by GREG G. WEBER
Quoth the
Poet
After 200 years, Edgar Allan
Poe is still in demand
Edgar Allan Poe wasn’t born in Baltimore,
but he is buried there. Now, at the 200th
anniversary of his birth (Jan. 19, 1809, in
Boston), Philadelphia is laying claim to Poe’s
ave
Date
AROUND TO WN
the
Restaurant
Week
Jan. 26–Feb. 1
More than 60 restaurants are offering prix
fixe lunch and dinner
specials, at $20 and $30,
respectively. baltimore
restaurantweek.com
INNER HARBOR
Baltimore
Boat Show
Jan. 21–25
More than 600 boats
in a newly expanded
show that also features
new fishing equipment,
electronics and boating
accessories. Baltimore
Convention Center.
410-649-7000; baltimore
boatshow.com
CITY GUIDE
Baltimore
body. Poe wrote many more of his significant
works in Philadelphia, the argument goes,
and lived more of his life there. Baltimore
was little more than a stopping-off point.
Perhaps true, but as they say, possession is
nine-tenths of the law.
Which brings us back to his birthday, starting at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground,
519 Fayette St. on the West Side. Poe’s original
grave is marked with a headstone with a raven
carved into it, but the body was moved in 1875
to a large marble monument, facing Fayette
Street. On his birthday, every year since 1949
(a century after his death), a mysterious and
never-identified visitor known as the Poe
Toaster has left three red roses and a half
bottle of cognac at the original grave.
Within walking distance of the graveyard, at
203 Amity St., is the Poe House and Museum,
where he lived for a time. On Jan. 19 each year
the museum throws a birthday bash at Westminster Hall. 410-396-7932; eapoe.org.
Black History,
Life-Size
February is a time
to celebrate black
culture, and the
National Great
MOUNT VERNON
Portraits
Re/Examined
Through Feb. 16
Artist-in-Residence
Dawoud Bey and 12
Baltimore teenagers
collaborated to examine
and challenge ho w race,
class and identity have
been shown in fine art
portraiture throughout
history. The Walters Art
Museum. 410-547-9000;
thewalters.org
CAMDEN YARDS
50 Fashionable
Years
Through May 31
Since her debut in 1959,
Barbara Millicent Rob-
erts, a.k.a. Barbie doll, has
been a symbol of chang-
ing fashion as well as a
controversial figure in the
role of women in society.
Geppi’s Entertainment
Museum. 410-625-7060;
geppisentertainment
museum.com
Blacks in Wax
Museum is a good
place to do it.
Not only does the
museum present
historical figures
at life-size, but
it also puts their
inspiring lives in
historical context.
Baltimore natives
Frederick Doug-
lass and Thurgood
Marshall are here,
as well as Nat
Turner, Colin Pow-
ell, Rosa Parks,
Sojourner Truth,
Billie Holiday and
Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. The story
of the murder of
Emmett Till is told,
as is the history
of slavery and the
Middle Passage.
1601 E. North Ave.
410-563-3404;
greatblacksin
wax.org.
MOUNT VERNON
Mason
and Dixon
Through Feb. 28
An exhibition of arti-
facts and documents
from the Mason-Dixon
survey, a significant
scientific and historical
achievement in Ameri-
ca. Maryland Historical
Society. 410-685-3750;
mdhs.org
