I was recently in Baltimore, MD for a conference and wanted to write a brief synopsis of my trip and what I’ve seen, experienced, and overall impression of the city. The conference was for my specialty area of chemistry, and so I spent most of my time at the convention center in the Inner Harbor area, which is beautiful, but the weather was in the 90s for three days of that week so I didn’t get to site-see too much, but I think I got a good handle on what the city had to offer.

Usually, when I attend a conference I like to go out into the surrounding area and get a good feel for the city culture, what there is historical in the vicinity and what the people are like. So far, I have been to a few places around the country while at conferences so it really is a special treat to work and play if you will. When the conference-organizers announced the city in which the conference was to be held a few years back I remember being an undergrad and hearing the complaints about Baltimore and how it was unsafe and had a general negative stigma.

Fast forward a few years and here I am giving a talk as a graduate student at this same conference. Now, I will be honest and one of the best things about this conference was its location relative to my university; a train ride away. This way, us travel goers didn’t have to spend that much on transportation to/from the conference (I feel so sorry for those in Australia, England, or Asian countries that have to commute with their grants disappear with one flight expenditure). Also, as I said, the Inner Harbor area is beautiful. If it wasn’t so extremely hot the days that I were there, I’d like it much more than I already did, but there wasn’t much shade and so I got a ridiculous sunburn just from sitting outside for a couple of minutes. Ugh! As a single girl in my 20s, I felt relatively safe around the convention center and on walks with my colleagues to go eat meals in the surrounding area.

But, that feeling dissipated in walking distance away from the convention center. Now, let me preface. I live in DC, I see homeless people, I know where the rough areas are, and I try to avoid them, but the same cannot be said when one is visiting a city. I went to a cute, family-owned vietnamese restaurant (Mekong Cafe) a few blocks from my hotel and it had delicious food. All cash, which wasn’t a problem, and had quite a selection of pho and noodle dishes. Came out piping hot (temperature) and had a bit of spice to it as well. Now, on my way back to my hotel I thought I’d take a little walk to the grocery store. WRONG IDEA! Two blocks from my hotel I ended up in a very rough part of town. Slightly feared for my life seeing that I was one of a very, very few females in the area, and pretty much speed walked my way back to my room. Oh and I saw a drug deal in front of three cops, with no repercussions I kid you not!

I would have to say that my favorite place was Little Italy. The aroma of Italian food was amazing! And the ambiance was just lovely. I went with my colleague and we definitely had our best meal and service there. Overall great, and by the looks of the restaurant menus in that area, any restaurant would really have been a lovely place to eat and enjoy friend’s company.

In the end, Baltimore was just another city I can say I’ve been to. It really had no main attraction that would draw me back. Some good food, and some not so good food that I did not elaborate on. The safety has definitely improved compared to my discussions that I’ve had with people who’ve visited in the past. I would suggest going so you can say you’ve been, but take your mace and hide your kids, hide your wife.