In early October of 2013, Kevin and I flew to Baltimore, Maryland with the intention of spending a few days visiting my friend Marihelen and her fiancé Nate and eating all the crab we could get our hands on. We found Baltimore to be a beautiful city, where history collides with an almost appealing grittiness. We got a great deal at the Hilton Baltimore near the inner harbor and directly next to Camden Yards (our hotel room literally looked out onto the field).
After settling into our hotel, we met up with Marihelen and her dog Teddy for a walk around the inner harbor. She explained to us how Baltimore hates Indianapolis, and in particular the Indianapolis Colts, as that team used to be in Maryland before they were moved in the middle of the night in March of 1994. Being from Cleveland, we couldn’t believe the hypocrisy since almost the same thing happened to our Cleveland Browns in the 90s, when they were moved and ultimately became the Baltimore Ravens. For dinner that evening, Nate drove us out to Woodberry Kitchen, a small plates restaurant that had delicious food and a large outdoor eating area.
While Marihelen and Nate worked the next day, we headed to the Lexington Market, which happens to be the oldest market in America, dating back to 1782. The land for the market was donated by General John Eager Howard and was originally named the Western Precincts Market before it was renamed Lexington for the famous battle in the American Revolution. We had heard great things about the crab cakes at Faidley’s and they did not disappoint. Not only did the crab melt in our mouths, but they were also enormous and easily the largest crab cake either of us had ever seen. Fans of all things kitsch, we chuckled at the sight of several pay phones around the market. Not having seen one in person for years, we had to take a snapshot of me channeling Omar from The Wire. After lunch, we hopped in a cab back to the harbor area, where we walked around and visited Federal Hill Park, which offers a panoramic view of the Baltimore skyline and the American Visionary Art Museum, the outside of which is covered in various mosaic sculptures.
Later that afternoon, we met back up with Marihelen who took us on a tour of the Fells Point historic district. Established in 1763, the neighborhood is comprised of elegant and colorful row houses, charming shops and restaurants with waterfront views. We enjoyed happy hour at V-No Wine Bar and Shop, a lovely establishment on the harbor with outdoor seating. After a bottle of champagne, we devoured pizza at Homeslyce and took a quick stroll through the Mount Vernon area before heading back to our hotel.
In the grand pursuit of foliage, we rented a car the next morning and began our journey north to Boston, with a stop in Connecticut along the way. We promised Marihelen we would grab breakfast with her before we left. She suggested Miss Shirley’s Cafe for crab cake benedict, easily the best thing we had eaten so far on the trip. Things went down hill from there. We had to wait for our rental car and didn’t get on the road until well past noon. Somewhere in New Jersey, we stopped to grab a quick bite at (dun, dun)…Popeye’s. Maybe it was the mixture of the fried chicken and the heavy breakfast, but immediately upon returning to the car, I felt sick. Yet, we tried to push on and get through New York before we stopped again. Little did we know that we would get stuck in one of the worst traffic jams we had ever witnessed on the George Washington Bridge. One of the lanes had been closed and another was dealing with an overturned truck spilling out sheet metal. I’ll spare you the gross details, but in desperate need of a bathroom, I was close to considering all of my options but ultimately was able to haul ass to a McDonald’s on the other side of the bridge. The ridicule from Kevin has yet to abate and I’m reminded of it every time one of those “Love that chicken from Popeye’s” commercials airs.
By the time we got through the traffic jam, we were just in time to hit New York and Connecticut rush hour. We had originally planned to spend the afternoon in the charming and historic town of Essex, but unfortunately it was already dark by the time we arrived. We checked in to our room at the Griswold Inn. Opened in 1776, this hotel was the primary reason we had chosen Essex and one of the oldest run inns in the US. Famished, we went to eat at the Griswold wine bar. A distinct but alluring smell of old wood permeates the inn, where the walls are covered in maritime art. In fact, the Griswold is home to one of the largest private collections of maritime art in the country. Behind the bar, your eye is drawn to a large mural of the Essex waterfront. Sensing I was a tourist, the locals asked me to stare very hard at the painting. Once I did, I noticed, surprisingly, that it was moving! Apparently it was designed this way, made to look as though the boats were swaying in the waves, although the locals did try to convince me that I had just had too much wine.
If we had done it over again, we definitely would have stayed in Essex longer. Alas, we were off the next morning, back in the car to Boston to visit Kevin’s high school friend Alex and his wife Laura, chemists who were working and studying at Boston University and MIT. On the drive, we did actually see some fall-colored leaves, granted they were all yellow. Apparently we were early to the foliage party and they wouldn’t be really changing hues for a few more weeks. We got to Cambridge in the early afternoon and walked around while we waited for our friends to get off work.
After settling in, Alex and Laura gave us a tour of Cambridge – we wandered through the Harvard campus and hit up a tiki bar for some drinks and appetizers. Bar hopping ensued and we stumbled into their apartment in the wee hours.
The next morning, we woke up late and had Alex’s famous homemade McGriddles for breakfast. As it was a Sunday, Alex had arranged for us to go to the on-campus bar at MIT, where Laura was studying, to watch the Bears game. The bar, which basically is just a large common room, is exclusive to students, so we felt privileged to be able to visit. Laura’s friend joined us and someone suggested a quick game of Trivial Pursuit. Kevin and I glanced at one another, quick to assume that the MIT students would wipe the floor with us. At least that was our thought until the game began. If the game had consisted of only science-related queries, we would have surely lost. Turns out, when you study chemistry at MIT, you don’t know how to answer questions about music, literature or pop culture. Kevin and I DOMINATED. And bragging about winning Trivial Pursuit at MIT with a bunch of smartypants chem students has become a favorite pastime.
Our action packed day continued after the game when we signed up for a duck boat ride on the Charles River. While we were waiting for it to begin, we got drinks at Top of the Hub, a restaurant at the top of the Prudential Center that was owned by the same restaurant group that owned Pier W, the restaurant I used to hostess at throughout high school and college. A quick Google search tells me the restaurant has since closed after 55 years. Unfortunate, since it had quite beautiful views of the city.
I wish I could tell you the duck boat tour was a must, but I honestly don’t remember a thing about it. After the tour, we headed to the harbor for a proper Boston lobster dinner. The Facebook origin story The Social Network had come out a few years ago, and Kevin and I loved the film, so when Alex said he lived not far from the Thirsty Scholar, the bar where they filmed the opening scene, we had to check it out for a nightcap. As luck would have it, they were hosting trivia that night. We did play, but we weren’t fortunate enough to win two trivia games in one day.
On our final day in Boston, we decided to check out Fenway and its surrounding area. There was no game that day, so there were few people around the stadium. The comparisons to Wrigley are apparent, although Fenway is more planned out with pedestrian streets around the bars and restaurants. Another perk for Red Sox fans is the Bleacher Bar, a watering hole located underneath the stadium that provides a view of centerfield, minus the price of a ticket.
After Fenway, we headed to downtown Boston to walk along the famous Freedom Trail, a collection of historic sites that were all significant during the American Revolution. Flagged by metal street markers, each site played a part in the forming of our nation. Along the way, we stopped at the Granary Burying Ground, home to the graves of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and many other Revolutionary bigwigs, the King’s Chapel and the Old State House. Next on our walking tour was Faneuil Hall, a building steeped in history, where America’s first Town Meeting took place. It was there that we grabbed a quick lobster roll for lunch.
When Alex and Laura got off work, we met up with them back in Cambridge for a quick sushi dinner and called it an early night, as our flight back to Chicago was in the morning.
Recommendations:
- Woodberry Kitchen. 2010 Clipper Park Rd Suite 126, Baltimore, MD 21211. https://www.woodberrykitchen.com/
- Faidley’s. 203 N Paca St, Baltimore, MD 21201. https://www.faidleyscrabcakes.com/
- Miss Shirley’s Cafe. The Charm’tastic Mile, 750 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202. https://www.missshirleys.com/
- Griswold Inn. 36 Main St, Essex, CT 06426. https://griswoldinn.com/
- Bleacher Bar. 82A Lansdowne St, Boston, MA 02215. https://www.bleacherbarboston.com/
- The Freedom Trail. Boston, MA. https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
