Baltimore: It Grows On You

Ed and I have been privileged to visit our children in their respective college cities. From day one, we loved visiting Maggie in Madison, WI and Jack in Montreal. Baltimore was another story. While we have loved visiting Mary at the Maryland College of Art, it has taken us three years to be charmed by Charm City. But it has finally happened.

We just returned from a weekend visit to Baltimore. Maggie was able to join us after she finished work on Saturday, so it was almost a family reunion. (We missed you Jack!) Mary's boyfriend, John, joined us for the weekend festivities.

Getting from the airport to our downtown hotel was easy; we just hopped on the light rail right at the airport and hopped off, one block from our Hotwire hotel. After a late lunch of half-shell clams and oysters at a raw bar at the Lexington Market, we headed over to Hamden, a quaint shopping area that just happened to have a great bar to catch the UK/UL game. Late dinner was at Woodberry Kitchen, one of our all-time favorite restaurants. Maggie's flight was delayed, but she slipped into our booth just as our Government Mule (organic vodka, housemade ginger beer, lime-ginger syrup) drinks were served to us in frosty copper mugs.

Sunday started with Palm Sunday church service at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church. It was hard to focus on the sermon with the sanctuary's Tiffany stained glass windows for competition. Then lunch at a little cafe just down Bolton Street. Afterwards, I headed shopping with the girls while Ed and John toured a clipper ship in the Baltimore Inner harbor.

Today we walked from downtown to the inner harbor to Little Italy and then to Fell's Point and back. Then we popped back on the light rail to head to the airport. And now we are back home again. 

Thank you Mary and John for hosting us. Thank you Maggie for making the effort to get away and join us. What a fun weekend.

Ordering lunch at the Lexington Market.

Stopped in to gape at the Peabody Library.

We found some comfy couches to watch the UK/UL game.

We toured one of the art galleries that featured
MICA student art work. That's a bunny tree behind Ed and Mary.

After church.

Sisters.

John and the girls at the harbor.