pkelly1us
06-13-2005, 09:12 AM
Charm City on globe's Top 10
A respected travel guide endorses a jewel of the Chesapeake as a world-class attraction for summer visitors.
By Jill Rosen
Sun Staff
Originally published May 27, 2005
Anyone who has ever hunted for parking in Little Italy on a balmy Friday night, anyone who has craned to see the Inner Harbor fireworks over the throngs of July Fourth revelers, anyone who has licked a syrupy cold snowball on a hot city street -- they know.
Baltimore's got its summertime allures.
But to rank the city one of the Top 10 summer destinations for 2005 in the world -- the whole, entire world -- as Frommer's, the travel guide company, just did? Positioning it up there with Barcelona, Belize and Puerto Rico?
A traveler might wonder whether someone at Frommer's had a few too many Natty Bohs.
"They've got Baltimore in with what?" asks an incredulous Scott Panian, owner of Amicci's restaurant in Little Italy, one of many Baltimore spots that Frommer's is ballyhooing.
"I do a lot of international travel, and I find that most people don't know where Baltimore is. ... Maybe they will now."
Frommer's says it assembled its list, released yesterday, after polling "hundreds of outspoken experts around the world."
Though it asked for up-and-coming destinations, a few of the other locales on the list, such as South Africa and Puerto Rico, seem more up-and-already-there.
But Frommer's gushes about Baltimore no less than other exotic sites.
"If you've never considered Baltimore, now is the time," says the company's news release. "It's undergoing a cultural renaissance that goes beyond baseball and steamed crabs."
Baltimore tourism officials are striking I-knew-it-all-the-time poses.
"It's amazing," says Leslie Doggett, president of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. "I've always said Baltimore is America's best kept secret. Apparently it's also the world's best kept secret."
Across town, the city's hot spots are trying to digest the news and battening down the hatches for a tourism onslaught.
"We don't have a travel plaza for all the buses, but maybe we ought to consider it," says Steven Stegner, owner of 20th Century Gallery on Howard Street's typically quiet Antique Row.
At the American Visionary Art Museum, admission assistant Drew Bena, though not positive, was pretty sure Baltimore had destination gravitas.
"I've lived in Baltimore my whole life, and I don't know about the idea of comparing it to Barcelona and Belize," he says. "But I've never been to Barcelona and Belize, so potentially."
In Mount Vernon, Abacrombie Fine Food and Accommodations owner Sonny Sweetman could hardly stop laughing.
Plenty of folks around town, however, say Baltimore's past due for international props.
Harbor views. Winning Orioles. Crabs. And a native cookie with an inch-thick coating of fudge icing on top.
"Wow, I wish I could say it's because of Berger cookies," Charles DeBaufre, Berger's president, said of the news. But the city's real treats, he said, ring the Inner Harbor.
At Fort McHenry, which welcomes more than 600,000 visitors a year, Chief Ranger Charlie Strickfaden is not a whit surprised that acclaim is rolling in. After all, Baltimore claims the very spot that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"We already know we have a rich historic, cultural heritage," he says. "We know what we have."
In fact, Charm City's charm's beguiled a passel of ladies all the way from Sykesville yesterday afternoon.
After a fattening lunch at Cafe Hon that reminded them of their grandmas, the women stood on The Avenue in Hampden, cheerfully counting off Baltimore's many attributes.
"The seafood in Baltimore is probably some of the best you're getting anywhere," raved Sharon Forthman.
"The seafood is definitely a big draw," seconded Anne Burgan.
"Oh, and Johns Hopkins? That's world-renowned," Forthman pointed out.
"They do have some outstanding doctors," Burgan agreed.
"And also," Forthman concluded, "That TV show that was so popular? Homicide? People would come here because of that."
Across the street, standing under a sign advertising "Bawlamer Charm" and near a display of crab magnets, Hometown Girl co-managers Lori Eber and Carla Merrick, both Baltimore natives, think they know what everyone's seeing in their town.
"I find that even if people leave, they always come back because there's something very small-town about it that makes it like missing your family," says Eber.
Adds Merrick: "It's charming, that's what it is."
A respected travel guide endorses a jewel of the Chesapeake as a world-class attraction for summer visitors.
By Jill Rosen
Sun Staff
Originally published May 27, 2005
Anyone who has ever hunted for parking in Little Italy on a balmy Friday night, anyone who has craned to see the Inner Harbor fireworks over the throngs of July Fourth revelers, anyone who has licked a syrupy cold snowball on a hot city street -- they know.
Baltimore's got its summertime allures.
But to rank the city one of the Top 10 summer destinations for 2005 in the world -- the whole, entire world -- as Frommer's, the travel guide company, just did? Positioning it up there with Barcelona, Belize and Puerto Rico?
A traveler might wonder whether someone at Frommer's had a few too many Natty Bohs.
"They've got Baltimore in with what?" asks an incredulous Scott Panian, owner of Amicci's restaurant in Little Italy, one of many Baltimore spots that Frommer's is ballyhooing.
"I do a lot of international travel, and I find that most people don't know where Baltimore is. ... Maybe they will now."
Frommer's says it assembled its list, released yesterday, after polling "hundreds of outspoken experts around the world."
Though it asked for up-and-coming destinations, a few of the other locales on the list, such as South Africa and Puerto Rico, seem more up-and-already-there.
But Frommer's gushes about Baltimore no less than other exotic sites.
"If you've never considered Baltimore, now is the time," says the company's news release. "It's undergoing a cultural renaissance that goes beyond baseball and steamed crabs."
Baltimore tourism officials are striking I-knew-it-all-the-time poses.
"It's amazing," says Leslie Doggett, president of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. "I've always said Baltimore is America's best kept secret. Apparently it's also the world's best kept secret."
Across town, the city's hot spots are trying to digest the news and battening down the hatches for a tourism onslaught.
"We don't have a travel plaza for all the buses, but maybe we ought to consider it," says Steven Stegner, owner of 20th Century Gallery on Howard Street's typically quiet Antique Row.
At the American Visionary Art Museum, admission assistant Drew Bena, though not positive, was pretty sure Baltimore had destination gravitas.
"I've lived in Baltimore my whole life, and I don't know about the idea of comparing it to Barcelona and Belize," he says. "But I've never been to Barcelona and Belize, so potentially."
In Mount Vernon, Abacrombie Fine Food and Accommodations owner Sonny Sweetman could hardly stop laughing.
Plenty of folks around town, however, say Baltimore's past due for international props.
Harbor views. Winning Orioles. Crabs. And a native cookie with an inch-thick coating of fudge icing on top.
"Wow, I wish I could say it's because of Berger cookies," Charles DeBaufre, Berger's president, said of the news. But the city's real treats, he said, ring the Inner Harbor.
At Fort McHenry, which welcomes more than 600,000 visitors a year, Chief Ranger Charlie Strickfaden is not a whit surprised that acclaim is rolling in. After all, Baltimore claims the very spot that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"We already know we have a rich historic, cultural heritage," he says. "We know what we have."
In fact, Charm City's charm's beguiled a passel of ladies all the way from Sykesville yesterday afternoon.
After a fattening lunch at Cafe Hon that reminded them of their grandmas, the women stood on The Avenue in Hampden, cheerfully counting off Baltimore's many attributes.
"The seafood in Baltimore is probably some of the best you're getting anywhere," raved Sharon Forthman.
"The seafood is definitely a big draw," seconded Anne Burgan.
"Oh, and Johns Hopkins? That's world-renowned," Forthman pointed out.
"They do have some outstanding doctors," Burgan agreed.
"And also," Forthman concluded, "That TV show that was so popular? Homicide? People would come here because of that."
Across the street, standing under a sign advertising "Bawlamer Charm" and near a display of crab magnets, Hometown Girl co-managers Lori Eber and Carla Merrick, both Baltimore natives, think they know what everyone's seeing in their town.
"I find that even if people leave, they always come back because there's something very small-town about it that makes it like missing your family," says Eber.
Adds Merrick: "It's charming, that's what it is."