"Fall back into place
Fall back"
Baltimore has been one of those cities that’s been a
constant in my life. (I grew up about 90 miles away) When my family moved
to Virginia in the early 80’s I remember going to see the Orioles play at Memorial
Stadium. Once Camden Yards opened in 1992, I had the pleasure of going to a few
games a year. I’ve been fortunate to visit various ballparks around the country
(Wrigley, Fenway, Coors Field, AT&T Park, PNC Park to name a few) but Camden
is still my favorite. It just feels like home. My dad’s company hosted marketing events their in the 90’s so my brother and I would often get to tag along.
Once I got my drivers license, myself and friends would make the pilgrimage at least
once a year. This of course was some of the golden era for the O’s where I got
to see Cal Ripken Jr, Brady Anderson, Rafael Palmeiro and Mike Mussina in all their
(sometimes let’s say “genetically enhanced”) glory. One time I got to attend a
pregame picnic with "all you can eat" hot dogs. I believe I got to 10 before
realizing it was not a good idea. Let’s just say I didn’t see much of that
game.
After college when I lived in South Carolina a good friend of
mine moved to Baltimore so I would still fly up once a year to continue the
tradition and expand my city knowledge beyond the Inner Harbor. Now that I’ve been able to spend more time in Charm City, I’ve collected a few favorite
spots around town. (mostly crab-related of course) For crab cakes I’m going
with Koco's Pub
, L.P. Steamers
for the full throw down steamed crabs on newspaper/get your hands dirty experience (recommend
grabbing a rooftop seat if you can with views of the Baltimore Harbor) and on a
trip last year I got to indulge in the world famous Crab pie at Matthew's Pizza.
Baltimore doesn’t seem to be in the news for positive things
too often but to quote John Legend I love all of its “perfect imperfections.” I’ve
had wonderful visits to Baltimore, met interesting people, and I can’t wait to
visit again hopefully in 2021 and get back to Camden Yards. The picture to the left
was back from a 2015 game. I got up to find some popcorn and beer (as usual) and as luck
had it Oriole Bird himself was coming my way. Anyways this was my attempt at a
selfie. I’d like to say it was an artistic shot but I was a dude in my late 30’s
so it's a skill I suppose I could improve upon. In my defense judging from my
eyes I may have been “in the cups” a bit.
This song from the Baltimore based Beach House came on my
shuffle during dinner last week. While listening to these guys I can smell Old Bay seasoning and
hear the cracking open of a Natty Boh tallboy. I feel like Beach House’s laid
back, meditative, trance like world would be a perfect soundtrack to the afterlife.
Whether it's purgatory, nirvana, your own planet!, or a waiting room a la Beetlejuice.
The repeated lyric of “Fall Back into Place” is now a motto or mantra I like to try and follow with the current health crisis. Everyone has handled this time differently
depending on circumstance and outlook but hopefully most have been able to
savor a bit of this pause and been able to reflect on good memories and look
forward to cherishing future events even more so. I miss seeing the news
stories on how some of the planet’s environment's were healing after less
congestion and punishment. Hopefully we can apply some of that narrative going
forward. As a bonus track here’s Gram Parsons’ version of “Streets of Baltimore.”
Have a good week everyone.
