Project 365: Week 23 "baltimore"

Catching Up...Part Two

WEEK 23

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Today my man and I flew to Baltimore. He's conferencing again...and I'm tagging along again. I'm  pretty good at that. We asked around and got recommendations on dinner spots within walking distance. Tonight we ended up at James Joyce Irish Pub. It was divine!! Let me just say, if you ever eat there, get the Warm Crab Meat Salad. You will not be disappointed. You'll have to take my word for it, though, as I forgot to photograph our food tonight.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Our hotel is right on the harbor, and it's just lovely here. After sleeping until 10:00, walking on the treadmill in the hotel's fitness room, and reading the day away, Paul and I explored the area a bit.

Check out this giant candy from a store on the harbor!

This is the view from our hotel room. Pretty breathtaking, no?

 We had dinner at Oceanaire, which is actually a chain. As a general rule, we like to avoid chain restaurants, preferring local favorites instead. But this one was really close to our hotel, got great reviews, and we were told had the best crabcakes in Baltimore. Funny thing is...we didn't get crabcakes. I had a smashing good salad, "Strawberry Fields," and Shrimp & Grits.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

I spent all morning walking and exploring Baltimore's Inner Harbor and a lovely residential area of Federal Hill today.

Mostly I was on a mad hunt for guitar strings because I broke one. Boo!

Favorite shot of the day:

 But after my very nice, loooooong walk, with guitar strings in hand, I ended with lunch from Chipotle to go...

...because I wanted to eat outside by this lighthouse.

Dinner tonight was with our dear friends who used to live in Little Rock. They drove down from Pennsylvania to meet up with us here, and we had a great time! So much so that I forgot to take a picture.   :(

Wednesday, June 6, 2012


I have no pictures of my day. Which simply means I read and played guitar ALL DAY! Sigh.

Tonight's dinner was at a local Italian place in Baltimore's Little Italy: La Scala Ristorante Italiano.

Our entrees were just so-so, but we split a Grilled Caesar Salad that blew our minds! So amazing!

And then we had a lovely walk back to the hotel.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Here's another view of the harbor from our hotel (by the elevators).

This afternoon we spent some time in the very quirky and quaint "Fells Point" area. We had a fabulous lunch at a little European-style deli. Think: homemade kraut served by Polish lady potentially named Sophia. Yum! I had smoked salmon and tomato soup.
We were mostly in the area to do some shopping for the kids, though.

The walk back was scenic.

Dinner tonight was at Talara. Latin American, local, and delightful!!

Paul's entree was intriguing, eh? (And this was AFTER the gourmet ceviche!!)
I don't remember what it WAS exactly. Perhaps because I was too focused on my OWN.

Mine? Ropa Vieja: "House-braised and shredded beef brisket, finished with sofrito butter sauce, and served over coconut rice and beans with fried plantains."
Scrumptious!! I ate every. single. morsel.

Friday, June 8, 2012

This was like the longest day of the century. We woke at about 6:30. Took care of hotel business at 7:30ish. (Checking out and then checking back in on our own dime. Conference ended yesterday. We stayed an extra day. Yay us!) THEN we snagged a cab and headed for Penn Station. We boarded our train and were IN Washington, D.C. by 8:45 a.m.

First, we visited the Supreme Court House. (Y'all DO know I'm married to a lawyer, right?)

This is the view from the courtyard at the Supreme Court House

Then it was on to the National Archives.

 No pictures are allowed inside, of course, but it was awesome to see our nation's precious documents: The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights.

Lunch was at Oyamel, and it was sooooooo good! Authentic with a modern flare, fast-paced, and served in antojitos (Mexican small plates), so we got to try several different dishes. Mine were crazy spicy, but I loved every bite! One of my dishes was a black bean soup served with crispy fried tortilla strips, avocado (thank goodness!), and a dried poblano chili (aka ancho).

After lunch, we walked over to the Washington Monument on our way to the Reflecting Pool. Because the one and only time we had been that way before, we had been surprised by a sudden and terrible downpour and had to RUN all the way past the pool! That trip we did, however, spend an inordinate amount of time in the Lincoln Memorial, along with a few hundred other steamy, wet people. So there was no need to tour the Lincoln Memorial again, but I did want to do a little "reflecting" at the Reflecting Pool, ya know?

Unfortunately, we only made it as far as the World War II Memorial today.

Because, unbelievably, The Reflecting Pool is being renovated right now!! Boo hoo!! (Really, THAT is exactly what I wanted to do by the time we got there!! It was a looooooong, hot walk over there and then back again!) Sigh. So back we trekked, stopping in at the Museum of American History to cool off. I loved this dollhouse exhibit. Call me "girly" if you must.

Then we headed back to Union Station...while enjoying the views.

We took the train straight to Camden Yards back in Baltimore for...you guessed it...a game!

Since the Orioles were losing, we left a little early and walked back toward the hotel, stopping to eat a little something there on the harbor. I love crossing all the pedestrian bridges here, etc. Especially at night...with my man...and the lights reflecting on the water.
Do I really have to leave??

Saturday, June 9, 2012

This morning we got up and flew back home. Got home around 1:00, grabbed some lunch, did a load of laundry, and repacked our bags to go pick up the kiddos who have been staying at my parents' house. As we ate our lunch, we got a text from our realtor saying that our house has SOLD (your eyes do not deceive you...)! It has SOLD...and we have less than a month to be out. Oh, dear. Anyway, we got on the road and drove two hours to catch up with the kiddos. Here they are with their treats from us.

Part 3 of the "Catch Up" is coming up. It's WAY less eventful...I PROMISE!