You’re guilty. You know it. Like most travelers rolling along I-95, you committed a grievous sin between Washington, D.C., and Philly—namely, you flew through Baltimore. Oh traveler, don’t you know you’re only hurting yourself? You are. You’re passing up one of the coolest cities on the East Coast. “What, Baltimore?” you ask. Yeah, Baltimore. Think about what makes East Coast cities so awesome: mixes. We’re talking about mixes of immigrants, of architectural styles that reflect a varied background of working and creative and upper classes. We’re talking about neighborhoods that, by dint of age and compactness, (neither of which you get out West or down South) throw together world-class art with a pizza place that’s been serving quality crab cakes since your grandparents were born. A Baltimore vacation reveals all of this, and more. In places like Manhattan and Washington, D.C., there are too many flash urban professionals, and not enough sense of community. Baltimore has community feeling...See More in spades. And guess what? A lot of the neighbors here are kuh-razy—in a good way. Maybe it’s something in the water—which, by the way, is always close by in this port town—but Baltimoreans tend to march to their own drum beat, which makes for a delightfully weird town. Just look at the evidence: John Waters. The Papermoon Diner. The trannies in Mount Vernon. The American Visionary Art Museum. But it doesn’t matter how mad they get—folks from B’more (or Balmer; we’ve got a lot of nicknames) come at you with a sort of fierce hospitality and friendliness that is just the awesome cherry atop an already near-perfect sundae. Go on then. Keep driving. That’s just more Baltimore for us to love, and hon, we love this town like no other. See Less