Randall Etheridge

Randall Etheridge and his wife Carrie wanted to live in a neighborhood where they could imagine having children and would not have to move after five years. They found that neighborhood in Charles Village. The couple chose the area because it wasn't as transient as Federal Hill and for its diverse mix of people. "There's young couples, old couples, people with newborns, and there are people with teenagers," he says of his neighbors.

The couple has been in Charles Village for almost two years, and is happy they moved. "There's a lot of pride in the neighborhood, there's a lot of community activity," Etheridge reports. The neighborhood itself has improved in recent years. "It's really clean. We actually have our own sanitation crew that comes and picks up trash bags and rakes up leaves and stuff. There's an extra tax for living up here, but it's worth it."

Eat and Drink:

Although he owns a bar in another part of town, Etheridge goes out frequently in Charles Village and has a lot of good things to say about the options. "For dinning there's always Donna's, and more casual obviously there's the Charles Village Pub... It's a great place. For a sports bar, or whatever, it's a little older crowd and a little more mellow. There're regulars that have been going in there for 30 years."
"For lunch I just get a sandwich at Eddie's a lot. There's Carma Cafe right around the corner. That's a cool little spot. It's in the basement of a building. It has seating for maybe 10 people inside and another 20 outside. They have this homemade Icelandic yogurt with
granola for breakfast, a couple soups every day and a few different sandwiches, but their muffalata is what they're known for."

The Yabba Pot, he says, is a must for vegetarians from any part of Baltimore, and the fairly new but already successful Darker than Blue, which features jazz and blues is a great place for dinner and a little music on the weekends.

Shopping:

"There's not a ton of shopping in the neighborhood. For groceries there's Eddie's. There are some boutiques there now but it's not really a shopping neighborhood."

A couple new stores, like Cloud 9, have located in the [recently developed] strip along St. Paul Street [at 33rd Street]. There is one old store that stands out. "There's a great bookstore/record shop, Normal's," Etheridge says, "That's a great spot."

Seven days a week:

According to Etheridge, Waverly Market, the neighborhood farmers' market held on Barclay Street between 32nd and 33rd Streets, offers residents locally grown produce and foodstuffs year round on Saturdays.

"They do jazz at the BMA every Saturday out in the garden at Gertrude's. As far as weekly specials, my schedule floats around too much. There's two parks that do movies over the summer. In the Wyman Dell they do every Tuesday night, and then there's our little neighborhood park, which is like a kid's playground, they just put a sheet up. That's usually more family oriented," Etheridge notes.