You should-a been here, this week in Baltimore City

Can't let yesterday go by without memories.  I went to the Middle Branch and watched the Blue Angels with the fire truck guys from Brooklyn.   I wanted to know what insider instructions they were given.  A-mazing show, we looked up and could read the "US Navy" emblem on the planes as they flew over our heads, over and over, flying in formation so low.   We were close to the private pier where Kevin Plank's guests were standing.

Then I went to Old Saint Paul's, Francis Scott Key's church, for a special program featuring a terrific brass ensemble and chorus and finally to Ikaros for a lovely dinner.  

My choice for the best event of the week was the treason trial of John Hodges, an American accused of aiding the British in 1814.  When the Brits came up the Bay to Upper Marlboro, intent on burning the town as they had burned D.C., Hodges arranged for the release of 4 British stragglers. My friend, a federal judge, re-enacted the trial, recruiting the current judges of the Federal Court in Baltimore, to portray the characters of that time.  The defense lawyer could have been on HLOTS. I was on the jury.   What a hoot!

Almost forgot that I watched a British warship dock at Fell's Point.  I love tugs, and watching those tugs dock a ship that is longer than the pier is awesome.   A Scottish bagpipe group arrived, got into their gear a few feet from my perch.  Jill, the canine cop near me, asked (on my behalf) what a Scotsman wears under his kilt. I'll leave his answer up to your imagination.

Zip

Zippy Baltimore

"Best tours of Baltimore" - CITY Paper

"Best Tour Guide" - BALTIMORE Magazine

zippytours@gmail.com

410 - 522 - 7334

Baltimore Bakeries

  Years ago I did a bakery tour of Baltimore for a reporter, no one else, just her and me. She was a food writer looking for a fresh story and I had been studying ethnic neighborhoods.  Among the many delights I discovered were yummy one-of-a-kind bakeries, each one filled with tastes and aromas of the old country. I picked the reporter up at her house on a warm Saturday morning in August and drove her to 5 bakeries in 5 different neighborhoods.   She turned on her tape recorder in the front passenger seat of my car and I talked about Baltimore history.  Leaving each bakery, we'd open all the doors of the car and let the heat escape; it was a terribly hot day. We returned to the car five times carrying pastry and fresh baked samples that the bakers wanted us to have. We put them on the back seat. After several bakeries, I opened the car doors and was struck by the aroma of sticky buns, apple strudel, and rum buns!  It's a good thing we weren't stopped by a police officer, he would not have had to look for a bottle, the car reeked of rum!    I thought that giving the reporter the sweets when I dropped her off at her house might help her write a really good article about me and my Baltimore tours. All's fair in love, war and free advertising.  She managed to carry her tape recorder and reporter's notebook and all those boxes and bags of goodies up her front walk and the porch steps and into her house. She said her parents were coming from out of town for a week-long visit, and there would be dessert for the whole week.   My car smelled of rum for days. And when the article ran in the paper, it covered the entire first page of the Food Section. A photograph of me filled the space above the fold, the story she wrote filled up the rest of page one and carried over to three full columns on page two. Writing about this story in another Baltimore August is hard work!  I deserve one of those rum buns right now.   

Zippy Larson
Nobody knows the City like I do.
If you are a Buyer looking to buy in Baltimore City, 
call me. I provide comprehensive tours of 
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http://www.zippytours.com/
Winner, Best tours of Baltimore 2005, CITY PAPER
http://www.citypaper.com/bob/story.asp?id=10591

Member, Advisory Council, Garrett-Jacobs Mansion
Winner, Best tour guide 1989, BALTIMORE Magazine 
410 - 522 - 7334 
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Zippy Baltimore

 

"Best tours of Baltimore" - CITY Paper

"Best Tour Guide" - BALTIMORE Magazine

 

zippytours@gmail.com

 

410 - 522 - 7334

 

Baltimore's Spaghetti Bowl

By Zippy Larson

                     

July 08, 2011 06:55 PM

I ate lunch today in Little Italy, Baltimore's Spaghetti Bowl. While tourists and locals go there to eat, I recommend a guided walking tour of the neighborhood first. Located a hop, skip and jump east of the Inner Harbor, it's really two neighborhoods: residential and restaurants, about 16 in 19 small blocks.

 

Although it's zoned commercial, the city wants it to retain its residential flavor. At the corner of High and Stiles are benches where the old folks who were born and grew up here sit watching the parade of tourists who ask, "What's the best restaurant?" The oft-repeated answer is, "They're all good."

 

Old people in Little Italy are never bored or lonely. Their kids who moved to the suburbs need not worry about Mom being alone. When you live in Little Italy, the world walks past your door. Families, athletes, and movie stars search for a plate of pasta. Delicious aromas from centuries old row house kitchens flavor the air, in competition with local gossip and politics.

 

When you visit Baltimore, look for the coal holes and formstone fronts of Little Italy. And learn about ground rents. Although I own my house free and clear, I pay ground rent on it. Just another local quirk.

-- 

Zippy Baltimore

 

"Best tours of Baltimore" - CITY Paper

"Best Tour Guide" - BALTIMORE Magazine

 

zippytours@gmail.com

 

410 - 522 - 7334

Fading Gigolo

Clearly, this is not a film for the masses. It would help to brush up on your Yiddish and Spanish to get all the nuances.   It aims for a fairly well-educated mature adult. There is Woody Allen as the main actor, Sharon Stone as Sharon Stone, and Orthodox Jews as Orthodox Jews. I like to watch Woody Allen, yet if you would have told me that he could carry an entire film, at his age, and after all the scandal concerning him, I may have questioned that. 

 I'm glad I went to see it, and the music is wonderful.  I stayed to the end of the credits to listen to the music.  I wanted to get up and dance.  - Zippy

--

Zippy Baltimore

 

"Best tours of Baltimore" - CITY Paper

"Best Tour Guide" - BALTIMORE Magazine

 

zippytours@gmail.com

 

410 - 522 - 7334

 

THE SPAGHETTI BOWL in BLUE COLLAR BALTIMORE

I was a student nurse in downtown Baltimore City, a mile or so away from Little Italy.  The nurses' residence was at Rutland Street and Broadway. For 3 years I lived there, without a car. No student had a car.  We lived in a building that was attached to the hospital, and we went to work without even going outside. We ate at the hospital cafeteria.  We worked hard, 6 eight-hour shifts a week, often on night duty, and attended classes five days. We received no pay.  We paid the hospital for training us.   Each night the House Mother checked our rooms to make certain we were in bed by 10:30 pm. She came up the elevator, and shined her flashlight into each room, looking for the body in the bed.

One night a week, we were allowed to be out until 12 midnight. If we had a date, he drove to Little Italy.  Otherwise we walked.  Going to Little Italy to eat was such a treat.  I remember many a pasta, salad and veal dish, and how good it was. Head and heels over hospital food. Though today it's a tourist attraction, the Little Italy neighborhood was a community in the 1950's, half restaurants and half Italian families. The owners of the restaurants lived in the neighborhood.

When I entered nurses training at Sinai, I ate in the Kosher Kitchen in the hospital because I'd been raised in a Kosher home.  The first 6 months in training, it was easy to get to the Kosher Dining Room.  It was open short hours, just half an hour at a specified time, for each meal. Then they shut and locked the door.  The Kosher Cook was mainly there for hospitalized patients who followed dietary laws. Staff ate in a small section with 2 or 3 tables. Classes were at specific times, ending at meal hour.  But once I went on duty in the hospital, giving bedside care, it was impossible to leave the unit to eat when the Kosher Kitchen was open. And being the only nurse in my class who ate Kosher meant someone had to cover for me.  I didn't like to ask.  Patient care came first, and there was lots of work to do that took no note of when the Kosher Kitchen was open.

That's when I had to skip meals or eat in the hospital's cafeteria. YUK!  In addition to foreign food I'd never seen, it just wasn't good.  I remember creamed chipped beef that made everyone sick.  I had gone to the corner drug store for a grilled cheese sandwich that day, after I got a look at what was in those large trays and someone told me what it was. Creamed chip beef!  I ran out of there to escape the milk/meat combination.  That's when I discovered Little Italy. All the people, all the houses, were Italian. Salads were green and pasta was white! How I loved it! 

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Zippy Baltimore

"Best tours of Baltimore" - CITY Paper

"Best Tour Guide" - BALTIMORE Magazine

zippytours@gmail.com

410 - 522 - 7334

A Pre Preakness tour 3 days BEFORE the BIG Race

A Pre Preakness tour 3 days BEFORE the BIG Race

I drove up to Pimlico Race Course this morning and went on a Sunrise Tour.  It was great fun. As soon as we checked in, they gave us carrots and apples. They just stuffed the apples in the pockets of my jacket. Hot coffee was waiting for us on this foggy morning.

We saw horses being washed down after a run, I patted a Clydesdale, met and heard from the farrier and hefted a horse shoe, went to the museum, saw the jockeys' silks hanging and ready for the race, walked through the dining room, saw the betting windows, the spruced up track, and rows and rows of chairs outside ready for the race, 4 days away.

The other people on the tour were lucky to have me on the tour, since my questions pull more data out of the guide than she normally gives. I did not grow up with horses.  I'm a pavement girl, only know the city, but I've studied the history of horses in Maryland, back to the 1600's.  I took The Smithsonian Institution's Resident Associate Members to Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt's North Baltimore County horse training and breeding farm, Sagamore, in 1991, and began studying thoroughbreds for that tour. After Vanderbilt died, and homes were going to be built in the Valley, I knew the leaders of the fight to keep developers out.  And I know Kevin Plank's farm manager. Kevin, owner of Under Armour, bought and is restoring Sagamore, and I go out for a breather whenever I need to escape the city pavements. 

Anita, our guide at Pimlico this morning, works on a privately owned horse farm in Sparks, up in the county.  She gave me her phone number, and invited me to come see the farm.  I think I'll go. What's interesting is that not one other person on that tour listened to the guide's answer, when I asked her how she got in the horse business, and learned where she works now. 

One more thing:  I told Anita how much I appreciated the tour, and asked for her Supervisor's name, saying I wanted to relate how good our tour was.  Anita went off the fetch her Boss, while I waited. Professional tour guides do things that are extra, and much appreciated.
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Zippy Baltimore

 

"Best tours of Baltimore" - CITY Paper

"Best Tour Guide" - BALTIMORE Magazine

 

zippytours@gmail.com

 

410 - 522 - 7334