Baltimore
Headed out to charm city for a conference on this trip. I took a red eye flight on United Airlines and landed into Baltimore International Airport (BWI). I did do a pit stop at George Bush Intercontinental Houston Airport and grabbed a breakfast taco from Pappasito's Cantina. Normal taco but I was surprised to see that pico de gallo and jalapenos are not considered condiments and is an additional charge. On this trip, I decided to get a rental car and found a great deal through Priceline and ended up at Avis with a Kia Rio. I think my daily parking charge is more expensive than the rental rate.
Headed to downtown Baltimore and decided that I wanted to visit Dangerously Delicious Pies for lunch. So I detoured from the hotel to the Pie shop first and ordered a slice of chicken pot pie and mobtown brown a la mode. The mobtown brown is your basic pecan pie drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. The pies were pretty good, there was a salty aftertaste to the crust which worked for both the savory and sweet pies. Overall, I liked the pies. The Pie shop itself has a very cool music bar vibe with old school rock playing in the background.
Afterwards, I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor. The last time I was in Baltimore, I stayed at the Homewood Suites side of the building. I found it ironic that this trip, I was going to stay at the HGI side. Interestingly, the building's wifi is separated by the two hotels. If you are eating at the restaurant, you will only find the Homewood Suites Wifi available. If you were eating at Starbucks, you will only find the HGI Wifi. In general, I thought the Hilton brand had opted to be served by AT&T for the wireless services so I don't know why it isn't AT&T throughout the building.
For dinner, I went to Talara which is also the restaurant hotel on the Homewood Suites side. I did not opt to charge the dinner to the room and used my credit card since this restaurant had the double points opportunity - Opentable and Mileageplus Dining. I have not been keeping up with the Mileageplus Dining account and thought it was a good way to kill two birds in one stone especially in a city like Baltimore. Although the restaurant was fairly quiet, the food was excellent and the service was attentive. It is a fusion tapas restaurant and I enjoyed the sushi, seviche, and soup. The dessert, tres leches, was ok. I would try something else if I went back to this restaurant.
The next day, I visited the local mall since I was missing some sundries. I wanted to visit Macy's and see the selection and found myself disappointed with the inventory at this location. It is interesting to see the regional differences for a brand like Macy's. The ones in NYC, Chicago, and SF are super nice and you can tell these are flagship stores. Unfortunately, this was not the case but I still found the associates within this Macy very friendly and helpful.
Went back to the inner harbor and had dinner at Roy's with several colleagues. I even convinced one colleague that she did in fact like fish. Before going to dinner, she was of the opinion that she didn't like fish because it is too "fishy." I think it is a testament to the cooking that she was able to overcome this preconceived dislike. At the moment, Roy's is also advertising a seasonal lava cake, the peanut butter soufflé cake. It was delicious and reminded me of a Reese's peanut butter cup almost but better.
The next night, I had dinner at Alexander's Tavern and caught the England vs. Italy soccer game. I ordered the Maryland tots which is cheesy tots with lump crab and the soft shell crab club with a blueberry cobbler for dessert. Overall the food was good but I don't think I would get the club again or the dessert.
After dinner, walked past a tea place, Teavolve, and watched my friend buy a bubble tea in the most non-Asian neighborhood in Baltimore. Needless to say, it did not go well. I did find it interesting that there was an Asian musician playing in the corner.
To wash that horrid memory away, went back to Dangerously Delicious Pies and ordered the white trash slice and took home a sweet potato pie. The white trash made no mention of cinnamon and there is a crust of it on top acting like a brulee top. I am not a fan of cinnamon and that much cinnamon was too much for me. From my last visit, you can tell that there is a small stage area for musicians and tonight's performer was also Asian trying a range of music from rock to country.
The next day, went back to Roy's for brunch and check out the Father's Day menu. Overall, I enjoyed the dinner far more than the Benedict and blueberry coffeecake I had. The benedict was a crab benedict and it was not the lump crab that I have had throughout my time in Baltimore.
Headed to downtown Baltimore and decided that I wanted to visit Dangerously Delicious Pies for lunch. So I detoured from the hotel to the Pie shop first and ordered a slice of chicken pot pie and mobtown brown a la mode. The mobtown brown is your basic pecan pie drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. The pies were pretty good, there was a salty aftertaste to the crust which worked for both the savory and sweet pies. Overall, I liked the pies. The Pie shop itself has a very cool music bar vibe with old school rock playing in the background.
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| Mobtown Brown a la mode |
Afterwards, I checked into the Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore Inner Harbor. The last time I was in Baltimore, I stayed at the Homewood Suites side of the building. I found it ironic that this trip, I was going to stay at the HGI side. Interestingly, the building's wifi is separated by the two hotels. If you are eating at the restaurant, you will only find the Homewood Suites Wifi available. If you were eating at Starbucks, you will only find the HGI Wifi. In general, I thought the Hilton brand had opted to be served by AT&T for the wireless services so I don't know why it isn't AT&T throughout the building.
For dinner, I went to Talara which is also the restaurant hotel on the Homewood Suites side. I did not opt to charge the dinner to the room and used my credit card since this restaurant had the double points opportunity - Opentable and Mileageplus Dining. I have not been keeping up with the Mileageplus Dining account and thought it was a good way to kill two birds in one stone especially in a city like Baltimore. Although the restaurant was fairly quiet, the food was excellent and the service was attentive. It is a fusion tapas restaurant and I enjoyed the sushi, seviche, and soup. The dessert, tres leches, was ok. I would try something else if I went back to this restaurant.
The next day, I visited the local mall since I was missing some sundries. I wanted to visit Macy's and see the selection and found myself disappointed with the inventory at this location. It is interesting to see the regional differences for a brand like Macy's. The ones in NYC, Chicago, and SF are super nice and you can tell these are flagship stores. Unfortunately, this was not the case but I still found the associates within this Macy very friendly and helpful.
Went back to the inner harbor and had dinner at Roy's with several colleagues. I even convinced one colleague that she did in fact like fish. Before going to dinner, she was of the opinion that she didn't like fish because it is too "fishy." I think it is a testament to the cooking that she was able to overcome this preconceived dislike. At the moment, Roy's is also advertising a seasonal lava cake, the peanut butter soufflé cake. It was delicious and reminded me of a Reese's peanut butter cup almost but better.
The next night, I had dinner at Alexander's Tavern and caught the England vs. Italy soccer game. I ordered the Maryland tots which is cheesy tots with lump crab and the soft shell crab club with a blueberry cobbler for dessert. Overall the food was good but I don't think I would get the club again or the dessert.
After dinner, walked past a tea place, Teavolve, and watched my friend buy a bubble tea in the most non-Asian neighborhood in Baltimore. Needless to say, it did not go well. I did find it interesting that there was an Asian musician playing in the corner.
To wash that horrid memory away, went back to Dangerously Delicious Pies and ordered the white trash slice and took home a sweet potato pie. The white trash made no mention of cinnamon and there is a crust of it on top acting like a brulee top. I am not a fan of cinnamon and that much cinnamon was too much for me. From my last visit, you can tell that there is a small stage area for musicians and tonight's performer was also Asian trying a range of music from rock to country.
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| Ribeye and Eggs on top and Roy's Benedict with crab on bottom |
The next day, went back to Roy's for brunch and check out the Father's Day menu. Overall, I enjoyed the dinner far more than the Benedict and blueberry coffeecake I had. The benedict was a crab benedict and it was not the lump crab that I have had throughout my time in Baltimore.
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