As you enter Rize + Rest, the first thing you’ll notice is the sticker plastered on the front door, “Never sacrifice deliciousness.”

That pledge is more than some empty aphorism—it’s the menu mission at Randall Matthews’ adorable 25-seat Patterson Park cafe, where the name of the restaurant is also the concept.

During daylight hours, the restaurant is more of a grab-and-go spot for ordering breakfast biscuit sandwiches and lattes. By nightfall, aka “Rest”-time, the spot starts dinner service. Rize + Rest was originally conceived as a coffee shop, but the chef decided he wanted to offer “two different vibes in the same building,” he says.

The space is bright and airy, with an inviting bar and floating shelves filled with greenery. With its warm wood touches, it gives off California-chic vibes, which is not surprising given that Matthews spent part of his career there.

The 34-year-old Prince George’s County native has enjoyed a rapid rise since he took a culinary course in community college and fell in love with cooking.

After attending school at the Culinary Institute of America, he quickly ascended to corporate director for celebrity restaurateur Michael Mina, then moved on to executive chef positions at dining darlings St. Anselm in D.C. and Ada’s on the River in Alexandria. All of which was just the preamble to his landing in Baltimore City, a place he first fell in love with while working at the now-closed Wit & Wisdom.

“I figure I’ve opened 26 restaurants as chef at this point,” says Matthews. “It was time for me to do something on my own.”

Happily, he chose Charm City for his first solo venture. While the service still needs work and the prices are on the high side for the neighborhood, the food is terrific. The menu highlights comfort fare with luxury ingredients. The goal, says Matthews, is “not to muddle the star of the plate but enhance it.”

Indeed, every element on the plate has a purpose and the chef takes familiar classics and makes them new again. The roasted broccoli Caesar is tossed with a lovely anchovy vinaigrette and showered with Parmesan and garlic-butter breadcrumbs that add a crunchy component. Tomato “raisins”—peeled grape tomatoes tossed in sugar, salt, garlic, thyme, and red vinegar—cleanse the palate.

The black truffle lobster spaghetti is equally clever, with its cream-based saffron sauce balanced by orange juice and orange zest, then spiked with red pepper chile flakes and a hit of truffle butter.

Another revelation was a dish of seared scallops sitting on a bed of nutty brown-butter cauliflower purée. Each scallop was topped with “bacon jam,” adding a salty smokiness that partnered perfectly with the sweetness of the shellfish—it was, as the front door denotes, delicious.

“When I was opening a restaurant in Dubai for Michael Mina, I was instructing a Korean cook on how to make a recipe,” says Matthews. “And it dawned on me that no matter where in the world you are, the science of cooking is the same—the end goal should be deliciousness.”

Mission accomplished

RIZE + REST: 3100 East Baltimore St., 443-835-4713. HOURS: Tues.-Fri. 8 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. Brunch: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., 5 p.m.-10 p.m. PRICES: Breakfast and lunch: $5-20; Dinner: appetizers: $9-22; pasta and entrees: $14-39.

“Bring it in, bring it in!” yells Daryl Fletcher, banging his stick against the boards inside the Dominic “Mimi” DiPietro rink at Patterson Park. “Look, we got the defense tightened up now,” the defenseman says, imploring his teammates between periods. “We gotta to keep it tight. We gotta keep it tight.”

This year marks the 20th season that the Baltimore Banners ice hockey program has been pulling together kids from the nearby neighborhood known as “Down Da Hill” to play an otherwise unfamiliar sport in East Baltimore. Fletcher, who now also plays football at Sussex County (N.J.) Community College, started playing ice hockey when he was seven. “Fourteen years,” he says later. “Most of my life.”

Their fourth annual match against the Baltimore Sentinels, a team of police, firefighters, and first responders, didn’t go as well as it did last year when the Banners won on a last-second goal and piled on each other like they’d won the Stanley Cup. They rallied several times but ultimately lost 6-4.

“I’m competitive,” Fletcher says. “Not going to lie. It was disappointing. But we never hung our heads. We never quit.”

A retired architect, 79-year-old Noel Acton started the program after helping a friend watch some local kids during a bowling party and then learning that several of the boys were headed to the rink the next day. Seeing their enthusiasm, he began shuttling a few back and forth, and eventually realized that a hockey team could become something more—a means of bonding amid the pain and potential dangers of East Baltimore.

Acton, who never played hockey himself—“I’m not very coordinated,” he says with a laugh—started the Tender Bridge nonprofit, which runs two teams, the teenage and young adult Banners, and the younger Junior Banners. In season, they practice or play twice a week. Off-season, it’s street or roller hockey and sometimes mountain biking and sailing, which was Acton’s sport.

“My wife, who has passed, and I never had kids and I just enjoy being with these guys so much,” Acton says. “When you get to see where they are living and their home situations, it’s nice to see them feeling better about themselves. We get them their own boat and they learn to sail a mile and half to Hart-Miller Island themselves.”

Acton and his coaches work with roughly 40 kids, keeping in close contact with the players year-round and year after year, building trust, affection, long-term relationships, and familial-like commitments to one another.

Last June, the NHL gave Acton its Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award. (A former Boston Bruin winger, O’Ree became the league’s first Black player in 1958, despite having lost vision in one eye after a puck struck him in the face. He’s served as the NHL’s Diversity Ambassador for the past 25 years and is in the Hockey Hall of Fame.)

“The NHL award was a surprise and the recognition helped with the fundraising,” says Action. “I do wish ‘Peanut’ and ‘Abe’ were here to see it.” In September 2021, the Banners lost two longtime players, Davon “Peanut” Barnes, 20, and Abraham “Abe” Ludd, 22, to gun violence in the 3000 block of East Monument Street—less than a mile from the rink where they played. One of the team’s best players, Barnes had been living with Acton before the shooting and had been driving Acton’s car the night he was shot. The players’ numbers, 14 and 7, respectively, have since been retired and hang above the rink.

One of the things that encourages Acton the most, he says, is watching older and former players assist the program’s younger players. Fletcher, for example, now helps coach the Junior Banners.

On a high-profile note, Carolina Panther tight end Ian Thomas and several of his teammates wore Banners jerseys to a game at M&T Bank Stadium last season as part of a fundraising effort. Thomas had joined shortly before his parents died, one year apart from one another. He later gave up hockey to focus on football, but he’s remained involved—and introduced two of his cousins, including the Banners’ standout goalkeeper, Naleli Danso, to the program. Danso’s father, Antoine Green, now serves as chairman of the Tender Bridge and an official scorekeeper on game day.

In fact, last year the Banners honored Danso, a transgender athlete, with the team’s first annual Courage Award. She’s been with the team since 2012.

“This year [after she’d begun transitioning], I brought in rainbow ‘pride’ tape for my goalie stick,” Danso says. “I didn’t know how I was going to be accepted, but then a couple of the guys asked for the tape and put it on their stick. One of them surprised me, too—like the last person on the team I thought would do that. Someone I figured was maybe anti-gay. In Baltimore, it’s not easy with the image you have to put out. I said, ‘You?’ He said, ‘Hey, I’m not doing it for me. I’m doing it to support you.’”

Most people don’t purchase a second home before they’ve settled on the first, much less the house next door, but Jimmy Edgerton and Heather Keating are not your average couple. After noticing their soon-to-be next-door neighbor moving out before they closed on the purchase of their rowhome, they decided to “swing for the fences,” says Edgerton.

Keating is the marketing and communications director at the Creative Alliance and a MICA-trained photographer and graphic designer. She’s also an avid community event organizer. Edgerton is an adjunct professor at Tufts University, a consultant specializing in food product development and management strategy, as well as a licensed civil engineer and LEED-certified builder.

When the creative duo and committed city dwellers were ready to put down roots, they chose Patterson Park. By March 2020, both homes were theirs.

“We could see the pandemic coming and didn’t want a developer banging away,” says Edgerton. “We wanted to control what was happening next door.” Then the conversation inevitably shifted to: What do we do with these two houses?

“We knew we didn’t want to do a cookie-cutter rehab,” says Keating. The more they thought about it, they realized the purchase of neighboring homes made sense. Edgerton’s parents live in Vermont and wanted a place where they could stay for long visits. Keating, who has spent years throwing events in rented restaurants or private rooms in bars, wanted a flexible entertainment space that she and Edgerton could use for huge “Friendsgivings” and for community meetings and parties, a place that was both home-like and full of character.

The duo were perfect partners when it came to renovating. Keating has an artist’s eye, a penchant for Pinterest boards, and a high tolerance for whimsy. Edgerton is a detail-oriented project manager who can take Keating’s ideas and refine them to perfection.

With help from architect Kathleen Leichleiter at Twopoint Studio and a host of subcontractors, they transformed one house into their comfortable family home and the other into a multi-generational apartment/party/occasional Airbnb space they dubbed the Fox Den, with the two connected by strategic passages.

Second Chance helped gut the homes and reduce landfill waste in the process. “They saved the pieces we wanted,” says Keating. That included the homes’ mantles and beams—even an old window from the demolished sleeping porch found a place in the redesign. “We put as many pieces back as we could or repurposed them elsewhere in the house.” The rear of both homes was removed to enable the back to extend and to gain a full, additional room on the third floors. The crown jewel of the renovation is a double-wide rooftop deck.

The Fox Den features a main entertainment and dining space that can comfortably seat 30 people, though the four tables purchased at Su Casa in Fells Point can also convert to sideboards if the occasion requires. The custom-designed drink rail is perfectly sized to hold a cocktail. And while the room currently houses a collection of B-movie posters from Keating’s uncle (who worked at a theater when he was young), the art can also change for a special event’s needs—or be removed entirely for wall projection.

Edgerton designed the entertaining room to have a mezzanine looking down on the entry level, which also provides a well-lit spot for the many orphaned houseplants Keating has adopted over the years and that are now flourishing.

A catering kitchen with a six-burner Viking range and full bar ensures plenty of food and drink for parties. And a dumbwaiter large enough to hold a rolling catering cart connects from the first floor all the way to the rooftop deck. “The deck has been great, especially during the pandemic, for outdoor family events,” says Keating.

To fulfill its goal to be a flexible, fun, and income-producing property, the Fox Den has a full suite on its third floor that’s home to the in-laws when they visit, and open to rent when they’re not. (Both basements were also excavated—creating a rental apartment and a petite efficiency suite that can be used for friends or an au pair.) The couple repurposed many original features into the suite, like using old beams to build a loft and using original wood subflooring to create a headboard behind the guest bed.

Keating says she loves to bounce between the two homes. While the Fox Den is chic, cool, and calm, their family house side is cozy, a mix of midcentury modern with contemporary aesthetics. “Working in vintage pieces has been really important to me,” says Keating. “And there’s a lot of whimsy, too.”

It’s a project that reflects the artistic sensibilities of its owners. Keating’s mother is a glass artist and she created three custom stained glassed windows for the homes. A beautiful window of green and blue gingko leaves installed at the top of the main staircase sets the tone for the home’s soothing color scheme, carried through in everything from the teal Joybird sofa in the living room to beloved artworks by Matt Muirhead and Heather Farrell.

“I hit a teal phase and have stayed there,” laughs Keating. “I’m a little teal-obsessed.”

Edgerton has done rehabs before, but nothing like this, with the engineering feat of a huge rooftop deck and with “the flexibility to use the space as we need it—for ourselves, for multi-generational family, for extra help, and for income production.”

This creative alliance became official when Keating and Edgerton married in September 2020—six months after starting the renovation. The home’s flex space is about to get a workout with a new baby and the arrival of adoring grandparents. But the home already passed its first big test—hosting Friendsgiving this past November.

“It was everything we wanted it to be,” Keating says. “We had candles everywhere and a huge potluck and we cooked two turkeys at once.” Friends from around the city and colleagues from Creative Alliance joined with a host of others to celebrate. “We’re both not only family-oriented but community-oriented,” Keating continues. “Those connections are important to us. We’re really contributing to creating a sense of welcome on our block.”

To view more of Scilipoti’s photos, explore our January cover story “Saving Little Italy.”

EAT

Dec. 6: Heritage Smokehouse Feast

Union Craft Brewing, 1700 W. 41st St. $75.

Although we still miss the locally sourced lamb chops and steak cuts from now-closed Parts & Labor, former head chef and butcher George Marsh is keeping its spirit alive through his new venture, Heritage Smokehouse. In preparation for the restaurant’s opening in early 2020, the Heritage team is serving up this feast of epic proportions at Union Craft Brewing, with everything from smoked pork belly and spare ribs to pig heads and kielbasa. This meat-lover’s dream also includes sides like local vegetables and suggested beer pairings from Union’s tasting team.

DRINK

Dec. 7: Mahaffey’s Pub Winter Wonderland Party

Mahaffey’s Pub, 2706 Dillon St. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Free.

Mahaffey’s Pub is a longtime Canton staple for its no-frills attitude, drink specials, and annual all-day holiday block party. Bring the kiddos early for pictures with Santa, face-painting, and a toy drive for the Saint Francis Neighborhood Center, and then stick around for snacks by Snake Hill Food Truck. But the main attraction of the party is what will keep you warm all day: Flying Dog beers as well as spiked hot cocoa and apple cider.

SEE

Dec. 8: Holiday Pagoda Lighting

Patterson Park, 27 S. Patterson Park Ave. 4:30-8:30 p.m. Free.

Watch as the stars and snowflakes that decorate the Pagoda turn on during the fifth annual lighting at Patterson Park. Bring the whole family to the park to meet Santa and other holiday characters, squeeze in some holiday shopping with local gift vendors, or donate to the toy drive. Plus, this much-anticipated community kick-off doesn’t end once the park’s centerpiece is lit, but instead, welcomes locals to stay into the evening with tons of food trucks and live music to keep the celebration going.

HEAR

Dec. 6: Save Your Soul with DJs Baby Alcatraz and Rob Macy

Lithuanian Hall, 851 Hollins St. 8-11 p.m. $6.

Let’s face it: This is a stressful time of the year. Between last-minute holiday shopping and work performance reviews, we could all use an excuse to let loose and dance the stress away. Luckily, one of the city’s most beloved dance parties returns this Friday with an all-out vinyl shindig hosted by famed local DJs Baby Alcatraz and Rob Macy. Boogie down to a mix of Motown hits, funk breaks, big-beat blues, girl groups, swinging instrumentals, and (almost) every other genre at this monthly get-down.

DO

Dec. 6: R. House’s 3rd Birthday Bash

R.House, 301 W. 29th St. 6 p.m.-12 a.m. Free.

This weekend marks the third anniversary of Remington’s favorite food hall, and to celebrate, the theme of its all-night birthday party is, well, three. While the family-friendly activities like face-painting, balloon animals, and a scavenger hunt run until 9 p.m., the neighborhood favorite bartenders at R. Bar will be slinging $3 cocktails, boilermakers, and select beers and wines all night long. During the “adult swim” portion of the party, knock back a few edible glitter-infused Jello shots and take a turn at the microphone for a few celebratory rounds of karaoke.

EAT

June 8: Feastival

Sandlot, 1000 Wills St. 12-4 p.m. $100-1,000.

This annual foodie fundraiser takes the saying “put your money where your mouth is” to a whole new level. On Saturday, head to Sandlot in Harbor Point to sample all-you-can-taste bites and drinks from local purveyors to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Dig your toes into the sand at this waterfront oasis and spend the afternoon enjoying snacks from top-notch eateries like Duck Duck Goose, Minnow, and Blue Pit BBQ and sip on area craft beers and cocktails made by the Baltimore Bartenders’ Guild.

DRINK

June 7: Beers for Queers

Union Craft Brewing, 1700 W. 41st St. 7-10 p.m. Free.

From Pride Night at Camden Yards to the last Pride Fest at Grand Central, there are countless events and parties being thrown during Pride month in celebration of the city’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community, and we couldn’t be more excited by the outpouring of support from local businesses and beyond. Start the weekend festivities at Union Craft Brewing with beats by DJ Kim Brannan, a glitter station, high-energy drag performances by local queens including Bambi Galore, and, of course, free-flowing pours of the brewery’s signature brews. Snag a limited-edition Union Pride hat and drink up because a portion of the proceeds benefit Baltimore Pride.

SEE

June 8-9: HonFest

The Avenue in Hampden, 36th St. Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 12-6 p.m. Free.

Although it’s been a few decades since the workingwomen of Baltimore strutted through the streets wearing beehive hairdos and brightly colored house dresses, the legacy of those proud women comes alive every June during this neighborhood-wide celebration. For two days, the streets of Hampden will transform into a colorful block party complete with the Lil’ Hons parade, an oyster-shucking contest, tons of local craft vendors, and ongoing entertainment from local dance and musical acts. Cheer on your favorite gussied-up contestant in the “Best Hon” competition or, if you’re confident in your Bawlmerese, enter to be the next winner of this Charm City tradition.

HEAR

June 9: Concert in the Park: Cara Kelly & the Tell Tale

27 S. Patterson Park Ave. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free.

There’s no shortage of outdoor summer concerts in the city, but there’s something about stretching out under the Pagoda at Patterson Park and listening to local jams that always pulls us in. Round out your weekend with the first concert in this free summertime series, featuring Baltimore-based Americana band Cara Kelly & the Tell Tale and its soulful and soaring harmonies. Hear this five-person band serenade the crowd as the sun sets and mark your calendars for Charm City Junction’s performance at the Pagoda on June 25.

DO

June 9: Tour Dem Parks, Hon

Druid Hill Park. 7:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. $20-55.

It doesn’t matter if you’re new to Charm City or a tried-and-true Baltimorean, this two-wheeled tour is the best way to get to know the city’s parks in one fell swoop. Dust off your helmet and hop on for this 17th annual recreational bike ride on one of four routes that give riders an up-close view of our parks and neighborhoods. Be it via the breezy five-mile ride or the 35-mile adventure, this cycle around the city is the perfect way to cruise into summer.

Mourning After

Lemmon Street
November 5, 2016

Inside the Hollins Market rowhouse once owned by James and Sarah Feeley, there’s a bottle of Jameson whiskey, playing cards, a pipe, and loose tobacco sitting on the table next to the door. Standing against the living room wall, there’s a Catholic priest in a black cassock—well, a mannequin in a priest’s cassock. And, laying on a wooden slab alongside the living room wall, there’s a smaller mannequin covered in lace, with rosary beads in hand, surrounded by candles and representing the Feeleys’ son, William, who died 12 days before St. Patrick’s Day in 1876.

“It wasn’t unusual for people to have 10 or 11 children and five that died,” says Cecilia Wright, an Irish wake expert, presenting this morning at the Feeleys’ restored home, which today serves as part of the Irish Shrine and Railroad Workers Museum. “Several of the Feeleys’ children died.”

Later, there will be a tour of tucked-away St. Peter’s Cemetery in West Baltimore, the 22-acre resting place of many early Irish immigrants, including the ancestors of some of those in attendance today. (Philip Berrigan, a World War II veteran and priest who famously protested the Vietnam War, is one of the more well-known Irish Catholics buried at St. Peter’s.) But at the moment, Wright is explaining the traditions and superstitions of wakes brought by the Irish to the U.S. and Baltimore, where so many worked for the nearby B&O Railroad, as James Feeley did.

Someone had to sit with the body for three days, for example, literally on watch to see if the deceased “awakened,” which is how the term wake originated. Candles were placed at the head, feet, and sides of body, Wright notes, to ward off evil spirits. Windows were opened to allow the soul to depart for heaven and then closed to prevent the spirit from returning.

Not all Irish wakes were the same, however. The death of a child was a much more somber occasion than the passing of a beloved older relative who had lived a full life—one worth celebrating with three days of song, food, games, contests of strength, and serious drinking. “It wasn’t considered a good wake if at least one fight didn’t break out,” says Wright.

A few people at the small but packed museum recall the authentic Irish wakes of their own Baltimore neighborhoods, which admittedly seem somewhat surreal in hindsight. “I don’t remember any funeral homes in those days—the living room was the funeral parlor—and the body was carried straight to the cemetery,” says Jackie Waltemeyer. Her cousin, Thelma Graziano (whose parents were Irish), remembers that Irish families put funeral wreaths on their door when someone in the house died. “Even when I got married and moved into my own home, my Irish mother would never allow me to put even a Christmas wreath on the front door,” says Graziano, who grew up in Northeast Baltimore. “She hated seeing any kind of wreath on a door her whole life.”

Luke McCusker, director of the museum, heard tales of his family’s Irish wakes from his father.

“He still tells the story of playing and hiding beneath the sawhorses in the living room as a boy,” McCusker says with a wry smile, shaking his head. “While my great-grandmother was laying on a board above his head.”

All Hallow’s Eve

Linwood Avenue
October 29, 2016

On a warm Saturday night, exquisite, sombrero-clad Día de los Muertos skeletons on stilts are bouncing through a packed Patterson Park, leading a quarter-mile-long parade propelled by mariachi music up front and West Baltimore marching bands in the rear.

The 17th Great Halloween Lantern Parade & Festival, organized by the Creative Alliance, is a mashup of cultures this year. It’s both an American Halloween costume party and a Mexican Día de los Muertos, aka Day of the Dead, celebration.

The nearly all-day event in heavily Latino Southeast Baltimore began with Lantern and Day of the Dead altar-making workshops—including assistance from Artesans Mexicanas, an arts collective of local immigrant women—as well as hayrides and a kids’ costume contest. The parade, meanwhile, is a wild moving scene of glow-in-the-dark floats, monsters, music, Baltimore-area schoolchildren, and piñata bashing.

Also on hand: plenty of food trucks (one appropriately offering crab cake tacos), American and native-Mexican crafters, plus a beer garden.

Later, as the parade wraps up, the mariachi band Rey Azteca—two trumpets, two violins, and two guitars—takes to the outdoor stage, accompanied by brightly dressed Mexican folk dancers. After several numbers and shouts of, “Otro! Otro!” (“Another! Another!”), the band returns for an encore, performing “México Lindo y Querido,” a famous mariachi and ranchero ode to the old country.

In front of the stage sits a massive altar of marigolds, candles, fruit, bread, decorated skulls, and framed photographs of departed loved ones.

Día de los Muertos is really much different than Halloween, says Erika Torres, watching Rey Azteca perform with her godson and 77-year-old mother, an immigrant from a town outside of Mexico City who is wearing a traditional handmade dress for the occasion. “In Mexico, it lasts three days and it’s very spiritual,” Torres explains. “It’s a time to pray and talk with our family members who have passed, but remain alive in our hearts.”

Fells Point-based painter and sculptor Ignacio Herrera, like others here, describes Día de los Muertos as a religious mix of Aztec and Catholic influences and rituals. The holiday is not just a remembrance of lost loved ones, he says, but also that death is a part of life and God is close at hand.

“The Aztecs used to play games and fight to death,” Herrera says. “It was believed that the real winners were those who died because they got to go be with God.”

EAT

March 30: Latinx Market

Baltimore School for the Arts, 712 Cathedral St. 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Free.

During this first-ever collaboration between the Baltimore School for the Arts and the Roots and Raíces Festival, celebrate all things Latinx with some of the best authentic cuisine the city has to offer. In between sampling eats from top-notch local vendors like La Calle, Cocina Luchadoras, and Te Conte Bolivian Empanadas, browse through handmade goods that take a modern spin on traditional styles. Stick around after the market closes to hear live Latinx-influenced music accompanied by a dance performance by BSA students.

DRINK

March 30: Fancy Clancy Pilsner Draft Launch Party

Sliders Bar and Grille, 504-506 Washington Boulevard. 1 p.m. Free.

If you’ve ever sat in the first-base section of Camden Yards, you know Fancy Clancy. This beloved vendor has dedicated 45 years to slinging drinks during Orioles games, and now Escutcheon Brewing and Sliders Bar & Grille are celebrating Fancy Clancy with his own Pilsner. Stop by the stadium-side bar on Saturday to watch the O’s take on the Yankees in New York, play a few rounds of corn hole, and raise a glass to the king of Orioles beer sales.

SEE

March 30: The Big Baltimore Kite Fest

Patterson Park, 12 p.m.-4 p.m. Free.

With cloudy skies in the forecast for Saturday, there’s never been a better time to brighten up Patterson Park with colorful kites. During this inaugural high-flying festival, participate in a plethora of fun activities like make-your-own kite workshops, face painting, and the “Will It Fly” competition. Whether you view the festivities from a picnic blanket or from the top of the Pagoda, spend the afternoon watching nontraditional kites inspired by cultures from across the city dance in the wind.

HEAR

March 29: Chaunter

Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles St. 8 p.m. $12-30.

Chaunter’s debut album, Dream Dynamics, has only been out for two weeks and it already has the city’s music scene busting at the seams to hear the dream-pop duo perform it live. This Friday, pack the Metro Gallery to hear Station North stalwarts Brooks Kossover, on vocals and flute, and Jenghis Manning-Pettit, on guitar, take their one-of-a-kind sound to a whole new level. Get there early to hear fellow rising acts Nerftoss, Infinity Knives + Randi, Frogohmine, and Matmos start off what sure to be a can’t-miss night of creative sounds.

DO

March 29-31: Asia North Festival

Motor House, 120 West North Ave. Fri. 5-11 p.m., Sat. 12-9:30 p.m., Sun. 3-8 p.m. $10.

This weekend, the Charles North neighborhood will put the spotlight on its past and present history as “Koreatown” with a three-day food, arts, and cultural extravaganza. On Friday, check out the Asian Arts & Culture Center-curated art exhibition Intricate Layers at Motor House along with sets by musicians Ami Dang and EN’B. Then, spend Saturday watching performances by acts like Korean percussion group Washington Samulnori and Baltimore-based beat boxer Shodekeh, and rally for Night Market Underground, with tons of authentic eats by the likes of Daikaya, Lei Musubi, and Old Boy in Graffiti Alley.

EAT

Dec. 1: Old Thyme Christmas

Location & times vary, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Free.

Fells Point already feels otherworldly thanks to its storied history and cobblestone charm, but, for the 15th year, the neighborhood will transform into a winter wonderland during this annual fête. Snap pictures with Santa Claus after he arrives by tugboat at 9 a.m., and then join Ol’ St. Nick for all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets at waterfront staples like Abbey Burger, Alexander’s Tavern, and The Admiral’s Cup. Stick around to compete in eggnog-drinking and “carole-oke” contests, and then cap off the night by witnessing the annual tree lighting in Broadway Square and the Lighted Boat Parade floating down the harbor.

DRINK

Dec. 2: Patterson Park 5K, Fun Run, and Homebrew Tasting

2601 E. Baltimore St. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. $15-45.

If you’ve ever jogged the length of Patterson Park and craved an ice-cold beer afterward, this is the race for you. At this seventh annual fundraiser for Patterson Park Public Charter School, start your afternoon with a one-mile or 5K run. Then, once you catch your breath, head over to the beer garden to sample local homebrew submissions. Cast your vote for your favorite pour, and spend the rest of the afternoon sipping beers by Full Tilt Brewing and jamming to live music by area acts Black Eyed Boh and Chris Diller.

SEE

Dec. 2: Mayor’s Christmas Parade

4207 Edgehill Ave. 1-5 p.m. Free.

Celebrate the first weekend of the holiday season with this 46th annual parade that leads a jolly assortment of local marching bands, giant balloons, festive floats, a fleet of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and, of course, Santa Claus and Miss Yuletide through the streets of Medfield and Hampden. Join thousands of onlookers along the two-and-a-half-mile parade route—which begins at Poly Western High School, winds down Cold Spring Lane, and ends at 37th Street—to catch some candy, sip on hot cocoa, and give a wave to Mayor Catherine Pugh.

HEAR

Dec. 2: The Beach Boys

The Modell Lyric, 140 W. Mt. Royal Ave. 6-9 p.m. $50-120.50.

Of all of the bands that have shaped the history of pop music, these iconic, California-loving boys are still at the top of the list. And while the whole band isn’t back together, you can feel all of the good vibrations and hear original bandmate Mike Love croon to sun-kissed hits like “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” on the Lyric stage. As an added bonus to a night filled with beachy favorites, a copy of Love’s new collection of holiday songs, Reason for the Season, is included with every ticket.

DO

Dec. 1: Night of 100 Elvises

Lord Baltimore Hotel, 20 W. Baltimore St. 4 p.m.-1 a.m. $55-1,500.

Dust off your white jumpsuit and blue suede shoes—the most rockin’ Elvis-themed party of the year is back and groovier than ever. This 25th extravaganza dedicated to the King of Rock n’ Roll boasts three rooms (Calvert Ballroom, The Jungle Room, and the Viva Las Vegas Lounge) filled with back-to-back performances by tribute artists and impersonators that will keep you swiveling your hips all night long. While the music is the main event, don’t forget to admire the vintage memorabilia, Elvis ice carving, and, above all else, grab a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich for the ride home.

If you’re not quite in the holiday spirit just yet, Baltimore has more than a few fixes to tame your inner-Grinch. There’s nothing like Christmas lights to conjure up those warm and fuzzy feelings and, luckily, lights are already abound. No matter what part of the city you reside in, there’s a light show or event nearby that the whole family will absolutely love. So bundle up, grab your hot cocoa (or bring your mug full of spiked nog), and check out some of these kid-friendly events that will be sure to have you feeling all the holiday feels this year.

Here are six of the best Christmas light shows to take the family to:

11/29: Belvedere Square Tree Lighting
You can’t miss the ginormous tree in the middle of Belvedere Square Town Center. But on Thursday, November 29 at 7 p.m., that thing is getting lit. With drinks from Grand Cru—like hot spiked cider and mulled wine—you can get lit, too, or at least stay warm and cozy in the chilly winter air. There will be carol singers from Stages Music Arts belting out familiar tunes, food vendors from 5-8 p.m., and a mitten drive to help the needy. Basically, it’s everything you need to get in the holiday spirit. 540 E. Belvedere Ave. 5-8 p.m.

12/1: Fells Point Parade of Lighted Boats
On Saturday, December 1st at 6 p.m., the 31st Annual Parade of Lighted Boats will begin. The parade starts at the Anchorage Marina on Boston Street and the boats will be visible along the waterfront from Canton, Fells Point, Harbor East, the Inner Harbor and Federal Hill. So no matter where you post up, you can see the glorious lights shimmering on the water. It’s a boat-lovers Christmas dream come true. 2501 Boston St. 6-8 p.m.

12/2: Holiday Pagoda Lighting in Patterson Park
It’s almost time for the 4th Annual Patterson Park Pagoda Lighting. On Sunday, December 2nd from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., come watch the beautiful lighting ceremony, complete with live music and plenty for the kids to enjoy. There will be a table full of crafts, gift vendors to shop from, a toy drive, and even a visit from the man of the season himself. Ho! Ho! Ho! 27 S. Patterson Park Ave. 4:30-6:30 p.m.

12/6: 47th Annual Washington Monument Lighting
On Thursday, December 6, the 47th Annual Monument Lighting takes place in Mount Vernon Square. The event is from 5-8 p.m., and there’s plenty more to do and see than just the lights—though it’s a spectacular sight on its own. There’s also a fireworks display, a Christmas village that the kids will love to explore, plus food and drinks from dozens of vendors. Still need more to get into the Christmas spirit? How about music from BSO Kids, The Morgan State University Choir, and more for all to hear. Afterwards, head over to Wet City to warm up with holiday cocktails, craft beer and festive specials by Chef Brad. 699 Washington Place. 5-8 p.m.

12/14: 12th Annual Lamp Post Lighting in Canton
Come on down to Canton Square for the 12th Annual Lamp Post Lighting on Friday, December 14 at 5 p.m. O’Donnell Square will help you find your festive vibes as you vote on your favorite decorated lamp post and storefront. Slurp some free hot chocolate, or purchase a tasty cup of eggnog and some treats. There will be caroling, live music, raffle prices, and photos with the Clauses—making this holiday lighting ceremony one the whole family will absolutely love. 2917 O’Donnell St. 5 p.m.

To 12/24: Christmas Village in West Shore Park

Every weekend at West Shore Park from now until Christmas Eve, there’s a special theme at the downtown Christmas Village. Whether it’s a bratwurst eating contest, a lantern parade, or a shopping weekend, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. You can’t miss the beautiful lights, trees, and decorations. But while you’re there, don’t forget to snap a picture with Gingy and Old Saint Nick himself! 501 Light St. 11 a.m.

To 12/31: Hampden’s Miracle on 34th Street
Christmas in Baltimore just isn’t complete without a visit to the lights on 34th Street. No matter how many times you’ve cruised along the miracle of spectacular decorations that only Baltimore could put together in it’s 72 years, it never quite gets old. Sometimes you can find a hot cocoa vendor and maybe some treats, but you can always count on kind-hearted folks that are happy to open their doors to families—as there are always more decorations inside the homes to explore. The lights stay on until December 31st, so whether you go early or late, don’t leave Hampden off of your holiday check-list. 720 W. 34th St.

Just when we thought the local dining scene couldn’t get any more on trend—boasting everything from sushi burritos to acai bowls—two Highlandtown locals are planning to unveil a rolled ice cream shop in the neighborhood by the end of next month.

With roots in Asia, the dessert involves freezing liquid anglaise on a cold slab at -25 degrees. The cream is then mixed with customizable flavorings, pressed flat, and scraped into rolls before landing in a cup with DIY toppings. Owner Jason Werner, a 15-year Highlandtown resident, says that he and partner Jessica Reyes were inspired by the process while visiting New York City.

“It’s a new approach to an old favorite,” says Werner. “Everybody likes ice cream, and we saw this as an opportunity to bring something new to the area that just wasn’t here. There’s something exciting about being the first on the block.”

Roll: Ice Cream Social will operate in the building that formerly housed Bolewicki’s Appliance Center on the corner of Eastern Avenue and South Bouldin Street, which Werner recently purchased. He says that the old row home is ideal, not only because of its location in his neighborhood, but also because of its 1950s soda-fountain vibe.

With the help of local designers at Carballo Architecture in Fells Point, the owners have come up with a floorplan that allows for 25 seats, with the possibility of window, bar, and bench seating. Because all of the rolled ice cream will be made to order, Werner mentions the importance of a swift service model. His goal is to have the capability for up to five slabs operating at once.

“It can take some time,” he says, adding that each order takes approximately three to five minutes to prepare. “But we want to provide an environment where people want to hang out. It’s just as much about eating ice cream as it is about watching it being made.”

Aside from the ice cream—which will be sourced with ingreditents from South Mountain Creamery in Middletown and come in classic flavors like vanilla, mint chocolate chip, and coffee—the eatery will also specialize in house-made seltzers, and high-end coffees and espressos sourced by local roasters.

Werner says that the shop also gives the owners an opportunity to explore other dessert trends, like nitrogen flash-frozen ice cream, in the future: “We’re always looking around the corner for what the next big thing will be.”

In fact, right around the corner Patterson Park shop Bmore Licks is expected to officially debut to the public by the end of this month. The can’t-miss building on the corner of Eastern and South Milton avenues boasts colorful ice cream cone and milkshake murals.

Owned by Baltimore locals Kim Proctor and Barbara Maloni, the shop features 30 ice cream flavors (including some dairy-free varieties), soft-serve options, milkshakes, snowballs, and Italian ice. Another highlight will be twists on the traditional waffle cone, like waffle cone tacos, nachos, and chocolate-layered waffle cones filled with espresso or coffee.

The idea for Bmore Licks was largely inspired by the small-town ice cream parlors that Maloni operated with her family growing up in Western Massachusetts, and the duo plans to use some of the family recipes in their new shop.

“Her idea of the food pyramid are the food groups from Elf,” Proctor quipped in an email. “We’ve always wanted to create the feeling of a local business that provides a great product and contributes to the community.”

Werner, too, is enthusiastic about becoming a staple in the neighborhood.

“I’ve lived here for 15 years, but I feel like I’ve met more people in the past couple weekends hanging out on a ladder on the side of the building,” he says with a laugh. “We’re excited to stay in the area and help it prosper.”

When the first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970, America’s natural landscape seemed under siege. There was not yet an EPA, and key environmental regulations like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act were in their infancies. The previous year, in Ohio, an oil spill—and decades of unchecked pollution—caused the Cuyahoga River to catch fire, and not even for the first time. Here in Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation was just two years old. We’ve come a long way since then—or maybe we haven’t—but one thing is for sure, it’s always a good idea to spend some time in nature. So whether that means a hike in the woods, attending a street festival, or rolling up your sleeves for a stream cleanup, we’ve got an local Earth Day event to help you connect with Mother Earth. 

Cleanup Events 

Patterson Park hosts a park cleanup beginning at 9 a.m. Participants should meet at the white house prepared to mulch trees, pick up trash and leaves, garden, and edge walkways.

Oregon Ridge Nature Center marks Earth Day with a “Love Your Mother Earth” celebration with trail cleanup and a tree-hugging contest complete with prizes. Event is free and runs Saturday and Sunday from 1-3 p.m. 

Carrie Murray Nature Center in Leakin Park will host an all-ages “Clean up the Gwynns Falls Trail” event on Saturday from 12-2 p.m. 

Civic Works, a local job-training and sustainability nonprofit, invites volunteers to its campus in Clifton Park for several Earth Day activities from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Volunteers can help mulch pathways, plant new trees, remove invasive plants, build a pollinator garden, or assemble decorative mosaic stepping stones.    

Druid Hill Park will host its monthly 4th Saturday workday from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Come prepared to clear debris/leaves/trash off the paths and mulch a garden (in preparation for next weekend’s Charm City Bluegrass Festival). 

Pigtown will host its 5th annual Bloom the Boulevard on Saturday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Attendees are invited to help collect litter, plant flowers and trees, and spread mulch along the 700-1300 blocks of Washington Boulevard. Participation will earn you a $10 credit toward your city stormwater fee, and there will be an after party at Cheat Day Bar & Grill.

Blue Water Baltimore, Baltimore City’s watershed watchdog group, will host several events, including a cleanup at Herring Run Park on Saturday, from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and a make-your-own rain barrel workshop at Herring Run Nursery from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.  

Many of these cleanup events are part of Project Clean Stream, a bay-wide effort to collect 100,000 pounds of trash from local waterways by June 9. Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay has an interactive map that lists all area cleanup sites and events. 

And next weekend, on April 29 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m., is the Mayor’s annual Spring Cleanup. Participating residents can earn credits toward their stormwater fee. Communities and individuals are encouraged to register by calling 311.   

Plant Sales

Concurrent with Pigtown’s Bloom the Boulevard, the neighborhood will host its annual Flower Sale offering annuals and perennials for gardens or planters. Everything is under $7. 

Herring Run Nursery is Blue Water Baltimore’s native plant nursery, and a great local resource for eco-conscious gardeners. In honor of Earth Day, the nursery will be giving away native species of trees to its customers on Saturday morning (while supplies last). There will also be 250 native species of trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, and plants for sale. Hours are 10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Festivals

University of Maryland Baltimore is throwing its 2nd annual Neighborhood Spring Festival, Saturday, April 22, 2017, on the 800 Block of W. Baltimore Street, from 11a.m.-2 p.m. Festivities will include live music and dance performances, taekwondo and outdoor zumba, local food and craft vendors, and Earth Day activities, as well as free health and dental screenings, HIV and Hepatitis C testing, mental health resources, and legal advice. 

Hikes 

Scenic Rivers Land Trust and the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks are partnering for the 12th Annual Walk for the Woods on Saturday. From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., the public is invited to the Bacon Ridge Natural Area in Crownsville for feature guided hikes, educational programming, and a chance to explore the county owned property that is not always open to the public. The event is free and dogs are welcome after 10 a.m. Rain date is Sunday, April 23. 

Kids

After the grownups finish tidying up Patterson Park, kids can convene at the playground at 10 a.m. for fun and games. 

Francis Scott Key Elementary/Middle School in Locust Point will host a free Earth Day Mommy and Me class on Saturday from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The event is geared toward children ages 2-5 who are not already enrolled in the school. There will be a craft, snack, and playground activities. 

Star Fighters

December 11, 2016
Lloyd Street

“How many people know who Benny Leonard was?” Mike Silver asks the crowd gathered at the Jewish Museum of Maryland. “Benny Leonard was the most famous Jewish person in America in the 1920s. Not Albert Einstein. Not Justice Louis Brandeis.”

Leonard, explains Silver, author of Stars in the Ring: Jewish Champions in the Golden Age of Boxing, fought his way out of Manhattan’s East Side ghetto to become one of the great boxers of all time during the Roaring ’20s, holding the lightweight title for nearly seven years. “He quit to take care of his sick mother. How Jewish is that?”

In his book, Silver chronicles 29 Jewish world champion boxers and more than 160 contenders from the 1890s-1950s, including a half-dozen Baltimore brawlers—welterweights Jacob “Jack” Portney and Benny Goldstein, flyweight Benny Schwartz, middleweight Sylvan Bass, and lightweights Charley Gomer and Isadore “Izzy” Rainess. Silver also gives a shout-out to legendary trainer Heine Blaustein. “Baltimore was a great fight town,” Silver says.

It wasn’t unusual in those days, Silver continues, for Jewish boxers to change their name. Not because of anti-Semitism, but family (read: mother’s) disapproval of the sport. Leonard was really Leiner, for example. Often, Jewish fighters switched ethnic identities altogether, killing two birds with one stone by trying to appeal to the sport’s huge Irish fan base.

“My uncle was Baltimore welterweight Patsy Lewis—that’s pretty Irish. His real name was Julius Rosenbloom,” volunteers Jerry Russ, 81, who went to the fights with his father at the old Baltimore Coliseum. Carlin’s Park was another popular venue.

At a time when boxing and baseball were the country’s biggest draws, fighting wasn’t just a means to make money for working-class immigrants—a four-round bout could pull in the same pay as a week in a sweatshop—it was also a means of assimilation and pride for Jews.

“Einstein, brilliant scientist, but who understands the theory of relativity? Brandeis, brilliant justice, but how many people read Supreme Court decisions?” Silver asks. “A punch in the nose? That, everybody understands.”

Beer Run

December 3, 2016
North Belnord Avenue

Former University of Maryland, Baltimore County cross country star Eric Shuler won this morning’s 5K through Patterson Park in convincing fashion, posting a time of 16:39—more than two minutes faster than his closest rival. But now the real competition is underway as more than 400 runners quench their thirst in the schoolyard behind Patterson Park Public Charter School. Here, 21 home-brewers are chatting about hops and recipes, pitting their kitchen, basement, and garage-brewed ales against one another while vying for today’s biggest title: Best Homebrew.

The Patterson Park 5K, Fun Run, and Homebrew Tasting—this is the beer-making competition’s third year—supports the school’s effort to send students to Spanish-speaking countries where they can practice the language they’ve been studying.

Most of the beer makers acknowledge their brewing evolved pretty quickly from hobby to near-obsession. “I liked to drink beer, that’s how I got started,” laughs (the aptly named) Stephen Porr, who eventually opened The Grain Bill, a family-run, home-brew supply store in Red Lion, Pennsylvania. “It went downhill from there.”

In the end, Darren Stimpfle, a surgical physician’s assistant by profession, sweeps both the Crowd Favorite and Brewer’s Choice awards with his dry-hopped, golden sour ale with apricot. Stimpfle, who spends eight hours each Friday brewing at home, is developing a business plan to sell his beer commercially. “I’m the runner and he’s the brewer and I support him—I really do,” says his wife, Shannon Gibbons, who took third place in the 5K’s 30-34 age group. “We went to Belgium on vacation and visited the Cantillon Brewery in Brussels three times. Naturally, I wanted to go to Paris and we did,” she adds with wry cheerfulness. “For two days.”

Christmas Stories

December 17, 2016
Eastern Avenue

“The year after my grandmother died I went looking for the spirit of Christmas on Eastern Avenue,” Rafael Alvarez says, reciting the first sentence from his 1999 book, Hometown Boy, at the 10th Annual Highlandtown Literary Extravaganza at the Enoch Pratt Southeast Anchor Library.

“Eastern Avenue,” Alvarez, an occasional contributor to Baltimore, explains, “was where you bought your first communion clothes before the Eastpoint Mall. It was where you shopped for everything.”

Alvarez launched his holiday storytelling, music, deviled egg, and pizelle festival after returning from Hollywood, where he wrote for TV following a stint penning episodes of The Wire. The crowd over the years has been a mix of friends, family, musicians, writers—including Afaa Michael Weaver, a former Procter and Gamble factory worker who has become one of the country’s foremost poets—and Highlandtowners who come to hear “real Baltimore” tales. Before intermission, Alvarez asks audience members to share their own Christmas stories, which mostly yields sagas of sibling rivalry and poor decisions.

David Ettlin, a retired Baltimore Sun editor, jokes his parents never bothered with a Christmas tree during the holidays while he was growing up. “We’re Jewish,” Ettlin deadpans. Determined to get a tree after marrying a Methodist, but not wanting to shell out big bucks, Ettlin hatched a plan with his wife—against the advice of their teenage daughter—to sneak into the woods together and cut down a live pine.

“All of a sudden, there’s a patch of mud and Bonnie does a flip and fractures her wrist horribly,” Ettlin continues. At the emergency room, he learns there will be a $50 copay for the orthopedic surgeon and then an additional $10 for a generic painkiller, or $35 for the brand name. “I feel guilty and go with the brand name,” Ettlin says. “But what I’m thinking is, ‘I’m out $85 and still don’t have a damn tree.’”

When Ken Staub was asked to take over Patterson Bowling Center last year after the previous owner retired, he knew it needed work. But rather than giving the neighborhood spot a modern makeover with lush furniture, glowing lights, and re-stained wood floors, he is opting to maintain the alley’s vintage charm.

“I’m constantly hearing from people who say, ‘My parents used to bowl here’ or ‘I used to come here all the time as a kid,’” says Staub, who also owns Stoneleigh Lanes in Towson and Glen Burnie Bowl. “Based on that itself, you want to do the best you can to make it a proud piece of the community.”

Opened in 1927, the stalwart center on Eastern Avenue is known for being one of the oldest duckpin alleys around. In an effort to preserve the community staple, Staub is currently overseeing a quarter-million dollar renovation project that will eventually yield upgraded lanes, a new bumper system, remodeled bathrooms, and a revamped snack bar.

“At one time, bowling was known as the poor man’s country club,” he says. “But it really has become a center of community activity. It went through a period between the late ’60s through the ’90s when it went out of fashion, but now a lot of people are rediscovering it.”

The two-story building boasts 12 lanes, which are currently being improved with new lifts, belts, and chains. The challenge, says Staub, is tracking down parts that work properly with the classic machines. A new bumper system will also be implemented, replacing the foam cushions currently used to keep the ball on track.

Though the lanes are being fine-tuned, Staub is implementing the retro, pencil-and-paper approach to scoring. He explains that the company that installed Patterson’s outdated automatic scoring system has since gone out of business, and, because parts are so limited, upgrading would be too costly.

The community seems to have embraced the old-school technique: “We just tell people: ‘Here’s a score pad and a pencil, let us know if you need help,’” Staub says. “At Patterson, I find that most people are just as happy to do it this way. Keeping track of what you’re doing makes it a little more exciting. It’s just another way to get more into the game.”

In addition to the lanes, the facility will also see modernized bathrooms (which haven’t been remodeled since the late ’90s), a new sound system and jukebox, an exterior wall mural, and updated galaxy lights to be used for the alley’s late-night “Rock and Bowl” program on weekends.

The snack bar will also receive some work behind-the-scenes. Though the kitchen equipment will all be replaced, the BYOB facility will focus on classic bowling fare like personal pizzas, French fries, corn dogs, and nachos.

One of Staub’s largest goals is to expand the center’s community outreach efforts. He mentions plans to host fundraisers for local charities and first responders, as well as bring back Patterson’s youth and senior leagues. He also hopes to partner with local bars to start a Sunday-night beer league, in which each bar would take turns supplying beer.

The center will remain open during the renovations, which are estimated to be complete by summer 2017.

“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Staub says. “But we’re very committed to making sure everything is done right so that the center can continue as a showpiece for the community.”

Kudos to Blue Hills State Reservation in Massachusetts, which hosted the first, First Day Hike in 1992—the start of an outdoors tradition that has swept across America’s state parks over the past quarter-century.

In Maryland, First Day Hikes this Sunday literally stretch the breadth of the state, from Assateague State Park and Wye Island on the Eastern Shore to Swallow Falls State Park in Garrett County. Not in shape? Not to worry. These hikes are short—generally 1- 2 miles—meant as an introduction to Maryland’s state parks as much as an opportunity to get the New Year off to a healthy start.

In Baltimore County, Patapsco Valley State Park hosts two First Day Hikes, including the Orange Grove History and Cascade Falls Trail Hike, which will be lead by the Maryland Conservation Corps and include a local nature lesson—plus coffee and cider afterward. The park’s other hike leaves from the McKeldin area in Marriottsville and traces the Plantation Trail.

The Friends of Jerusalem Mill will host a hike through nearby Gunpowder Falls State Park, leaving from the blacksmith shop there. At North Point State Park, Maryland Conservation Corps members will lead a hike down the scenic Black Marsh Trail, offering opportunities for bird watching (binoculars suggested) and some history about the old Bay Shore Amusement Park and trolley car powerhouse.

Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area in Owings Mills will also host two First Day Hikes, including a 7:15 a.m. sunrise jaunt, which begins at the overlook just north of its visitor center, and then an afternoon history trek that includes discussions about the nearby Red Dog Lodge and former Choate Mine.

“Volunteer Jimmy Johnson is a former mining engineer and gives an amazing talk about the Choate Mine, which dates back to the 1800s, and the area’s geology,” says Soldiers Delight ranger Jamie Petrucci, adding that more than 1,110 Marylanders participated in First Day Hikes last year.

“The Patapsco hikes, in particular, are mobbed when the weather cooperates,” Pertrucci said. “I’m expecting a good turnout this year.”

To his point, the forecast for New Year’s Day is fantastic—sunny, with a high of 50 degrees.

A complete listing of the Maryland state park First Day Hikes, including directions and time, can be found at the Department of Natural Resources website.

State parks are not the only venue offering First Day events, however.

The Friends of Druid Hill Park are hosting their fifth annual First Day Hike—this one is longer—a 6-mile loop on the park’s paved surfaces that starts with coffee, hot chocolate, and bagels at the Rawlings Conservatory. The $10 fee benefits the free programming offered at the Druid Hill Farmers Market.

“We get some people who are shaking out the cobwebs [from New Year’s Eve parties],” Tom Orth, with the Friends of Druid Hill Park said with a laugh. “And we have some people who’ve made a resolution to get the year off to a healthy, outdoors start. We also get people who have family visiting and bring their relatives who are in town—people who don’t want to sit in the house all day—and also people who just want to understand the park better.”

The Friends of Gwynn Falls/Leakin Park are hosting two events—a First Day Walk and a First Day Bike Ride, which includes rides of four, seven, and 23 miles.

And, for the jogging inclined, there is the annual Patterson Park 5K Run Resolution Run/Walk, which benefits Earl’s Place, a transitional home for men experiencing homelessness.

Signups are available on race day for the Resolution Run, which doesn’t kick off until 2 p.m.—so plenty of New Year’s Eve recovery time if need be to get the year off to a good, if late, start.

Past Lives

South Broadway
August 5, 2016

“Look around, what do you see?” asks the top-hatted, cane-sporting guide of the 30 or so Charm City visitors gathered Friday evening at the foot of Broadway for The Original Fells Point Ghostwalk. “Friendly part of town, right? Pretzel place. Ice cream parlor. Young professionals . . . that’s a new phenomenon, however,” he adds, somewhat ominously. “This used to be a dangerous part of town. Pirates here would stick you in the gut for the coins in your pocket.”

Among the ghosts said to reside nearby is a 10-year-old girl who has appeared in the second-floor stockroom above Bertha’s restaurant. She has been spotted over the years by employees, says the guide, glancing from the window to where the crowd now stands—reputedly a mass burial site from an 18th-century yellow-fever outbreak that may have claimed her mother.

On Thames Street, the discussion turns to the former practice of shanghaiing young men into service aboard a ship—known as “crimping” in Baltimore. One such young man, who apparently didn’t survive his initial kidnapping, is said to haunt Leadbetters Tavern. The Ghostwalk includes a visit to the family cemetery of Fells Point founder William Fell, whose long dead ne’er-do-well son is reportedly sighted from time to time walking down narrow Shakespeare Street.

Naturally, the best tales blend fact and hard-to-fact-check anecdotes. Melissa Rowell, a former medical illustrator who launched the Ghostwalk tours, admits to being skeptical even as she did her initial research. “Then something strange happened,” she says. She’d bought a T-shirt from an older Cat’s Eye Pub bartender and not long afterward found herself back there and asked about him. “I described him to the woman working—that he kinda looked like Abraham Lincoln,” Rowell continues. “And so she points to a photograph behind the bar. I said, ‘Yes, that’s the guy I bought the T-shirt from.’

“She says, ‘Well, he worked here. Doesn’t anymore. He’s been dead eight years.’

“True story.”

Skylight

Park Avenue
July 17, 2016

In Europe, stained-glass windows have been associated with Christianity and appreciated for their beauty since the Middle Ages. But there’s also historic—if not quite as old—stained-glass inside Bolton Hill’s Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church. This Sunday morning, as part of Artscape’s slew of events, congregation member James Shuman is leading a post-service Breakfast With Tiffany tour of the Gothic-style, 1869-built church’s exquisite windows, which a glass art expert once described as “the finest collection of Tiffany windows in the country and quite possibly the world.”

Tiffany glass, Shuman notes, refers to the work of the prolific decorative artist Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of the founder of the famous luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. The two largest windows at Brown Memorial measure 16 feet wide and stand three stories tall.

“These were made when there was no TV, no radio, and people came to church twice on Sunday and once during the week,” Shuman says. “They each preach a message.” The two biggest windows, which face each other, depict the annunciation to the shepherds and the heavenly city of Jerusalem, for example. From outside, however, the images in the windows appear, at best, in shadowy outlines.

“There was a boy, 8 to 10 years old, who made his mother bring him in 10 years ago,” Shuman recalls. “It gets a little rough a couple blocks west and there had been some shootings in the neighborhood around that time. He said he wanted to see the picture of the man holding the gun.

“What the image was,” Shuman explains, “was a seeker holding his arm outstretched with a cross.”

Light Waves

South Linwood Avenue
August 5, 2016

On this warm Friday evening, the city pool at Patterson Park is playing the role of multipurpose gym, hosting the Robert L. Drake Jr. Middle School 17th Annual Science Fair, as a banner in the backdrop indicates. The move to the unusual venue, explains tonight’s emcee—an earnest educator named Miss Waters—is “due to an unfortunate ant colony incident.” But not really.

The bleachers here are actually packed for the award-winning performance art/synchronized swimming troupe Fluid Movement’s 15th project—Science Fair! The Water Ballet—which pays homage to the discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton and Nikola Tesla, as well as science fiction. The Inner Harbor’s breakthrough trash-eating device, Mr. Trash Wheel, also gets a big shout out with his own song and swim number. (The fictional middle school is an homage, too—named after a former city rec and parks lifeguard and scuba instructor who passed away in January.)

The highlight of the evening is probably the second of the six choreographed segments—“Reanimation: Brides and Monsters”—which starts with a dozen and a half ghoulish performers in waterproof zombie makeup and red and black suits dancing on the pool deck to “Monster Mash.” Soon enough, they’re falling into the water, kicking a routine to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.”

“The whole thing began in 1999, when I was working for the Patterson Park Community Development Corporation and looking for ways to promote the park, the usual concerts and things,” co-founder Valarie Perez-Schere says later. “Someone told me there was a woman [Trixie Burneston] who wanted to do water ballet at the pool. I said, ‘Shut the front door! Give me her number!’”

Maryland State Fair
Aug. 25-Sept. 5. Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd., Timonium. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Free-$8. 410-252-0200.
The Maryland State Fair will feature 12 jam-packed days of agriculture exhibits, livestock shows, carnival rides, horse racing, bull riding, and blowout concerts by the likes of pop star Charlie Puth and country singer Jana Kramer. Stand beneath the bright bulbs of the amusement rides, breathe in the comforting smell of fried food, taste the sweet cotton candy that’s spun on-site, hear the reverberating sound of live music from the racetrack, and feel the warmth of your own grip as you wrap your fingers around the metal bars of the giant swing carousel and are whisked away into the hot night air.—MM

Fluid Movement
Aug. 5-7. Patterson Park, 148 S. Linwood Ave. Fri. 9 p.m., Sat. 7 & 9 p.m., Sun. 5 & 7 p.m. $10. What do glittery swimsuits, safety goggles, and painful middle school memories have in common? They’re all featured in Fluid Movement’s 15th synchronized swimming spectacular, Science Fair!: The Water Ballet. Using eccentric choreography, comedy, and special effects, the award-winning performance troupe recreates a childhood event that most kids (and parents) dread.

Maryland Latino Fest
Aug 7. Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Road, Timonium. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Free-$15. 410-327-6005. This month, follow the sound of Latin beats to the Maryland State Fairgrounds for the fifth annual Maryland Latino Festival. This full-day event celebrates the culture of Baltimore’s growing Hispanic and Latino communities with art, food, drink, live music, entertainment, and area nonprofits. Spend the afternoon sampling everything from piña coladas to traditional Mexican and Salvadoran fare before heading to the main stage to hear popular artists like bachata dance musician Zacarias Ferreira, reggaeton duo Alexis and Fido, and Duranguense group K-Paz De La Sierra.

Summer of 69: No Apostrophe
Aug 19. Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. 8 p.m. $58-80. 410-837-7400. Get ready Parks and Recreation fans—Ron and Tammy 2 are leaving Pawnee and making their way to Baltimore. As part of their new tour (yes, you read its title correctly), comedic real-life couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally take over the Hippodrome stage to share stories and perform innuendo-filled songs, dances, and skits about their marriage. They’ll likely reference some of their well-known characters, like breakfast-loving Ron Swanson or feisty Karen from Will & Grace, so prepare to laugh with the husband-and-wife duo as they reveal details of their 16-year relationship.

Hot August Music Festival
Aug. 20. Oregon Ridge Park, 13401 Beaver Dam Road, Cockeysville. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Free-$189. 877-321-3378. Baltimore County’s blues and roots festival returns this month, bringing together a medley of talent for one hot night of unforgettable music. The stacked lineup includes headliners Thievery Corporation, Grateful Dead cover band Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Americana string bands Railroad Earth and Leftover Salmon, and soul-rockers The Revivalists.

Pet Sounds
Aug 23. Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, 12 N. Eutaw St. 8 p.m. $68.50-147. 410-837-7400. In 1966, The Beach Boys made Pet Sounds, a luscious concept album that catapulted the band from sunny surf-pop stars to rock-and-roll legends. It is arguably one of the greatest albums of all time, and 50 years later, we still know the words to “God Only Knows” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” This month, for one night only, we can sing along with Brian Wilson and former members of the group in honor of the record’s 50th anniversary. Fingers crossed that they play at least one rendition of “Good Vibrations,” too.

Bonnie Raitt
Aug. 24. Pier Six Pavilion, 731 Eastern Ave. 6 p.m. $40-85. 410-783-4189. Legendary blues singer Bonnie Raitt makes a triumphant return to Charm City this month with a smooth set of songs from a career spanning 45 years and 17 studio albums. Raitt’s latest album, Dig in Deep, features her heartfelt blend of blues, folk-rock, and Americana, accented by her breathy vocals, tasteful instrumentation, and incomparable slide guitar. Soak up the warm weather, sip a cold beer, and hear hits like “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” “Something to Talk About,” and “Angel From Montgomery.”

Baltimore Summer Antiques Show
Aug. 25-28. Baltimore Convention Center, 1 W. Pratt St. Times vary. $20. 410-649-7000. Whether you’re searching for the perfect piece of vintage furniture or you just need to escape the August heat, this giant indoor antiques show is a summer must, with more than 400 vendors featuring everything from prized silver and estate jewelry to major works of art.

Miranda Lambert
Aug. 25. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy., Columbia. 7:30 p.m. $45-125. 410-715-5550. Grammy-winning singer Miranda Lambert is no country music sweetheart. Her fiery lyrics and powerful songs—“Gunpowder & Lead,” “Little Red Wagon,” “Somethin’ Bad”—have made her a female country icon among the ranks of Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn. Watch her rock the Merriweather stage during one of the final stops on her “Keeper of the Flame” tour.

Maryland Renaissance Festival
Aug. 27-Oct. 23. 1821 Crownsville Road, Annapolis. Times vary. Free-$24. 410-266-7304. On weekends throughout the fall, all the world’s a stage at the 40th Maryland Renaissance Festival. Set in 16th-century England, the fest allows you to put on flower crowns or suits of armor and indulge in the jousting matches, one-pound turkey legs, mugs of mead, and arts and crafts of yesteryear.

Along with the Free State, Old Line State, and Land of Pleasant Living, Maryland is also nicknamed America in Miniature, in reference to our medley of history, landmarks, and people. Celebrate that diversity with these six cultural festivals.

PHILIPPINE FIESTA
6/4: Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Rd., Timonium. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. $3. 443-812-3241. This 34-year-old festival is full of Filipino activities, including cultural crafts, live music, and festive games at the state fairgrounds.

MARYLAND TRADITIONS FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL
6/4: Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 12-8 p.m. Free. 410-276-1651. Experience Baltimore Club music, Nepalese food, and Norwegian painting at this celebration of cultures from around the world.

FEAST OF ST. ANTHONY ITALIAN FESTIVAL
6/4-5: Little Italy, S. Exeter & Stiles Sts. Sat. 12-8 p.m. & Sun. 11-7 p.m. $1. Little Italy celebrates its roots with one big weekend of Italian food and wine, with a Sunday parade.

ST. NICHOLAS GREEK FOLK FESTIVAL
6/9-12: Greektown Square, 701 S. Ponca St. Times vary. Free. 410-633-5020. Dive into the culture of the Aegean Sea with four days of baklava, Mythos beer, and regional dance troupes in Southeast Baltimore.

LATINOFEST
6/25-26: Patterson Park, Eastern Ave. & S. Linwood Ave. Sat. 12-10 p.m., Sun. 12-9 p.m. Free-$9. 410-563-3160. For the 36th year, this giant outdoor celebration takes over Patterson Park with Latino food, music, and art.

LITHUANIAN FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL
6/30-7/3: Royal Farms Arena, 201 W. Baltimore St. Times vary. $10-92. 410-347-2020. Nearly 2,000 dancers gather for a weekend of galas, live music, poetry readings, and traditional dances from Eastern Europe.

The Avett Brothers
June 3-4. Pier Six Pavilion, 731 Eastern Ave. 8:30 p.m. $38-55. 410-783-4189. With the warm sun on your face and cool breeze in your hair, there’s no better way to settle into summer than with a little live music on the Inner Harbor. The Avett Brothers are a perfect band for the season, with their Southern folk rock as pure and American as a cold beer in hand on a hot June night. Dig on fan favorites like “I and Love and You” and “Head Full of Doubt,” as well as new songs like “Ain’t No Man” from their brand-new album, True Sadness.—LW

Design for Mobile Living
June 1-Nov. 27. The Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Drive. Wed.-Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. 443-573-1700. Step into the art and culture of Eastern Africa’s nomadic societies. In this exploratory exhibition, admire jewelry, accessories, and gear from the 19th and 20th centuries, and discover the ways in which artwork can be lightweight, functional, portable, and adorned.

Taste of Three Cities
June 4. Patterson Park, 2806 Eastern Ave. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. $16.74-69.24. 410-276-3676. Calling all foodies. Once again, Patterson Park will transform into a food-truck playground with the region’s top 40 four-wheelers offering culinary indulgences that range from lobster rolls and barbecue to grilled cheese and cupcakes. Spend your summer Saturday touring their treats, voting for your favorites, cooling off with wine and beer, and listening to live music. Proceeds will benefit Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit that delivers food to people in need, and the (RED) Campaign, whose global efforts are fighting to end AIDS.

Hairspray: In Concert
June 3-5. Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. Fri. 8 p.m., Sat. 3 & 8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. $43-109. 410-783-8000. We have Diner, we have Avalon, we have parts of Sleepless in Seattle, but few films are more iconic for Charm City than John Waters’s Hairspray. Back by popular demand, the famous musical will take over the Meyerhoff stage for the first time since 2013. Relive the favorites in this semistaged concert production, featuring Waters himself as narrator alongside members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Beyoncé
June 10. M&T Bank Stadium, 1101 Russell St. 7:30 p.m. $45-305. 410-261-7283. Beyoncé is the queen bee of pop culture, with five platinum records, 20 Grammys, and her own HBO documentary, plus flawless fashion, kickass choreography, and once-in-a-lifetime concert tours. (Not to mention her much talked about marriage to hip-hop royalty, Jay Z.) Over the years, she has brought us such seminal smash-hits as “Say My Name,” “Drunk in Love,” and “Single Ladies,” and this past winter she released her first new single in three years, “Formation,” which instantly skyrocketed to the top of the charts. It also sparked BeyHive hysteria for her latest album, Lemonade, which set the internet on fire when it suddenly dropped this spring. For one Friday night, see what all the buzz is about as the living legend brings down the house on our very own Ravens turf.—LW

Tour Dem Parks, Hon!
June 12. Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory & Botanic Gardens, 3100 Swann Drive. 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. $20-48. For one Sunday in June, put your rubber to the road as hundreds of bicyclists take a trip through Baltimore’s beloved parks. Whether you opt for a difficult trek or family-friendly cruise, you can swing through the likes of Druid Hill, Clifton, and Patternson parks, followed by a picnic lunch, live music, and lovable rescue puppies, all to benefit Baltimore’s beautiful outdoor spaces.

HonFest
June 11-12. The Avenue in Hampden, 36th Street. Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 12-6 p.m. Free. Get your hairspray, boas, and high heels ready for the 23rd annual HonFest. At this weekend-long festival in Hampden, honor the historic working women of Bawlmer in true eclectic Charm City fashion. Join thousands of attendees for three stages of live music, plus food, crafts, and, of course, a contest for the Best Hon.

Baltimore Wine Fest
June 18. Canton Waterfront Park, 3001 Boston St. 12-7 p.m. Free-$85. 410-409-7123. For the second time, Canton’s waterfront will turn into a vino lover’s paradise with more than 100 wines from all over the world, gourmet local eats, and live music. Grab a glass, sip some samples, then stumble home.

Chesapeake Crab & Beer Festival
June 25. Rash Field, 201 Key Hwy. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. $29-89. 410-396-7931. As Marylanders, we all know there is nothing better than a June afternoon with a bushel of crabs. Now in its third year, this annual tradition has upped the ante, becoming the largest crab feast in Baltimore with more than 22,000 people, 30,000 crabs, and 50 beers, plus wines, spirits, live music, and arts and crafts. With enough brown picnic-table paper to stretch across the harbor and back, this festival is ready to dig in, rain or shine.

Cylburn Arboretum, Coldspring
The city’s living plant museum is home to all manner of domestic and exotic species in 20 themed gardens on 207 acres. We suggest throwing down a blanket near the Heritage Rose Garden behind the park’s stone mansion.

Lillian Holt Park and Center for the Arts, Overlea-Fullerton
This out-of-the-way oasis offers 13 acres of trails and gardens, including an arboretum, a lily pond, and a labyrinth with a Zen meditation garden. Chain restaurants proliferate nearby, or bring your own edibles.

Druid Hill Park, Reservoir Hill
Druid Hill Park stuns with its outdoor botanic gardens, which can be seen for a suggested $5 donation.

Jonas Green Park, Annapolis
This little sliver of greenery on the banks of the Severn River opposite the Naval Academy is beloved for its free fishing pier, petite beach, and tidy picnic area.

Flying Point Park, Edgewood
Jutting out into the Bush River, this serene slice of upper bay waterfront boasts ample recreational facilities, including picnic areas with grills and tables, plus a horseshoe pit, playground, and boat launch.

Downs Park, Pasadena
Another unheralded bayside gem, this 236-acre expanse of open space features walking trails, picnic amenities, a large playground, and, best of all, a dog-friendly beach. $6/car.

Middle Branch Park, Cherry Hill
Just over the Hanover Street Bridge from Federal Hill/Riverside, Middle Branch Park offers lovely views of the Patapsco. You may even see a crew team or two stroking down the river thanks to the nearby boathouse.

Wyman Park Dell, Johns Hopkins/Homewood
The 16-acre, bowl-like dell shields visitors from traffic on Charles and 29th streets. The shady lawns and slopes are especially helpful when seeking protection from the full heat of a Baltimore summer.

Patterson Park, Upper Fells Point/Butchers Hill/Canton
Pick your picturesque position: by the boat lake, perched near the pagoda, in front of the marble fountain, or down by the dog parks. Grab grub from any of the nearby eateries. We recommend a crab pie from Matthew’s Pizza.

Lake Kittamaqundi, Columbia
Shake off suburban office park stupor with a jaunt around this 27-acre man-made lake. Pop over to the nearby Whole Foods for a grab-and-go meal and you’ll be back at your desk with time to spare.

Federal Hill Park, Federal Hill
Gaze upon the hustle and bustle of downtown at this grassy rise overlooking the Inner Harbor. Benches, monuments, and a large playground make it fun for the whole family.

Benjamin Banneker Historical Park & Museum, Catonsville
This 142-acre site honors the life of Benjamin Banneker, often called the first African-American man of science. The park offers good walking trails and picnic areas, but do make time for the exhibits, too. Snacks from either Atwater’s or The Breadery will complete the experience.

Fort McHenry, Locust Point
The star-shaped fort played a “key” role in American history when Francis Scott Key watched its bombardment during the War of 1812 and wrote what would become the lyrics to our national anthem. There’s a $10 entrance fee to the historic area, but walking the perimeter along the water is free.

Hampton National Historic Site, Towson
There’s plenty to absorb at this former estate that once belonged to the prominent Ridgely family, from the beauty of the stately, cream-colored Georgian mansion to the sobering exhibits on slavery and indentured servitude.

When LA Finfinger and her husband, Paul Wetzel, both certified yoga teachers, moved to Baltimore in January 2015, they decided they wanted to figure out a way to offer studio-level yoga classes for free—and in a nontraditional environment.

Last July, Free Baltimore Yoga (FBY) was born. To date, it offers three classes per week, each in a different setting. Tuesdays are at Patterson Park Youth Sports and Education Center, Wednesdays are at Pixilated Photo Booth’s headquarters in Southwest Baltimore, and Thursdays are at the Parks & People Foundation’s building in Druid Hill Park.

The idea is to bring the practice to those who typically don’t do yoga. And Finfinger encourages novice and skilled yogis alike to attend her classes. “Just show up. You don’t even have to have a yoga mat,” she says. “We have yoga mats. So just take the first step. Don’t be afraid, because we all are.”

FBY is hoping to grow and offer even more classes in the coming months. Finfinger’s goal is to inspire class attendees to become teachers themselves. “The endgame would be training people and then putting them back into the community to teach,” she says.

She would love to add more nights to FBY’s schedule, as well as new locations and different types of yoga, while still keeping it free and fun. “For it to grow, I want it to be something that supports the community, and for that, it has to be people in the community helping and teaching.”

Jen Burke, full-time mom and part-time lab tech: “It’s got to be Rodgers Forge with its row homes and lots of young families.”

Shannon Nickey, bartender, Holy Frijoles: “Violetville is a safe, family-oriented neighborhood, and the police are prevalent to make sure there are no troublemakers!”

Helene Luce, senior director, educational initiatives, Community Law in Action: “Patterson Park is pretty amazing. There have been tons of kids born the last couple of years, and the families have stayed.”

Beth Laverick, owner, B Scene Events & Promotions: “In Butchers Hill, a lot of local families meet after trick-or-treating for a community potluck. Parents get to enjoy festive food and drinks while kids tear into their Halloween treats.”