Baltimore, founded in 1729, is known as "Charm City". The chief city of Maryland, it has an ethnically diverse population of 650,000. Long known for its port, steel, and seafood industries, it has played a major role in American history. The Homewood campus is located in a leafy enclave in the north-central section of the city.

    Downtown Baltimore features the Inner Harbor. Harborplace is the site of a group of striking glass and brick edifices, set at the water's edge. It is comprised of two pavilions housing various shops and all types of eating establishments from fast food to gourmet. It is also the site of frequent concerts and bi-annual fireworks displays. Harborplace establishments include the HardRock Café and ESPNZone. The National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center adjoin Harborplace. The Science Center has a variety of scientific and technological exhibits, and regularly offers special shows to the public in its Davis planetarium.

    Many different activities can be enjoyed in Baltimore throughout the year, including the Preakness (second jewel of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown), the Showcase of Nations (a series of ethnic festivals emphasizing Baltimore's diverse cultural heritage), the City Fair (the biggest urban fair in the country), the Spring Fair on the Homewood campus and Artscape (a citywide arts festival), along with Baltimore's numerous ethnic eateries. Bibliophiles will find a Barnes and Noble bookstore on campus and branches of Borders and Bibelot, both in nearby suburbs. Besides finding an enormous selection of books and international and domestic journals at the latter two, the visitor can enjoy poetry readings, small concerts and a café.

   Art museums in Baltimore include the Walters Art Gallery (one of the finest private museums in the country), the Baltimore Museum of Art (located at the edge of the Homewood campus), which, among other distinctions, contains the extraordinary Cone collection of Impressionist and Modern art, and the new Museum of Visionary Art in the Inner Harbor (featuring exhibitions of folk or "outsider" art).

    There are numerous theatrical and musical performances in town. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an outstanding professional group and has regular concert series at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The Baltimore City Opera performs at the Lyric Theater. Shriver Hall Concert Series at Homewood presents chamber music concerts and solo recitals by outstanding artists throughout the year (with reduced- price student tickets). Near the Homewood campus, the Evergreen House Foundation and the Peabody Institute (both associated with Hopkins) also hold concerts, as do many other Baltimore groups. Dramatic offerings can be found at several theaters, including the Morris Mechanic Theatre (which frequently has Broadway tryouts), Center Stage and the Barn (on the Homewood campus). There are several film series on campus, which offer both first-run and repertory domestic and foreign films.

    Baltimore features several colleges and universities, including Johns Hopkins, Loyola College, Towson University, Coppin State College, Morgan State University, Goucher College, and a division of the University of Maryland.

    Several professional sports teams have their base in Baltimore. The 2000 NFL Champion Baltimore Ravens play at Ravens/PSINet Stadium, located downtown at Camden Yards. The Baltimore Orioles, once one of major league baseball's flagship franchises, play at Oriole Park, a jewel of a stadium also located at Camden Yards. The Baltimore BLAST, a soccer team of the MISL, and the Baltimore Bandits, a professional hockey team, play home games at the Baltimore Arena. Also located there are the Baltimore Thunder, the city's lacrosse team. Sports activities also abound on campus. The Hopkins Blue Jays are among the national leaders in lacrosse. The Physics and Astronomy Department is an active participant in a diverse program of intramural sports.

    Washington, D.C., and its superb collection of monuments, museums, libraries, theaters and zoo lies only an hour southwest of Baltimore by car or frequent commuter trains. Of particular note are the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian museum complex. The Library of Congress holds free concerts, including chamber music performed by its quartet in residence on the library's own chest of Stradivarius viols.

    The Northern Central bicycle trail (on an old railroad right-of-way) goes for 30 miles from the Baltimore suburbs into Pennsylvania. (It will shortly be extended to York, Pa.) The mountains of Virginia (and the Skyline Drive) lie to the southwest, while the east offers historic Annapolis on the Chesapeake Bay and the beaches of Maryland's Eastern Shore.