Well as the title says, getting sent to John Hopkins near the beginning of April.  I will be driving in on a Sunday before my appointment on Monday.  Anything I should plan to do, nothing athletic or anything that might require more than a mile of walking.  I will probably stay Sunday night in the Inner Harbor area.  I saw the B&O railroad but am on a limited time frame so want to make the most of it.  Any restaurant dealing with only fish is off the menu.  I really don't want to investigate the city too much.  I am guessing its a bit worse than Houston, couple blocks in the wrong direction and its a bad year or worse.  How is public transportation, I can but prefer not to have a crash course in Baltimore's driving habits unless I was going to stay for a few weeks.

try not to get shot, should take up most of your time

Which Hopkins will be you be going to?

If its the main campus, catch an uber to Fells Point/Inner Harbor.  Plenty of good restaurants, shops, etc to check out.  I live in Federal Hill (across the inner harbor).  There are definitely some bad areas, but its not Mogadishu.  The B&O Museum is really cool for sure, but not walkable from anywhere.

The best thing you can do is watch your back your front and both sides.  I went to Baltimore several years ago and some thug threw a full plastic cup on the windshield of my brand new car and that was years ago when it was a safe city. Had I stopped to confront them there would have been about six of them on me at once. I get the Baltimore News on my TV and the Inner Harbor is not a safe place like it was years ago. Parking fees used to be outrageous

Not to get into an argument, but I've lived in the city for 5 years now.  Are there bad parts?  Absolutely.  Can crap happen anywhere?  Absolutely.  Does watching the news give you a skewed view of the city?  Absolutely.  The thousands of tourists and city goers going about their lives daily, trouble free rarely makes it to the newsreels.

I think your advice to be aware of your surroundings should apply anywhere.