Those of you who live near or visit Baltimore's waterfront neighborhoods know how lucky you are.   Especially those of you who have kids.

What better way to spend a morning than to walk along the waterfront walkway, possibly stopping by the National Aquarium for some dolphin time, then slipping into the Maryland Science Center in the Inner Harbor and heading straight for the best kept secret for kids in all of Maryland - the 3rd floor children's room.  Water tables.  Pneumatic tubes for sending secret messages.  Microscopes.  Trains.  A soft play area for babies.  Enough said.


How could you not love the Tiny Tot Safaris in Patterson Park, the fact that most major museums (the Walters, the BMA) are free for everyone ….. (FREE!) and come stocked with 'exploration bags' that have age-targeted activities inside. 

Or the events that come with each season, like the Halloween Lantern Festival (Patterson Park/Creative Alliance), or street performances by chanty singers (Privateer Day), Professor Horn and his Punch & Judy Show and the Travelling Flea Circus (Fells' Point Fun Festival), and Santa's arrival by tug boat?

Not to mention the generous helpings of imagination and eye candy everywhere.  Sailboats, tugboats, trash boats, trash trucks, whirlygigs, seagulls and ducks, the occasional HON.   And some of the family-friendliest places to eat on the east coast (because the owners' kids eat there too).

oh Baltimore.  We miss you.