Charm City :: Essays Papers

Charm urban centerThe sour winds blow off the Chesapeake as we drive the Uhaul down the old pave street toward our new apartment. My stomach flips with excitement. Im actually moving to Baltimore. Charm City. The City That Reads. (At least this is what all the bus benches claim, but Im sure many would argue.). The metropolis where a young George Herman Ruth, Jr. swung a stick at a small rubber ball in front of 216 Emory Street and nineteen years later, after signing a contract with the Orioles, adopted the observe Babe. The city where in 1826, an 8 year old Frederick Bailey retreated from the imprisonment of slavery by learning to read and 21 years later, as Frederick Douglas, published the North Star, an abolitionist newspaper. The city where once upon a midnight muddy Edgar Allen Poe pondered, weak and weary and suddenly there came a tapping at his sleeping room door. The city where Marci Koch, an aspiring artist at 27, unpacked a Uhaul on a brisk wintry day in M arch of 1999.Various structures of dissimilar shapes and sizes decorate the Inner Harbor. At night, the darkness defines the scattered brilliance of towers, desirous wonders reflected in the water. The Lord Baltimore Hotel, once the tallest building in Maryland, glows gold, noble and proud. The tycoon on a giant chessboard. The Legg Mason building stands at his side, his regnant Queen. The Bromo Seltzer building glows blue, dark and mysterious. The slender, square pillar resembles a castle. understandably his rook. And the others scattered ab let out, his bishops, knights, and pawns. Sprinkled upon red brick sidewalks, restaurants, shops, galleries, and hotels display dazzling signs that flicker and flash. Barnes and Nobles, Planet Hollywood, ESPN Zone. The Hyatt, The Hilton, The Sheraton Hotel. The Aquarium, skill Center, and Port Discovery Museum. A huge red and yellow nor-east guitar sits on top of the Hard Rock Cafe. The strings blink sticker and forth vibr ating in the night sky. I imagine if it was real, all of Baltimore could let out it playing Big City Nights by the Scorpians.The sounds of the city create a symphony. The soprano squawks of seagulls, saxophones that compliment the deep sounds from ships in the harbor- a long, drawn out