When you think of Baltimore, you don't typically think of it as the place for the Nation's Firsts or Onlys.
But think again. There are actually some great sites worth checking out.
The USS Constellation
Take the USS Constellation, for instance. Boat lovers will delight at this battleship that's docked right here at the Inner Harbor, a place of vibrant life at any time of the day or night.
Check out the wheel on view right at the front entrance.
This was the original wheel of the ship but it was removed and replaced because it was in bad shape and the organization wanted to preserve it.
The boat itself was built around 1860 in Portsmouth, Virginia and was an all-wood, all-sail vessel. It never got involved in any fights.
Alas, for ghost-seekers, none have been found, but that's probably because it never got involved in any fights, even though it traveled as far as the Mediterranean, so nobody had to die.
Instead of searching out ghosts, search out instead the various decks on the ship. They're all worth investigating – from the captain's relatively spacious quarters to the gun deck with its 16 guns.
There's even a sick bay there but this was not the place to find "time off". Indeed the berths there were made of hard wood and it was located in the bow of the ship, one of the rockiest places on the boat to be.
You'd have to be really sick to put up with the constant buffeting the ship would receive from the ocean. It's likely if you weren't sick when you went in, you certainly were when you came out!
Thankfully for its 140,000 visitors a year, the ship is well stable and has been since it opened here in 1999. And the most popular item on the boat?
Would that be the bell that the youngsters can't seem to help but try out (not to mention some adults too)? Actually, no.
That award would go to the "head" or restroom.
Officers had a chamber pot on the boat but the regular seamen had to make do with the primate facilities of the "head".
American Visionary Art Museum
With the battleship being one form of transportation, you won't fail to notice another, this time at the American Visionary Art Museum.
A bus. But no ordinary bus.
This colorful, shiny bus outside the museum was made by kids. Amazingly, it can be driven, although it's not street legal.
And the whirlygig sporting street signs behind it was made from all sorts of left overs by 76-yeard old Vollis Simpson.
"I had a lot of junk and needed to do something with it," was his response to the question of why he made it.
Check out the mosaic panels all over the front of the museum – these were all made by delinquent kids. It gives them a great way to contribute to a society you feel they once hated.
Also outside you'll see a life mask to the Body Shop Founder, Annita Roddick. She donated the last $250,000 needed to open the art museum.
At the back there's a play structure, all made from fAllan wood. But all this is just on the outside of this museum that was once a whisky warehouse.
There's a lot more "spirit" of a different kind, once you're inside too. Here you'll find sculptures, paintings and art objects (can you find the set of pencil nibs, each with a tiny letter of the alphabet carved on it, made from graphite?).
All were done by people who don't typically call themselves artists. One wooden sculpture is of a man with a carved-out chest. He himself suffered from TB and the sculpture is made from an apple tree.
Unfortunately he committed suicide two years after completing the sculpture.
"What an amazing surprise," says Sheree from Atlantic City, a literary agent. "I had no idea how great it was inside."
Lisa Rogak, a visitor from Charleston agrees. "I walked around with my jaw dropped," she says.
Understandably, this museum has been voted one of the "Top 10 Places to see before you're 10" by Travel & Leisure in 2008. I'd say it's one of the top 10 places you should see, no matter what you're age.
You'd have to have been of a certain age though if you'd wanted to contribute to the bra ball they have on display.
It contains 18,000 bras and stands 5'4" tall, the height of an average woman. It's one of the most popular attractions, as is the Poodle Fifi that advertises the museum at any of the town's kinetic races.
"We want to advertise that we're accessible to everyone," says Pete Hilsee, Director of Communications at the museum.
And that they've certainly managed to be. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum Also accessible to everyone is the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, whose first stone was laid in 1828 and whose first shovel-full of dirt was dug by Charles Carroll of Carrollton.
Carroll was the last signer of the Declaration of Independence.
You'll see carriages galore and even Olive Dennis-designed china. Olive Dennis not only designed the most expensive train china, but also made a lot of renovations to passenger travel including adding a ventilation system for the traveling public.
Did you know that railroads are responsible for our present day times zones?
People were not happy with the timetables trains were running on, so time zones were invented to accommodate the problem of arrival and departure times.
The roundhouse
The roundhouse is a real eye-catcher but its builder actually wanted to built a cathedral instead. Francis Baldwin at least can feel happy that his roundhouse is now nicknamed "Baldwin's Cathedral" instead.
Horses originally pulled carts along rails but they were eventually replaced by steam since horses ate all day (and were expensive) and steam didn't.
Check out locomotive No. 25. It's said this one pulled Lincoln's funeral hearse. In fact every locomotive on display has its own history.
"The railroad has played a huge part in this country's history and it all started here," says Dave Erhardt, docent at the B&O Railroad Museum.
National Great Blacks In Wax Museum
The B&O Railroad Museum is definitely a Baltimore first, but so too is the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum that started in 1983 with just 22 wax figures.
The founder, Dr. Joanne Martin, with her late husband, used to take her exhibits around Baltimore and then take them home with her afterward in her vehicle! Thankfully she now has a museum that extends a full block.
"If I had to do it all again, I can't think of one thing I'd do differently," says founder Dr. Martin, who sold many of her personal possessions to create the museum.
Some of the exhibitions are sad and cruel – like those on display showing the slaves being processed. Some were force-fed, some were confined with iron masks on their faces as the white people attempted to turn their captives into obedient slaves.
Well known blacks including Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King and of course our current President Obama, are all depicted in wax in the museum Not surprisingly, this labor of love museum has been deemed "The most visited museum in Baltimore" by Baltimore Magazine in April 2002.
Westminster Hall
From the most visited museum to the most visited cemetery, Baltimore has that too.
There has been a cemetery at Westminster Hall since 1787 and you can see, by appointment, some of the graves inside the arches of this Presbyterian Church.
The most famous resident here, however, is Edgar Allan Poe and every year on his birthday there is a party for him. And the reason Edgar Allan Poe is here in the first place? His grandfather purchased a plot here.
Poe's grandmother actually made pants for Lafayette's troops and it's said that Lafayette himself came back to the cemetery and kissed Poe's grandfather's grave. Yet this was no ordinary cemetery.
Here lie 15 generals and the founding fathers of the city itself. No paupers were buried here but there are actually two slaves here.
The families were so fond of them, they were buried with the families they served. That was unheard of in those days. Edgar Allan Poe is not everyone's favorite and even back then many people thought of him as strange.
But he was a starving artist and decided to write short stories. His horror stories were actually based on things he read in the newspapers of the day.
People really were being buried alive (and bells were introduced into graves so those who recovered could pull the bell and get out – hence the saying "saved by the bell" and "working the graveyard shift").
We have the image of him being dressed in black, which makes him sound sinister, but everyone in those days was dressed in black! Bodies were really being stolen by body snatchers (they were sold to medical schools for a lot of money).
Strangely, the jewelry was left behind – stealing jewelry was a much great offence than stealing a body! If you're in the area around October, join the Poe funeral celebrations.
When he died only 7 people turned up, so to make up for this, there will be another celebration. On October 7, Poe's body will lie in state and be brought to the burial site.
"This event will be the biggest event in the country," says Jeff Jerome, curator of the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum.
Don't miss it.
Fort McHenry Don't miss either the place where the National Anthem was written by Francis Scott Key.
During the Civil War, Fort McHenry was the nerve center for this area but it was a battle zone with the British. Nobody knew whether the battle had been won or lost (after all there as no internet and no phone services then!).
Twenty five hours after the battle was fought, the flag was raised and that was the sign that the Battle of Baltimore had been won.
But the flag was torn and tattered, ripped to shreds with the bombs "bursting in air" and it was replaced with a new one (it's believed the original torn flag may have been divided up and given to the soldiers, but nobody knows for sure).
With great emotion and relief, Scott Key spotted the flag through a spyglass and penciled those famous lines. More than 50,000 people had climbed on to the roofs of their houses to see what had happened and the result of the battle was going to determine their future.
With jubilation, joy and relief they could see the 15 stars and stripes flying high and proud. This was the first time that history had been made around a flag – our flag was only 30 years old at that time.
That was also when the flag got its renowned nickname - the Star Spangled Banner.
In 1939 Congress declared Ft. McHenry a National Monument and Historic Shrine. The flag is the most powerful, emotional symbol we have and it all began here. Interestingly, although the words were original, the tune was not.
It had originated over 20 years before in the UK. Check out the artillery demonstrations and smell the smoke from the canons.
You'll come away with an appreciation of how much those original brave soldiers endured. And appreciative is exactly how you'll feel after seeing all the "first and only" attractions Baltimore has to offer.
For more information :
Baltimore CVB: www.baltimore.org
USS Constellation :www.constellation.org
American Visionary Art Museum : www.avam.org
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum : www.borail.org
National Great Blacks In Wax Museum : www.ngbiwm.com
Westminster Hall & Burial Grounds : www.westminsterhall.org
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (for a great evening out) : www.bsomusic.org
Fort McHenry : www.nps.gov/fomc
All this history is fascinating stuff but if you want to head off for a drink to discuss it all, or just to check out the local talent for "research purposes", look into any of the following clubs, all of which will give a sista a great time.
Clubs/locations I recommend for single ladies:
Red Maple : www.930redmaple.com
Havana Club : www.havanaclub-baltimore.com
Mosaic : www.mosaic-baltimore.com
Rams Head Live! : www.ramsheadlive.com/baltimorelive
PowerPlant Live : www.powerplantlive.com