Sign in with Facebook
1 roll up sleeves; 2 get stuck in
George Washington Monument
Near Museums, Shopping and Restaurants
Australia's Tawny Frogmouth -- it's a bird!
What's the best way to get around Baltimore without my own transport? I may need to travel frequently between Homewood(JHU) and downtown, is it better to stay in downtown or near Homewood? Any comments or info on Double Tree Inn (across JHU), Radisson at Cross Key and the Mt Washington convention center?
With a family of three, is it cheaper to travel in cabs? What's the fare structure around downtown? Will appreciate any reply.
Of the hotels you mentioned my preference would be Radisson at Cross Keys. Very nice setting, good location and probably less expensive than the downtown hotels. It is not far from JHU-Homewood. With family of three I recommend using a taxi.
I love arriving at destinations by water. The approach is much slower than by car, giving you time to soak in the atmosphere and anticipate your visit.
On this trip we brought along our (okay)-my- life-sized cutout of Austin Powers. We set him up in the stern of the boat, causing many other boaters to stop by and comment, and thusly, new friends were made!
The Inner Harbour has a lot of the tourist attractions that are common to most cities, museums, aquariums etc. What's a little different about this one is that they have a kind of maritime museum, but its all afloat. An all day pass to all the attractions is $17.50 for an adult, and less for a child, a senior etc. To visit just the ships, minus the USS Constellation, its considerably less, $7. You have a bit more freedom to run than is common in most of these type of things. I visit quite a few because of the ex-sailor in me.
Crabs are as much a part of Baltimore culture as anything possibly could be. If you visit Baltimore, you MUST have some sort of crab dish complet with Old Bay seasoning. The common way to eat crabs is get a a dozen of steamed hard shell blue crabs with a mallet and lots of napkins, to be washed down with cold beer. Typically, the beer would be awful National Bohemian (Natty Boh, in local parlance) and the table would be covered in newspaper. But if you're willing to go a bit more upscale and you don't like to battle with the shells, crab cakes are another Baltimore tradition (you can even get them at Camden Yards). My favorite place to get them is at G&M's on the south side of the city near the airport where the crab cakes are as big as softballs!
I had never heard of duckpin bowling before this trip, it was created in Baltimore around 1900 and most of the places you can still play it are on the East Coast. The rules are similar to traditional bowling with a few modifications, the ball is much smaller and lighter than a traditional bowling ball and has no finger holes, the pins are smaller and you get three tries to knock over the pins. The object is the same, hurl the ball down the lane, try to knock over the pins and stay out of the gutter! Oh and don't walk on the lanes or you will go SPLAT like a couple of unlucky VTers!
I was teamed up with Lori (loripori), Hansi (waalewiener) and Roman (Dracko), little did I know that Lori was a pro! We lost Hansi at some point and then we lost Roman so Lori and I played for all four of us :-) And although I probably only bowl about once every ten years I somehow managed to get the ball down the lane and even get a couple of strikes!
For more pics of the VT meeting, click here We were allowed to bring our own beer/liquor, not sure if this was because we had a party, so call first and check with them. You can rent shoes for $2 at the bowling alley.
My guidebook didn't cover much at all of Baltimore architecture but I had a great time just wandering around the area north of the Inner Harbor and in Mount Vernon and looking at all the different styles of buildings and popping into those buildings which had lobbies that were open to the public. Should I make it back to Baltimore, I'll definitely pick up a copy of "A Guide to Baltimore Architecture" or a similar book to help with plotting out a route.
Latest Baltimore hotel reviews
Comments