Haven't been by your web site yet but hopefully you have a Harm City recap on any shenanigans you witnessed this 4th of July. Believe it was from David Simon's The Corner but an early scene was New Year's Eve and as the hour approached everyone started taking cover before people started shooting up the sky and a hail of lead came down.

Suggestion from someone who hasn't published squat:

I was thinking of a LaFond guide for the general tourist to Baltimore. Of course, most will stay in the general confines of the Inner Harbor area but there are probably heads up areas within and around that area for which you could provide practical advice ("this bus stop has a high concentration of transvestite muggers and this bar is best avoided after 9", etc. & etc.). Last time I was up there I was on edge when going to the local 7/11 right next to all the hotels as there were just kids hanging out inside the store but peering out the windows, just keeping the whole block under observation. WTF? Were they that bored or was my inner alarm right that they were up to no good? Cover stuff like that for the out of town dumbass that is in town for whatever reason.

As I was kicking that thought around in my head I think you could easily produce your own HarmCity version of Broke-Ass Stuart's Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco. You're style, in a way, is similar. Stuart just doesn't list cheap and good places to eat, interesting stores, and things to avoid and look out for in each neighborhood but also usually provides funny personal anecdotes concerning about the bars he lists. You could probably do the same thing for Baltimore and take it in the direction you want to but could be a bit of a practical guide and humorous or dramatic anecdotes.

Thanks again for the writing.

Scott

Scott, thanks for the suggestion about the guide. As my search for Crazy Mark has been fruitless, and people like the write-ups I did on the bars my first night out looking, I think I should continue that. Right off the bat I can warn readers, that if you come to Baltimore, don’t go looking for Edgar Alan Poe’s grave at dusk—seriously. I’ll stick to bars, cheap eateries, skanky joints, and places tourists need to be wary of. I will start this column in two weeks. In the mean time, if anyone has an idea for a title, please place it as a comment below.

How about The Poor Tour?

If it sucks just say so.

As for your question about recreational gunplay on the 4th, yes, yesterday, beginning about 9 p.m. the two bruthas in the rental two doors to my right begin firing their guns, a 9 mm and a 20 gauge. Then the home boy that lives behind me one street over got out his 38 special and popped that off. As far as I know no one was hit

That 7-11 you went to was the very first business to get looted during the riots! Kids between 13-16 take work as lookouts and runners for certain persecuted entrepreneurs along Howard, Liberty, Charles and Light, on the grid where Baltimore, Lombard and Pratt cross these streets.

When you are headed back into town let me know what areas you want info on.