, Formstone, and concrete.

“The more we work with community residents, the more these neighborhoods will change,” Gallagher says. “If kids grow up with that change already instilled in them, there are more likely to have that environmental stewardship as a priority from the start.”

Packing for a beach vacation always starts off simple: sunscreen, a beach towel, that hot new bikini, and a good book. Except, when you reach for a good book, you may notice your reading list has gone off the page with titles you meant to read this winter but never really got a chance to reading. So, how do you choose?

We’ve consulted with Julia Fleischaker of Baltimore’s beloved Greedy Reads to get her take on this season’s reads, including both local writers and some other popular titles from around the globe. “These are perfect summer reads,” says Fleischaker, “whether you’re on an exotic beach or taking your lunch break on a park bench.”

FOR THE BOOK OF THE SEASON
Normal People by Sally Rooney
According to Fleischaker, this is a summer go-to. Running in different social circles, Connlel and Marianne’s connection is both confusing and undeniable. Readers follow the two as they grow up through college, navigating the emotional rollercoasters of first-loves, the intricacies of social class, and the value of friendship.

FOR A TRIP TO THE PAST
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
So vividly depicted and wildly imaginative, this coming-of-age novel feels more like a true biography. Reid crafts together a story from fictional anecdotes as told by Daisy, her band, and the comers and goers of her fantastical rise (and fall) to fame that transports readers to the heights of the 1970s rock ‘n’ roll scene. It’s a novel that’s spellbinding, that’s fun, and a perfect read to just let loose.

FOR A VOICE FROM BALTIMORE
We Speak for Ourselves by D. Watkins
“What a wealth of talent we have in this city,” Fleischaker reflects. Her first recommendation for a voice of Baltimore is a collection of essays by D. Watkins. In this book, we are given truths of the economically disadvantages communities and lessons learned from Watkins’ journey between his world at home and the world of the public figures.

FOR AN ADVENTURE
The River by Peter Heller
Nature versus man, Heller’s adventure story follows two college friends on a trek up the Hudson Bay. Along the way, the boys are matched with the unrelenting temperament of the woods, suspicious strangers, and the haunting realities of home. It’s a novel that will captivate you into the whirlwind of survival that Jack and Wynn must endure.

FOR AN INSIDE SCOOP
The Ghosts of John Hopkins by Antero Pietila
Not much is known about John Hopkins’s personal life other than that he was incredibly wealthy and had much to do with the development of Baltimore City. Pietila digs into history, telling a story of how Baltimore became what we know it as today: its social history, its infrastructure, and its politics.

FOR FAMILY TRIUMPH
The Care And Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray
Anissa Gray’s debut novel is timeless story of triumph over strife that you won’t want to put down. Told from the perspectives of three sisters, the book follows a family navigating heartbreak, unfurling secrets, mental health, and the true meaning of family. Though emotionally gripping, it’s an entrancing read you can breeze through.

FOR A MURDER MYSTERY
The Suspect By Fiona Barton
The mystery around two missing teenage girls in Thailand unravels as a reporter digs into the case with a personal agenda attached—to find her son who had set out to explore Thailand and whom she hasn’t heard from in months. A timeline that jumps and perspectives from heart-sick parents, a determined reporter, and a detective needing a distraction will keep readers wondering at the edge of their seats.

FOR BALTIMORE NOIR
Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
Out in July, Lady in the Lake is set to be a fascinating look at 1960s Baltimore from the prolific local writer. Fleischaker describes the book as “a murder mystery with the noir elements that Lippman does so well, and an affectionate ode to local newspapers and the people who work there.”

SO LONG STYROFOAM
Maryland has become the first state to ban Styrofoam food and drink containers. Half of Maryland residents currently live in areas where the polystyrene is banned, but in mid-March, the House of Delegates made it official, banning the containers statewide. There will be a one-year period to phase out the material, but after that, violators will have to pay a $250 fine. In Baltimore, the city’s various trash wheels have collected more than 1 million foam containers since they began cleaning waterways in 2014.

THE BIRDS ARE BACK
In mid-March, birdwatchers along the Chesapeake Bay started to notice the reemergence of one of our state’s more surefire signs of spring: the osprey. The watershed is home to the largest breeding population of these birds of prey, who return to the local waterways each year to hunt and nest. Meanwhile, in Baltimore, on the first day of spring, the city’s famed peregrine falcon couple, Boh and Barb, laid their first egg of the year atop the Legg Mason building in Harbor East. They fledged four baby hawks last year.

STRIPED BASS BLUES
According to a new stock assessment released in February, the state’s famed striped bass are in trouble and overfished. Rockfish have had somewhat of a rocky history here in Maryland, with overharvesting in the 1980s leading to a nearly six-year, zero-catch moratorium. The populations rebounded in the late ’90s, only to decline again. Recent restrictions have not had a large enough impact on the populations, and some experts expect that this new assessment will lead to more reductions.

R.I.P. HARRY HUGHES
Harry Hughes, the 57th governor of Maryland and a pioneer of Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts, passed away earlier this month at the age of 92. Across two terms, from 1979 to 1987, Hughes would become one of the bay’s greatest champions. The Eastern Shore native initiated the multi-state-federal partnership that is the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, which continues to improve the health of our nation’s largest estuary. He cut back on pollutants, limited shoreline development, and also imposed the aforementioned moratorium on striped bass. Governor Larry Hogan called him “alongtime friend and Maryland legend whom I deeply admired.” Flags were flown at half-mast in his honor.

FUNDING IN FLUX
Meanwhile, it’s starting to feel like Groundhog’s Day again with the Trump administration once again calling for federal funding cuts for Chesapeake Bay cleanup efforts. For the third year in a row, budget cuts have been proposed to the Chesapeake Bay Program, which coordinates the partnership between multiple federal agencies and watershed states to monitor, assess, and improve the bay’s health. Like last year, the 2020 budget, released in mid-March, would reduce Environmental Protection Agency funding for the program by 90 percent, from $73 million to $7.3 million, providing no explanation. Governor Hogan has asked Congress to not only block the reduction but increase bay funding by $90 million.

RAMPING UP RENEWABLE ENERGY
Last week, the Maryland Senate approved legislation that would greatly increase the state’s renewable energy requirements. The Clean Jobs Act would require that half of the state’s electricity come from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2030, while also increasing related jobs. The current statewide goal for renewable energy is 25 percent by 2020. In 2017, renewable energy accounted for 10 percent of Maryland’s total net electricity generation. However, after similar legislation failed in the House, it is unclear whether or not the bill will be approved in its next phase.

LIVESTREAM SEWAGE
Last week, after heavy rains, more than 22 million gallons of sewage-tainted water flowed into the Jones Falls and Herring Run. Just days before, the Baltimore City Department of Public Works announced the launch of a new live map of sewage pollution. Going forward, the DPW will issue public alerts when overflows reach or exceed 10,000 gallons to abide by state and federal environmental regulations.

For kids (and adventurous adults) snow in the forecast means partaking in the best part of winter: sledding! While it can be tempting to hide under a heated blanket until springtime, the snowy hills of Baltimore are the perfect excuse to venture out of your cozy home.

From big slopes to mild ones, there are tons of hills to hit. And you really should. Not only because hot cocoa always tastes better after a day of sledding, but Instagram is practically made for adorable pics of your winter riders.

Baltimore County Board of Education (aka Greenwood)
This super steep hill is a favorite sledding spot whenever the snow comes to town. Whether it’s a couple of inches or a blizzard, it doesn’t matter. The massive hill will send kids soaring, either way. Just beware of the big ditch at the bottom that’s surely been the cause of more than a few ice cold wipeouts. 6901 Charles Street Towson, next to Loyola Blakefield

Herring Run Park
The beloved park that sits between Harford and Argonne roads, near Lake Montebello, is known for its beautiful scenic views all year long. Come winter, it’s also a top sledding spot! Hills are of varied elevations for kids of all ages to enjoy. Little ones can stay on the small slopes while the big kids might get adventurous on the steeper hills that they can pick up speed on. Harford and Argonne Roads

Baltimore Country Club (aka “Suicide Hill”):
This sketchy hill can be seen as you drive along Falls Road. But beware, it’s extremely steep and a bit dangerous. There have been plenty of injuries on this insane slope, so it’s not for the faint of heart, but rumor has it, it’s still pretty thrilling. Another reason this spot is only for the bravest of the brave? It’s not exactly legal, per say, so trespassers beware, and maybe have a lawyer handy. 4712 Club Road

Dumbarton Middle School
Rodgers Forgers have been hitting up the pint-sized hills surrounding the fields between Dumbarton Middle and Rodgers Forge Elementary schools for eons. It’s a short ride down one of these small slopes which are great for small riders. Older neighborhood kids have been known to get clever, building ramps and finding creative ways to make their sleds soar. 300 Dumbarton Road

Patterson Park (near the Pagoda)
You’ll find every age group present and accounted for here—from kids and families, 20-somethings, and even furry friends. There are tons of little hills where folks are known to get creative, using trash can lids and other makeshift sleds. Hey, whatever keeps your butt dry. Patterson Park Avenue and Pratt Street

Federal Hill Park
Since this neighborhood is a total mix of families and 20-somethings, you’ll find just about everyone hitting up these super steep hills. But, look out, because there’s a few that might lead you astray . . . like, right into Key Highway. Another thing to look out for? There’s almost always a snowball fight brewing, so don’t turn your back for too long. Warren Avenue

Oregon Ridge Park
This massive hill is actually former ski slope, so while it looks very long and steep, it’s actually pretty safe! That’s a big perk for families with little ones, who can ride safely (but if they get scared, there are more shallow ones, too). The main hill lands into a long, flat field and then drops off into another flat area. Sometimes, you’ll still see cross-country skiers and snowboarders here, as well, shredding down the “mountain.” 13401 Beaver Dam Road

Towson University’s Smith Hall
Of course, this is a popular site for students on a snow day, located on school grounds, at the spot right next to the English building. While some riders choose sleds or skis, other settle for riding in last night’s pizza box (probably while sipping on last night’s leftover Natty Lights, too). Glen Drive, Towson

Leakin Park
The hill at Leakin Park refers to the dip behind Crimea Mansion on Eagle Drive. It’s another well-known favorite inside the city lines, only this one never gets terribly crowded—a perk for the neighborhood kids. This hill is of medium difficulty, but still long and steep for an epic day of sledding. Eagle Drive

Wyman Park
It’s no wonder the 16-acre public park, between Charles Village and Remington has been a beloved sledding spot for more than 100 years. The park is known for its steep slopes, after all. On a snowy day, you can find friends of all ages there, from little ones to college kids from JHU, zipping down hills so sharp they’ll make even the strongest stomachs drop. North Charles and 29th Streets

BAD GRADES
After records rains and subsequently excessive runoff pollution in 2018, the Chesapeake Bay’s biennial report card was released earlier this month with a downgrade to a D+ from a C- in 2016. At the time, the grade was the highest grade received since the assessment was launched in 1998 by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. While the recent change was the first time the score had declined in a decade, there were some signs of improvement, such as increased oxygen levels throughout the estuary’s waterways and survival of underwater grasses despite the weather-related diluge. The CBF continues to stress the importance of watershed-wide cleanup efforts and the persistence of environmental regulations currently threatened by the Trump administration.

FARMERS UNITED
In mid-December, Congress approved the 2019 Farm Bill, which will allocate some $867 billion in federal subsidies to American farmers. In addition the bill legalizes hemp and provides permanent funding for programs such as farmers’ market promotion, organic farming research, and organizations working to train the next generation of farmers. The state of Maryland has more than 12,000 farms across some two million acres of land. The bill has also preserved the Conservation Stewardship Program, which works with farmers to strengthen their conservations efforts. It also triples the amount of funding available for the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which locally works to reduce farm runoff into the Chesapeake Bay. The Farm Bill is the largest source of funding to help with such efforts throughout the watershed, providing upwards of $130 million to regional farmers each year to improve their environmental impact.

DNR CHANGES
Earlier this month, Governor Hogan nominated Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio to be Maryland’s new secretary to the Department of Natural Resources, which oversees fishing, hunting, boating, parks, wildlife, waterways, and forests throughout the state. Scheduled to start in February following confirmation by the Senate, she will replace Mark Belton, who stepped down from him position shortly after the New Year to resume his former post as Charles County administrator. Haddaway-Riccio currently serves as Hogan’s deputy chief of staff, where she advises on environment-related issues. She also represented the Eastern Shore in the House of Delegates from 2003 to 2015.

OUT OF THIS WORLD
We’ll consider space news environmental news for the time being as, just this week, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft mission released the first detailed images of the Ultima Thule—a small, two-sphered object located on the edge of our solar system and the most distant object ever explored in space. While Ultima Thule is located in the Kuiper Belt some four billion miles from Earth, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in in our backyard of Laurel designed, built, and currently operates the New Horizons spacecraft, and also manages the mission. With the first photographs received around 5 a.m. on January 1, the lab celebrated with flyby festivities on New Year’s Day.

URBAN FOREST
Blue Water Baltimore has worked to transform a controversial stretch of highway median into a verdant greenspace in the heart of West Baltimore. Over the past two years, the local nonprofit and other citywide volunteer efforts have planted nearly 500 trees in the middle of U.S. Route 40 between Fulton Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, aka Baltimore’s “Highway to Nowhere,” which historically displaced more than 1,000 residents, most of whom were African-Americans, in the mid-20th century. The first two phases were completed with help from Volunteering Untapped, community residents, and local school groups, while the third and final phases were completed this past November with the Baltimore Tree Trust and Bon Secours Clean and Green Landscaping Team. The trees will be watered in the summertime by the Baltimore City YouthWorks program.

IN SESSION

As a new legislative session began in Annapolis last week, a number of environmental issues are on the docket for consideration by local lawmakers. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is seeking legislation to protect Chesapeake Bay tributaries selected for large-scale restorations from future oyster harvest, as well as the development of a new fishery management plan for the bivalves. Meanwhile the Clean Energy Jobs initiative aims to increase the state’s renewable energy goals, which currently includes receiving 25 percent of Maryland energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind by 2020, to half of statewide energy being renewable by 2030, followed by all by 2040. Following similar legislation in states such as Pennsylvania, local environmentalists are also pushing for a state constitutional amendment that guarantees Marylanders the right to uncontaminated water, breathable air, and a healthy environment.

GOING GREEN

Late last month, Maryland helped form the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a landmark coalition of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, along with Washington, D.C., that aims to set regional limits on emissions from cars, trucks, buses, and other modes of transportation. The agreement aims to recognize the role of transportation in climate change and to create a regional policy that would cap and reduce the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, through initiatives such as new bike lanes, improved public transit, and zero-emission vehicles. In similar news, Maryland utility companies have just received approval to install more than 5,000 electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state.

CLEAN WATERS

Just weeks after the Trump administration announced plans to rollback protections for some of the nation’s waterways, Maryland, along with five other Chesapeake Bay watershed states and Washington, D.C., received $13.1 million in grants for environmental projects, including water quality improvement and wildlife habitat, from the Environmental Protection Agency and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Maryland received approximately $5.9 million of these funds for environmental efforts, many of which include farmland runoff reduction, the largest source of pollution in the estuary.

Although Brian Oliver graduated from Towson University with a degree in political science, he knew that a career in law was not in his future. He wanted to do more than just read over documents and sit in courtrooms all day.

He was always interested in traveling the world but he found himself constantly waiting for his friends to jump on board. Oliver got to a point where he realized that if he sat around waiting for other people, he would never go.

“I decided to just take that leap,” he said of his first trip to London. “Once I ended up going alone that first time, I was like, oh I’m good. I can do this.”

Since that realization, Oliver has traveled to 48 countries, 25 states, and has shown no signs of slowing down. His goal is to live a very full, and well-traveled, life while helping others in Baltimore to do the same.

To fund his travels, the 33-year-old has a pretty unorthodox day job working at the family business, Howell Funeral Home, in West Baltimore.

“I live the way I do because I’m surrounded by death every day,” he said. “You want to live. You read people’s obituaries and they never did anything. I really want to live my life to the fullest.”

Around Thanksgiving of 2015, as he was en route back to his Ashburton home from Thailand, Oliver started thinking about how he could expand upon his travels by helping other people. He says while sitting on the airplane, the thought just hit him.

“The word beyond came to me out of nowhere and I started really thinking of the meaning,” he recalled. “A typical person from Baltimore, especially a black man, carries so many stereotypes. I started thinking about going beyond what people think of you and what people expect of you. When you travel, you go beyond your neighborhood, your city, and your state—both mentally and physically.”

And thus birthed Beyond Bmore, an online platform to document his travels and share with the rest of the world how to make it happen for themselves. Through this initiative, he also hopes to help foster a love of new cultures and experiences for the youth in Baltimore and help children in the countries he visits. For example, he’s volunteered at a Kenyan school on his many visits to the country and is currently working on a fundraiser to help them rebuild their school.

“If people can go outside of where you live, it can change your outlook and your mentality of everything,” he said. “I tell people all the time, ‘Every time I go somewhere, I appreciate home so much more.’ We have issues here but I’ve seen some real issues traveling, especially when it comes to poverty, lack of resources. It puts it all into perspective.”

While many of the places Oliver has visited may appear on your bucket list—France, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, Tanzania, Portugal, Hungary, Denmark, Switzerland, Bahrain, and UAE, to name a few—he says that it’s not as difficult to travel to them as we think. By using credit card points, airline miles, and various websites he manages to secure these trips for less than $800 and is very public about how to attain it.

“People ask me for tips and advice, which I don’t mind giving because I want to see all of us travel to different places,” he said. “I go to Secret Flying, The Flight Deal, and Airfare Spot and also follow them on social media so I can stay up to date on their deals. Yesterday, a flight to Nigeria was $600 from D.C. It’s a game changer.”

During his travels he has eaten a scorpion in Thailand, been mistaken for rapper 50 Cent in Egypt, been called a “stolen child” in Kenya—that experience shook him to the core—and has taken a tour of black history in Amsterdam.

“Some of the experiences are so surreal I can’t put it into words,” he said. “I go to these places and when I get back into my room in the evening I’ll just sit there for a minute trying to take it all in.”

Oliver’s travels are taking him to Nigeria in two weeks to participate in a day of service in Lagos and in the new year he plans to travel back to Africa to trace his ancestral roots in Cameroon, Mali, and Benin. He says that his travels have helped him to grow as a person and have changed his life for the better.

“I hope that my experiences will show people that there’s so much more to life than the city you are from,” he said. “Just do it. Get out and see the world. It will change you forever.”

CLIMATE CONCLUSIONS

On the heels of a landmark report from the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in October, the federal government released its own study late last month, with implications for Maryland. The National Climate Assessment, which is conducted every four years, found that the state is already experiencing some of the adverse effects of rising global temperatures, such as increased coastal flooding, precipitation, and frequency of waterborne illnesses, as well as reduced air quality. Future predictions include more of the same, as well as rising waters, the continued loss of already vulnerable marshlands, and shorter winters, the latter of which admittedly sounds nice. However, “the Northeast region is characterized by four distinct seasons and a diverse landscape that is central to the region’s cultural identity, quality of life, and economic success,” the study writes. “The seasonal climate, natural systems, and accessibility of certain types of recreation are threatened by declining snow and ice, rising sea levels, and rising temperatures.”

RECORD RAINS

It’s official: 2018 is Baltimore’s wettest year on record. As of early December, the total precipitation recorded at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport totaled 65.67 inches, surpassing 62.66 inches in 2003, the previous wettest year on record. With more than 20 inches of rain from September through November, including the effects of Hurricanes Florence and Michael, this was also Baltimore’s wettest fall on record, while the summer—with more than 25 inches from June to August—was the city’s second wettest. “Congratulations, Baltimore,” tweeted the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang in mid-November. “Wettest year on record—with still six weeks to go!”

OPEN WATERS

After a year of headlines surrounding the flood of debris flowing through the Conowingo Dam following months of historic rainfall, the gates are once again open in Darlington, and this time, until further notice. Earlier this year after heavy spring rains, the dam created controversy as the opening of its gates carried trees, car tires, and other miscellaneous litter freely from the Susquehanna River into the Chesapeake Bay, even inundating the Annapolis Harbor. “The water right now really looks like chocolate milk,” University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science professor Cindy Palinkas told The Sun in August, as satellite images also showed a plume of sediment in the Upper Bay. Now, after a historically wet November, up to 12 of the dam’s flood gates are open under “spill conditions,” and boaters are advised to once again use extreme caution due to potential detritus afloat in local waters.

DRILL DISPUTE

In late November, the Trump administration approved the use of seismic surveillance to find oil and gas formations under the Atlantic Ocean, including locations off the Maryland coast. The move comes after the announcement of a five-year offshore drilling plan, which would open as much as 90 percent of U.S. waters to energy exploration. At the time, Governor Larry Hogan joined other states to request that Maryland waters be excluded from potential drilling sites, while the General Assembly in Annapolis voted to impose strict liability standards for companies regarding any future spills. Critics claim the seismic practice can disturb, injure, and kill marine wildlife, including whales, sea turtles, and dolphins who frequent nearby waters on their migratory paths. According to National Geographic, “large marine mammals like whales and dolphin use sound for communicating, feeding, and mating, meaning the blasts could impact all three of those essential activities,” while studies have also shown that the blasts impact creatures as small as zooplankton, a critical part of the aquatic food chain, at upwards of 4,000 feet away. Meanwhile, officials have stated that survey vessels will be required to abide by certain precautions, such as including onboard lookouts and acoustic monitoring to detect marine life, and that operations will be shut down when a protected species have been sighted. Permits have been authorized for five companies from Delaware to Florida.

OVERHARVESTED OYSTERS

Last winter, Maryland oysters were overharvested in more than half of the state’s public fishery, according to the first-ever stock assessment by the Department of Natural Resources and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Released in late November, the report warns that such harvests, if continued, could eventually eliminate the bivalve populations in those regions. It also estimates that the state’s total oyster population has declined by about half since 1999, down to about 300 million from 600 million over the last 18 years. Experts expect these findings to stir debate over the management plan of the fishery.

PARK REPAIRS

In the coming months, a public city park will get new life as the National Recreation and Park Association announced the revitalization of ABC Park, formerly known as Catherine Street Park, located just northeast of the sprawling Carroll Park in Carrollton Ridge. Slated for completion in summer 2019, the renovations to this volunteer-run greenspace will include an upgraded and expanded playground, as well as the addition of new amenities such as an outdoor basketball court, an interactive splash pad, and an 800-square-foot indoor-outdoor field house. The park is frequented by local youth and used for community sports games and neighborhood festivals.

Move over New Mexico and South Carolina, Maryland is coming for your top spots when it comes to best-looking license plates in the country. Maryland’s newest specialty plate features Sandy Point State Park with a blue crab and the Bay Bridge in the distance—we got artsy with it—to raise awareness for the Chesapeake Bay Trust.

It’s been 28 years since the foundation debuted the very first bay license plate and 14 years since it’s had an updated design. With the help of Tina Cardosi, president of TM Designs and the plate’s designer, the trust was able to unveil the most recent design at Sandy Point State Park last month.

“A lot of folks thought that it was time for a new design,” said Jana Davis, executive director for Chesapeake Bay Trust. “We have a lot of new technologies now—both in the art realm and design technology—so we know wanted to give people something new and fresh.”

After more than a year of scouting and reviewing 250 designs from all over the state, Cardosi’s TM Designs had the winning combination. (Even Pennsylvania is envious of our latest plates!)

“One of the first things that came into my head is I really wanted to do something that had an underwater theme to it,” Cardosi says. “That was one of the concepts that we proposed from the very beginning.”

The new plate not only features an eye-catching design, but also an updated catchphrase to accompany it. The older plates read “Treasure the Chesapeake” with the newest version urging residents to “Protect the Chesapeake”—in case you needed a firm reminder that we need to keep it clean.

“By choosing these bay plates, drivers help to get kids outside on field trips and trees and gardens planted across our communities,” Davis said. “All of which helps the bay and its contributing rivers and streams.”

This specific plate is popular among Maryland motorists with more than 330,000 bay plates on the road to date. Drivers can now purchase the most recent ones for $20 from the MVA, the Trust website, car dealerships, or tag and title agencies. The funds will go to support K-12 outdoor education, environmental restoration projects, and community engagement in natural resources. So, it’s aesthetically pleasing and benefits a great cause.

Hopefully with this new design—along with the basic Maryland flag plates and the orange and yellow agriculture plates—we can climb a little higher on Thrillist’s list of license plates where we are currently ranked at 50. We can’t blame them, we’ve had some pretty bland designs over the years.

See what we mean?

With perfectly mild weather in the forecast, Baltimoreans are stepping outside to enjoy outdoor fitness without the dread of drowning in sweat. This is the perfect season to get outside—gorgeous weather, fewer bugs, stunning scenery. Plus, it’s at this time that we have the rare and beautiful opportunity to explore some of our area’s most treasured hiking trails.

Nature hikes/walks are generally both pleasing and economical, but they’re also a great fitness option! A study at the University of Michigan found that hiking can increase the amount of energy your body uses by up to 28 percent. When you walk on a level surface, your stride can become passive like the swing of pendulum. However, on uneven terrain like what you’d encounter on a hike or nature walk, your body increases muscle activity and energy expenditure. You move from passive to active with variations in step length, width, push off, strikes, etc. No matter what speed or incline, all of these changes help activate your body and help your muscles work harder.

One of the best things about hiking is that you don’t have to do much to get started and you don’t have to go hard-core to enjoy the benefits, meaning it’s affordable and perfect for all fitness levels. Like any exercise endeavor, just make sure you’re prepared with proper attire (especially footwear!) and water. Ready to go? You don’t have to travel far—remarkable hikes are closer than you think! We talked to Dave Seel from Mountain Pirate Adventures to hear some of his favorite spots you can take a hike:

Cascade Falls Trail | Patapsco State Park
While there are lots of trails in Patapsco, Seel says this is one of his favorite trails to hike/run in and around Baltimore. “While it can get busy on the weekends, it’s easily accessible for all ages and the waterfalls make for great picture opportunities with kids.” Scenic moments include streams, wildlife and waterfalls. Moderate – 3 mile loop.

Oregon Ridge Loop | Oregon Ridge Park
There are so many reasons to love Oregon Ridge. The trails are always well maintained and Seel says the nice Nature Center and facilities make it the perfect spot to enjoy with the whole family. “I like the 4 mile loop for hiking and trail running, but there are lots of different trails here to explore.” Scenic moments include lovely woods, wildlife and trail side streams. Easy – 4 mile loop.

Annapolis Rock via The Appalachian Trail | South Mountain State Park
“If you get motivated by scenic rock outlooks and views-for-days, this is the hike for you,” says Seel. “It’s a great one too because it’s on a section of the Appalachian Trail that stretches all the way from Georgia to Maine . . . so you can have daydreams of hiking all 2,100 miles.” While this is definitely not easy, Seel knows the stretches of uphill hiking are worth it. He reminds us to pack plenty of water and snacks and/or a water filter as there is a nice spring by the outlook (but he wouldn’t recommend drinking it without filtering). Scenic moments include feeling awesome on the AT, nice woodlands and scenic views. Moderate – 5 miles total out and back.

Maryland Heights Loop | Harpers Ferry National Historic Park
For those that really want to feel the burn and reach some scenic views, look no further than Maryland Heights. This trail has lots for Civil War history buffs and some serious elevation gain. “This trail will definitely leave you worked and ready for a beer in nearby Frederick,” Seel confirms. But the beers will be worth it – along with the beautiful views of the confluence between the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers at Harper’s Ferry. Hard – 6 mile loop.

When local artist Matt Muirhead finds a piece of casted-off art at a thrift store, he doesn’t see trash—he sees an opportunity to improve the piece and bring new life to it. So when he thought about what to add to a waterscape painting that he found at the Salvation Army in Cockeysville, he realized that Mr. Trash Wheel—the downtown water wheel that captures debris from the Jones Falls River—does the same thing for Baltimore’s waterways.

“I love the the idea that Mr. Trash Wheel stands between our civilization and nature,” says Muirhead. “He filters out all of the waste and helps keep nature in her pure state.”

It’s locals like Muirhead and the water wheels’ hordes of other adoring fans that inspired the first-ever Trash Wheel Fan Fest. After four years of people honoring the city’s googly-eyed mascots through songs, murals, beer, pledges to the Order Of The Wheel, plush toys, and everything in between, the trash-guzzling family is returning the love with a downright kooky night to remember.

“When people started getting tattoos of the trash wheels,” says Adam Lindquist, director of the Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative, “that’s when we said, ‘We need to do something to celebrate how amazing our fans are.’”

This Saturday at Peabody Heights Brewery, fans of all ages will pack the Abell taproom for a party filled with trash-tastic activities like a costume contest, a Jeopardy-style trivia show, and a mini-exhibit of fan art, featuring Muirhead’s “Guardian” painting. In between enjoying all-you-can-drink brews and singing along to the trash wheels’ theme song, attendees can walk through a museum made up of one-of-a-kind novelties like Mr. Trash Wheel’s first pair of googly eyes and some of its strangest snacks. (Spot the football that was taken from Mr. Trash Wheel’s belly and then signed by Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.)

Since Peabody Heights started brewing its first of two trash wheel-inspired beers last year, it’s raised close to $40,000 for the Healthy Harbor Initiative through fundraisers and beer profits. Eddie O’Keefe, the marketing director of the brewery, says that, through Peabody Heights’ work with the Waterfront Partnership, he’s seen how passionate Baltimoreans are about advancing the health of the harbor.

“People from here really care about small businesses and they care about cleaning up the waterways,” he says. “They really want to see the city be the best it can be.”

Along with giving trash wheel devotees the chance to celebrate their fandom with others who share it, Lindquist says the fan fest is a way to thank the community that’s rallied behind the Waterfront Partnership and its message. Although it’s yet to be determined whether the Trash Wheel Fan Fest will become an annual affair, he says this is the kind of event that could only work in Baltimore.

“Baltimore has a great community that embraces kitsch and the sillier side of art,” Lindquist says. “It’s clear that there’s a culture and a place in this city for unique ideas.”

Last summer it was announced that the Druid Lake Reservoir was going to be completely overhauled and revamped. Two storage water tanks will be buried under the lake in order for the city to comply with the 2006 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that require cities to create large, open reservoirs.

The Department of Public Works (DPW) had two options: cover them entirely or put extra chemicals into the water before pumping it out to the city. The director of DPW Rudy Chow chose the former.

“The tanks will preserve better water quality and lessen the required chemicals to keep the water fresh,” he said. “All this is good for the health of our citizens here in Baltimore.”

DPW recently released more details about the renovation and the scope of the project is unique. After talking with surrounding communities, the department opted to build tanks at the park, rather than in the nearby neighborhood, in order to minimize disruptions. By building a temporary dam across the reservoir, it would divide the lake into two sections, one that would remain filled with drinking water and the other that would be emptied to make space for the tanks. Draining part of the lake, instead of excavating new holes, significantly reduced the amount of time the project would take.

“When we faced the federal mandate, we were determined to get the neighbors, and those who advocate for our parks, involved in the process,” Chow said. “By doing this, we are making the park stronger and making the lake accessible to our citizens.”

The entire venture is projected to be completed by March 2022 and will cost about $140 million—paid for by the increasing bills of Baltimore’s water customers. But Mayor Catherine Pugh, who frequently jogs around the lake, says that this will all be worthwhile in the end.

“The lake will be a little bit smaller when the project is completed, but it will be well worth it,” she said in an email. “This is going to be a very, very beautiful sight.”

The decreased lake size will provide more green space with an additional 14 acres in Druid Hill Park. This will include upgraded lighting, a wider promenade, a new path for cyclists, and an amphitheater. The remainder of the 146-year-old reservoir will be available for recreational activities such as fishing and kayaking.

The current lake was completed in 1871 and included the largest earthen dam in the country at that time—119 feet high—designed to hold one billion gallons of water. The new tanks will only hold 54 million gallons of water with new pipes connecting the existing system in place.

This same model was also used for nearby projects in Towson, Lake Montebello, and Pikesville. Guilford Reservoir is currently under construction and Lake Ashburton, the final project, is underway.

The DPW doesn’t plan to turn over the project to the parks department until they reach the end of construction in the spring of 2022. In the meantime, visitors will see nothing more than bulldozers and a lot of dirt.

“We realize that this is a big project at a very important location,” Chow said. “Druid Hill Park is in many ways not just the heart of the communities that surround it, but also the heart of Baltimore.”

It’s that perfect time of year in Baltimore. The sun is still shining while the air is turning cool and crisp. And in the evenings when you step outside it always smells like your neighbor’s burning fire pit.

With the change in season comes a bounty of fall fun, too. For families, the autumn happenings are piling up as fast as the mountain of unraked leaves in your yard. But skip the raking (or better yet, make the kids do it) and be sure you don’t miss out on any of these local activities that only come around during this gorgeous time of year.

The Barnyard at Weber’s Cider Mill Farm
Fall is the absolute best time to take a trip to Weber’s Cider Mill Farm. You can grab some delicious donuts and cider while you shop for produce or Halloween decor, but the outdoor barnyard is truly the place to be.

With its haunted house, massive slides, hay maze, and, of course, barnyard animals, kids will want to stay and play all day. Feed the goats, stuff a scarecrow, or hop on a hayride. But whatever you do to pass the time—don’t leave without a pumpkin or five.

Pumpkinfest at Irvine Nature Center
If you’re looking to get in the fall spirit, Irvine Nature Center has all the outdoor fun you can handle. It’s yearly festival which celebrates the offerings of autumn has music, food, magic shows, face painting, and more. You can get crafty painting pumpkins, hop ‘till you drop in a sack race, interact with the animals, or just relax the day away at one of Baltimore’s most scenic spots.

Great Halloween Lantern Parade and Festival in Patterson Park
It’s almost time for one of the city’s best yearly parades, produced by the Creative Alliance and Friends of Patterson Park. It happens on Saturday, October 27, and you can expect things to get spooktacular. This event comes with lanterns and costumes and candy, oh my. The festival starts at 3 p.m. and the parade lines up at 6:30. If you need assistance with your lantern-making, you can head to one of Creative Alliance’s several workshops to make sure your lantern is properly lit.

Pick Pumpkins at Gaver Farm
While it’s a bit of a hike, heading to Gaver Farm in Mount Airy this time of year is worth the trek. The pumpkin patch is now open every day to pick your own and hayrides to get you there are free. Apple picking is only open on Saturday and Sundays, so if you’re in need of a bussell for all those pies, make sure you stop by the orchard on the weekend. While you’re there, enjoy all the attractions (open until November 4) like giant slides, pedal carts, corn mazes, and more.

Honey Harvest Festival at Oregon Ridge
On October 6-7, come celebrate all things honey at the annual festival where bees are the headliners. Learn about the incredible creatures by watching honeybee hive demos. And, if you get hungry, enjoy all the food trucks have to offer, then go ahead and make some honey-flavored ice cream for dessert. The best part about this all-ages gathering (aside from the fact that you’ll take home more honey than Pooh) is that admission is totally free. How sweet is that?

Apple picking at Butler’s Orchard
Butler’s Orchard in Germantown is another sweet spot to hit up this time of year. It has some of the best harvesting around including apples galore (Stayman and Golden Delicious) for $1.99 a pound. Now that’s a lot of applesauce! There are, of course, pumpkins to pick and flowers, too. While you’re there, the kids can enjoy the fun of hayrides, pony rides, and even visiting the farm’s two miniature donkeys.

We’ve seen cars, life-sized human replicas, and even houses built out of Lego blocks. But a turtle at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore has a one-of-a-kind Lego creation to help get him moving again.

When a zoo employee brought an injured wild Eastern box turtle to the zoo for treatment in July, the diagnosis was bleak. He suffered from multiple fractures on his plastron, or the bottom of his shell, which posed an obstacle for Dr. Ellen Bronson, senior director of animal health, conservation, and research at the zoo.

“We’re pretty sure the injuries were caused by a vehicle, it happens frequently in the city,” she said. “The bottom of his shell was in seven different fragments—it was kind of like putting a puzzle together. Because of the unique placement of the fractures, we faced a difficult challenge with maintaining his mobility while allowing him to heal properly.”

After performing an hour-long surgery to stabilize the turtle’s shell using metal bone plates, sewing clasps, and surgical wire to hold it all together, the team needed to figure out how to keep him mobile without damaging the shell.

“It was important to keep the bottom of the shell off the ground so it could heal properly,” Bronson explained. “We had to make something that wouldn’t be attached to the bottom, but that could keep him mobile. As zoo and wildlife vets, we are faced with challenges that people have never seen before so we have to come up with creative ways to treat the animals.”

Garrett Fraess, a fourth-year veterinary student working at the zoo, was up to the task. Thinking outside of the box, he drew up some sketches for a tiny wheelchair, measured the turtle (who is the size of a grapefruit), and sent them to a friend in Denmark who is a “Lego enthusiast.”

From those sketches came a multi-colored, turtle-sized wheelchair made from Lego bricks and Plumbers putty. The unique design features a frame that surrounds his shell with four Lego wheels to help get around using his front legs. The design also allows for natural behaviors, like retreating into his shell when feeling threatened.

“The minute we put it on, he was much more mobile and brighter,” Bronson said. “He’s been moving ever since.”

Because turtles have a slower metabolism than most mammals and birds, it takes them longer to heal. Dr. Bronson says that the nameless turtle will likely be using his custom wheelchair through the winter into early spring.

The zoo has been leading a Druid Hill park Eastern box turtle monitoring program since 1996 where, to date, more than 130 wild turtles have recorded, tagged, and released back into the wild (hence not naming them). These specific types of turtles can be seen in the zoo’s Maryland Wilderness area.

“This particular turtle was originally tagged in 2000, making him at least 18 years old,” Bronson said. “We are very happy that he is recovering well from his injuries and we plan to return him to the wild once he is fully healed.”

Baltimore has no shortage of buildings with unique designs and histories. The Baltimore Fire Museum is one of these distinct buildings, standing apart from the cityscape with its gothic tower and arched entryway. The East Baltimore firehouse-turned-museum is also striking because of the clock and large church-style bell placed in the top of the tower.

The Baltimore Fire Museum is one of 60 sites featured in the fifth annual Doors Open Baltimore event returning the weekend of October 6. The citywide, architectural exploration will open up unique buildings and neighborhoods to the public free of charge and this year there will be a number of open houses held on Sunday.

“Any site we find that would be of interest to the public, and maybe the public doesn’t get to see is something we’d love to have as part of the event,” explained Victoria Kraushar-Plantholt, chair for Doors Open Baltimore. “Baltimore has some great architecture.”

The two-day experience features walking tours of areas like the Howard Street Corridor, and tours by bus. Kraushar-Plantholt explained that, although there are sites to see all over Baltimore, organizers made an effort to cluster locations together—making it easier for people to walk, bike, bus, or drive themselves to see everything.

The weekend includes both self-guided tours and outings with experts. Tour guides for sites like the Hippodrome Theatre are people who have extensive knowledge of the building. At other locations tours will be conducted by historic preservationists or architects.

Doors Open Baltimore grows each year and a new feature this year is a partnership with Yelp. The crowdsourced review platform helped with volunteer recruitment over the summer and will highlight restaurants near sites, so that guests can visit a couple the buildings that interest them and grab a bite to eat along the way. Along with the partnership with Yelp, restaurants like B&O American Brasserie downtown, and SoBo Cafe in Federal Hill will be offering discounts during the event.

“The great thing about this is that even if people aren’t into architecture per se, there’s something for everyone,” said Kraushar-Plantholt. As in previous years, Doors Open Baltimore will feature a number of family-friendly activities, including rides for kids and parents alike at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum on Falls Road.

Once again this year, the Doors Open Baltimore event is sponsored by the Baltimore Architecture Association (BAF) and the American Institute for Architects.

“Doors Open is important because it helps people engage with their community,” said Kraushar-Planthold. “And [it] presents aspects of Baltimore City that visitors might drive by every day but never stop to see what’s behind the building.”

Recently, locals have been noticing something different about the way that their cocktails and cold brews arrive across the bar. As the city’s food and drink scene continues to become more sustainable—ditching Styrofoam, and plastic straws and six-pack rings—Monument City Brewing in Highlandtown is strengthening its own environmental ethos with a new beer series dedicated to cleaning up our waterways, parks, and streets.

“It’s always been part of our core values to get involved in our community and give back where we can,” says Monument City co-founder Ken Praay. “It’s about more than just creating a cool community space here. We want to keep the city in mind and make the neighborhoods where we live, work, and play clean and enjoyable.”

Monument City’s commitment to the environment has been on display previously at large-scale events like Light City and Artscape, where Praay worked closely with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts to add accessible recycling and garbage collection systems throughout the festival footprints.

Now, the brewery is continuing that mission with its three-part Haven series. A portion of all proceeds from limited-release double IPAs will be donated to local environmental organizations Blue Water Baltimore, which works to restore the quality of the city’s rivers, streams, and harbor, and Trash Free Maryland—a nonprofit focused on preventing garbage pollution throughout the state.

The campaign was largely inspired by Monument City’s sales manager Jack Obermaier, an avid litter collector who recently joined the board of Trash Free Maryland.

“I do a lot of trash cleanups in my neighborhood, and I think it’s frustrating when you go out the next day and the area is just as littered as it was before,” Obermaier says. “We really want to increase awareness and hopefully work toward a day where we don’t have to do as many cleanups.”

The team debuted the first of the three beers, a West Coast-style IPA called Waterways, earlier this month. Praay says that the brewing process was meant to reflect the mission of Blue Water Baltimore: “It’s not a hazy style,” he says. “We purposefully wanted to make it as crystal clear as we could to reflect the idea of clear water.”

The second beer, Greenspaces, will be a juicier New England-style double IPA brewed with a higher hop presence to pay homage to its name. Its release will coincide with a city-wide trash pickup on September 8, which Trash Free Maryland and Blue Water Baltimore are organizing in partnership with the Brewer’s Association of Maryland.

From 9 a.m. to noon, eight breweries across the city will be leading cleanups in their neighborhoods and rewarding volunteers with post-parties at their taprooms. Participating spots include Waverly, Union Craft, Peabody Heights, The Brewer’s Art, Charm City Meadworks, Oliver Brewing, Checkerspot Brewing, and Monument City.

“I really love that there are so many breweries sharing this information across the board,” Obermaier says. “We all have pretty large audiences, and together, there are a lot of people that we can touch to make a big change.”

In October, Monument City will unveil the third and final beer of the Haven series, Roadways, which will use the brewery’s flagship 51 Rye as a base: “We thought that the balance between the citrus and that spicy rye played well with the idea of roadways,” Praay says. “It’s a harder working beer.”

The can art for each of the brews, produced by local graphic design studio White Coffee Lettering, features maps of the city that highlight each of the causes. Obermaier hopes that the cans themselves will serve as conversation starters to get more patrons on board with the sustainable mission.

“We want to do everything we can to protect the city and keep it clean,” he says. “And I think you can see that in the cans. When you look at them, it makes you think of how we’re all connected in different ways.”

There’s something special about sharing a meal beyond the four walls of a restaurant. Sure, we love a sun-drenched dining room or spacious outdoor patio this time of year. But for diners who are craving even more of a change of scenery, the local food scene is offering plenty of ways to enjoy a top-notch culinary experience while also connecting with nature.

This week alone, Ampersea in Fells Point is hosting a wine-and-charcuterie tasting on its patio followed by a boat cruise aboard the Lady Maryland and City Seeds is throwing an outdoor Dinner in the Woods at Patapsco Valley State Park.

“We really wanted to give our guests the opportunity to just take a deep breath,” says Deborah Haust, vice president of culinary enterprises at Humanim, the umbrella company for City Seeds. “Something where they could really leave their day behind and remove themselves from the bustle of the city.”

The outdoor dinner will be the first of its kind for City Seeds, a culinary organization that employs residents with barriers to entry—including those who were formerly incarcerated or lack a high school degree—to prepare meals for catering clients in its commercial kitchen.

Located just 25 minutes outside of downtown, the five-course meal prepared by chef Aharon Denrich will feature seasonal dishes such as sweet pea gazpacho, a local heirloom tomato salad, roasted squash with quinoa and goat cheese, confit chicken leg, and a watermelon poke bowl, all served with worldly wine pairings.

“The chefs and all of our cooks will be right there preparing the food on site,” Haust says of the rural setting. “So everyone will be so closely connected, not just to the food, but to our social impact. You’re going to see what City Seeds is actually trying to do, all while enjoying the meal.”

Fostering connection is also a goal for chef Ben Lefenfeld of La Cuchara, who is prepping for the second installment of the restaurant’s Farm Dinner series at The Zahradka Farm in Essex later in the month.

“It’s important for people to visit the farms that their food is coming from,” he says. “Lots of us go out to different restaurants and see the names of farms and suppliers on the back of the menus, but this is a great way to put a face to the name.”

Though Lefenfeld is used to working with wood in the kitchen of his Meadow Mill restaurant, he admits that cooking over an open flame at the farm took some trial and error. At the first installment in June, the family-style menu featured a whole-roasted lamb cooked on a vertical cross.

“At the farm, you’re working with a lot of indirect heat,” he says. “And you need to deal with the wind, so if that changes you might need to bring the lamb around to the other side of the fire to make sure you’re getting the right amount of heat on it. It’s a really long, but interesting cooking process overall.”

Another technique that Lefenfeld relies on while cooking outdoors is using a plancha—a thick, steel grill typically used in Spanish cuisine. For this week’s dinner, the chef will be using the tool to sear comté, a soft cow’s milk cheese, and a sourdough pumpernickel beet bread made by La Cuchara’s head baker Carrie Goltra. There will also be roasted zucchini with a tomato and charred herb salsa, as well as a corn panna cotta made with Zahradka’s bicolor sweet corn.

Perhaps the best part about these dining events set in unconventional places is that they have the potential to extend past the summer. Haust says that she hopes to make the City Seeds dinners quarterly, activating other spaces including Humanim’s headquarters inside the American Brewery building and the Remington warehouse that houses Brick + Board—a sister organization that reclaims wood from vacant city homes.

“Chefs get great exposure in the typical restaurant space because the public can go there any time,” she says. “But there are some very talented chefs that work for catering businesses and institutions like universities and hospitals who don’t get the same recognition. This is a great opportunity to showcase the people who work behind the scenes.”

For Lefenfeld, whose series will continue at Zahradka into the fall, the event is a way to encourage diners to break out of their comfort zone and explore produce grown beyond city limits.

“On one hand, it’s about having a great evening,” he says. “But it’s also about letting people know that these places are not that far. There are lots of hidden experiences that are just outside of the city.”

FOWL PLAY

More than two years ago, 13 bald eagles were found dead on an Eastern Shore farm, leaving investigators puzzled as to the cause. According to a recent federal lab report, at least six birds had ingested carbofuran, a highly toxic pesticide that is lethal to birds and banned from the U.S. market.

Carbofuran was said to have been the primary cause of eagle death in the late 1980s, leading to their designation as an endangered species and causing the EPA to ban its granular form in the mid-1990s, followed by its liquid form in 2009. In the past, farmers have received fines for using the substance to kill nuisance animals in an effort to their livestock as they inadvertently killed eagles and other birds of prey that fed on the carcasses. Some within the illegal marijuana industry have also used the substance as a rodenticide. In the case of the Maryland deaths, the source of the carbofuran is still unknown, though most of the birds had recently ingested raccoon, which itself might have been poisoned. As federally protected wildlife, killing one bald eagle is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of $250,000 in the United States.

Once almost extinct, bald eagles are considered one of the greatest conservation success stories, having made a major comeback since the 1980s. The Chesapeake Bay region is home to the largest concentration of bald eagles in the lower 48 states.

BAY COMEBACK
For the first time in 33 years, the Chesapeake Bay’s health has shown signs of improvement in every region. In mid-June, officials from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., announced that the estuary is headed towards a full recovery despite its overall grade remains a C, due to particularly troubled areas like the Patuxent, Patapsco, and York rivers. Seven out of 15 regions have shown significantly improved health, while none declined. Officials and scientists have awarded credit to the 15-year, $19-billion restoration plan mandated by the Obama administration in 2010 and administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, in which watershed states—also including Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York—have agreed to decrease farm runoff and improve wastewater treatment facilities, among other efforts, by 2025. The Trump administration has cut the plan’s funding by 90 percent in 2019, but state support for the initiative remains strong.

CRAB CRISIS CONTINUES
This spring, U.S. immigrant worker visas were awarded by lottery for the first time, compared to a previous first-come, first-served system, leaving Maryland’s seafood industry with a drought of seasonal workers who primarily hail from Mexico. In early June, following an outcry from local seafood businesses and a request from Gov. Hogan, U.S. immigration officials approved additional visas for one of Maryland’s multiple crab picking houses, which are said to be missing an estimated 35 percent of their summer workforce. Industry experts say this new strategy and its subsequent visa shortage puts the fate of Maryland crab houses in a dangerous position. As previously reported, it could also lead to an increased price for picked meat, due to a decreased supply, doubled with a decreased price for steamed crabs, due to a surplus of hard shells that would have otherwise been picked.

CONTESTED CLEANUP
In May, Maryland environmental regulators required the owner of the Conowingo Dam to increase its efforts to reduce pollution that flows from the Susquehanna River into the Chesapeake Bay. In response, the company, Exelon Corporation, filed two lawsuits against the state in June, stating that it shouldn’t be held responsible for abating all of the trash and excess nutrients (including nitrogen and phosphorus, which reduce clarity, cause algae blooms, and decrease oxygen levels in local waters) that build up at the end of the 464-mile river. The Susquehanna is considered the primary source of nutrient pollution in the main portion of the Chesapeake Bay, and this spring, above-average rains carried more than 85 million pounds of nitrogen from its waterway into the bay. With the dam at full capacity, local environmentalists fear that this refusal threatens the progress of the estuary’s multi-state restoration strategy.

ALL THAT TRASH

Maryland residents are throwing too much trash into their recycling containers, with as much as one third of those materials now ending up in a landfill or incinerator. According to a recent Sun report, this “aspirational recycling” or “wishcycling” practice—aka throwing unrecyclable goods in with your recyclable cardboard, plastic, and glass—is causing the worth of Baltimore recycling to decrease, as a ton of local recycling was sold for $112 in 2011 compared to $33 today, while also costing the city money to process and get rid it. Recycling education resources are available for city and county residents.

AIR APPARENT
Baltimore is considered one of the 10 worst U.S. cities for air quality, according to a new study issued by the Environment Maryland Research & Policy Center. In 2016, about 2.8 million people in the Baltimore region experience 114 days in which at least half of air quality monitoring stations measured “moderate” or worse for elevated ozone and/or particulate levels, which can increase the risk of negative health impacts, from coughing, wheezing, and asthma to congestive heart failure. Despite its notoriously bad traffic, the Washington, D.C., Arlington, and Alexandria area had fewer days of elevated air pollution than Baltimore, Columbia, and Towson.

Clean Air Partners, a new public-private partnership in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., has recently launched a summer-long “Breathe Easy” campaign to increase awareness about the effect of air quality on public health. Their recommendations include using public transit or carpooling, turning off electronics when not in use, cleaning HVA filters each month, and using a gas or electric grill in place of charcoal. They also offer a Clean Air Partners app to track daily air quality levels in and around Baltimore.

No matter what time of year, it’s always a great feeling to lace up your running kicks and get outside. Between waterfront walkways and treelined parks, Baltimore has its pick of beautiful running routes. We have some incredible routes for seasoned runners, casual joggers, and those just hoping to get a few steps around town. Some of our favorite Baltimore runners helped us compile a list of their go-to routes.

Fort McHenry
Not only is Fort McHenry an important historic site, it’s also a beautiful location to run and walk. Once around the Fort’s paved track is approximately one mile, so you have the opportunity to make the run as short or as long as you want. Bonus points for the Visitor’s Center being open regularly with public restrooms. There is parking at the Fort, outside of the complex in Locust Point and just a mile down the road from McHenry Row.

Herring Run Park
This urban oasis is located in Northeast Baltimore and has a paved four-mile loop trail, including two new bridges that go over Herring Run river. There are opportunities to walk, run or bike along the stream bed and “the trail is almost all shaded for summer runs,” says occasional Baltimore contributor Ryan Detter. If you’d also like to visit Lake Montebello, it is approximately 1.35 miles around—so you can add on to your run or use it as a beautiful cool down.

Waterfront Promenade
It’s easy to appreciate the stunning views around the Inner Harbor and waterfront neighborhoods. No matter how far you’d like to go, the promenade, running from Canton to Federal Hill, offers an opportunity to be close to the water at (almost) every turn. “My main running route is running along the Inner Harbor,” says Lauren Seserko. “If you hug the water, you can run all the way from Canton through Fells Point to Locust Point and even make it to Fort McHenry and run that loop.”

Jones Falls Trail
Escape the city (without ever leaving) on the paved Jones Falls Trail. Starting in Mt. Vernon, follow the trail by the Baltimore Streetcar Museum. “You can either take it all the way to Union/Woodberry or go up into Homewood campus,” says Detter. You can even take this trail all the way through Druid Hill Park (past the Maryland Zoo). Detter says this is “where you’re doing switchbacks in the woods and you won’t even feel like you’re in the city.”

Druid Hill Park
Speaking of, if you’ve visited our amazing Maryland Zoo, then you’ve seen the lovely tree-lined streets within Druid Hill Park. There are so many picturesque areas to walk/run through the park (and picnic after) and most are paved, providing an even run surface. The 1.5-mile loop around Druid Lake is a scenic, light track. If you’d like a longer, more challenging run, try out the course for the Dreaded Druid Hill 10K—this 6-mile trek will take you through and around the park with more than a few bumps in elevation. (This route is going to be affected by current park construction.)

Loch Raven Reservoir
While located just north of Towson, this area is a beautiful place to escape the city streets. With a variety of paved and off-road trails, you can easily walk or run for two miles, five miles, or even 10. “Part of it is closed to cars on the weekends,” says Seserko, “so it’s a great place to get a long training run in on paved and off-road trails.” While this area has beautiful nature views all year, early summer is ideal since all the plants are blooming.

Patterson Park
Located downtown in between Fells Point, Canton, and Highlandtown, Patterson Park is a massive, wonderful city park. A full loop is approximately two miles, with the opportunity to add more as you wind through the sidewalks inside the park. Don’t miss the beautiful Patterson Park Pagoda and ducks in the boat lake.

Stony Run
Located near Loyola University’s campus, this wooded trail is made for a soft walk/jog alongside stream valleys, lovely parks, and beautiful Baltimore neighborhoods. For nearly three miles, you’ll travel through approximately 15 residential areas—including Roland Park, Hampden, Remington, and Tuscany-Canterbury. Recently, the trail was updated with a new footbridge, connecting several miles of the trail. It’s a lovely escape from the bustle of downtown and, as Detter says, “you don’t even feel like you’re in the city.”

Charles Street
Prepping for the Chuck 12? Start and end on this race’s namesake. If you’re hoping to enjoy the street’s downhill benefits, start at the top closer to Towson University. You’ll run approximately six miles if you start at Lake Avenue and end at the Inner Harbor. Of, if you’d like an uphill challenge, you can also run up Charles Street to the JHU campus and back down St. Paul/Light Streets for approximately six miles.

Goucher College
Like many of our local universities and colleges, Goucher generously allows the public to use their grounds for running and fitness. Runners can park in their main Dorsey parking lot and use the trails around campus. BONUS: Baltimore Road Runners club meets on Tuesday and Thursday evenings here throughout the year!

Looking for run buddies? Join one of these run crews to build up your endurance and support system.

Monday Charm City Run Rise & Run: Every Monday morning, CCR Fells Point hits the promenade early for a sunrise four-mile run.

Faster Bastards: Every Saturday at 8 a.m., the Faster Bastards team runs about 10 miles from Canton Waterfront Park, through the trail by Sandlot, around to Rusty Scupper and back. On Wednesdays, they also run through Druid Hill Park at 6:30 p.m.

Monthly Tuesday Shake Shack Run: Every month, the CCR crews from Locust Point and Fells Poin get together to hit the bricks then end at Shake Shack. First round of beers is on the team once you arrive.