"Walking Baltimore" includes Charm City's well-known neighborhoods -- Downtown, the Inner Harbor, Mount Vernon, and Fells Point. But in the voice of its insider author, the book also covers lesser-known and far-flung corners, revealing what makes Baltimore such a wonderful and fascinating destination and hometown. Full of little-known facts and trivia, this book shows how and why Baltimore was an essential player in the country's early history and continues to be influential today. Here is a city almost unparalleled in American history and it lives up to its modern reputation as a quirky, come-as-you-are and be-what-you'll-be place. The zany Baltimore-based film director John Waters (of "Hairspray" fame) summed it up best when he said, "It's as if every freak in the South was headed to New York City, ran out of gas in Baltimore, and decided to stay."