Charm City

This weekend I was back on the road. And as mentioned, Baltimore was the destination. I was assigned tour guide, hooray. While in most cities I’m out to explore new ‘off the beaten path’ gems, in Baltimore, I know what I like and make sure to hit up these locales almost every time I’m there, which is less frequently than I would like. Baltimore is neat city; I’m glad we’re so close. I’m also glad the MARC Train now runs on weekends.

These are my ‘must visit’ spots:

• Walk the National Harbor
• Eat Pretzels at Cross Street Market
• Have Brunch at Miss Shirley’s
• Find Berger Cookies at Lexington Market

For something new on this trip, I wanted to take Boyfriend to Heavy Seas Alehouse. I also wanted to

experience Artifact Coffee and ShooFly Café.

I did not actually make it to Baltimore as early as I had hoped on Friday. Oh well, that’s life. Once Boyfriend and A.J.S. arrived, we headed to Heavy Seas Alehouse for dinner. It was not the atmosphere I was expecting. Boyfriend sold this place as a brewery, but turns out, the actual brewery is in Annapolis… so instead envision a bar. They also didn’t have Boyfriend’s favorite brew. The food and cocktails though were good, even if overpriced. The rest of the group joined us late in our meal and quickly munched down dinner. We headed towards Fell’s Point from there and decisively landed at The Admiral’s Cup. There was live music. And shots we were too old to be taking. We chatted and danced into the wee hours. By the time I hit the sack, it was almost my normal rise.

Needless to say, I did not run Saturday (or Sunday). When I finally, and I do mean finally, rallied the troops we headed to Miss Shirley’s for brunch, or lunch on my watch. And Shirley did not disappoint. We then walked around the National Harbor, up to Federal Hill, around towards Cross Street Market (but not actually to Cross Street Market—no pretzels this trip, boo), and last over to Lexington Market. The weather, for August, was nice and the threat of rain held off the entire day. A great day for a walking tour! The rest of the afternoon was spent sleeping; I guess we wore ourselves out. For dinner, we stumbled into Alewife and I’m glad we did. The fish tacos on homemade tortillas were absolute perfection. I cannot even explain. I’m only upset I traded one-for-one with Boyfriend for a Wild Boar Slider. The slider was yummy, just not when compared with my fish tacos. Turns out, this establishment is a fan favorite in Baltimore and ranks favorably in the ‘Cheap Eats’ category. There were also a million beers on tap, making for a happy Boyfriend. To boot, the restaurant was decorated with local art for sale, all of which was very neat.

Half of the group left early-ish on Sunday morning, while the remaining four of us went to Baltimore’s Farmer’s Market and Bazaar, where we spent the entire morning. This is definitely one of the best famer’s markets I have ever been to. I wanted everything and managed to indulge in such way—blackberries, cinnamon rolls, paratha. The prices were very reasonable too. I say that rarely these days. I settled for Zeke’s Coffee as Artifact was a bit out of our way. I am not sure it was worth the line we stood in it for, however, I liked the option for iced coffee at a farmer’s market.

I arrived home—starving and exhausted—and spent the rest of the evening reading, in solitude. The stimulation of the weekend truly took it out of me. I also went to bed at 8:00 pm on Monday, still totally wiped.

There are more visits to Baltimore in my future.