My hubs and I are kind of wimps when it comes to leaving our kiddos overnight. It’s just so hard to be away from them for more than a day or two. Hence – the staycation! Or, more accurately – a tourist in your own back yard. For our anniversary, we decided to head up north to Baltimore for 24 hours of sans-children fun. Baltimore is such an underrated city on the East Coast – but it’s going through a real renaissance and it has a perfect blend of history, good food, water and enough walkability to scratch the city itch of this now suburban couple.
A few highlights of our trip:
We stayed at the Sagamore Pendry in Fells Point. Wow – can’t recommend it enough. Beautiful hotel; amazing location on the water; great service. They give you a ‘password’ for a secret gratis cocktail at the bar when you get there. It’s awesome. Note – it can get pretty crowded on the weekends, not unpleasantly so, but there’s a lot of excitement about this place – so there’s more than a few peeps there.
We brunched on Saturday at Bond Street Social. We picked it for its bloody mary bar and its close location to our hotel (drive up from DC, drop bags at hotel, then to an immediate brunch – we maximized our adult time!). We sat outside, people-watched, had a few bloodies, enjoyed our food. I’ll say that I don’t even remember what we ate – so perhaps the food wasn’t really memorable, but we enjoyed the ambiance and the drinks.
Next we took the Water Taxi over to the Inner Harbor. Woah. These are not your grand-dad’s water taxis…..They are really sleek-looking, and just a fun, relaxing way to get around Baltimore. It wasn’t cold the day we were there, but I’m told they are heated in the winter. This was one of the highlights of our trip – definitely recommend.
Next we went to the National Aquarium.…I’ll say this: it’s good, but WAY overpriced. It was $80 for the both of us (and we didn’t even do any of the extra add-ons like the 3D movie, etc). For 80 bucks, the place was just so-so….for $20, it would have been awesome. Wait for the coupon.
We had dinner at the new Rec Pier Chophouse inside the Sagamore Pendry. Again – this was amazing. The steak, the rolls, the sides, the desserts, the cocktails, the lighting, the high-ceilings, the service, the beautiful people! We loved it. Side note – it is LOUD. So if you’re a person who doesn’t like loud restaurants (hello looking at you Dad), then you should probably go in off-peak times.
On Sunday morn, we had some coffee brought to our room and then packed up and brunched at the new Rye Street Tavern on the way out of town. Rye Street Tavern is one of Baltimore’s newest additions in the Port Covington area. We weren’t disappointed – the World Famous Fried Chicken is a must-order on the menu. It was a truly relaxing brunch (not loud), with a peaceful location on the water and easy parking. It was a perfect end to our 24-hours as adults sans-children. By the end of brunch, though, we were ready to see our little monsters back home ;-).
Take away: Baltimore – go there.
Mid-Atlantic Mama 