Picture yourself in a boat on a river. With tangerine trees and marmalade skies. Or better yet, picture yourself having your taxes done while eating an assortment of foreign cuisine, listening to live jazz, all with a family of elephants. Now maybe you've already done this in some sketchy room, but chances are it wasn't free, and it wasn't on the top of the list of things you just had to do with your parents when they came to visit.
You can find the above experience at Lexington Market, a good place to get out of the Homewood bubble. Celebrating its 220th Anniversary this year, this jewel helps Baltimore hold on to the first C in Charm City. Founded in 1782 on a land grant from Revolutionary War hero John Eager Howard, from whom we also get a couple of our cherished street names, the market started out as an open air market for farmers to congregate their buggies and sell their produce and meat once a week. Two-hundred twenty years later, the market has evolved into the "world famous" structure it is today, a mall-like two-story building packed with food and gift kiosks representing the far corners of the world and the city.
The signs wage a pleasant assault on the eyes and leave them teary from laughing at the unique and often witty names assigned the various food items. A few noteworthy titles: Health Choice: Caribbean and BBQ Chicken, Pit Beef, Steamed Vegetables, Spare Ribs; Sausage Master; Polack Johnny's; Panzer's Delights; Baltimore's Best Crab Cakes -- like Bo Derek, it's an easy 10 and Mount Olympus. The gastronomic party is not the only one on this block. The market has a tax service in the building and a second-floor eating area overlooking the stage for live jazz, blues and R&B groups performing on the weekends.
So where do the elephants come in, you ask? Lexington Market hosts annual events, including the celebrity crab Preakness race, a chocolate festival and, most interesting of all, it marks the end of an elephant parade run by Barnum and Bailey's Circus. Elephants journey through the city from the circus tent to the market, where they devour a vegetarian smorgasbord on a raised elephant buffet, much to the delight of the crowd.
Even if you're not riding on your friendly pachyderm, it is still relatively cheap and easy to get to Lexington Market. Take the school shuttle from Shriver to Penn Station, drop $1.35 on a light rail ticket to the Howard Street stop, and you're there.
The locals are proud of their neighborhoods in Baltimore. The trip has value in addition to the market. For the curious, a Planned Parenthood center is nearby. There is also a bevy of different shops to pick up a Saturday fix of weaves, cell phones, pagers and sandwiches. Try Dr. Love Jones' gift shop, which puts Charles Village shops to shame and offers trinkets very appropriate for the college experience.
Gold Rock isn't subtle about its contents, and can be found right next to Wig Center. And if you're really broke, check out 99 Cents The Limit. All this and more under the shadow of the Hutzler Brother's building, a "50s style futuristic tower that makes the Hut look like an AMR study lounge.
On your way into the market, pick up some fake Burberry from the cart on the street, smile at the guy selling socks and incense, and enter this center of Baltimore culture and history that cannot be found elsewhere. Though the market area may not be the most flourishing commercial area that it was in its heyday, it is nevertheless the best place to read the true pulse of the City.
It is open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
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