the entrance to hell. (http://cromwell-intl.com/travel/usa/baltimore/) this person's bog sounds almost identical to mine.
my first full day in the beautiful city of Baltimore was greeted warmly by the nice sound of cars roaming outside and the songbirds chirping. i got dressed, hopeful and happy for the day of historical excursion ahead. i donned my plum velvet blazer and left my happy bank/hotel to enjoy a stroll around POE's Baltimore. many streets were crossed, many people passed. streets turned into avenues, that turned into alleyways, that slowly began to look less like a scene from a cake baking show, and more like a hybrid between good times reruns and the breaking news on channel 10. the nice cars and birds i heard this morning were exchanged for sirens and children screaming, as well as blasting rap music and cursing that resembled the halls of menchville...on steroids. i was beginning to wonder where the transporting machine from an alternate universe i had stepped on was, because it seemed like as soon as i left the Westminster church i ended up in the middle of the set of the movie, Boyz in the Hood. as i walked on, hoping that somewhere along the way i would find the safe haven that would be the Poe house, the surroundings were getting worse and worse, and i was thinking that either i was two steps from being shot, or someone was going to try and sell me some hard drugs. i was wondering if the map had lied to me, a dangerous thing when one relies on printed information to get to where they are going on foot and have no familiarity with the area. there was no sign of anything remotely like a museum....so i found it increasingly necessary to phone a police officer, or superman, or JESUS, whomever got there faster.
i don't think i will never forget Officer Nelson. when the police came to pick me up, they were all laughing at what must be the typical lost and weary traveller. apparently, the Poe House that i never saw, i had just walked by. and apparently my story was not falling on unfamiliar ears. the "historical landmark" is in the middle of one of the worst ghettos in Baltimore, and is actually attached to Project housing. it wasn't even open, as a male officer informed me, it was closed for renovations. and i found out on the blog that i posted a link to above, that you can only get in through prior notice and arrangements. and hardly anyone goes because it is in the middle of hell, or Maryland's Bronx, whichever.
Officer Nelson gave us a ride back to the hotel, which was exceedingly nice. and she even drove by the Poe House so we could see it. it was not what we expected. and was surrounded by truly unseemly circumstance. this was not explained on the brochure. NEVER GO THERE, UNLESS YOU ARE SEEKING DEATH OR HEAVY DRUGS.
while i was riding in the back of a police car for the first and only time in my life, i started to realize how far from the hotel i had actually walked. the high rise businesses and old fashioned historical buildings, gave way to thousands of discount liquor stores and Animal Chop Shops specializing spare parts. the smells changed, from commercial smog and food to nasty dirt and decay. the quaint eateries gave way to run down restaurants out of service for years. Officer Nelson had commented as we passed through the projects that the police in this neighborhood have nicknamed the area around Edgar Allan Poe's House "THE PO' HOUSES."
i took a photograph of a bench in that terrifying ghetto i was in, it was well worn with the phrase, "Baltimore the best city in America." it made me realize how deep the rabbit hole i stumbled down really goes. it is amazing when you see with your own eyes the disappointment that emanates from a place like that. it made me glad for the beauty that i find in my own home, it made me realize how sad i truly am for America.
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