Here Are the Plans for Purp Walk ’24

The final Uni Watch Purple Amnesty Day is just a few weeks away. As you probably know by now, we’ll be convening in Baltimore on May 17, and I’m happy to announce that we have a full roster of activities planned. Here’s the rundown:

11am: We will convene at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum (subject of this Uni Watch post), where external affairs director Katie Dick has generously offered to give us a tour of the museum and its archives. Katie is also giving us a discounted group admission price of $5 per person, instead of the usual $15, but feel free to pay a bit more to help support the museum and its mission. (Note: There’s metered street parking.)

1pm: Lunch and/or cocktails at Frazier’s on the Avenue. We won’t have a group reservation or anything like that — just an informal hang, while we wait for…

1:30pm: The great Juliet Ames — aka the Salt Box Lady — will unveil a special Uni Watch Purple Amnesty Day salt box right outside Frazier’s. She and I will both be available for photo ops with the salt box. (Note: There’s metered street parking, along with a pay lot behind Frazier’s.)

2pm-4:30pm: This will be a free period. You can take a break, or explore the neighborhood around Frazier’s (Juliet Ames says, “Across from Frazier’s is a Mexican spot with a ton of pinball machines, and there’s also a record store and Atomic Books, where John Waters does all of his book signings”), or go to the National Aquarium, or whatever.

4:30pm-6:30pm: Duckpin bowling at Stoneleigh Lanes. They charge by the hour — $16 for one hour or $24 for two hours (both prices include shoes) — so you can bowl as much or as little as you want.

7pm: The official Purp Walk ’24 party at Union Brewing. We’ll be gathering out back in their outdoor beer garden. Just look for all the purple-clad people!

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That should be a pretty full day. This activity menu is totally à la carte — join us for the parts that interest you, skip the ones that don’t. No advance registration or notification needed.

Naturally, I will be dressed from head to toe in purple attire, including a very special new acquisition. I assume many of you will be wearing purple as well (although you’re free to wear whatever you like, of course).

Speaking of purple clothing, big thanks to all of you who pre-ordered this year’s awesome Purp Walk T-shirt and our annual purple cap. Here’s the tee (designed by the great Bryan Molloy), followed by a closer look at the design, and then the cap:

If you pre-ordered these, they’ll definitely arrive before May 17. If you didn’t pre-order, the cap and shirt are both available here; caps will ship out on a weekly basis, but shirts won’t ship until after Purp Walk — sorry.

As always, I’ll also be taking purple-inclusive membership card orders for 24 hours on May 17.

Big thanks to Bryan for all his years of Purp Walk merchandising collaboration, to reader Tim Cox for coming up with the idea of Purple Amnesty Day, to Scott M.X. Turner for coining the term “Purp Walk,” and to everyone who’s made this annual event such a fun date on the Uni Watch calendar. I’m very much looking forward to this final go-round. See you in Baltimore!