Visit Baltimore : Buzz

X Games icon and local hero Travis Pastrana is coming back to Baltimore -- in a monster truck.

From the source:

"Pastrana will be driving the Nitro Circus truck named after his MTV reality show. His good friend, Cam McQueen usually drives the truck, but Pastrana takes over for McQueen several times a year.

"Honestly, though, I just want to get as much experience as I can and try to do my best every time I am in the truck," Pastrana said.

Pastrana finished fifth in freestyle at the 2009 Monster Jam World Finals. Sixteen trucks will compete in the event at M&T Bank Stadium."

Read the full story here.

The Orioles went big last week and drafted a talented high school arm with their first pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.

From the source:

"Over the last couple of weeks, some big numbers started popping up in connection with high school pitcher Dylan Bundy, the prospect most prognosticators had going to the Orioles with the fourth overall pick in this year's draft.

Six years, $30 million, one report said.

That didn't scare off Baltimore, which took the hard-throwing right-hander with its first-round selection Monday."

Read the full story at the Carroll County Times.

Tongues continue to wag about the Baltimore Grand Prix and its impact on the city. Here's Evan Serpick at Baltimore Magazine:

"Now, I'm beginning to wonder if the Grand Prix will prove to be worth all of the hassle. It's a sentiment echoed all over town, and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake...who pushed hard to bring the Grand Prix to Baltimore, had better hope that that the event is truly the transcendent, lucrative experience we've been promised. Or else she'll have some tough questions to answer -- something she no doubt would like to avoid in this election year."

Read the full story.

Baltimore's beloved Bromo Seltzer Tower is turning 100.

From Jacques Kelly at the Sun:

"Like Baltimore, it's quirky," said artist Greg Otto, who has painted the tower numerous times and reproduced it on postcards. "The clock face is gorgeous, an extravagancy we don't see anymore. The tower itself is not particularly beautiful � an unadorned shaft with a wonderful crown. And yet, everybody knows that damn building."

Read the full story here.

"The Raven," star John Cusack and director James McTeigue's fictional account of Baltimore's own Edgar Allan Poe, is one step closer to release with a new distribution deal announced last week.

Here's the story.

It's not often that home movies receive the recognition they deserve, but the co-founder of the Baltimore-based Center for Home Movies has launched a new exhibition for amateur filmmakers.

Here's the story.

Our nickname may be "Charm City" but according to Travel + Leisure Magazine, a recent survey ranks the city No. 7 among the nation's rudest cities.

Here's the story.

Another traveler shares his charmed experience during a trip to Bmore!

Here's an excerpt:

"Name an American city with a vibrant waterfront for locals and visitors alike, a wealth of cultural opportunities, great restaurants, and friendly people.

Charleston, SC? Austin, TX? San Francisco, CA?

Nope. Try Baltimore.

Baltimore?

Yeah, Baltimore. I just got back from a whirlwind weekend in the Charm City, and fell in love with the setting, the activities, the people, the food, just the feel of the place."

Read the entire post.

Slowly but surely, word is getting out that Baltimore is more than a compendium of competing images from "The Wire" and John Waters' films. The most recent convert is a journalist from the Bay Area Reporter who's spreading the good news -- Baltimore's got charm!

Here's an excerpt:

"It may not seem like it at first, but Baltimore � known as "Charm City," among other nicknames � does indeed have some charm to it.

There's more to the Maryland city, settled in the early 17th century, than the scenery that filmmaker John Waters made famous in camp favorites like Pink Flamingos and Hairspray .

Among the brick row houses and restaurants serving crab cakes, visitors can also find an art museum where a giant pink poodle is the star, and a cafe that celebrates women in beehives and leopard print jackets."

Read the entire article here.

A model train running in circles along a track below the Christmas tree was once a holiday must. And while it has faded from favor in most homes, anyone interested in experiencing the joys of a model train holiday display could head down to D.C.

But why bother when there's a much more convenient and dazzling display at the B&O Railroad Museum?

Here's an excerpt:

"The B&O Railroad Museum is home to the oldest, most comprehensive collection of railroad artifacts in the Western Hemisphere and within its iconic Roundhouse, surrounded 360-degrees by true historic engines, some of the most interesting of model train layouts are found.

Travelers to Baltimore usually had to choose between a bed and breakfast or a large chain hotel, according to the New York Times.

Now, tourists can stay at the Hotel Monaco, the boutique downtown Charles Street property that opened last year. The New York Times featured the Monaco in its Maryland travel guide.

"The cavernous entrance features grand Tiffany stained-glass windows and a sweeping marble staircase that's been carefully preserved," the Times reports.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Locust Point made it onto WalletPop's list of the 29 safest big city neighborhoods in the country. The South Baltimore community came in No. 3.

Here's an excerpt:

"Using exclusive neighborhood crime data developed by Dr. Andrew Schiller's team at NeighborhoodScout.com, and based on FBI data from all 17,000 local law enforcement agencies, they crunched the numbers to reveal the safest neighborhoods in every major American city. As it turns out, some big cities contain neighborhoods that are among the safest of any place in the nation, hopefully breaking stereotypes."

Read the entire article.

According to Travel + Leisure magazine, Baltimore is one of travelers' favorite American cities.

Here's an excerpt:

"Last summer, we asked our users to rate 35 cities around the U.S., from San Diego to Seattle and from Boston down to Miami � and a lot of hot spots in between � in 54 categories. For example, which city is the best for relaxing? (Both Portlands � Maine and Oregon � made the top 10.) Where should you go if you want an active vacation? (Apparently, not New Orleans.) And once you're there, how friendly � or rude � are the locals you'll meet? (Let's just say New York didn't fare well.)"


Here's the article.
Check out the city's rankings.
Watch the video:

Baltimore natives don't bat an eyelash when a heaping bowl of sauerkraut is placed among other goodies on the Thanksgiving table. For transplants or visitors, however, the tangy side dish causes more than a few raised eyebrows. Ever wonder how the German staple became a Bmore tradition?

Here's an excerpt:

"Growing up, I had no idea that sauerkraut is not, to most Americans, a traditional Thanksgiving dish. It was always there, on the sideboard, as inevitable as turkey. That's part of the condition of being a kid: Your family, no matter the oddities or inconsistencies, still seems perfectly normal. Adulthood came late for me, because it was only five years ago when I learned that my family's sauerkraut could be considered weird, when the man who is now my husband spent his first holiday with us staring in puzzlement at the bowl of it.

I didn't know what to say that day to explain our tradition, but I've since done some research, and I now know where it comes from: Baltimore. Serving sauerkraut at Thanksgiving is an old tradition there, rooted in the homes of the city's German immigrants. In 1863, when Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday, about a quarter of Baltimore's population was German. Sauerkraut was a given on their celebratory table..."

Read the entire article.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor continues to be a shining example of what city government and private enterprise can accomplish when they come together. This Buffalo TV Station takes a look at Bmore's crowning jewel to see what they can do with their city's harbor area.

Here's an excerpt:

"Baltimore's waterfront is living it up, while Buffalo's lingers in limbo. So how come other cities can make a success of these prime pieces of property?

News 4 went to "America's Comeback City" to check it out.

"This was still all industrial pier," said Downtown Partnership of Baltimore's Mike Evitz.

From the 1970's, to today.

"It was just bare land," said President & CEO of Maryland Science Center Van Reiner.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor has a whole new look. It's no bigger in size than Buffalo's Inner Harbor and Erie Basin Marina, but more than a hundred shops and restaurants have sprouted up here in the past 30 years."

Read the entire story.