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EAT

June 27: SoBeachy Haitian Cuisine Indoor Reopening and Customer Appreciation Day

Cross Street Market. 1065 S Charles St. 4-8 p.m.

As Cross Street Market in Federal Hill reopens its doors with social distancing measures, veteran vendor SoBeachy Haitian Cuisine is saying thank you to customers for sticking by them throughout the pandemic. Husband-and-wife owners Leo and Chanel Fleurimond are offering 10 percent-off of all orders this Saturday from 4-8 p.m. Go and get your fill of authentic Haitian recipes such as pineapple-glazed vegetables, marinated chicken, smoked turkey sausage, and fried whole red snapper, and then wash it all down with a signature island cocktail mixed with fresh juice. Customers are encouraged to place orders in advance via email.

DRINK

June 26-28: Urban Axes Reopening

1 North Haven St. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

As if axe-throwing isn’t fun enough, Urban Axes in Highlandtown allows you to fine-tune your bullseye skills while enjoying a cold one. As of this weekend, the neighborhood watering hole and sports venue is back open for business at 25-percent capacity. Head to the Urban Axes website to book open throwing, league practice, and small group sessions, and kick the weekend off with some friendly competition while downing your choice of canned wine, beer, or hard cider from the bar.

SEE

June 27: Baltimore Drag Awards

Zoom. 8-11 p.m.

Although most Charm City theaters remained closed due to COVID-19, Creative Alliance knows the show must go on(line). This year’s Baltimore Drag Awards will take place over Zoom, but the streaming show will still bring the party with special guest performances and a virtual cocktail hour. Join hosts Brooklyn Heights and Betty O’Hellno in celebrating the wide range of talented performers within the local drag scene. The theme for this year’s event—known as the drag equivalent of the Academy Awards—is florals, so be sure to break out the spring/summer attire.

HEAR

June 28: Sunday Sounds in the Park with Quinton Randall

Union Square. 4:30-7:30 p.m. Free.

Break out your lawn chairs and head to Southwest Baltimore this weekend to hear acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist Quinton Randall kick off this summer concert series at Union Square Park—an ideal social-distancing spot that spans two-and-a-half acres. Neighbors are invited to bring their favorite picnic snacks and beverages of choice to enjoy while listening to the rockstar sounds of Mr. Baltimore Blues himself. The Sunday-afternoon series will continue all summer long and feature some of Charm City’s best artists.

DO

June 27: Maryland Zoo Reopening

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. 1 Safari Place. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

After months of being temporarily closed, the Maryland Zoo is finally ready to reopen its gates to the public—and, yes, the animals have missed you just as much as you’ve missed them. The zoo staff is prepared to keep patrons safe with timed entry reservations and one-way traffic pathways. Grab the little ones and travel to Safari Place to spend your weekend visiting your favorite furry friends.

Over the years, we’ve found plenty of ways to supplement drinking with fun activities—darts, beer pong, Skee-Ball—but none quite as perilous as drunken axe-throwing.

Indeed, from the first moment you walk into Urban Axes (1 N. Haven St., 240-389-2937), a chain of axe-throwing bars that opened a Highlandtown location in July, you are greeted by glowing iPads and instructed to sign a waiver that includes language like, “I believe that I am physically, emotionally, and mentally able to participate in axe-throwing.” Well, able or not, we scribbled our electronic signature and forked over the $35 per person for two hours of axe-throwing lessons and games for six or more.

The other thing that greets guests at Urban Axes is a giant bar with a fairly extensive local beer selection from Union Craft Brewing, The Brewer’s Art, Flying Dog, Oliver, RAR, and next-door neighbors Monument City. (Most cans are $5, and there’s a nicely priced $3 Natty Boh.) For non-beer lovers, there’s a selection of a few red, white, and bubbly wines, as well as a cider and a canned Moscow Mule. Our bartender, who bore a striking resemblance to Jay of Jay and Silent Bob fame, was friendly enough, but this isn’t exactly the kind of place where you stay and hang by the bar.

There are a couple of wooden picnic tables in the front and, of course, the requisite axe “arenas” throughout, but the space itself feels sparse. Located in an old industrial warehouse, it’s clear that not much effort was put into sprucing it up or adding any Baltimore character. We got the strong sense that any Urban Axes location around the country would feel identical.

But the real fun began when our coach, Kristin, walked us back to our arena, which feels kind of like an open batting cage, and laid out the rules. Stay behind the yellow line if it’s not your turn, the red line while axes are in motion, and always tap axes with your competitor as a sign of sportsmanship before throwing. Your coach stays with you during the entire session, which is super helpful since—believe it or not—none of us had thrown an axe before. We went through a bunch of practice rounds to learn to throw and see if we felt more comfortable throwing with one hand or two (two for me) followed by a round-robin competition and a bracket-style tournament.

Turns out, throwing axes is a lot like riding a two-wheeler: You’re a bit shaky at first, but once you get your bearings, it feels almost natural. Oddly enough, we never felt unsafe, and there were plenty of groups in the space casually sipping beer and making bullseyes. It seems as if anyone can do it. As a wise person wrote on one of the wooden tables: “If you can dodge a ball, you can dodge an axe.”

Hatchets and beer might seem like a risky combo, but Krista Poll assures that her axe-throwing bar isn’t as dangerous as some might think.

“The most serious injury our guests have had in more than a year of operations is a splinter,” she says. “Safety is our first priority.”

Poll, along with her husband Matt Paton, and friends Stuart Jones and Shaun Hurley, brought the popular Canadian sport stateside last year, when they launched the Urban Axes flagship in Philadelphia. They opened a second location in Austin, Texas in September, and are now preparing to debut a Baltimore iteration in Highlandtown this February.

“We really like the history of Highlandtown, and the juxtaposition of the old industrial buildings with the residential,” Poll says. “We’re looking forward to being a part of the community.”

The 10,235-square-foot space on North Haven Street will be a destination for competitive axe-throwing with six arenas (similar to batting cages with fencing in between throwers) and a total of 24 targets. The mission behind Urban Axes is to bring the typically rural sport into urban areas—something that Poll experienced firsthand while living in Toronto three years ago.

“I had just moved there for work, and I got invited to a friend’s birthday party at a BYOB axe-throwing place,” she recalls. “My immediate reaction was, ‘This is awesome, why don’t we have this in America?’”

While the other two locations are BYOB, the new Highlandtown hangout will be the first with its own liquor license. Though menu details are still in the works, Poll says that the spot will offer an array of wines and local beers. (Here’s hoping a few will come from neighboring Monument City Brewing Company.)

“It’s safe to say that all of the owners are passionate about beer and wine,” says Poll, who just so happens to be a certified sommelier. “People at Urban Axes will not go thirsty.”

In keeping with the emphasis on safety, alcohol will be limited to specific viewing areas that are a secure distance away from the targets.

As far as logistics go, the bar will have walk-in hours, as well as a reservation system for booking large groups. Though she understands that some might be skeptical at first, Poll is eager about encouraging beginners.

“Axe-throwing is a non-exclusive sport—anyone can do it,” she says, mentioning that every session begins with one-on-one coaching. “Almost everyone that comes through our doors has never thrown an axe before. The technique is actually pretty simple. We want to make sure everyone is throwing safely and comfortably before the competition begins.”

The game itself, which most play tournament-style, pits two players against one another to see who can throw the hatchet closest to a bullseye. Not surprisingly, every competitor must be over 21 and sign a waiver before participating.

Aside from bringing a new social concept to the Baltimore community, the co-owners are enthusiastic about their role in making axe-throwing more mainstream. Their hope is to launch seven more U.S. locations by the end of 2018.

“We always joke that the first axe was thrown about 30 seconds after the first axe was created,” she says. “We’ve just taken something that people have been doing for years in more rural areas or while camping and brought it into an urban environment—with a competitive spin. Once people stick their first axe in the target, they’re hooked.”