I have a trip booked this weekend with my youngest son (17) to Baltimore and Annapolis. We were going to a Lacrosse tournament for him to play in. Last night however he came home from practice and said he hit his head pretty hard. This morning sure enough we took him in and he has a mild concussion. Enough that he can not play this weekend.
We already have the flights, hotel, and rental car paid for. I’m sure we can cancel and at least get some of the money back, but I’m thinking it may be nice to just take a trip out… watch a couple of their games and sight see. Usually on these trips we go to interesting places but never have time to take in any of the local sights.
So, if you found yourself in Baltimore this weekend with no firmly set itinerary what do you recommend?
I don’t mean this as a joke but probably your best plan is to leave Baltimore.
If you’re in the Baltimore/Annapolis area, you’re within about thirty miles of Washington. And Washington has a lot more tourist destinations than Baltimore or Annapolis.
There are actually some cool things to see on the waterfront:
Great aquarium
Geppi’s Museum (rich guy’s collection of all the coolest collectibles you’d buy if you had the money). It is located right next to the baseball stadium - on the same “block”.
Annapolis is a cool town to walk around and see the shops, but not sure your son would appreciate it.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is a wonderful way to spend some hours. And there are lots of things to see in the Inner Harbor itself. The water taxi costs $12 for an all-day ticket and it’ll take you from the harbor to Fells Point, Fort McHenry and various stops in between, plus you can see the sights from the water. And there are all kinds of museums around the city, depending on how much time you have. I used to love the B&O Railroad museum.
We love Annapolis, mostly for sailing-related activities, but it’s a nice city for walking around and looking at stuff. The Naval Academy is also worth a visit.
DC is fine, but there’s nothing wrong with Baltimore or Annapolis for day trips.
As cormac said, the aquarium is worth a visit. There is a water taxi that will take you around to other sites in the harbor. Unfortunately, it won’t take you to Fort McHenry at this time of year, but it will take you along the north side of the shoreline all the way to Canton.
Fell’s Point is an old waterfront area with some really old buildings, cool bars, and one famous restaurant, Bertha’s Their slogan is Eat Bertha’s Mussels, and you should. If mussles aren’t your thing, the water taxi also stops near Little Italy, birthplace of Nancy Pelosi and home to a couple of dozen great restaurants.
If you like baseball history, there is a Babe Ruth museum located a bit south of downtown in the house he was born in.
Fort McHenry is cool enough to make the effort to get there without the water taxi (drive, don’t swim). It’s where the rockets and bombs were coming from that inspired the Star Spangled Banner.
If you like art, the Walters Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art are worth a trip a bit north of downtown.
No, it’s where the rockets and bombs were going to. The British had pulled in a lot of ships into the Chesapeake Bay and were firing IHBM*'s at Fort McHenry in an attempt to reconquer Baltimore. Francis Scott Key was an American POW on board one of the British ships and he was rather worried that the British were going to kick the crap out of us when he saw all the ub371337 w34p0||z and d00dz that the British had brought. So when the dawn came and the US flag was still flying, he was rather relieved.
Flying into BWI? Why not forego the expense and hassle of a rental car or the highway robbery of a taxi ride and take THE LIGHT RAIL from the airport to Camden Yards (or be adventurous and take it all the way to Hunt Valley before returning to Downtown Balto). Thrill to the sights of Ferndale, Linthicum and Baltimore Highlands before disembarking at the Stadia where all of the downtown area is laid out at your feet.
Go to Red Emma’s! It’s an awesome place with tons of groundbreaking radical books and other goodies, and a cafe with lots of yummy things. Its workers own and run it.
You don’t say where you are from, or where you have reservations. But make sure to eat some crabs and/or crabcakes while in and around Charm City. If you are staying out by BWI airport, you can’t go wrong getting crabcakes at either G&M Restaurant or Olive Grove, both located within a block of each other near the airport. If staying in the city, go to Lexington Market, which is a market that sells both wholesale and retail foods, including crabcakes at Faidley Seafood. You can walk up to Lexington Market from the Inner Harbor in the daytime, but I wouldn’t do it at night.
As for touristy things, I also recommend the National Aquarium in Inner Harbor. I think Annapolis would be boring for most kids/teens.
Thanks everyone. It is still up in the air if we go or not. I can cancel the car no problem… the flight I can get credit to use within one year. The hotel says that I get charged for the two nights if I didn’t cancel by last Friday. I may call and try to play the sympathy card though and see if that will do anything. If not it wouldn’t kill me to eat $250 (yes, a great rate for 2 nights in Baltimore) and fly somewhere else more fun later.
A few people wanted some more details. We are coming from Indy, flying into BWI and staying at the Aloft close to the airport. We’ll come in Friday afternoon and leave Sunday night. We have a car because we will actually be playing the other side of Annapolis across the bridge (about 50 miles from the hotel). Even though he wouldn’t be playing he will want to go to some of the games to cheer his team on. Besides the car was only $13/day for a full size.
We did DC recently so will probably not head there this trip.
Crab cakes and seafood are definitely a must. We were in the area not too long ago so know what to expect there. My son has been to the inner harbor before but I haven’t. My son is a jock, but a smart one. He appreciates history and architecture etc.
Keep the suggestions coming… I’ll probably decide tomorrow if we are going or not.
At the Inner Harbor there is a WWII submarine you can tour. And a couple of other interesting ships of various vintages.
FairyChatMom already mentioned the B&O railroad museum. IF either of you are into steam-era railroads, do not miss this museum. It’s one of the most extensive & well funded such museums in North America. But if trains aren’t your thing it’d be massive overkill.
The National Cryptologic Museum is good if you like that sort of thing (at Ft. Meade, just outside the fence - anyone can go, free). Lots of WWII crypto, and newer.
The National Electronics Museum in Linthicum (basically next door to the airport) is pretty hard-core nerdy (RADAR, satellites). Also free.
The NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center has a visitor center/small museum. Lots of astronomical stuff. Also a tree grown from seeds that went to space on an Apollo mission. Free.
There’s a tattoo museum in Baltimore in the Fells Point area. Cheap if not free.
The Aquarium is good but gets expensive really quickly.
The Baltimore Museum of Industry is interesting (exhibits on neon lighting and car building robots), but kind of small and probably not worth admission if it’s not free.
The Charm City Roller Girls roller derby team is lots of fun to watch but I don’t think they’re playing then.
Yes, well worth the visit, and has the advantage of being different from anything you can find in most other cities. I really like the Walters and the BMA, but they’re pretty predictable art museums; the Visionary Arts Museum is something quite different.
As others have suggested, Lexington Market is a lot of fun, and Fell’s Point and Little Italy both have a bunch of stuff to see. I’m not a huge fan of the aquarium, to be honest; if you’ve been to a top-notch place like Monterey Bay, it seems a bit old-fashioned and limited.