BALTIMORE (dpa) – While Baltimore is not top of the list for most visitors to the United States, the east coast city does not deserve its reputation as a dull industrial metropolis.
Baltimore has developed an impressive cluster of museums and other tourist attractions in recent years and is is perhaps still best known as the home of Edgar Allan Poe, one of the greatest U.S. writers and critics. He lived in the city in the 1930s and died here in tragic circumstances.Baltimore has a long history as an important port city although many of the yards and warehouses on the Inner Harbour have since given way to some 200 restaurants and shops. Day trippers from surrounding towns come to eat fresh local seafood or visit the USS Constellation, the only surviving American Civil War warship.Beyond the port area Baltimore is not particularly beautiful. This working city has little of architectural splendour and scant public greenery. That’s probably why Baltimore concentrates on entertainment. In the port area is the National Aquarium (Pier 3), with more than 10,000 sea creatures on show, an artificial rain forest and a popular dolphin show. Not far from here is a museum devoted to children (35 Market Place).There is also the Science Center (601 Light Street), the Afro- American Wax Museum (1601-03 E. North Avenue) and a railway museum (901 Pratt Street) which contains more than two dozen steam locomotives. A museum of dentistry and dental equipment, which claims to be the first in the world, can also be toured by the not so squeamish.The tourist information office in the Inner Harbour (451 Light Street) sells tickets for most attractions as well as for the water taxis that offer a quick way to Fell’s Point, a bar and entertainment district in the east of the city.A few visitors come here on the trail of Edgar Allan Poe, famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. The writer of the detective story “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and the poem “The Raven” (1845) lived here in the 1830s with his cousin Virginia Eliza, whom he married when she was only 13. He wrote his first short stories here and died in Baltimore 1949 in circumstances which have still to be explained. He was found unconscious in a gutter.Poe’s grave is half an hour’s walk away from the Inner Harbour in the small cemetery at Westminster Church, on the corner of Fayette and Greene Street. It is now marked by a giant marble block but he was originally buried without a gravestone or plaque. For when Poe died at the age of 40, he did not enjoy a great reputation. Violent- tempered and impatient, the great writer found little peace in life. He moved around a lot, had numerous affairs and was ruined by his drinking and gambling addictions.The narrow graveyard has now become a place of pilgrimage for Poe fans. For the last 60 years an unknown person wearing a long coat has visited his grave each year on the night of January 19, Poe’s birthday, laying three red roses and an open bottle of cognac on his grave.Just 30 minutes by foot to the west is Poe’s house (Amity Street 203), which is open to the public. Poe’s aunt Maria Clemm lived there with her nine-year-old daughter Virginia Eliza at the time when Poe moved in. Four years later he married the child, who died early at the age of 24. Poe is said to have written his first short stories in an attic room here. The room is decorated with contemporary furniture and a few mementoes, but the exhibition is rather unspectacular.More exciting for horror fans is the house guest book. Leafing through reveals the signature of a notable successor to Poe, contemporary horror writer Stephen King. After a short tour of the house, King allegedly dashed to the Camden Yards Stadium to watch a game with the Orioles, Baltimore’s professional baseball team. Fans claim their performances can be even more heartstopping than a good Edgar Allan Poe story.Information: Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA), 345 North Charles Street, Second Floor, Baltimore MD 21201, USA. Email: vc@baltimore.org
