Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Baltimore Inner Harbor

We wanted to get away for a few days, so this past weekend we decided to spend two nights in Baltimore, Maryland.  We always enjoyed taking day-trips with the kids to the Inner Harbor, but haven’t been there for a number of years, so this was a good opportunity to get back, enjoy the harbor, and take some pictures.




The main selling point for the Inner Harbor is that there is plenty to do for every member of the family.  If you’re into shopping you can browse the shops at Harborplace right on the water, or take in the Gallery Mall just across the street.  When it’s time to eat, there are no shortage of dining spots.  The main cuisine of the area is seafood at restaurants like Phillips, McCormick & Schmick’s, and the Rusty Scupper, but you can find any type of food at any price level within walking distance, since every restaurant chain is represented.

Harborplace
Gallery Mall
Phillips Seafood (Express)

There are also many activities to keep the whole family occupied.  The main attraction of the Inner Harbor is the National Aquarium.  We spent most of the day on Saturday exploring the many exhibits – I’ll concentrate on the aquarium in my next blog entry.

National Aquarium

In addition to the aquarium, there are many other things to do:  visit the Maryland Science Center; tour the Civil War era USS Constellation tall ship as well as other ships and a submarine; plus tour the harbor area on various types of vessels and dining cruises.  If you’re into baseball and football, the Orioles and Ravens stadiums are just a couple of blocks from the Inner Harbor.

USS Constellation
Seadog Harbor Cruiser

Since our anniversary was last weekend, we wanted to stay at a nice hotel, so we stayed at the Intercontinental, directly across the street from the harbor.  The hotel was very elegant, the rooms large, and the breakfasts were very well prepared.  On Saturday night we dined at McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood restaurant.  The seafood was outstanding.

Intercontinental Hotel
McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant