Baltimore, Maryland: The City

Named after Lord Baltimore, the first Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland, this colorful, diverse city is the state’s largest and serves as its economic and cultural hub. Baltimore is known for its beautiful harbor, quirky, distinct neighborhoods, unique museums, and the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital to the east and the University of Maryland Medical Center to the west. The city boasts a rich history from the ramparts of Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine to the inspirational legends at the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum to the largest collection of Civil War locomotives ever assembled at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. If you want to fit in with the natives on your next trip to Baltimore, you'll have to get an ear for the dialect they speak in many neighborhoods in "Bawlmer," as the locals call their city. The accent comes from the combination of Baltimore's English colonial settlers with influxes of Irish, German, and European immigrants. It may help to know that locals call strangers “hon,” no matter their gender or age.