I have finally found a job that pays for me to travel (albeit twice a year, but still!)! I was able to go to Baltimore, MD for a work conference in June and had so much fun exploring in my free time outside of presentations! I only had a couple short days there, but I tried to squeeze in as much as I could in that time. Luckily, the conference was a few blocks from the inner harbor and Baltimore had those electric scooters, which made traveling a lot faster than it would have been if I would have walked everywhere!
Since I had such little time outside of the conference to explore, I had to be pr
etty picky about what I was going to do in my free-time. Before I went, I made a list of things I wanted to do and then ranked them based on my own interests. And of course, while I was there, I had to geocache a bit as well.
In order to get to Baltimore from Bozeman, I had to fly into D.C. instead of Baltimore directly, so I ended up renting a car and driving from D.C. to Baltimore after I landed. Because of this, I had to miss half of the first day of the conference, so when I finally got to my hotel, I dropped of my bags and went to the hotel that the conference was at and checked in before heading to lunch.
I hopped on a scooter and made my way to the inner harbor to figure out lunch for myself. It started POURING outside on my way down, so I took cover under an awning for Phillips Seafood. After about 10 minutes, I took it as a sign that I should just eat there and wait out the rain rather than continue to walk aimlessly around the inner harbor looking for somewhere to eat. I am not a seafood person, but let me tell you, I LOVED Phillips. I had the best clam chowder I have ever had as well as an amazing BBQ chicken sandwich. The staff were also awesome! The bartender noticed that I was watching the tennis game on the TV, so he turned the sound up and watched with me while making drinks. Sometimes it's the little things that make my day and this was one of them.
Right across the way from Phillips was the National Aquarium, which was at the tippy top of my list for must-dos. I had purchased a ticket ahead of time so I wouldn't have to wait in line and could spend as much time as possible in the aquarium. I ended up spending around 1.5 hours in the aquarium, but could have spent so much more time there. The only caveat I have was that there were so many people there that it was hard to appreciate any of the exhibits without feeling rushed, or being pushed by others attempting to get closer to the tanks. The two areas that were less crowded were the Amazon River Forest and Shark Alley. The Amazon River Forest had maybe three other people in the entire area when I was there and Shark Alley, while more crowded than the former, was far less crowded than the other areas in the aquarium. If you have the time to go over the sky bridge into the second area of the aquarium, do it! They had the COOLEST jellyfish art installation when I was there (see third photo in the slideshow). Of course, before leaving, I hit the gift shop for a postcard, sticker, keychain, and patch to add to my collections.
After the aquarium, the rest of my day was spent in sessions at the conference, but luckily I had 1.5 more days to hit the rest of my must-sees before heading home!
The next day was, of course, started with coffee before heading to the conference to start my day with some morning sessions. At one of these sessions someone told me that Edgar Allen Poe's grave site was not too far from where the conference was being held, so I headed that way at lunchtime to go check it out and hopefully find a place to eat on the way. The graveyard where he is buried had many more gravesites with a lot of interesting information about other historical figures from the Baltimore area that are buried there. I spent some time walking around the church yard and reading the plaques before heading off to find a place that I wanted to eat for lunch.
While looking for a lunch spot, I decided that I wanted to head to Fells Point to find lunch there in order to kill two birds with one stone and I am so glad I did. I hopped on an electric scooter and made my way to Fells Point. I stumbled upon a seafood restaurant, The Choptank, which I was wary about because I don't like seafood, but I decided to give it a shot anyways.
As an avid solo traveler, I have grown to love eating alone at restaurants, especially when they don't stick me at the bar and give me an actual table, which is exactly what The Choptank did. The Choptank has an outdoor patio where I was sat and given amazing service the entire time I was there. Plus, the food was absolutely AMAZING. I had their pork chop with rosemary potato wedges and fried onions. It was a bit expensive, but it was so worth it. I debated on having desert, but after I devoured the entirety of my lunch, I decided against it so I could continue to explore Fells Point before having to head back to the conference.
I meandered around Fells Point, pretty aimlessly as I didn't have anything planned for Fells Point before I got there. I found a really cute coffee shop, the Daily Grind when I was there, so I went in and ordered my regular, an iced white chocolate mocha with oat milk. The interior of the coffee shop was
incredible.
It looked like the coffee shop area was originally an alley between buildings that was then converted into an indoor space. There was a skylight, exposed brick, and even windows with flower planters hanging from them. The entire vibe of the coffee shop was immaculate and, to add to the experience, the coffee was delicious as well.
After getting my coffee and gaping at the space, I pulled out my phone and checked to see if there were any geocaches nearby that I could snag before heading back to the conference. Luckily for me, there was one right around the corner. I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't a community garden in the middle of Fells Point. This garden was tucked away in between buildings and seemed like a fabulous oasis for anyone that wants to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, even for a little bit. The garden itself was rather small, maybe 200 square feet, but the space was so green and inviting with the cobble-esque walkway under foot. It didn't take me long to find the geocache and by the time I put it back in its hiding place, a woman was coming into the garden with her husband for lunch, so headed on my way.
The walk back to the conference was one of my favorite times exploring the Inner Harbor area because I had plenty of time to make it back to the conference and had nowhere I absolutely wanted to see while walking. I walked along the harbor to get back which allowed me to stumble upon quite a few cool things that I didn't even know existed which included: Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park, the Brown Advisory Floating Wetlands, Mr. Trash Wheel, and the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse.
Once I finished my coffee that I had been toting around with me on my walking adventure, I hopped on another electric scooter and made my way the rest of the way back to the conference. The rest of my time in Baltimore was in some absolutely amazing sessions where I learned a lot to bring back to work with me.
Before I drove back to D.C. to get to the airport, I managed to squeeze in a really fast stop to Little Italy where I grabbed some cream-puffs and visited the Flag House. It was pretty dead in Little Italy when I was there, so I am pretty sure it is most lively in the afternoon and at night. Unfortunately, I didn't make it down there for lunch or dinner, but if I return to Baltimore, it is definitely on my list.
TLDR Recommendations:
Food and Drink: Phillips Seafood, The Choptank, Vacarro's Italian Pastry Shop, The Daily Grind at Fells Point
Activities: Walk along the Inner Harbor, spend the day at the National Aquarium, visit Edgar Allan Poe's Gravesite, go to the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, go see Mr. Trash Wheel, check out the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, visit the Oriole Park at Camden Yards, pay respects at the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland, look out over the Inner Harbor at the Top of the World Observation Level
Shop: TBH, I didn't shop at all when I was there except to grab my usual souvenirs in a cute gift shop along the inner harbor, so I have no recommendations on that end!
Travel on!
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