Towson is a rosy daytrip for Baltimore families

If you’re looking for an easy and accessible escape from the city but don’t wish to forfeit modern conveniences, Towson is the ideal spot for you to visit. This spring, Towson is offering numerous activities and events as well as an array of shopping an dining opportunities.

With the emergence of spring comes the 23rd Annual Towson Gardens Day festival on April 23, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Designated sites for the festival include the Courthouse Fountain Plaza and Baltimore and Pennsylvania Avenues. Over 80 vendors will be featured and great buys may be found amongst arts and crafts vendors, plant and flower sales and delicious food varieties. The Towson High School Jazz Ensemble will provide live music along with a bagpipe player who, who will fill the streets with joyful tunes throughout the day.

A series of planned activities, talks and demonstrations are sure to keep your attention. At 10 a.m., Clyde Trambetti of Baltimore County’s Department of the Environment, will educate the public on ways of recycling and composting. This feature will be followed by an interesting lecture, given by Terry Westhead, on butterfly gardening with native plants at 11 a.m. Also at 11 a.m., a free guided tour of the Courthouse Gardens will be headed by Wolfgang Oehme—internationally renowned landscape and garden designer. At noon, awards will be given out, and the series of speeches will continue with focus on bees and butterflies. At 1 p.m., the Rhododendron Society will be onsite with Phyllis Meyers to answer gardening questions followed by a talk on shade plants at 2 p.m.

In the past, Towson Gardens Day has offered a “Secret Gardens” exhibit to the public, but this year, in its place, will debut the “Potting Shed” feature. The Potting Shed will educate the public with comprehendible information, demonstrations, lectures and much more.

The main objective for Towson Gardens Day is to educate the public, beautify Towson and preserve and protect nature. Towson keeps its green theme going on throughout the season with farmers markets running from June through November. Located on Allegheny Avenue, from 10:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, locals from all around bring home-grown goodness, fresh produce and baked specialty goods to sell. Several participating vendors work right in Towson and bring their home farm life a little closer to urban limits.

Each May, Towson also holds the highly popular TowsonTown Spring Festival. This fun-filled extravaganza will take place on May 2 and 3 and will be celebrating its 42nd consecutive year. From 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, various sponsors will head venues all around the surrounding Towson town. A Beer Garden will be sponsored by 98 Rock, the Plaza Garden Stage is where you’ll find 100.7 The Bay, a Children’s Stage will be sponsored by M&T and PNC Banks and ABC 2 News will sponsor a NASCAR area. Activities will include: magic shows, a moon bounce, pony rides, carnival games, a petting zoo, hoola hoop contests and robot/machine interaction events.

Numerous shopping venues make up Towson including the popular Towson Town Center. Originally established in the 1960s as an open-air shopping mall, the structure rose to four stories and was deemed the largest mall in the state before the building of the Arundel Mills Mall in 2000. The four levels of the Towson Town Center consist of popular stores like: Macy’s, Banana Republic, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Godiva Chocolates, Nordstrom, many jewelry dealers, numerous restaurants and food vendors, Raimondi’s Florist and so much more. Special events at the mall are always scheduled. Family Fun Days are held every Friday at 10 a.m. from April 2 through December 31 on the Grand Court level 1.

Towson boasts many other venues including: The Cheesecake Factory, Trader Joe’s, Barns & Noble, The Melting Pot, Da Mimmo’s Italian Restaurant and many others. The Baltimore County Public Library main branch is located right on the corner of York Road, in Towson and hosts several activities for children weekly. In Towson there is always plenty to do, and it is a great outing for families living in and around Baltimore.