September 27th, 2007
Baltimore, My Wife Turns 50, Let’s Have A Party!!
What a week it has been, Admit it, we all are standing a little taller over the remarkable coming together of black America over a terrorist judicial system in Jena Louisiana Just think black bloggers and black radio put OJ on the back pages of the news. Most white folks did not want to read about Jena, they wanted to learn all about their former hero OJ. Think about it, a Youngman like Michael Bell still in jail for winning a fight. The punk ass news reporters spoke on the horror of a white youth being knocked out. That is what happens in a fight, I have knocked out plenty of people in my youth, some in fights and some in sports. What a sham, but congratulations to black America for refusing to stand idly by.
I was just in Charm city, Baltimore, Maryland. There is a lot of good stuff happening and some urban decay. B-More has 100,000 junkies, plenty of murders and a high school drop out rate of 60plus % of young black males. It is still charm city, with a beautiful Inner Harbor and it is positioned to be a city on the rise.
We stayed at the lovely, InterContinental, Harbor Court Hotel, in downtown Baltimore. The hotel is located across the street from the jewel of urban renewal, Harbor Place and the Baltimore Aquarium. We had a corner suite and at night the view was so spectacular it took your breath away.
Speaking of spectacular beauty, my better half, whom I met in Baltimore, when she was 23 is now 50. We have had some great parties in our Cook County home,{Like our 70’s party that lasted until the police came at 3am} but for this milestone my wife wanted to head home.
As you know, Baltimore has a thriving film community with shows like, Homicide, The Wire, The Corner, that’s right, police shows and drugs. It is still a charm city. For business people there is a lot of opportunity for affordable properties. I noticed a lot of boarded up row homes. We stayed at the base of historic Federal Hill. 30 years ago the city sold row homes for 1 dollar in return for a promise of investing a minimum of 50,000 dollars to repair the homes. The program worked and the area is one of a nice community, with bars and restaurants, within walking distance to the stadiums and the Inner Harbor I brought 2 pair of shoes from Dan Brothers on Charles street, a must visit for shoe lovers.
We had the party at the Eubie Blake museum on Howard Street in antique row. We tore the roof off the sucker, almost everybody danced, including myself almost every body drank, including some that normally don’t and some that shouldn’t have so much but a great time was had by all. My wife saw friends she hadn’t seen in decades and was showered with love and affection. Thanks go to the family for engineering a memorable event.
This is a business blog but a brother got to have fun and this was fun. If it sounds like I love Baltimore, I do. We have a lot of good memories and I urge all black in business readers to pay a visit to charm city.
September 27th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Congratulations to your wife, JD!
Re: Jena. I wrote that the day we know racism isn’t an issue anymore in the U.S. when 6 white kids beat the heck out of another white kid for being a racist.
Now that would send a message to both communities!
September 28th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Hey JD, I’m glad that you all had a wonderful time. Congrats to your wife on her 50th birthday and for obviously keeping your love and attention. Many Blessings!
September 28th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Yes Baltimore is a beautiful city and sounds like you joined right in.
Happy B day to your wife, you are too much !!!
I love your writing style.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
doug, you are a fair man and are an example of a conservative with a open mind.We had decades of progress but now since the reagan, bush sr and son of a bush years,bad things happen to poor people and black people all the time.
September 28th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Edagowa, thanks for the visit,we had fun and that is always a good thing
September 28th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
credo, thanks for your comment, coming from a great bloggers like your self it gives me confidence!
September 28th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Hey there JD,
Congrats to your wife on her BD. Been
a real long time since I was in Charm
City, but sounds like it was fun for You and wife with the blessings of your family and friends. Makes me Happy just knowing that You all really enjoyed everything. God Bless!
September 29th, 2007 at 12:14 am
I had been away from Baltimore for the years of college, and though I work usually in DC I spend some time in the city of Baltimore. I always preferred it to DC, the boarded row homes not withstanding. I saw the renewed Harbor Place for the first time a couple months ago.
I love the jazz fests there.
I’m glad you enjoyed yourself and happy B day to the wife.
September 29th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Rev. Jim, thanks for the greetings, you have a lot happening, I will have to catch up soon
September 29th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Cooper, the boarded up homes represent opportunity, having done a lot of business in both DC and B-More, I love them both for different reasons but B-more I love more
February 10th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I see you mentioned the Wire, its how I found this post! I thought they were just over emphazing the drug problem there in Baltimore, but according to your post its if anything, not harsh enough. Being a realtor, I couldn’t imagine the city here selling off boarded up homes for only a buck, even with the stipulation of a 50k investment to fix them up. Even if the area is bad, that is still a great deal and a smart move by the city. With enough new tenants moving in and restoring the neighborhood, the property values would go up. Great post and very, very interesting.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Happy birthday to her
June 24th, 2008 at 5:30 am
If ever I have seen good reason to get Obama elected as President of the US later this year, it is the excellent content in the above comments and indeed in the main post itself.
Oh, if you’re thinking this is some sort of political cry for democrats, it aint. I live half a world away in Auckland, New Zealand.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Well, Happy Birthday to your wife! My mom is also turning 50 this week and me and my dad are thinking of a surprise party, but we haven’t reached any conclusion until now. Can anyone help us?
July 30th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Are you serious? Your blog posts are simply great! Where did you get all these information? By the way, keep up the good work.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hello admin, nice site ! Good content, eautiful design, thank !
August 26th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
You say that ‘your wife saw friends that she hadn’t seen in decades”… I’m betting she won’t remember that she saw them for decades to come! Haha!