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1st Mariner Arena
The Major League Soccer team Baltimore Blast plays at the 1st Mariner Arena .
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American Visionary Art Museum
We've got nothing but love for the American Visionary Art Museum. Exclusively showcasing self-taught (or 'outsider' art), AVAM is what every art museum should be: a happy celebration of unbridled creativity utterly free of arts-scene pretension. Some of the work comes from asylums, others are created by self-inspired visionaries, but it's all totally captivating and well worth a long afternoon.
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B&O Railroad Museum
The Baltimore & Ohio railway was (arguably) the first passenger train in America, and the B&O Railroad Museum is a loving testament to both that line and American railroading in general. Trainspotters will be in heat among more than 150 different locomotives, the most comprehensive collection in the country.
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Babe Ruth Birthplace & Museum
The Babe Ruth Birthplace & Museum celebrates the Baltimore native son who happens to be the greatest baseball player in history.
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Baltimore Civil War Museum
A mob of antiwar, slave-owning Marylanders rioted against Union soldiers at the start of the Civil War, and the Baltimore Civil War Museum does an excellent job of documenting the event, the first bloodshed of America's bloodiest conflict.
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Baltimore Maritime Museum
Shipspotters should consider a visit to the Baltimore Maritime Museum, which does ship tours aboard a Coast Guard Cutter, lightship and submarine.
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Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art, with its massive collection (the early American, Asian and African galleries are particularly impressive) and a lovely sculpture garden, easily competes with its Smithsonian cousins to the south.
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Contemporary Museum
So modern it's probably post, the Contemporary Museum loves to ride the cutting edge of art. Auxiliary to the on-site exhibits is the museum's mission of bringing art to unexpected spots around the city. Call or check the website for the latest guerrilla art attack.
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Edgar Allan Poe House
'Where's the Edgar Allan Poe House?' 'Every house here a po' house!' That's an old Baltimore joke, but it should give you an idea of the neighborhood surrounding the macabre author's old residence, filled with his personal affects. Hours vary; call ahead. Poe's grave is in nearby Westminster Cemetery.
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Edgar Allan Poe's Grave
Acclaimed author Edgar Allan Poe lies under a 1.8m (6ft) white obelisk in this churchyard. A literary giant whose horror novels continue to inspire authors and film-makers, Poe settled in Baltimore in 1831 and died in 1849. An admirer decorates Poe's grave with roses and a bottle of cognac every year on the anniversary of his birthday (19 January).
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Fell's Point Maritime Museum
The Fell's Point Maritime Museum immerses you in the salt-blooded heritage that is Baltimore's birthright, including its seedy side, such as the smuggling outfits that once operated out of the city.
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Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine
The Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine is one of the most visited sites in Baltimore. This star-shaped fort was instrumental in saving the city from the British Navy in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. After a long night of bombs bursting in air, prisoner Francis Scott Key saw the tattered flag still waving, and the national anthem 'The Star-Spangled Banner' (set to the tune of a popular drinking song) was born.
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Jewish Museum of Maryland
Maryland also has traditionally had one the largest, most active Jewish communities in the country; their story is told at the Jewish Museum of Maryland, worth a visit for two of the best-preserved historical synagogues in America.
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John Hopkins University
Near Hampden in North Baltimore, you'll find Johns Hopkins University, famed for its medical school. Maryland is lacrosse heartland, and its residents arguably the sport's most fanatic followers. With the loss of the Bayhawks, the best place to watch 'lax' is John Hopkins University.
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Maryland Historical Society
The Maryland Historical Society, with some 5.4-million artifacts (including the original Star-Spangled Banner manuscript) is technically the largest museum in Maryland. The society building is part scholarly attic, part well-executed peek into the many ingredients that blend into one of America's most mixed-up states.
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Maryland Science Center
The awesome Maryland Science Center features a three-story atrium, tons of interactive exhibits on dinosaurs, asteroids and the human body, and the requisite IMAX theater. Hours change seasonally and it's best to check online or call ahead first.
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Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
Lily-pad hopping, adventures with Billy the Bog Turtle and grooming live animals are all in a day's work at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
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National Aquarium in Baltimore
The city's greatest pride is the National Aquarium of Baltimore and it must not be missed. The huge main building, seven stories high, topped with a Louvre-esque glass pyramid and run through by a titanic spiral staircase, houses quite possibly the best exhibit on marine life in the country. If you never go to a coral reef or scuba dive or otherwise follow Jacque Cousteau's footsteps, the 16,500 species on display here are seriously the next best thing.
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National Great Blacks in Wax Museum
In East Baltimore, the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum surreally mixes religious leaders, activists, the Atlantic slave trade and the African American struggle for social justice with…Madame Tussaud's.
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Oriole Park at Camden Yards
The Baltimore Orioles play at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
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Port Discovery
Swinging into a three-level jungle treehouse, producing a TV show and solving riddles in the Mystery House are a sample of the interactive adventures at Port Discovery , a cool kids' museum where even the adults have fun. The HiFlyer Balloon offers a bird's-eye view of Baltimore, but it's temporarily closed.
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Reginald F Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture
Few states have been as defined by their African American population as Maryland, and the Reginald F Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture , across the street from a pre-Civil War slave market, effectively tells their complex tale.
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Sports Legends at Camden Yards
Sports Legends at Camden Yards honors more Maryland athletes (Johnny Unitas, Brooks Robinson, Pam Shriver) and, with almost 40 exhibits, is basically every (American) sports fans' most lascivious fantasy.
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Star-Spangled Banner Flag House & 1812 Museum
The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House & 1812 Museum is where Mary Pickersgill sewed the gigantic flag that inspired America's national anthem. Today, it's haunted by creepy wax soldiers from the War of 1812.
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