Pub Crawl at Fells Point, Baltimore, MD

Fells Point is a bohemian neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland near the Inner Harbor. Fells Point has existed for hundreds of years, mostly as a ship building area and center of shipping for Baltimore. It was also the home of Alexander Poe. He is revered in this city. The city of Baltimore has done a wonderful job of preserving the character of the neighborhood. At the turn of the 20^th century there where nearly 100 taverns catering to the needs of the seaman of the era. The ships are gone, but, thankfully, many of the taverns remain. After a day spent touring Fort Henry White Pepper embarked on a pub crawl of Fells Point. 

The Horse You Came in On Saloon

We had a beer each at “The Admiral's Cup”. “Alexander's Pub”, “Dog Watch”, and the famous “The Horse You Rode In On”. These were only 4 pubs of dozens available. Each had good points, but “The Horse” as the locals call it deserves especial mention. It is one of the oldest taverns in the USA going back to the 1700s. It claims to have operated during prohibition. The poet, Poe, was said to have had his last drink at The Horse. He was found dying and incoherent on a Baltimore street the next morning. White Pepper was humbled to host a Nati Bo beer to Edgar Alexander Poe in the The Horse You Rode In On. (Nati Bo is the national beer of Baltimore. It is not available in most of the rest of the country. It tastes like the old Schlitz beer.)

After all that beer, food was needed. White Pepper headed half a block away down Thames Street to “Bertha's Muscles.” Bertha imports fresh muscles from Cape Cod this time of year and later buys local product. These were fresh, plump, and tasty sea food treats. Our previous exposure to muscles was Wal Mart frozen muscles. Indeed, I am sure most of our restaurant meals that featured muscles were also recycled from Wal Mart. These fresh muscles were so much better as to be almost a different species.

Did I mention Fort McHenry? White Pepper took the water taxi from Fells Point to Fort McHenry which is famous of its defense of Baltimore in the war of 1812. Frances Scott Key penned the “The Stars Spangled Banner” after that battle. Our visit was very impressive. At the visitors center there is a recorded presentation which tells the story of Key and the battle. At the end of the movie there is a stirring rendition of “The Stars Spangled Banner.” Then the screen parts to reveal the huge 15 starred flag waving over the fort. The moment was quite emotional and the most patriotic moment of my life. There probably was not a dry American eye in the room. Foreigner visitors were likely puzzled.

 Not a dry eye in the room

Very stirring view, note the 15 stars

The fort has quite a history beyond its immortal moment in 1814. It served as an important Civil War fort and then became an immense rehabilitation hospital after WWI. It is now a national park.

White Pepper had docked at Inner Harbor Marina—East. This place is the most logical dockage for the cruising sailor visiting Baltimore. It is expensive but is within walking distance of Fells Point, the exclusive Inner Harbor district, Little Italy, and restored docks of the inner harbor including the National Aquarium. The Camden Yards baseball park is within walking distance. One block from the water front in the Inner Harbor district is the remarkable Katyn memorial statue. The statue is an artistic and emotional appeal to Polish nationalism. It recalled ancient Polish themes from the Middle Ages as well as the tragic event in the Katyn forest in WW II. The Poles were a prominent immigrant group and left quite a mark on Baltimore. I was moved by the statue even though I do not have any Polish heritage that I know of.

Katyn Memorial

White Pepper spent all of one day at the National Aquarium. The ticket price is eye watering but worthwhile. There are many rare fish on display as well at fine displays of familiar fish. The multi level display called the Atlantic Reef is amazing. We went though twice. There is display of aquatic life from Australia and another one of the Amazon tidal basin. However, my favorite exhibit was of the tropical rain forest. The display was huge, very tall, hot and humid with tree top displays of amazing creatures including the golden maned tamuri. The golden maned tamuri is one of the rarest creatures on earth, and we were able to see two.

Our National Aquarium

Two of the last few Golden Maned Tamuri

We did walk into Little Italy to have a great rustic Italian dinner at a small restaurant, “Ammeci's”. It was one of dozens in the district with every taste accommodated from high Italian fine dining to the more common. Our other dinning experience was in the Inner Harbor district at Nando's Peri-Peri. The restaurant serves chicken Portuguese-African style in a cafeteria setting. It was easily the best chicken I have ever had.

Although White Pepper dined very well on the low side, extremely fine dinning is available in Baltimore. We did not see any of 'The Wired' or Black Lives Matter style of violence that Baltimore is notorious for. I am sure it is out there, but we did not venture more than 4 blocks away from the waterfront. Finally, with some regret but a a great deal of satisfaction White Pepper cleared away for the Chester River on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.