Safe Travels
A few weeks ago we had a friend visit from Bogota. Since I needed to head to Baltimore to pick her up from the airport, it made sense to bring the kids and make a day of it. I LOVE Baltimore. It’s given me Edgar Allan Poe, the Ravens, and my husband, so it holds a special place in my heart. I hadn’t been to the city in quite a few years, but I always loved my visits to the Inner Harbor when I was young, so I made that the center of my day trip plan. While the aquarium is an obvious win for families with young kids, that wasn’t going to fit into my time or money budget. Instead, I did a quick google search to find other fun things that I hadn’t done. Out of curiosity, I also checked out “instagramable spots.” We ended up starting at graffiti alley, heading to Patterson Park Pagoda, and then wrapped up the day in the harbor.
Let me start by saying this was a FUN day (and pretty much free). I grabbed a few cans of spray chalk from the Dollar General the day before, and I made my kids into the cutest hoodlums you’ve ever seen. All four of us had a blast painting the already colorful walls with whatever we wanted. The spray paint was a little tricky for Nella, but I’d considered that ahead of time and had chalk on hand as a back up. I don’t think this is normally a kid activity, but everyone who passed by smiled generously and seemed to enjoy the scene.
Somehow, the sun managed to peek out between snowstorms and we had an absolutely beautiful day. In addition to taking in the sights, the kids enjoyed just being able to run around the pagoda park. They rolled down the hills and got absolutely covered in leaves and dirt before we hit the shops of Inner Harbor.
We hadn’t run into many people in our first few stops, but it was the middle of the day on a Thursday, so it wasn’t exactly prime tourism hour. I didn’t really notice the lack of people milling about until we made it to the harbor. My childhood memories of Inner Harbor show it packed with people. I remember squeezing through crowds to hear the singing fudge makers, and waiting in long lines for food shops. We did not pass ONE other visitor in our time in the shops. Some of the shops were closed; but, even where lights were on and doors were open, there was an eerie quiet through the long empty halls. We still had a great time. The kids enjoyed having the place to themselves. I just thought it odd how the crowds had declined.
After we returned home, I showed off my super cute pics of my kids adventuring around the city. This was when I was reminded of the recently increased risk in traveling to Baltimore. Did you know that Baltimore currently has the highest homicide rate of large U.S. cities? Oops. I didn’t. Baltimore has become a crime capital. Even people who live just outside the city will go through drastic measures to avoid entering the city.
I don’t know if this knowledge would have changed my plans or not, but it’s a good anti-example of knowing what you’re getting your kids into. Knowing when to ignore the concerns of the crowds and when to pay attention to google is difficult. There’s always someone who will freak out about you wanting to take your kids across the street, so it’s important that you know what’s on the other side of that street and how you feel about crossing it. I’ve gone to a lot of “dangerous” places and had excellent experiences, and I’ve been robbed in one of the “safest” countries in the world. Maybe it’s most important to know how to BE safe, wherever you travel. If it’s a place you’re not familiar with, it’s always wise to do some research in advance. Be aware of risks in any environment. I’ve been to New York a bunch of times, but I’m not going to send my kids wandering the alleys alone in the dark.
Second to having an understanding of the place you’re taking your children is knowing your own children and how they react in different settings. I only have two arms. If I’m going into a high vehicle traffic area with four kids who like to run off, I need to be prepared with something to contain them. Graffiti Alley is a great stop – that should probably be made during daylight hours. Sometimes the risk is less about the purse snatcher than how easy your purse is to snatch. The risks will rarely change where you travel, but they should change how you travel.
