Road Trip! Baltimore's HONfest

January is the perfect time to plan your adventurous new year.  My friend, Joanne hopes you'll take a trip to Baltimore's HONfest.

HONfest is a quirky 2 day “Bawlmer” street festival where beehives, bouffants and fluffy bedroom slippers abound. HONfest is the celebration of Hons, which is short for honey.  It is a term of endearment for the working women of Baltimore.

Joanne visits the Glamour Lounge

It was a hot and sticky Sunday morning when Barb, Eithne, Karen, Joanne, Michaelle and Sheryl were heading to 36^th street in the Hampden neighborhood in Baltimore, also known as “the boulevard.” It is the site of the annual HONfest. Although the day threatened rain, the intrepid League of Adventurous Women was not deterred. 

We got there early and visited a few shops and stalls for Hon accessories and memorabilia. Pink boas and cats eye glasses were in abundance. Then it was on to the Glamour Lounge where we got our beehives and bouffants on. Now we were in the mood. HONfest is like a block party open to the public. We mingled with locals and visitors alike, listening to music, people watching and enjoying a local delicacy, crab cakes.

The culmination of the weekend’s festivities is the crowning of Miss Hon during Bawlmer’s Best Hon Contest. It’s a hoot, complete with housecoats, spandex, fluffy slippers, sponge rollers and anything that represents blue collar Baltimore.

After the crowning we ducked into a local bar to cool off. This place was nothing special, no ferns, table clothes or menus. It was strictly beer out of a bottle and cheap wine is a plastic cup. We played a few games of pool, mingled with other HONfest goers and agreed that the day was worth the drive.

We made it back to the car just as a torrential rain broke out. Everyone agreed it was worth the trek to Baltimore.  I highly recommend it. 

HONfest 2012 is scheduled for June 9 and 10 in Baltimore, Maryland.