So after much procrastination i decided to spend my last week visiting Baltimore and Albany.
The cheapest flight to Baltimore involved flying an hour further north to Boston, and then flying back south. Unfortunately my flight to Boston was late so i missed the connection, but no worries as there was plenty of space on the next flight that evening.
However that meant i only had one day to explore the city.
So i walked around a couple of neighbourhoods in downtown Baltimore, including the very hip Hampden, including giant pink flamingos and flying spaghetti monsters, and checked out the art gallery (free entry) which had a decent collection of impressionist paintings. Unfortunately the contemporary section was closed for renovations.
Baltimore has a great free bus system running around downtown which is nice, so i was able to get back into town and check out the horribly touristy Inner Harbour area. Terrible. so i walked out to the Tattoo Museum in Fells Point. Lots of nice pubs in the area also.
In the evening i headed over to the baseball stadium, and picked up a reasonably cheap ticket ($32). The Baltimore Orioles just happened to be playing the New York Yankees in a top of the table clash. And it proved to be a great game, great atmosphere and great experience! Lots of colour as the home fans all wear orange, chanting, jumping up and down, mexican waves, and vendors walking around selling hotdogs and beer, including the local favourite, "Natty Boh"
Baltimore is supposed to be known for its social problems and run down areas, but i didn't see that part of the city. I would be keen to stop off here again in the future and explore more.