Daycation: My First Time in Baltimore!




This past week has been extremely crazy between flying back from the west coast and moving back into my parents house, but luckily I got a few days in between to hang out with Teddy in Maryland. For the most part we just hung out with his family and new puppy, but last Wednesday we spent the day in downtown Baltimore. 

We took the light rail from Teddy's house to the harbor since we knew parking would be a) chaotic and b) expensive. We were totally fine with walking around the city and I'm glad we did. Our original plan was to go straight to the pop-up lunch market in McKeldin Square, but when we got there it was not what we had expected. There was three little food stations and some sad looking lawn games, so we decided to explore the harbor for a few hours and then come back and see if it had gotten more interesting.

Since I'd never seen the harbor before I was super excited to just get to walk around and explore the area. Teddy had wanted to take me to the National Aquarium, but at $40 per ticket, I just didn't see the point considering I'm a fish biologist and can see fish for free every day. I'm  pretty glad that we skipped the aquarium for now, since it would have taken up a large chunk of our day and I wouldn't have been able to see as much of the city as we did.

USS Taney USS Constellation


Instead, we walked around, and after seeing all of the ships docked in the harbor decided to buy a ticket to walk through two of them. With our student discounts they were super cheap (around $9 per person if I remember correctly), and we thoroughly enjoyed both boats. First we walked through the U.S.S. Taney which is the last standing ship from Pearl Harbor, and then we boarded the U.S.S. Constellation from the Civil War. We had a great time in both and since it was the middle of the week there were very few other visitors on board which was nice. 

Between visiting the two ships we decided to just take a break and grab some milkshakes from Shake Shack and sit on a bench at the harbor. I was mildly horrified by the price of the shakes ($6 each!! - I could buy a burrito for that!) but it was a nice way to relax. I tried to convince Teddy that we should rent one of the dragon shaped paddleboats but he said a half hour rental wasn't worth it, so I lost that battle. 

After a few hours exploring the harbor and the ships we decided to check back in at McKeldin Square, which was still pretty empty. We were hungry though, and we both are suckers for trying new foods, so we grabbed lunch from the Gypsy Queen Cafe truck. I got their Old Bay Chicken Cheesesteak and Teddy got a Curry Chicken Wrap, and we were both very happy with our choices, but they were huge! We each only ate half and saved the other half for a snack later. 

We'd had plans to meet up with some friends at the south end of Federal Hill after they got off of work, so after lunch we started heading in that general direction. Teddy demanded that we walk up to the top of Federal Hill for the views, which was nice but definitely not for anyone who doesn't enjoy physical exertion (okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but it's a steep hill).

From there we decided to go to the American Visionary Arts Museum which was absolutely amazing! Teddy mostly just sat around and enjoyed the air conditioning, but I explored all three floors before we headed over to the garden and the big storage space, all of which were included in the $15 student tickets. Some of the art was hilarious and it was all incredibly unique. I am not usually into art museums but this one was incredible. I definitely suggest that everyone who goes to Baltimore checks it out.




At this point it was mid afternoon and both of us were wiped so we headed down Light Street to meet our friends and take a quick nap before going out for happy hour. We stopped in a small used book store and a gorgeous clothing boutique on the way, but didn't purchase anything since I still had to get home with all of my luggage.



After resting and catching up with our friends we decided to head  back up to the harbor (by bus this time) to the Leinenkugel's Beer Garden. The entire area is gorgeous with lots of outdoor seating and a fountain, but the happy hour specials were nothing special. $5 pints is normal priced in our college town, but we lucked out on their week night specials since Wednesday is half priced steins! The steins are huge and the Leinenkugels were only $5.50, and I love their beers. I ended up getting their Berry Weiss which was fantastic (although really "girly"). The food wasn't my favorite though so I was glad we had decided to finish up our lunch during our rest time. We ended up staying at the beer garden until around 8pm playing Jenga when Teddy's dad was kind enough to come get us so we wouldn't have to walk through the city to the light rail late at night.



Overall the day was fantastic, and I'm so glad that we got to see as much of the city as we did. Let me know if there's any other places in Baltimore I should check out next time I'm there! 

Unknown

My name is Liz and I'm a 22 year old with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation. I love beer and fashion and exploring the outdoors, and am currently figuring out how to do all of the above on a post-grad budget.

10 comments:

  1. I have never been to Baltimore. I love everything that you did and not touristy spots.

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  2. I've never been to Baltimore but this makes me want to visit! The Berry Wise beer is my favorite! To me it tastes like fruity pebbles. Maybe that is just me.

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    1. It was so fun, definitely visit if you get a chance. And yes, that beer was amazing!!

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  3. I lived in DC for a few years and yet never really did much in Baltimore, despite it being so close. Now I am regretting that! Mmmm Shake Shack!

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    1. I don't blame you though, that DC-Baltimore traffic is crazy!!

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  4. Looks like you had a great time! We were just in Baltimore and I did a recap as well. I agree with passing on the Aquarium. We went but I will not be going back. It was way too expensive!

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    1. That's awesome I'll definitely check out your post!

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  5. It sounds like a fun day! That is super expensive for an aquarium. It is always fun to visit a new city.

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