BALTIMORE IS NOT LIKE ANY place else, though people will always try to make comparisons. Sailing through Chesapeake waters in 1608, Captain John Smith looked out and called this area "a delightsome land." You may know it as the place where Francis Scott Key noted that "the flag -was still there." Or where Babe Ruth practiced his baseball and H. L. Mencken his wit, Eubie Black his piano, Edgar Alien Poe has tintinnabulations, and Mother Seton her saintly charity.

Greater Baltimore is ranked 13th among major metro areas in access to cultural facilities. Yes, they still scrub their famed white marble steps, paint their window screens with pastoral landscapes, eat spiced crabs in the summer, worry about the Orioles in the winter. But they have skyscrapers too, beautiful fountains, and striking vistas, and play host to world-famous musicians, actors, artists, architects, and visitors from around the world. You can't just pass through Baltimore. Many stop and many make it their home.

Sights: You've probably heard of Harborplace. Baltimore made its Inner Harbor a show- place. An estimated 700 "events" can be enjoyed each year and most take place in this revitalized area. There's the Charmed City Fair, Preakness Celebration, the Harbor Regatta, the Fantastic Fourth, the Maryland Marathon, the Oktoberfest, the Showcase of Nations, kite festivals, flower shows, the Parade of Boats — even the Chesapeake Turtle Derby and Polock Johnnys Sausage Eating Contest.

(In a place where jousting is the state sport and a nighttirne ghost tour is conducted for insomniacs, nothing should surprise you.) In 1788,4,000 Baltimoreans poured onto Federal Hill to celebrate Maryland's ratification of the U.S. Constitution. They still can't seem to resist a festival here. Let's talk about Harborplace, those twin glass pavilions and the Gallery that houses 200 shops, restaurants and snacking spots.

You can sample cider slush, sweet fried dough, chili, beaten biscuits, sausage on a stick, fruitsicles, fried veggies, ribs, crabs, and Belgian waffles. (Careful, though. Many do it in that order.) Nearby, some other thrills - the 5-sided World Trade Center, with 27th floor observatory, the five story IMAX theatre at the Maryland Science Center and Davis Planetarium (350 projectors), the striking National Aquarium (over 5,000 aquatic species), the U.S. Frigate Constellation and Camden Yards, home of baseball's Baltimore Orioles.

There are also many ethnic heritage festivals for information call 1-800-282-6632. You may have come to Baltimore on business at the $50 million Convention Center. If you're a railroad buff, you would not miss the famed B&0 Railroad Museum The Baltimore Zoo shelters more than 1200 mammals, reptiles and birds, and includes an 8-1/2 acre children's zoo. And the famed Museum Of Art has Matisses and Picassos and a lovely outdoor sculpture garden.

Eats: And then there are the restaurants. If you did nothing else in Baltimore but eat, you would have a veritable feast, and never be able to settle on which part was best. There's the Women's Industrial Exchange, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Philips Harbor Place, Tarvema Athena, Bertha's (mussels), Obrycki's (crabs), In addition to American cuisine and seafood try a sampling of the international: Kawasaki (Japanese), DaMirnmo (Italian), Bamboo House (Chinese). If Sunday brunch is your thing, there's the Cinnamon Tree Restaurant in the Hunt Valley Inn.

Neighborhoods: You may have noticed the diversity and ech- nicity of Baltimore's offerings. You can see this clearly in her proud neighborhoods — Little Lithuania, Little Italy, Fells Point, Tyson St. (tiny pastel restored houses), Dickeyville (a restored mill town), Federal Hill (houses dating back to the 1830s), Mt. Vernon Place (carriage houses), Walters Art Gallery, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Enoch Pratt Library, 4 elegant parks sur- rounding the Washington Monument, the 178 foot column that was the first monu- ment to honor the first president. Otterbein homesteads (18th-century houses purchased from the city for $1). Jonathan Yardley, who passed through Baltimore and made it his home, wrote to Esquire, "you live in your neighborhood first and the city second."

Shops: Charles Street is Baltimore's Fifth Avenue. The Charles Center, with its covered walk- ways and dramatic design, has numerous shops. The Tomlinson Craft Collection is at the Rotunda. For antiques there's The Antique Galleria on Howard St., which has 35 dealers under one roof and Findings on No. Charles St. Loane Brothers sells flags; Schumacher &: Seller specializes in bath and spa equipment. Harborplace, of course, is ashopper's paradises stores for kites, puzzles, crabs, butter- flies, banks, bears, hearts, and Baidmora-bilia, plus clothing, furnishings, and gifts. Around town there's Pfefferkorn's Coffee, Trinacria Macaroni Works, Epstein's, Stella's, Vaccaro's and Wackenfuss Candies
.
The city markets - Belair, Broadway, Cross Street, Hollins, Lafayette, Lexington, and Northeast are open Monday through Saturday, 8-5. They date back to the 1800s, with ownership of stalls often being passed down from generation to gener- ation. Market Place is a two-level arcade combining produce, seafood, restaurants, and a central stage. Belvedere Square is at the city's north end.

Arts: Rest your feet and enjoy the offerings at the Morris A. Mechanic Theatre (the best of Broadway), the Arena Players (one of the oldest Black theatre groups), Center Stage, the Baltimore Opera Company, Baltimore Symphony, Children's Theater Association, or Pier Six Concert Pavilion.

Jobs: Over 1,600 firms have announced plans to invest a minimum of $2.62 billion in new and expanded facilities in the Baltimore- Washington corridor. To the north, the $750 million Ft. McHenry Tunnel allows over 50,000 vehicles to by pass city traffic.

block-watcher's program. 1,800 paid firefighters are in 46 stations (410-396-5616.) There are fireboats, and rescue squads. The Enoch Prate Free Library, which serves as the state library, has 29 branches, I bookmobile, approximately 2.5 million books, 9,500 magazines, 5,500 films, 600,000 microfilms, 500 film strips, 37,000 slides, 500 audio- cassettes, 2,000 CD's, 1 1,000 LP's, and 8,300 videocassettes.

The library also conducts programs for the visually and hearing impaired, referral and research services, literacy and learning programs for adults, job and career resources. The City has an active Committee on Aging and Retirement Education, including legal, health, and home services. There are youth programs and Mayor's office of Employment-Development for skills training (businesses may receive a subsidy for wages). The City owns several industrial parks; Baltimore Development Corp. offers business assistance and financial packaging.

Public Schools: Pre-K-12 total enrollment for Baltimore's 163 schools: 1 13,400. The average class sizes are K: 20, grade 1: 30, grade 2: 32, grade 3: 30, grades 4-16: 35-7-12: 37. 77.6% who graduate go on to college. The average per-pupil expenditure is $5,565. The system has an operating budget of 63 5 million and employs 6,079 teachers. Teachers' salary ranges: $29,156-$45,514. 77.6% who graduate go on to college. There are 8 adult and community education centers, I I special-ed centers, 3 vocational-technical high schools, 7 advanced academic schools, a high school for the arts, 5 special city wide high schools for science and engineering, humanities, health careers, business, and college courses, and a gifted and talented program.

Private and Parochial School: There are 29 Pre-K-8 Catholic schools, with an enrollment of 7,000; 10 Catholic high schools, with 3,700 students. In addition, numerous other sectarian and nonsectarian private schools. (124 nonpublic schools (1994-95), (See private schools listed for Baltimore County).

Colleges: Baltimore Hebrew University, College ofNotre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore City Community College (Liberty Campus, Harbor Campus), Coppin State College, The Johns Hopkins University, Loyola College, Maryland Institute College of Art, Morgan State University, Ner Israel Rabbinical College, Peabody Institute, St. Mary's Seminary and University, Sojourner-Douglass College, University of Baltimore, University of Maryland.

Places of Worship: 12 A.M.E. Zion, 54 Apostolic, 4 Assemblies of God, I Baha'i, 189 Baptist, 2 Bible, 4 Brethren, 15 Catholic, 2 Charismatic, 10 Christian, 6 Christian Disciples of Christ, I Christian Methodist Episcopal, 2 Christian and Missionary Alliance, 4 Christian Science, 5 Church of Christ, 14 Church of God, 11 Church of God in Christ, I Church of God of Prophecy, I Church of Jesus Christ, I Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 14 Community, 2 Disciples of Christ, I Eastern Catholic, 4 Eastern Orthodox, 33 Episcopal, I Ethical Culture, 2 Friends, 2 Hebrew Christian, 27 Holiness, 3 Interdenominational, 18 Jehovah's Witnesses, 47 Lutheran, I Mennonite, 21 Methodist, I Nazarene, 32 Non-Denominational, 44 Pentecostal, 8 Pentecostal Holiness, I Plymouth Brethren, 34 Presbyterian, 9 Seventh DayAdventists, 20 synagogues, I Unitarian Universalist, 13 United Church of Christ, 58 United Methodist, I Unity, I Wesleyan.

Organizations: All varieties of civic, fraternal, religious, professional, patriotic, neighborhood, cultural, recreational, and social groups.

Recreational Facilities: 68 neighborhood recreation centers, 6,000 (plus) acres ofparkland, exercise and hiking trails, field archery, 250 playgrounds, 23 pools (2 indoor), I public beach (Ft. Smallwood), 5 municipal golf courses, 4 riding and boarding stables, 44 clay, and 237 hard surface outdoor tennis courts, the William J. Myers Soccer Pavilion, the Shake 'n' Bake Bowling facility, 70 baseball diamonds, footballs, soccer, and volleyball fields, 2 ice skating and 6 roller skating rinks. The Department of Recreation also has city farms, a rent-a-lot program, the Lightship Chesapeake and submarine Torsk, Memorial Stadium, Oriole Park at Camden Yard, 100 monuments, 35 decorative water fountains, the Shot Tower, the Baltimore Zoo and Conservatory, and the Baltimore Rowing and Water Resource Agency. Information: 410-396-3100.

Medical Facilities: Bon Secours Hospital (208 beds), Children's Hospital (76 beds). Church Hospital (216 beds), Franklin Square Hospital (405 beds), Good Samaritan Hospital (277 beds), Greater Baltimore Medical Center (362 beds), Kernan Hospital (69 beds), Kennedy Krieger Institute (51 beds), Deaton specialty Hospital and Home (180 beds), The Johns Hopkins Hospital (1,036 beds), Keswick Home for Incurables (267 beds), Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital (212 beds), Maryland General Hospital (276 beds.

Mercy Hospital (287 beds), Montebello Center (137 beds), Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital (130 beds), Liberty Medical Center (282 beds), St. Agnes Hospital (407 beds), St. Joseph Hospital (460 beds), Sinai Hospital (465 beds), Harbor Hospital (376 beds), Union Memorial Hospital (391 beds), U. ofMd, Hospital (747 beds), VA Medical Center (291 beds). Approximately 6,100 physicians practice in Baltimore. There are 2 teaching hospitals and a municipal ambulance service (91 1) dis- patched by the Fire Department to the nearest hospital. A trauma center is located in each of 4 quadrants of the city .