Baltimore S Inner Harbor

Three decades ago, a group of amateur scientists came up with an idea for a new museum, one that would stand out from the harbor's industrial blight, a place where children could grab, prod and poke exhibits and occasionally be electrified by science. It was a quite a gamble for science buffs who were best known for their collection of antique telescopes. But it paid off: Today marks the 30th anniversary of their dream, the Maryland Science Center. In the past three decades, thousands of youngsters have visited the center to learn the names of the stars, to dig for fossils and to touch a charged silver ball that makes their hair stand on end. Once the lone tourist attraction on the harbor's shore, the Maryland Science Center has become a city landmark and a symbol of the transformation that turned a working port into Baltimore's Inner Harbor, a booming tourist area that pumps tens of millions of dollars into the city's coffers annually.

The folks over at Sun Magazine had a cool feature in their latest issue where 100 Charm City celebrities shared what they love about Baltimore , and a handful of sports figures were among those who chimed in. Cal Ripken Jr. predictably said his favorite thing in Baltimore was Camden Yards. Billy Cundiff likes to grab a bite to eat at Kooper's Tavern in Fells. Domonique Foxworth thinks Harbor East is Baltimore's Inner Harbor for non-tourists. And Jim Palmer's favorite dish is the Veal Saltimbocca at Da Mimmo's.

The folks over at Sun Magazine had a cool feature in their latest issue where 100 Charm City celebrities shared what they love about Baltimore , and a handful of sports figures were among those who chimed in. Cal Ripken Jr. predictably said his favorite thing in Baltimore was Camden Yards. Billy Cundiff likes to grab a bite to eat at Kooper's Tavern in Fells. Domonique Foxworth thinks Harbor East is Baltimore's Inner Harbor for non-tourists. And Jim Palmer's favorite dish is the Veal Saltimbocca at Da Mimmo's.

Jim Rouse's "festival market place" concept for the Inner Harbor, with retail pavilions and entertainment venues, brought with it the retail industry's pattern of re-branding and call for entertaining with ever new "attractions. " This put the harbor into competition not only with malls but also with amusement parks and beach venues — essentially defining it as a place of entertainment and amusement. Maybe it is time to challenge this paradigm. Should really great locations have to reinvent themselves constantly?

One of the largest tourist events to hit Baltimore's Inner Harbor in 20 years attracted huge crowds on its first weekend day, bringing transportation snags and long lines along with the wonder of landlubbers face to face with an international bevy of tall ships. OpSail 2000, which began Friday, hit a few rough spots yesterday, as an estimated 150,000 visitors came from Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and all parts of Maryland to tour the majestic vessels. A tugboat slammed into the Pride of Baltimore II clipper about 12:30 p.m., damaging the stern of the 12-year-old boat and shaking a group of tourists on board.

First there was speed dating. Then speed job interviews. And now, speed tourism? That's what's coming to Baltimore. Entertainment Cruises, operator of the Spirit of Baltimore and Inner Harbor Spirit vessels, is planning to offer "high-speed sightseeing cruises" of Baltimore's harbor starting April 3. An open-air speedboat called Seadog III will take up to 120 passengers at a time from the Inner Harbor to the Key Bridge and back, reaching...

A quarter-million spectators braved a soggy, humid night to watch more than 1 1/2 tons of explosives go off over Baltimore's Inner Harbor to the sounds of "Stars and Stripes Forever.""We've had a really great crowd all day even with the rain," said Tracy Baskerville, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore Office of Promotions. "We've never canceled these fireworks, and we weren't going to let rain get in the way."The National Weather Service said the city received more than a third of an inch of rain -- enough to delay the Orioles game at Camden Yards for two hours and 47 minutes.

A little past 3 on a sunny afternoon, Natural Resources Police Officer Chris Morris steered his 19-foot Boston whaler around Baltimore's Inner Harbor and then worked his way to the outer edges of his patrol area. He sped by the cans stacked at the Dundalk Marine Terminal and over the Fort McHenry and Harbor tunnels, checked under the Key Bridge, looped around Sparrows Point and Fort Howard, skirted the choppy waters off Hart-Miller Island and ended up in the middle of Middle River. Without stops, the one-way trip took 31 minutes, cruising along at up to 36 knots, or 41 mph. Usually, Morris' "police post" is not so expansive.

JUST AFTER 8 a.m. yesterday, an older gentleman standing under an umbrella hailed the Pride of Baltimore II as it inched away from the Annapolis City Dock."

A year after Baltimore's Inner Harbor lost its only amphibious boat tour, a second company is about to launch a boating venture. Beginning the first week of next month, Missouri-based Ride the Ducks will show tourists city sites from nine-ton, open-air vehicles that can travel on land and water and were used by the Army during World War II. The 80-minute tour will follow a two-mile loop past attractions such as City Hall, Edgar Allan Poe's grave and...

I live about three-quarters of a mile from the Inner Harbor and have for close to seven years now, but I would not say it's one of my favorite places to frequent on a Friday night — or any other night. Sure, the harbor offers great waterfront views and a number of upscale restaurants, but most Baltimoreans would likely tell you that the Inner Harbor is for the tourists. The Inner Harbor is a moneymaking machine dreamed up 30 years ago, and it's still making money. Isn't it about time Baltimoreans took back the harbor?

An 18-hole miniature golf course on Rash Field, a 28-passenger "trackless train," a tethered balloon, a zip line and a variety of other outdoor-related activities are among nine proposals that aim to enliven Baltimore's Inner Harbor shoreline. The Baltimore Development Corp., which oversees downtown development for the city, received the bids after it issued a request for proposals from groups interested in adding family-oriented attractions to the Inner Harbor in time for the 2012 summer tourist season.

Three giant steel beams twisted and fused together during the collapse of the North Tower of New York's World Trade Center in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The rubble, which arrived Tuesday, will be reborn as Maryland's 9/11 memorial, to be erected at Baltimore's World Trade Center in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Gov. Martin O'Malley called it "a sacred and holy relic," and his voice faltered as he said he would do his part to ensure that the state never forgets the 43 Marylanders who died when airplanes smashed into the towers and the Pentagon in Virginia.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor was once ringed by wetlands, but over time they gave way to development until only one was left. Now there are two. Volunteers in kayaks, a small boat and a canoe towed a "floating wetland island" from Fells Point — where it took form — to the waters alongside Baltimore's World Trade Center on Sunday. Tourists stopped to gawk and snap photographs as the environmentally friendly flotilla made its slow way along the harbor, the cargo more eye-catching in its greenery than anything else in the crowded waterway.

After you and your kids have had your encounter(s) with Curious George this weekend, here are five more things you might want to do in the Inner Harbor area. Maryland Science Center (601 Light St.; 410-685-2370 or mdsci.org): Dinosaurs! Amplified body sounds! Machines that make your hair stand on end! And a movie screen five stories high! What's not to love about the Maryland Science Center? And we haven't even talked about Baltimore's coolest museum gift shop. (OK, maybe the Visionary Art Museum's is better.

Operators of a "high-speed sightseeing cruise" planned for Baltimore's harbor have pushed back the start of their service from April 3 to later in the month. Featuring a speedboat named Seadog III and described as "history tour meets thrill ride," the attraction will offer a narrated tour from Baltimore's Inner Harbor to the Key Bridge and back, reaching speeds of up to 32 knots in Baltimore's outer harbor. Steve Dutcher, vice president and general manager of Entertainment Cruises, said the company needs more time to get ready and will announce start dates and other details about its service soon.

Sixty-two ports, two oceans and some 37,000 miles after leaving the Chesapeake Bay last fall, the Pride of Baltimore II is home again. The stately replica of the famed Baltimore clipper ships of the early 19th century has completed its fifth mission carrying the message of Maryland business and the Port of Baltimore from the Baltic and Black Seas to Hawaii and Alaska. The time has come again for the state's most effective international ambassador to renew its emotional bond with the people who helped build her.For the tens of thousands of sailors in Chesapeake country there can be few more enchanting sights than the topsail schooner, her saluting cannons booming, cutting through the water under full sail, as she did in returning to Baltimore's Inner Harbor yesterday.

As if in a scene from a "Superman" movie, people walked along Baltimore's Inner Harbor yesterday evening, staring toward the heavens to admire the latest addition to the night sky -- eight shafts of light that spread out for miles in all directions."

First there was speed dating. Then speed job interviews. And now, speed tourism? That's what's coming to Baltimore. Entertainment Cruises, operator of the Spirit of Baltimore and Inner Harbor Spirit vessels, is planning to offer "high-speed sightseeing cruises" of Baltimore's harbor starting April 3. An open-air speedboat called Seadog III will take up to 120 passengers at a time from the Inner Harbor to the Key Bridge and back, reaching...