Travels with Sherlock

Traveling through Baltimore turned into a fun diversion, when we visited Edgar Allan Poe’s house and museum, where he lived in the 1930s. If you’re wondering why a post about Poe, mostly known for his macabre horror stories like the Tell-Tale Heart, is showing up in a blog about Sherlock Holmes… it so happens that Poe is the first writer to introduce an amateur sleuth that analyzes facts to solve the mystery. Both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie studied Poe and built on the story elements he introduced.

While you have to book ahead to visit Poe’s house, it’s worth the effort. It’s amazing to stand in a room that an iconic writer called home. (Can I just share — he had to be short. They all had to be short back then!)

A docent was available for any questions, but since I’d already read about Poe’s life, I was pretty impressed he could get up the stairs after a night of drinking. The docent did say that he wrote all over the house, as the light wasn’t the best, and they had replica of his writing desk–making it very easy to write anywhere.

Since we were also in the neighborhood, we swung around the corner and visited his grave.

Visit Poe’s House & Museum online HERE.