Tiptoe through the tulips at Sherwood

As all of Hopkins knows, except perhaps for a few stray grad students too deep in their research to notice, Spring Fair happened this past weekend. The weather was beautiful, Wild Bill’s soda was flowing, Chicken on Stick was purchased and eaten in the yearly ritual, and everyone and their professor could be spotted in the Beer Garden.

Once the haze of late Friday afternoon and Saturday had passed, though, I awoke Sunday morning with a foul-tasting mouth and a guilty conscience. I decided to do something wholesome and outdoors before I sat down to do homework until the wee hours of Monday. Having not worked out for awhile, and having never been to Sherwood Gardens, I decided a run to Sherwood Gardens was in order. I had heard about it freshman year but never got around to see it.

For some reason I always thought it was far away. It turns out it’s a 10 minute run, or a 20 minute walk, from where I live on Guilford. Not far at all! Even if you are scared of Baltimore (which, though understandable, is a feeling you should work against) it’s a very non-scary walk, even alone. It’s through the unreal neighborhood of Guilford. It doesn’t feel like Baltimore there, which to me is a little sad. There’s not a row house in sight; All the lawns are manicured, and all is thoroughly suburban and normal. The flowers are gorgeous, as are the trees, and there are consistently available sidewalks and green spaces to run on all over the place. You can also feel pretty comfortable running shirtless there even if you’re female — I’ve never been catcalled there, actually — which is extremely nice especially if you’re like me and you feel like you are about to punch a b*tch the next time you get catcalled trying to cross the damn street.

I knew I was getting close to the park when I started to see parked cars and lots of people walking in the same direction. The park itself was, as promised, full of beautiful tulips and people. All of Baltimore’s families, it seemed, had decided that this was the best place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Honestly, I agree. Even if your allergies are horrible, it’s worth going to see it; I bet it’s beautiful and peaceful at night, and during the week it’s a beautiful place to go do homework off campus. That day, people were playing frisbee and croquet, taking photos, picnicking, wandering around and talking, enjoying the day and each other’s company. It is hard at times, living on campus, to remember that we belong to a city of families, a city of people very like us and quite unlike us. It is not far away. It is not unrelated to us. We all share Baltimore.

Sherwood Gardens, while located in an exclusive neighborhood, is inclusive in that it is free and open to all. It used to be part of the estate of A.S. Abell, founder of The Baltimore Sun. The garden itself was created in the 1920s by John W. Sherwood, a local conservationist and petroleum pioneer. The Guilford Association now owns it, meaning that it is a privately owned park even though it is open to the public. The garden is planted with around 80,000 tulip bulbs a year, along with other spring flowers. In the summer, the garden is re-planted. Fun fact: some of the plants in the garden date back to the 18th century and were collected from Southern Maryland colonial estates.

The garden is at its best right now. Some of the daffodils are already gone, and the tulips will be gone by early May, so be sure to make it soon. Maybe bring a Frisbee and make some new friends! Maybe bring your homework. Maybe bring your flute, like one guy I saw did, and play while standing on a tree branch. Definitely bring some snacks, as well as Zyrtec if you’ve got bad allergies and, of course, you should bring an appreciation for the beauty of (man-made)nature.