If you see one museum, make it the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), which is on Key Highway just south of the Inner Harbor, on the east edge of Federal Hill. Plan on one to four hours, depending on how quickly you do these things. (I think it took us two or two and a half.)

As long as you’re in that neck of the woods, go to the park on Federal Hill. Maybe walk a few blocks over to Cross St and Light St, and go to the Cross Street Market to get some food.

One of the great things to do in Baltimore is just to walk the neighborhoods. Federal Hill is a great place to do that, as is Mount Vernon, which is north of downtown. You can just walk up Charles Street from the Inner Harbor and see lots of stuff worth seeing.

Up around the 1100 block of Charles St (14 or so blocks north of the Inner Harbor), you could stop in the Belvedere Hotel and check out the Owl Bar. You don’t need to eat anything there, but it’s worth checking out the architecture of the room… it’s a classic Baltimore place to get a drink. (If you really want a drink, Brewer’s Art at 1106 N Charles, just across the street, is one of the nation’s premier Belgian-style microbreweries, and the restaurant is spectacularly good, as we reconfirmed last night.)

Also in Mount Vernon, a bit south of those destinations, are the Walters Art gallery and the Washington Monument that the Masons put up, the first monument to George Washington in the country.

If you’d like additional recommendations or ideas, drop me e-mail…