Ladies and gentlemen, this is my final Getaways post.

Yes, that’s right. I’m taking a job in D.C. and leaving Baltimore. I decided to ignore that silly WaPo article about Baltimore being better than the District. But hopefully “Getaways” itself won’t be going away.

And so it seems that the Hurricane Irene found it fitting to demolish any real kind of Getaway plans this weekend.

Personally, I had to cancel a two-night hotel stay in Chincoteague Island for the weekend. Ocean City is being evacuated. Ports up and down the East Coast are expecting landfall within 72 hours. BGE’s gearing up for the worst. The Maryland Insurance Administration even sent out some advice Thursday on checking out your homeowners’ insurance policy.

So your best Getaway bet for this weekend: don’t get away. Maybe stay in your basement (so long as it doesn’t flood…).

And if you still have power, you can make the most of it and catch up on movies.

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When you think of Baltimore, you don’t necessarily think “fashion destination” along the lines of New York, Paris, Milan, etc.

But apparently someone wants to try to change that. On Sept. 8, a “Fashion’s Night Out” celebration of sorts will be held in Baltimore, along with 100 other cities in 17 countries participating in the same extravaganza.

The event celebrates the industry with a combination of shopping, entertainment, special events, extended business hours and other types of festivities around a city.

The concept was developed by Anna Wintour of Vogue Magazine fame in 2008, to boost the industry and support retailers. Baltimore’s event is sponsored by the Baltimore Fashion Alliance, a nonprofit created earlier this year.

Retailers and boutiques in Mt. Vernon, Hampden, Clipper Mill, Kenilworth, Greenspring Station, Harbor East and other areas will be extending business hours into the evening and planning in-store events.

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Next to Otakon, this may be the second most interesting weekend of the year in Baltimore.

Stan Lee will be the guest of honor at the 12th annual Comic-Con at the Baltimore Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets to the convention of costumed characters, comic book authors and artists cost $15 to $30. Children under 10 are free. And dress up — the winner of the costume contest on Saturday gets $1,000.

Bill Cosby will be at Pier Six Concert Pavilion on Saturday. The comedian and entertainer will be doing stand-up that night at 6:30. Tickets cost $60 to $85, or you can hang out along the pier and hope to hear him for free.

And Baltimore Fashion Week kicks off today at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center on N. Charles Street. Tickets range from $50 to $80 for the show that lasts until Sunday. The 4th annual show features a mix of local and not-so-local designers.

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If you’re up for a driving tour and scavenger hunt of sorts, the eighth annual Lighthouse Challenge can provide some good entertainment Sept. 17 and 18.

Challenge rules are easy, and can be found on the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society’s site.

Rules:

1. Get a challenge brochure, or print out the driving directions/brochure.
2. Visit nine lighthouses and one lightship noted above.
3. Get each lighthouse’s commemorative souvenir.
4. Visit the lighthouses within designated hours of 8 am to 6:00 pm both day.
5. You’ll get the “completion” souvenir once you’ve toured all the other locations.
6. Then just fill out the “Challenge Completion” form.

Chesapeake Chapter volunteers will be at each lighthouse to help visitors on their special quest.

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Mark your calendars for Sept. 24 as the day to eat free cupcakes.

No buying, no selling. Just cupcakes. And eating them. Yes! It’s called Cupcake Camp. And it’s definitely my kind of camp — no need for dousing yourself in Off!, or racing to eat melting popsicles that drip down to your elbows, or fearing being lynched by fellow campers. This is just cupcakes.

Blue Hill Tavern on S. Conkling Street is holding the first Cupcake Camp, from noon to 3 p.m. that day. The whole point is just to be an “ad-hoc born from the desire for people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment.” Folks will bring cupcakes to share and folks will eat cupcakes that have been shared. That’s it.

Baltimore’s not the first city doing this Cupcake Camp thing. Here’s a list of other cities that have joined in the festivities and will be hosting camps in the upcoming weeks and months.

And if it sounds like BarCamp, well, it sort of is based on the concept. And if you don’t know what that’s about, here’s a helpful link to explain the techie-based workshop idea.

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Baltimore City mayoral candidate Frank Conaway has posted a rap on his campaign site that’s a little hard to miss.

It takes just a couple swipes at his competitors for the spot — Otis Rolley, Catherine Pugh, Joseph “Jody” Landers and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

While we’re not sure this is actually Conaway rapping himself, the song is prefaced with an “I approve this message” statement from Conaway.

We’ve taken a few listens to jot down some lyrics for those of you reading:

“Here’s the first mistake

Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

again, Stephanie Rawlings-Fake.”

As for Pugh:

“Heard you’re friends with Catherine Pugh

That ain’t the only thing I smell in the room

Get it? I smell poo.”

Rolley:

“Otis Rolley, who that dude?

I’m going to watch Martin if I want to see you.”

Landers:

“J-J-J-Jody, J-J-Jody Landers

We already know you can’t stand us…”

While the reference to fecal matter is a bit show-and-tell from a lyrical standpoint, the rhyming of “mansion” and “bandwagon” is surely genius.

You can listen to the full rap in the player below. If the audio player does not appear, you can listen to it by clicking here.

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To best debut its new footwear line, Under Armour is launching an advertising campaign with the help of Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Georges St-Pierre.

The company is calling this campaign its largest in footwear so far. TV watchers will be able to see 60-second and 30-second commercials featuring the star athletes on MTV, BET and ESPN, and ads will be on Facebook, Yahoo! Sports and STACK Magazine.

Baltimore-based Under Armour hired twofifteenmccann, a San Francisco-based creative agency, and is using “Friday Night Lights” director Peter Berg for the commercials. Berg’s production company, Pony Show Entertainment, executed the shoot.

The big shoe to watch out for is the UA Charge RC, which uses UA’s HeatGear material as well as the Micro G foam for a light and durable shoe.

Under Armour lovers will start seeing the shoe this fall in City Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods stores, and it will be available to retailers across the U.S. in December.

Maybe Bill Murray could use some these shoes when taking “baby steps.”

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Stephen Strasburg made a bit of a media splash Sunday after a double-header at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown.

The No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft returned to the Washington Nationals’ minor league Class-A team, the Hagerstown Suns, after undergoing reconstructive surgery for a ligament in his elbow last fall.

The first rehabilitative game for Strasburg brought the ballpark’s second largest crowd ever, with 6,758 fans, according to the team’s website. So this season will likely be a hopping one for Hagerstown’s residents and fans.

And just for an update, the other Hagerstown star, Bryce Harper, moved to Double-A Harrisburg Senators in July. His most recent game on Aug. 7 against the Erie SeaWolves drew a little more than 3,000 spectators.

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For all of those turning 30 this year, attendance at the National Aquarium in Baltimore will be only $5 on Monday.

All you have to do is show your ID with a birth year of 1981 — same as the aquarium’s — and your general admission is $5.

Tickets ordinarily cost $24.95 for adults and $19.95 for children. You can check out the attraction’s birthday celebration events going on Friday through Monday here.

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Baltimore’s sixth annual summer Restaurant Week promotion begins on Friday. And it really is one of the most joyous times of the dining year. Aside from the winter Restaurant Week… which usually seems to get extended for a month because of snow.

The promotion will have about 80 restaurants offering three-course meals for $35.11 and lunch for $20.11 through Aug. 14. Quite the steal if you’re looking to try a new place or hit up an old favorite. Any one in particular you’re looking forward to? Definitely some new ones on the list this year.

And while you’re around downtown Baltimore, the Maryland Zoo and Veolia Transportation are offering a free shuttle from the Baltimore Visitor Center to the zoo and back. The free “Safari Express” shuttle will be around Saturday and Sunday. Trips from the center to the zoo are at the following times: 9:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m. Trips coming back to the center will be 11:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m, 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m.

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