From Dorothy Dawe, Board Chair of the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts:
Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) loved Baltimore! He performed there often with Edgar Allan Poe as part of their comedy duo "Izzy Sharp and Moe." The two would perform at the Calvert Street Theatre -- and it was Emmett Lee Dickinson who gave the city it's nickname, "Charm City" -- from a line in his now-classic poem "A Charm invests a place" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "A Charm invests a face" (below on the right).
Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) loved Baltimore! He performed there often with Edgar Allan Poe as part of their comedy duo "Izzy Sharp and Moe." The two would perform at the Calvert Street Theatre -- and it was Emmett Lee Dickinson who gave the city it's nickname, "Charm City" -- from a line in his now-classic poem "A Charm invests a place" (below on the left). Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "A Charm invests a face" (below on the right).
| By Emmett Lee Dickinson: A Charm invests a place When perfectly beheld – The City does now lift her Veil And fear it be dispelled – With piers within her mesh – And wonders – and surprise – Wide avenues – annul a want That Image – satisfies – | By Emily Dickinson: A Charm invests a face Imperfectly beheld – The Lady dare not lift her Veil For fear it be dispelled – But peers beyond her mesh – And wishes – and denies – Lest Interview – annul a want That Image – satisfies – |
Many members from the Dickinson Organization of Poetry Enthusiasts visited Baltimore in the spring of 2018. Now, for Labor Day Weekend 2019, many of us returned to show support for the city in light of Donald Trump's recent appalling comments. We were so sickened that a president would attack an American City, that we decided to return in a show of support and to enjoy some of the sites we missed in 2018.
Prior to our trip, we wrote about our pending visit HERE. Now that we have returned, we've posted plenty of pictures and information below.
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER
 | Pictured at the left: Baltimore's World Trade Center Pictured below: Views of the city from the observation room on the 27th floor. |
PHILLIP'S SEAFOOD
Below: We enjoyed lunch at Phillips' Seafood's Crab Deck. Some items that received rave reviews: the Pomegranate Blackberry Crush; the crab cake sandwich; and the hotdog with crab mac & cheese (on the dog). Lunches came with crab chips too!
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EDGAR ALLAN POE'S GRAVE
| Pictured at the right: No visit to Baltimore would be complete without a visit to the grave site of Edgar Allan Poe, Emmett Lee Dickinson's partner in the comedy duo "Izzy Sharp & Moe." Poe & Dickinson's act was the first to introduce "waiter, there's a fly in my soup" jokes. |  |
THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
| Pictured at the right: The Baltimore Museum of Art Below left and right: Various shots from around the museum. |  |
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A FEW SURPRISES AT THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART
1. Are you familiar with the paintings of Thomas Hart Benton? They are quite distinctive. Two of Benton's paintings are shown below and below that on the left -- and no, these two paintings are NOT at the Baltimore Museum of Art. What surprised us is the THB painting that we did come across -- the painting below on the right. None in our party had ever seen a Thomas Hart Benton like this.
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2. The BMA includes a self-portrait of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn with a mistake -- or at least a change he did not cover very well! In the detail below (on the right), one can plainly see where Rembrandt originally placed his right thumb. Later he changed the location of the thumb -- but didn't conceal the original location at all!
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3. The museum includes an imposing portrait of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George II and her two sons, Prince Frederick (on her lap) and Prince George (standing -- and shown in the close up below). Prince George later became King George IV, shown in an impressive portrait across the gallery (also shown close up).
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 | The son of King George IV -- who was to become George V -- is the king who visits Downton Abbey in soon-to-be-released movie about the PBS series. George V was also the grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. Pictured at the right: George V as portrayed in the Downton Abbey movie. In another royal connection -- Queen Charlotte (above on the left) is the namesake of Charlotte, NC, and Charlottesville, VA (among other cities, towns and counties in the United States). |  |
4. If not the inspiration for a number of kids' book tugboats, "The Bessie of New York" by Arthur G. Dove (below on the left) was most certainly the inspiration for Disney/Pixar's "Cars."
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5. In the description of Georgia O'Keeffe's "Cup of Silver Ginger" (at the right in the picture below on the left), Hawaii is spelled with an apostrophe. Not a big deal, but we rarely see Hawaii spelled as "Hawai'i."
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6. Below left: The museum has a portrait of Pythagoria Dickinson, one of Emmett Lee Dickinson's sisters. 7. Below center: We thought that this painting likely provided the inspiration for the ruby red slippers in the movie version of "The Wizard of Oz." 8. Below right: We swear that this tree was watching us as we walked around the museum's sculpture garden.
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FELL'S POINT
We spent Saturday afternoon strolling the streets of Fell's Point. We enjoyed coffee at the Daily Grind, and we took our time going in and out of shops. Of course, the reason we came to Baltimore was to show our support in response to the appalling attacks on the city by Donald Trump. He said that Baltimore was rat-infested -- and sure enough, it was at a gift shop in Fell's Point where we caught glimpse of the one and only rat we saw (below on the right).
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COMING SOON: More pics from our trip!
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