Urban Discoveries Baltimore

This Saturday, May 16th, the hallowed Pimlico Race Course (5201 Park Heights Avenue) will host the 134th (by some kind of every-other-skippedy math) annual Preakness Stakes. Mix yourself a Black-Eyed Susan and polish off your million-dollar statue because the three-year-olds are coming to town.

The Preakness Stakes, for the uninitiated, is the second leg of the horse racing’s Triple Crown, which also includes the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. Saturday there will actually be a total of thirteen races, of which Preakness is the twelfth.

And for an indeterminate but great number of years, tens of thousands have gathered to watch the brief race and stage a naked Bacchanal on the infield. This year will be different, as Pimlico is no longer permitting visitors to bring their own alcohol. Granted, beers will be sold and ZZ Top will perform, as will shaven rockers Buckcherry and the Charm City Devils, but it just won’t be the same. As a consolation prize, there will be an inexplicable eight-hour women’s volleyball tournament. If you’ve simply got to go, general admission is $25, admission to the infield is $45, and you can pretty much keep spending money until you’re seated at the right  hand of the Father. Don’t forget, you’ve got to pay for parking, which means mailing in a form by last November and paying up to $310 for a spot. At this point, you’d better familiarize yourself with Baltimore’s public transportation. Doors purportedly open at 10:00 am, though the volleyball begins at 9:00, but the festivities, like those surrounding college football games in the South, begin at around 6:00 pm the night before.

Our recommendation? Go to a friend’s house; seating is more comfortable and you don’t have to pay him to clean up after you. If, however, you’re shy on friends, here are a few good places to eat, drink, and catch the equine action on a television:

1. Hit up Dizzy Issie’s in Remington (300 W. 30th Street)––it’s now officially called the Dizz, but we refuse––for a cheap beer, an easy atmosphere, and a surprisingly good salad with your gravy-soaked fries.
2. Go to Kelly’s in Fells Point (2108 Eastern Avenue) and order the hard crabs.
3. Eat peanuts from a barrel at the ironic-to-the-point-of-harmless-non-meaning Midtown Yacht Club in Mt. Vernon(15 E. Centre St.).

What are your plans for the annual historic weekend?

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