Weekend in Baltimore

Baltimore. What comes to mind when you hear the word? The musical Hairspray and racial tension? Crime and the TV show "The Wire"? The city tends to get a bad rap. But Baltimore is an under-rated city, and a great place to visit. It has neighborhood after neighborhood full of charming brick row houses. The harborfront is a bustling tourist centerpiece that should make other cities jealous. The downtown and surrounding neighborhoods are compact and walkable, and there's a free circulator bus system and water taxis. The city is loaded with historic sites, including Fort McHenry (where the
Star Spangled Banner was inspired during the Battle of Baltimore). Not to mention, Baltimore has a burgeoning beer scene. Sure, the city has its share of blight and crime, but overall there's a lot of energy and a strong sense of a city on the rise.

Our friends Pat and Ber live in Baltimore and David had never visited, so it was about time we spent a long weekend in the Charm City.

Walking in the Federal Hill neighborhood. Much of Baltimore looks like this.

Block after block of historic brick rowhouses

Fort McHenry National Monument

The star-spangled banner

Paul got put in revolutionary jail

The harbor at Fort McHenry

Historic church in downtown

See, the greatest city in America! It says it on a bench! And why would a bench lie to a person?

Local beer

Downtown Baltimore

The viewing deck of the Baltimore world trade center

Baltimore harborfront

Hanging out with Spongebob outside the National Aquarium

Another beer at Max's taproom

The Ukrainian church

Nature trail in Patterson Park

We went "Duckpin" bowling. It's a Baltimore tradition.

The bowling balls and pins are smaller than regular bowling

There's even a local Duckpin beer!

Baltimore at night from Federal Hill Park 

On our final day, we made a quick trip up to Pennsylvania before flying back to Atlanta. We rode some coasters at Hersheypark, and visited the state capitol building and had some beer in Harrisburg. We've been to quite a few state capitol buildings, and the Pennsylvania capitol is one of the most impressive we've seen.

Yes, Paul rode this kiddie coaster. It's chocolate themed - the "Cocoa Cruiser"!

The Wildcat

He ate the whole thing!

This cow sang to us about chocolate

The Pennsylvania state capitol

It's historic!

Carved mahogany figures  

Paul is the new governor. First action: the "flags for orphans" bill.

Inside the capitol rotunda

The ornate dome interior

The senate

Beautiful stained glass windows

The amazing dome of the supreme court

Paintings in the supreme court. This was a very impressive room.

The congressional chamber

Looking out over Harrisburg from the capitol steps

We stopped for some beer at Appalachian brewing company

Baltimore has a lot going for it. It's also close to a lot of things (an easy drive to Hersheypark, for example). We definitely enjoyed our trip and hope to visit again soon!