Head on over to the B&O (Baltimore & Ohio) Railroad Museum at 901 West Pratt to learn all about America's most romantic form of transportation. Occupying an old train station and roundhouse, the museum features a variety of full-sized train cars and locomotives from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as plenty of railroad memorabilia. You can even take a short train ride here.
Visit the birthplace of some of the most popular American stories and poems of the nineteenth century: Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum at 203 Amity. It was in this cottage that the haunted writer composed some of his earliest works. Take a cab here or look for a house with an old-fashioned black street light out front.
See the place that inspired the writing of the "Star-Spangled Banner"--Fort McHenry National Monument at 2400 East Fort Avenue. In 1814, Fort McHenry was besieged by the British. That event was witnessed by attorney Francis Scott Key, who composed the anthem. The fort saw service in the War of 1812 and the Civil War, was a military hospital during World War I and was a training facility in World War II. It can now be reached by boat and is open for tours. The highlights of the day are the flag-raising and lowering ceremonies. Since the flag is forty-two feet long and thirty feet wide, visitors are recruited to help hold the flag up and fold it.
Enjoy the riches of the deep at the National Aquarium at 501 East Pratt at Piers 3 and 4. One of the finest aquariums in the nation, this state-of-the-art facility showcases over 1,800 creatures and includes a variety of aquatic environments, the most popular of which is the four-story coral reef.
Play the ponies at Pimlico Race Course at 5201 Park Heights Avenue, best known as the site of the Preakness Stakes, held every May. Fans of the movie "Seabiscuit" will remember this as the site where the legendary horse beat his rival, War Admiral, in 1938.
Scratch that nautical itch and visit the U.S.S. Constellation at 301 East Pratt. This three-masted ship was built in 1854 and saw action in the Civil War and was used in various capacities well into the twentieth century. Prowl above and below deck and watch the "crew" shoot off a cannon at noon.
Examine artistic treasures from around the world at the Walters Art Museum at 600 North Charles Street. The works displayed date from ancient times to the nineteenth century, and include Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Islamic and Asian pieces, paintings by El Greco, Manet, Reni, Raphael, Monet, Turner, Ingres, Daumier, Delacroix, Veronese, Corot, Géricault and Millais, glassware from Lalique, jeweled Easter eggs made by Peter Carl Fabergé, illuminated manuscripts, armor, porcelains, bronze and lacquerware. Admission is free.
