Here’s a telling experience I had today. I walked from my office to the Inner Harbor for some lunch.

Why? Because as a Baltimorean, that’s what I’m supposed to do, right?

I’m supposed to go to the jewel of our city, our biggest tourist attraction, spend my locally-earned bucks at local businesses, and marvel at the hordes of people walking around during the day, admiring our fair city, spending their hard-earned bucks at our proud local businesses, right?

Well, I did, and it was great. The sun was shining. The hordes were out and about. I heard lots of chatter about how nice the Inner Harbor is, and darn it, I felt good about it too. But on the way there, as I was walking south on Light Street, crossing Pratt, the following happened:

A car turned left onto Pratt from Light. I had the little white-walking-man-in-lights signal from the crossing light, so I kept walking. The car stopped to let me pass. And suddenly, the traffic cop in the middle of the intersection was screaming at me:”Why you gotta cross right in front of this car?!”

I said nothing. I just pointed at the crossing signal. “It was my right of way.”

“No, THIS is the signal you need to be looking at! You see that? That’s a green light for these cars, here!”

He was pointing at the green light facing the turning car, which indicated that southbound traffic on Light Street could proceed. Again, I wordlessly pointed at the white-walking-lighted-man in front of me.

“I was taught in kindergarten, that little white walking man means “walk.” Red-standing-lighted-man means “stop and wait.” Right?”

“No, sir, THAT is the signal you need to be looking at!” the cop screamed, clearly agitated, and once again pointing at the green traffic light.

And it occurred to me: if I’m not supposed to cross the street when the signal is in my favor, and surely I’m not supposed to cross when I’ve got a red light and a red-standing-lighted-man facing me, because I’m sure to get run down by a car barreling eastward on Pratt Street, then when the heck am I supposed to cross Pratt Street to get to the coveted, charming, civic masterpiece that is the Inner Harbor?

Now I know, this cop is just a traffic cop, not an urban planner. He’s not making policy decisions that will affect the walkability of downtown Baltimore. But for crying out loud, isn’t the pedestrian always right?

Shouldn’t somebody clue these sorts of on-the-ground bureaucrats in to the fact that the city is dropping somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million to make Pratt Street and the Inner Harbor more pedestrian- and business-friendly?

Isn’t this sort of behavior exemplary of the type of attitude that privileges cars over pedestrians in this city, and indeed country, which runs counter to most modern trends in urban planning?

In other news, there’s a lady at the corner of Light and Redwood selling pit beef sandwiches out of a cart, with a homemade tarragon sauce and fresh horseradish, and they’re DELICIOUS.

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In case you don’t watch TV or listen to the radio in the Baltimore-Washington region (in which case you’re probably not reading this blog, but I’ll continue), and you’ve missed the massive advertising campaign for Baltimore’s Waterfront Invasion — fear not. The cheap fun to be had is just beginning.

The “invasion” includes events and promotions based on the Chinasaurs: Dinosaur Dynasty and Jellies: Oceans Out of Balance summer exhibits at the Maryland Science Center and National Aquarium respectively.

The events include:

The Waterfront Wiggle Free Concert Series held Saturdays at 4 p.m. at West Shore Park through September 5. Sponsored by the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, the series features a variety of bands from steel drums to pirate musicians.

The Waterfront Invasion Free Outdoor Movie Series held Wednesday evenings in July at West Shore Park. Sponsored by the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore and ASG Events and Promotions, evenings include a screening of a classic “invasion” movie plus interactive games, activities, snacks and music beginning at 7:30 p.m.

ASG Sports and the Pepsi Bottling Group are presenting Free Youth Sports Clinics in conjunction with the West Shore Park movie series on Wednesday evenings in July from 6:30 until 8 p.m. The series will feature special guest instructors from the Baltimore Blast, Washington Freedom and Baltimore Bayhawks. Space is limited to the first 150 participants, ages 5-14. Registration is on site, the day of the event.

The Summer Live! Concert Series hosted by Harborplace will be on Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m. All performances are free and family friendly at the Harborplace Amphitheater and include a mix of jazz, blue, pop and rock musicians.

Seems like most of these free events are for families or at least not geared toward 20-somethings, younger couples or college students home for the summer or interning in the city. Which isn’t to say that younger couples wouldn’t attend these events for a night out…but those who don’t want to spend their night out with other people’s kids probably will take a pass.

How ’bout just one event for the younger crowd — is that too much to ask?

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Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon kicked off Earth Day on Wednesday by announcing that the city has installed recycling bins around the Inner Harbor. Now, tourists and other promenaders will be able to sort their trash: general refuse will go into those weird, solar-powered compactor things, and recyclables will get their own special bin.

It can be really difficult to find a place to throw something away on the street, especially if you’re not on a main street or right downtown. The other day, I carried a piece of trash about 7 blocks down St. Paul Street while walking to work from Charles Village. There were trash cans on the other side of the street the whole way (my crossings were timed in a comically inopportune way).

And recycling something is generally out of the question unless you have access to a home or office.

According to the Department of Public Works, if these Inner Harbor bins are successful (AKA people don’t throw regular trash in them), they could start to pop up in Patterson Park.

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