Childless in Baltimore

Crab Dip Pretzel

In April, my husband and I took a road trip to Baltimore, Maryland to spend a long weekend together, and we left the kids with my parents. We left on a Thursday morning and I drove the entire time until we got to the hotel, and I sang 90s hip hop the whole way.

Our trip began at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor. When we checked in, our room was ready because we upgraded to a room with a better view. We could see all of Inner Harbor and the water out our window. We were starving, so we headed out toward Camden Yards. We stopped at Pratt Street Ale House and checked out their menu. We each tried a beer from their Oliver Brewery craft beer menu and then we shared a PSA Pretzel. I had the Cherry Blossom Ale and he had a Dark Horse and a Creator/Destroyer. The PSA Pretzel was covered in crab dip, and I thought this was unique, but it seemed as if every restaurant we visited had a pretzel with crab dip on their menu. I was not complaining because I love Old Bay seasoning and soft pretzels, but it was a staple and it was yummy.

Camden Yards

Since we had tickets for a 1 p.m. tour at Camden Yards, we had to go. We took the nice, short walk down the street. The stadium is built down into the city and has Eutaw Street running adjacent to it. The area was so clean and the tour was great. We learned a lot about Camden Yards and ballparks in general, like the fact that home plate has to face away from the sun so that the sun is never in the batter's eyes. I did not know that prior to the tour.

Bucket of Mussels at Phillips

After the tour, we stopped into Dempsey's which is a bar/restaurant within the stadium. I tried the Dempsey's Old Bay Summer Ale and it did have the taste of Old Bay, but it wasn't bad. We also tried their Camden Tenders with honey mustard for dipping. That was a good and quick bite. After our short meal, we looked around their team shop and headed back to the hotel to change for a night out.

We freshened up and headed over to the water taxi. The walk to the taxi stop was short and it was only $8 to travel on the water. We were able to watch the sun start to set as we traveled along the water to Fells Point. Fells Point is a historical area that has a lot of bars, cafes and cobblestone streets. We started out at The Wharf Rat and chatted up the friendly bartender. Blue Point was actually on tap and we were pretty surprised to see that. We had one beer and then moved on to the next bar, Max's. We heard good things about Max's. Their list of beers is extensive, so we sat at the bar for a while. First we ordered a couple pints and then we moved on to tasting glasses after we met some folks who told us that the mini glasses were a better way to get through the menu. I ordered sliders to get some food in my belly, and we headed out to The Horse You Came in On, a bar dedicated to whiskey. I am not a whiskey drinker, so I had a Hard Root Beer. Then, we stopped at one more bar, hopped in a cab and called it a night.

Beer Menu at Max's

The next day, we started out with lunch at Phillips Seafood. I had a New England Clam Chowder and a bucket of mussels. Since the aquarium was $40 per person and we don't go to the movies that often together and we don't go to the movies that often, we walked down to Harbor East and found the Landmark Harbor East Cinema. I knew we were getting close when I smelled the popcorn. Harbor East is a really nice area to shop and walk around too. There were several small cafes and shops, like J. Crew and White House Black Market. After seeing Batman vs. Superman, I would have liked to shop and walk around a little, but we had to head back for our reservation.

We had a reservation to take the B'More TGIF Cruise around the Harbor. We purchased a couple of beers for each of us beforehand, so we had tickets to hand in for them when we got onboard. It was a very relaxing cruise and we learned a little bit about the area as we floated along. When we got off the boat, we were starving, so we headed over to M&S Grill, a McCormick & Schmick's restaurant, which we love. I had Maryland Crab Soup and TK had Lobster Bisque. They were very good. Then, I had the Baked Stuffed Shrimp and he had the Sirloin. We were both very happy, and full.

Harbor East

Saturday started with us going for a drive to Target to get some things for our trip back on Sunday and lunch at Canton Dockside. My meal started with the Crab Bisque En Croute. It looked like a French Onion Soup, but instead of cheese, it was bread dough with Crab Bisque underneath. It was good and interesting, but by the time my Crab Cake Sandwich came, I was stuffed. On our way back to the hotel, we hit a lot of traffic. The light system is awful in Baltimore.

When we finally got back to the room, we dropped all of our stuff off, changed our clothes and headed out to the many bars that lined the water. We started at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. and had apps and drinks. We then moved on to Hard Rock Cafe and Dick's Last Resort. Everything was in walking distance of our hotel, so we enjoyed our last hurrah in Baltimore. When we returned to the hotel, I went up to the top floor to check out the pool area. There was a fire pit up there and a family had purchase the s'mores kit from the front desk and were enjoying their treat.

Crab Bisque En Croute

On Sunday, we drove home until we came upon a Cracker Barrel that wasn't completely packed and enjoyed breakfast, and a little shopping, of course. Cracker Barrel is always a must on a road trip. We had to make sure to buy my mom a Cracker Barrel gift card because we share a LOVE for that place.

Our weekend in Baltimore was great, but we have to get back and try all of the places that we missed, including Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, the Rusty Scupper, Potbelly Sandwiches and Bo Brooks. Next time, we may even take the kids. Maybe ...

Food Trucks in Inner Harbor