Baltimore and Hotdogs At The White House

After leaving Philadelphia, we made our way to Baltimore. We would be staying at the Inner Harbor and first things first, dinner reservations for fresh seafood!  We found a spot just around the Harbor that had gorgeous views of the water and amazing yachts...yachts we tried to sneak onto just to see them more up close.  Ok, not really, but it did cross our minds.  After dinner, we found ourselves in what appeared to be a very popular place called the Cat's Eye Pub in Fell's Point to listen to live music and throw back a few beers. Rock-a-billy at it's finest.  It had a history too...it opened in 1975 and the son took over the pub once his father passed away and it seems he has continued to make it a success.

The next day, we ventured over to the Inner Harbor to grab some lunch and to our surprise it happened to be Fleet Week.  After a quick bite at Tir Na Nog, we had time to explore a bit more. Besides a beer garden with local cans to quench our thirst and more live music, the Blue Angels made their appearance and it was one of the coolest shows I have ever seen.  Did I mention the people? People everywhere but it was a gorgeous fall day and the perfect place to be at that very moment.  After spending hours around the Harbor, we were on to D.C.

We checked into The Kimpton Rouge Hotel in the heart of D.C.  This boutique hotel is hip with red accents and with the most unique mini-bar I've seen, I highly recommend staying there if you are in the area. That evening we had dinner plans with my boyfriend's cousin and his partner...and to be honest I was a nervous wreck!  We uber'd our way to their lovely row home in D.C. and had pre-dinner cocktails while getting a tour of their spectacular living space.  For dinner, we dined on Tapas at Tico, a local place they wanted to share with us. It was fabulous.  Post dinner, more cocktails at a place very special to our two hosts, the place they had their reception after getting married.  The evening was perfect.

Then next morning, my last day for vacation, we made our way to see the White House...we decided it was something we had to do while there.  After parking and ordering hot dogs from a street truck, it's America, what else would we be eating at the White House...we made our way into the park.  I am not sure what I was expecting, something more elaborate I guess, but we followed the path to where the crowd of people were.  We saw, we took a photo, we left.  Did I mention we saw the Pentagon on the way to the airport too? Check and check.

As we said our goodbyes, we loaded some of the books we purchased in Phillie into my bag, which made it 5 lbs. over.  Don't worry sir...I am a professional, let me rearrange...done, no overweight baggage charge for this girl!  As I sat in the airport drinking an over-priced Mojito waiting on my flight, I was thankful for the trip I had just experienced with him.

Another adventure in the books.
Shona

From Steel City to Old City

Nothing beats a long weekend Fall tour of the East Coast. In October,  I visited four different cities and each one had something special to offer, Let's start in Pennsylvania!  I landed in Pittsburgh, PA, late one afternoon and after having a very good flight, was ready to hit the town with my boyfriend who was already there on business. We were staying at the Omni William Penn Hotel, which was gorgeous by the way.  A quick freshening up and we were out the door for dinner and late night cocktails.  We had a light dinner at The Carlton followed by a nightcap at the Commoner which offered awesome house made tonics.  We then found our way to The Industry Public House.  This unique bar offers the Signature Smokestack...you pick your bourbon, they add some maple syrup and bitters and then torch flavored wood to lightly infuse the smoke into your bourbon...flavors included cherry, mesquite, apple, maple or pecan.  Worth it!

The next morning I had some time to kill while he finished up business so I ventured out into the city wandering the streets.  I realized this is a very busy city and it was hard to find a coffee shop, so stepping out of my comfort zone, I stopped and asked. The streets run odd directions too...pretty sure I was lost at one point.  But luckily as I rounded a corner to head back to the hotel, my ride was across the street.  I took off like I was after a taxi, running across traffic, coffee in hand, forget the crosswalk...I had a car to catch!

That day we visited The Monongahela Incline which overlooks the Ohio River, I was scared to death. At the top, we ventured the streets and checked out Station Square before going to Primanti Brothers for a quick bite of lunch.  I had been told by many to try this famous place, it was worth it! We shared a sandwich which is topped with fries, coleslaw, and tomatoes; had a separate order of cheese fries and two root beers! Officially vacation! Next stop, Philadelphia!

Fall here is gorgeous and even though the trip to our next destination was five hours of winding, hilly, highways, it was worth it.  The trees were changing and we made a few stops in Amish country to stretch our legs.  One stop included an Amish Quilt shop...they take those quilts serious too.  No touching without white gloves on and unless you didn't want to spend about $1K, you were going out empty handed.  Ok, so that was a queen size quilt, but I almost fell over!  Back to the car!

We arrived just in time to get ready for dinner and a night out.  Appetizers at R2L followed by some Jazz music at a local joint before discussing adventures for the next day.  Our plan was of course to see the Historical sites in Phillie.  The Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, you know....but we were led somewhere else the next morning.

As we tried to find a place to park, which was horrible by the way, we noticed the lines of people...everywhere. We drove around the streets and saw some small local-type shops we were eager to visit first.  As we turned the corner to visit an Art Store, I said, "Do you smell that?", He replied, "What?", I said, "Books, old books."  So we spent almost 2 hours in one of the cutest, old-smelling, books floor-to-ceiling, bookstores.  We walked out $80 later and each had about 6 books...best morning ever.  We knew lunch needed to include a Phillie Cheesesteak so we stopped at the famous Campos; yes we did the squeezy cheese, more soda, cannoli's, pasta, and capocolla stuffed olives.  Food coma. We decided to take a walk along the river, seeing sailboats and taking a tour of the Warship Olympia and Submarine Becuna.  Even though we didn't make the "historical sites" most go to visit, we found the bookstore and wandering the streets an amazing way to experience Philadelphia.

Thankful this adventure was possible...

Onto Baltimore and DC...

Shona