If you hear the King's English on Thames Street, don't be surprised.
Seems Baltimore has become a top stop for Brits touring the East Coast thanks primarily to the popularity of The Wire in the U.K.
"Why go?" asks an article on the Telegraph's (a British newspaper) Web site. "Because Baltimore is home to Stringer Bell, Bunk Moreland and Jimmy McNulty, the central characters in The Wire, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest TV dramas ever [Note from Mike: I couldn't agree more]. The facts that everyone in the series speaks in an incomprehensible street slang, the only business appears to be drug dealing and murder is carried out on a military scale, make it an edgier destination than you'll find in most city-break brochures.
"But for the really cool traveller (and we all want to be in that category), the redeveloped harbour area, with its small cafés and bars, makes Baltimore in Maryland the East Coast destination of the moment, more relaxed than New York, hipper than Boston and less than 40 miles from Washington DC."
Take that Big Apple and Beantown. The story makes some great recommendations - Gertrude's in the Baltimore Museum of Art, the American Visionary Arts Museum, the water taxi among them - as well as a few I'd rather see tourists skip (Howl at the Moon?).
I got a big kick out of the last paragraph of the story: "Avoid at all costs...Corner boys. The street-corner drug dealers of The Wire do exist, but you won't see them or have any trouble if you stick to downtown and the tourist areas of the city. It's no different from visiting cities the world over, the rules of common sense still apply."
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