Daughter and father CoraJo and Eric Spare of North East, Md., who had camp chairs set up in the holding area, said they are big fans of the show. They said they always said they thought they would audition and this seemed to be the best time to try out, since CoraJo is about to graduate from college.

Longtime friends Lori O'Connell, 28, and Ashley Heffernan, 21, from the Eastern Shore, have been interested in being on the show for ages, but this was the first year Ashley was qualified (the age limit for the show is 21 or older). They met when Lori was Ashley's soccer coach in high school and became closer friends and business partners after she graduated. They had already created and submitted a video to the show. "It shows us on the farm, firing an automatic rifle," Lori said. "It can't hurt to apply twice."

Donnie Lewis and John Schramm, both 35, have been friends for 10 years. Lewis said he hoped the dynamic of their friendship -- "black gay man and white straight man" -- would interest producers. He also said Schramm was his secret weapon --  "my personal Rand McNally."

Ex-girlfriends Kisha Coleman and Marvina Greene, from Baltimore, said they had always been interested in applying for the show but figured their jobs would get in the way. But after both got fired last month and they saw the notice of the casting call on the news last night, they decided the time was right. Asked if their breakup was amicable, since they are obviously still willing to spend time together, they said they take it day by day -- "This is a good moment," Greene said. If they make it on the show and win the $1 million prize, "we'll send them a fruit basket," they said of their former employers.


I talked to Caitlin Schultz, 21, and her mother, Susan, 44, of Timonium, while they waited their turn to make their pitch to the cameras. They said their favorite part of the experience so far had been meeting so many new people who were also fans of the show. They were hoping to make the show and take part in some of the challenges where "you can't not look funny, like carrying the cheese."

Suzanne Valaitis, 31, and Sarah Rohde, 30, have been best friends for three years. The Canton residents have traveled extensively together, though Valaitis was worried that her fear of heights might make some of the challenges difficult. Rohde said her biggest challenge would be having to go so long without a hot shower.

Roommates Erik Lofstad, 25, and Brian Wright,  27, were hoping to make the show. Wright said his biggest challenge if he was chosen for the show would be to stay politically correct for the cameras "I would probably get bleeped out a lot," he said). Lofstad said that The Amazing Race, which sends contestants on a tens-of-thousands-of-miles race around the globe, "is not carbon neutral, but I'm cool with that." (And in one of those Smalltimore moments, Wright and Rohde had once been neighbors.)

Stephanie and Howard Reel, who have been married for 30 years and both work at Hopkins, prepared a poem for their audition, which mentioned Hopkins, as well as their grandchildren, who had persuaded them to apply for the show. Avid hikers, the Reels have traveled to New Zealand, Austria, Scotland and more. They said they were ready for the race, too, because they run half-marathons regularly.

I chatted with newlyweds Joel and Colleen Baldwin, on their way out of their audition. The Fells Point residents said they didn't get a lot of feedback after recording their video. They told the story of their engagement -- Colleen kept accidentally foiling Joel's proposal plans -- to show how their very different personalities fit together well. "They just said, 'Hey, have a nice day," Colleen said of the producers. "So either we sucked or they were very straightforward with everyone."

Don Meyers, general manager of the Rosedale store, said at least a couple hundred teams had shown up for auditions and that about 50 people had camped out at the store overnight in 26 degree weather. They hadn't hosted a reality-show audition before, but Meyers said it had been a very positive experience.