BALTIMORE — Soon after Candy Thomas moved into a rowhouse one block from Pimlico Race Course a few weeks ago, a neighbor asked her if she was ready for Preakness Stakes weekend.
The race is always a big party in their Park Heights neighborhood, as more than 100,000 fans and their cars descend on the area, clogging the streets. Music will blare. People will dance. Money will be made.
The front lawn of nearly every home becomes either a parking lot or a pop-up market, perfect for hungry, thirsty fans held captive by the conga lines of traffic.