Quaint

DUBLIN, Ireland - If someone wishes you "the top o' the mornin'" today and offers to buy you a green beer to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, tell him to hold on a minute. It's time to remember that most Irish stereotypes are hopelessly outdated nowadays. In Ireland, if you wished someone "the top o' the mornin'," you would be taken for a being that had just arrived from Mars, and as for green beer, Guinness, the national tipple, is so black that it defies even the strongest of dyes. Most of the stereotypes center on drink, so it's worthwhile looking at the statistics.

If anything, don't refer to Westminster as just a "small town" in Carroll County. But if you want to accuse the people there of having that small-town feeling, go right ahead. For those who have been there, the term small town may seem odd. After all, it has 17,000 residents. And on the outskirts are boundless reasons to shop. But for the people who live in Westminster, it is a wonderful example of the simple life. "It's one of those hidden gems on the East Coast," said Joyce Muller, who has lived in Westminster since childhood.

Sykesville leaders want to capitalize on its small-town cachet: quaint, with businesses lining Main Street and a sense of security not found in many big cities. They have hired Margaret Spurlock, former president of Howard County Tourism Council, as part-time tourism director to put their town on the map. Spurlock will oversee the town's First Weekend promotions - cultural and other events that will be held the first Friday and Saturday of each month - and provide a communication hub for the diverse groups in Sykesville whose events attract tourists.

Sykesville leaders want to capitalize on its small-town cachet: quaint, with businesses lining Main Street and a sense of security not found in many big cities. They have hired Margaret Spurlock, former president of the Howard County Tourism Council, as part-time tourism director to put their town on the map. Spurlock will oversee the town's First Weekend promotions - cultural and other events that will be held the first Friday and Saturday of each month - and provide a communication hub for the diverse groups in Sykesville whose events attract tourists.

Nestled on the scenic Chesapeake Bay, the city of Annapolis is a beacon that draws thousands to its historic landmarks, waterfront lifestyle and proximity to the dynamic Baltimore-Washington employment market. But being popular has its downsides. Congested roads, scarce parking and heavy crowds during tourist season tax the patience of residents. The Maryland General Assembly invades for 90 days each year, adding to the pressure. With property at a premium in the coveted city core, anyone looking for real estate in downtown Annapolis can expect to pay top prices.

Every time David Hochheimer and his wife, Emily Zaas, leave their house in Maryland they have to travel through Pennsylvania just to get to the end of their driveway. That's because they live in Lineboro, a small Carroll County community on the Maryland border. The Mason-Dixon Line passes through their property. "We have 65 acres total with about 3 acres in Pennsylvania," said Hochheimer, who has lived in Lineboro since 1970. "It's a cozy little town, and it's a very comfortable town. I can pretty much walk up and down Main Street, and I would know most of the people."

Just about anything can be the subject of a musical - presidential assassins, Siamese twins, brain tumors. So a musical about the 1932 kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby isn't as bizarre as it might seem. Composer/librettist Kenneth Allan Vega's "Lindbergh Baby Kidnapped" (receiving its world premiere at the Theatre Project) has been stylishly and inventively staged by director Scott Susong, whose production incorporates film, puppetry and a trio of koken, the onstage assistants used in Japanese theater.

A half-century ago Betty Bieretz and her husband, Louis, were out for a Sunday drive in a newly developed area known as Knollwood. "It really was the location that attracted us because at the time this was out in the country," Mrs. Bieretz said. When they found the development still had a lot for sale, the Bieretzes jumped at the chance to build a home in Knollwood. "At one time you could hear a pin drop back here. One nice thing about this neighborhood is that when the homes were built each house was different.

When the words "major film event of the summer" are mentioned, people usually think of another installment of the "Star Wars" franchise. But last year in Baltimore, the major film event of the summer took place on a street corner in Little Italy, every Friday night at sundown. That's when neighborhood denizens, strolling diners and even some tourists pulled up lawnchairs in an empty parking lot, gazed upward toward a blank billboard and waited patiently for a movie to begin. When the images -- projected from a bedroom window across the street -- finally flickered to life on the screen, inevitably a gasp of delight went up. Just think: The miracle of the movies was rediscovered at High and Stiles.

Just south of Riegelsville, Pa., the Delaware Canal towpath we were biking swept close enough to Route 611 to see the yellow numbers on the big digital sign outside First Savings Bank.The time flashed: 11:30 in the morning. Then the temperature: 95 degrees.We'd picked an early June day for our 35-mile, mountain-bike ride between Easton and New Hope, and we were getting the worst kind of August weather. Still, the three of us agreed, as hot as it was -- and we'd already sweated at least a quart of Gatorade apiece -- the riding thus far had been pleasant.