Travels with Tish Girlfriends’ Getaway Guide

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Here’s a quick rundown of what’s available in Baltimore. We didn’t get to every location on our short trip, but you should know how much more there is to see.

Inner Harbor. Besides all I’ve written about in previous posts, you’ll find 17 stops on the Water Taxi that take you a host of sites:

• National Aquarium
• Harbor Place shopping/dining
• Science Center
• Rusty Scupper restaurant
• Little Italy
• Visitor Center
• USS Constellation
• Power Plant
• American Visionary Art Museum
• Museum of Industry
• Tide Point
• Fort McHenry
• Captain James Landing
• Canton

Camden Yards. The Orioles and Raven’s play just a few blocks west of the Inner Harbor.

Mount Vernon. This is a Baltimore neighborhood that is a National Register Historic District. It is a fashionable and flourishing area with architectural treasures, gracious urban living and it is a cultural center. You’ll find upscale shopping, the Walters Art Museum and theaters. Antique Row offers dozens of antique shops — on Read/Howard Streets, a few blocks west of Charles St. in the district. Mount Vernon is considerably north of the Inner Harbor, primarily along Charles Street. I recommend a taxi.

Irish and English Pubs. While at the Visitor Center, I noted that Baltimore had a considerable number of Irish and English pubs. Harbor East, Harbor Place, Canton and Fell’s Point.

Baltimore’s Underground Railroad. The waterfront around the Inner Harbor, including Fell’s Point, was a hot bed of Underground Railroad activitiy in the 1800s. Frederick Douglass lived here as a slave and worked in local shipyards. Harriet Tubman used Baltimore’s African-American maritime networks along the wharves and alleys to provide safety, aid and support to freedom seekers. Four sites are located around the Inner Harbor: 1) Frederick Douglass Freedom and Heritage Trail, 2) President Street Station, 3) Mount Clare, and 4) R. F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture. You can get an excellent brochure in the Visitors Bureau or visit National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program (www.cr.nps.gov/ugrr). This site is temporarily down; says it will be up by 1/31/07.

One of the stops on our trip to Baltimore included Fell’s Point – a revitalized area that is also part of the port. Plenty of shops, restaurants and bars. Fun to stroll around — probably even more fun when the evening crowd comes in. You can take the water taxi to and from the neighborhood.

Because the water taxi wasn’t running the day we visited, we took a cab from the Aquarium area — just $7. But we walked back, meandering through Little Italy on our way to our hotel. It was interesting to walk down the narrow streeets, lined with narrow row houses (8-20 feet wide). It is still an Italian neighborhood where people really live — as opposed to NYC Little Italy, where most of the Italian people have moved on, leaving just a street or two of Italian restaurants.

We saw several homes still decorated with purple Christmas garland (so we thought). Asked one man who came out to sweep his stoop about the reason that the garland was purple. Of course, the Ravens! We just weren’t tuned in to Baltimore sports. In Wisconsin, we’d surely know what green and gold meant. But being from Baltimore, that gentleman didn’t know about our colors either.

Dining in Little Italy
My dining goal for this getaway was to sample really good crabcakes — which I did at Phillips, and to enjoy a good Italian meal in Little Italy. Our concierge at the Intercontinental recommended Boccaccio and we took his advice.

Our meal was spectacular. We couldn’t help but ooh and aah our way through every bite — I mean every bite! We had a veal special (recommended by our waiter as his favorite) with porcini mushrooms in a brown wine sauce. Melted in your mouth. It was served with a generous portion of gnocchi — which can often be a heavy pasta. Not at Boccaccio! These gnocchi were light and very tender inside. Other times I’ve had gnocchi, there were chewy. For dessert, we ordered zabaglione. It was served in a large wine goblet filled with fresh raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and surrounded by a light and thin creamy custard. Just to die for! No kidding.

While we had plenty to eat — a meal that ordinarily might leave one with an unpleasant full feeling — we felt great. The food was exquisite, light and without a doubt, the best in the city. By the way, we later found out that Boccaccio, with its northern Italian cuisine, was rated as as Zagat’s top Baltimore Italian restaurant for 6 years in a row. It was at the top again in 2006. Inexpensive? No. But so worth it. With a glass of wine and a tip, my meal was $62. PLUS, the restaurant sent a car to pick us up and return us to our hotel. How cool is that!

NEXT: What else does Baltimore offer?

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There’s no doubt that the Inner Harbor area is designed for tourists. A rather compact area, the Inner Harbor is packed with hotels, restaurants, shops and more.

National Aquarium
The key attraction is the National Aquarium, which I’ve visited several times over the years and always enjoy. One of the more interesting areas is the frog exhibit. The dolphin show is pretty standard fare, if you’ve seen one before. I always enjoy the tropical rain forest in the glass pavilion on the top floor. The National Aquarium is right on the waterfront, also a stopping point for the water taxi. Aquarium admission is $21.95.

Visitors’ Center.
Be sure to stop at the Visitors’ Center before you begin touring the area. It’s located on Light Street (on the harbor), right across from the Intercontinental Hotel. Filled with aisles and aisles of brochures, all nicely categorized for the visitor’s convenience. Even better, you’ll enjoy the personalized service offered by the Center’s staff.

Shopping on the Inner Harbor.
Harborplace consisists of two European-style pavilions at the harborfront, filled with restaurants, sidewalk cafes, small shops and bars. In warm weather, you’ll find street entertainers and other events taking place outside on the promenade. We lunched at Phillips Seafood Restaurant in HarborPlace. Enjoyed excellent lump meat crabcakes — the best I’ve ever eaten!

More Inner Harbor Attractions
The Maryland Science Center/IMAX and the Maritime Museum also border the harbor. In the water at Harborplace, you’ll find the USS Constellation, a civil-war era sailing warship. The Power Plant is also near the water and it houses restaurants, clubs and other entertainment venues.

NEXT: Fell’s Point and Little Italy

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Baltimore has a wide selection of hotels in and around the Inner Harbor. Due to several circumstances, I waited until the day before our trip to actually book a hotel. Since Priceline worked well for me in Toronto, I decided to try it once again. I requested a 4-star hotel at the Inner Harbor. I had previously checked the rates and they ran $299/night and up for this calibre of hotel. Put in $85 on Priceline and the Intercontinental Harbor Court immediately came up. I was amazed that my first offer was accepted. When I checked the Intercontinental Web site for rates, the best I would have gotten was $299. Felt good to land such a deal.

The Intercontinental proved to be a real treat. Large, elegant lobby; large and luxuriously appointed room. Several restaurants. Very nice fitness center with pool, whirlpool and sauna. Also a spa with skin care, tanning, massage and a variety of body treatments. If we hadn’t slept in, we would have certainly taken advantage of the spa.

The concierge on duty upon our arrival, Roland, was very cordial — even though he was aware that we booked on Priceline. We were very well treated. He offered up a description of the inhouse restaurant options as well as recommendations for area dining. When I mentioned an interest in dining in Littly Italy, he recommended Boccaccio — a restaurant that would send a complimentary car to pick us up for dinner. That sounded pretty good to us and proved to be a great decision. The food and service at that restaurant was absolutely divine. When the car dropped us off later, we gave Roland a thumbs up for his recommendation.

We had a delightful breakfast at Brighton, one of the hotel’s dining rooms. Beautifully decorated, the food was even better. The blintzes were extremely light, delicious and surprisingly deep fried. Covered with fresh berries. The coffee, however, was less than ordinary and I believe a creamer, not cream, was served.

Probably because I booked at the last minute, we couldn’t choose our bed type. We were given a king bed that was comfortable with nice linens. Flat-screen TV plus another smaller version in the bathroom — next to the telehone. Fresh orchids were placed on the vanity every morning. A special coffee brewing system was on the wet bar, with small sealed cuplets of gourmet coffee and teas for us to use.

The hotel location was perfect, right across the street from the Inner Harbor Visitor’s Bureau, which is right on the water next to all the great Inner Harbor shopping.

Would Ginny and I recommend this hotel? Absolutely. For a girlfriend getaway — or for a more romantic vacation with your guy.

Just came back from two terrific days in Baltimore. My friend, Ginny, and I flew a Midwest Airlines regional jet out on Sunday morning; came back late Monday night. Plenty of time to take in the city’s famous Inner Harbor and a few other great nearby spots. Ginny had never been to Baltimore and really liked it.

Getting Around Town
Cab or Light Rail? From the Baltimore Airport (BWI), we had several options: shuttle, cab or light rail. Since the light rail platform was just outside the terminal door — literally, we chose that option. Just $1.60 fare. What a deal! Took it to the Convention Center stop, then walked about 3 blocks up  Pratt Street to the Inner Harbor and our hotel. Would not recommend the light rail. Cost-cutting here should not be your main consideration.

Took a Yellow Cab back from our hotel to the airport. Just $27 plus tip.  A flat fee for this route in either direction. Next trip, we’ll take the cab to and from the airport. Only 11 miles and about 20 minutes during rush hour.

Cabs Around Town. Good service around the Inner Harbor area. Cost just $7 from our hotel to Fell’s Point.

Water Taxi. Just $8 for the day takes you to about 17 sites around the Inner Harbor. Large, pontoon-like, covered boats. You can buy tickets at the Visitor’s Bureau. We thought this was the fun way to get around, but the service was not running on the day we wanted to use it — a bit too windy, I guess.

On Foot. Walking is always a good way to see more. Although we cabbed it to Fell’s Point, we walked back to the Inner Harbor, taking a bit of a walking tour of Little Italy along the way. Very nice.

NEXT: Our Elegant 4-Star Hotel at 2-Star Rates

TIPS:
1) Know Where You’re Going. Baltimore is a large, densely populated city. Make sure you check with your hotel concierge or the Visitor’s Bureau folks before you walk too far beyond the Inner Harbor area. Ask them what areas they’d recommend or wouldn’t recommend.
2) Don’t carry a purse. As in any big, crowded city, stash your credit cards, ID and cash in various pockets on your person. Or wear a hidden travel wallet around your neck or waist. Just keep enough cash or one credit card handy.
3) Check if the Water Taxi is Operating. It runs year ’round, except in thunder storms or high winds. But there is no indication at the landings whether or not it is in service that day. We found out the hard way. Waited close to an hour outside the Aquarium before we found the Water Taxi number and called. It didn’t seem particulary windy, but they were not operating. I’m sure the Visitor’s Bureau would check for you. The good news is that the ticket does not expire, so we’ll use it on our next visit.