A Weekend in Baltimore, Maryland

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This fall, I’ve had such awesome adventures. Short getaways to Las Vegas (with the hubby), Atlantic City (for the half marathon) and Minneapolis (with #thegirlfriends). A few weeks ago I found myself on the road again, and strangely without kids, as I headed down to Baltimore for another friends trip (different group of girlfriends)!

The purpose of this trip, besides meeting up with friends from Washington, DC was to see Amy Schumer’s live show. However… about 30 hours before show time, we received an email that the show was… postponed ! I think the official statement said Amy was “under the weather”, but we had our post-election speculations. Honestly, my thought was she had to rewrite her whole show which was probably based on an HRC win. Who knows, but we still had a great (slightly less than) 48 hours in Baltimore, and will return when Amy actually takes the stage!

Weekend in Baltimore, Maryland

 

This is my third post in this series. For this trip, I actually was in Baltimore for two days and a night, but close enough! I drove down, which was long and boring, although I was able to listen to an obscene number of The Mom Hour podcast episodes (which is a November Stuff I Love for sure!)

 

Where to Stay in Baltimore, Maryland

My friend, who planned this trip, happened to mention that she had this girls night to Baltimore in the hopper, and had booked a hotel room that slept six… although they only had five in their group. So, I was in! We planned ahead like grown-ups and bought our show tickets at the end of July. (PS I’m not very good about planning ahead!) And pre-paid for the hotel room, which is partly why we kept the trip even when the show was postponed.

For this trip, we stayed one night at the Kimpton Monaco in downtown Baltimore. Said friend is a loyal Kimpton rewards member as she has a dog and they offer pet friendly accommodations. Her “elite status” also entitled us to some perks such as a $10 mini-bar credit (my favorite kind of perk)! For this trip, we reserved the Pullman Suite which sleeps six. This room has two double beds and a separate “kid’s” room with bunk beds, a TV and an x-box. Oh and a giant dog mural on the wall!

When hubby and I first started dating, and traveling together, we stayed at several Kimpton properties in California and Washington, DC. In recent years, we have been loyal Marriott members but it was fun to return to a fun, whimsical, Kimpton property.

This hotel is in an awesome location. It is walking distance to the Royal Farms Arena (where the show was supposed to be), the Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center. It’s also right off the highway.

 

CLICK HERE FOR SPECIAL DISCOUNT RATES ON THE KIMPTON MONACO

 

BALTIMORE PRO TIP: Avoid the $40 valet parking charge and either park in the public garage across the street (for $20) OR get lucky and street park. You have to pay the meter until 7pm on Saturday, but street parking is free on Sunday!

 

Th Monaco hotel is situated in the historic B&O headquarters (think: Monopoly) so it has interesting architecture and not a cookie-cutter feel. The first floor is grand, and the lobby is up a large staircase (or elevator). Off the lobby you will find a gorgeous sitting room/lounge with fireplaces and big comfy chairs.

And my favorite part of the Kimpton brand? Wine hour! That’s right! Each night from 5-6pm there is a wine social in the lounge. We were able to relax by the fireplace and have two glasses of tasty (and free) wine.

They also have a similar set up in the morning for coffee, which is much appreciated by this coffee lover.

 

The room we stayed in was super fun for a group of six girlfriends and would be perfect for a family visit. I slept in the “kid’s room” on the top bunk and the dog mural graced our bedroom wall. The closet was also adorned with two leopard print robes – a dead giveaway to the fact that in that very hotel, possibly in that very closet, Sarah Koenig was broadcasting her three bonus episodes of season one of Serial (remember the podcast I raved about back in September?).

 

 

Where to Eat in Baltimore

We had two delicious meals in Baltimore – dinner on Saturday and brunch on Sunday. For dinner, we planned a pre-theatre meal (which we then bumped up to later in the evening) at Helmand. This was my first visit, although it seemed to be a favorite among my friends.

Helmand is an upscale Afghani restaurant that is located a 10-minute walk from the Kimpton Monaco. I love food from India, SE Asia and the Middle East, although it’s not a big hit with the rest of my family. For this reason, I especially appreciate visiting restaurants that offer these types of cuisines when out with friends.

Our group shared several starters – a delicious pumpkin dish, an eggplant appetizer and another dish with meat (sorry, I know that isn’t helpful, but I forgot what it was!). For my entrée I opted for the vegetarian sampler, which honestly I don’t even know what dishes it actually contained but it was delicious. We had really good wine and sat at a big round table giving us the chance to chat and catch up. The bread was also amazing, very naan-like but a little more light and fluffy. Overall our meal was excellent. This restaurant was really crowded when we arrived, and they pack ‘em in tight, so I definitely recommend making a reservation.

On Sunday we wandered around for a bit originally hoping to eat at Blue Moon Too but when we arrived the wait to sit was very long. So we continued to wander and stumbled upon Metropolitan Coffee House and Wine Bar.

Here most of us had huevos rancheros, myself included, which was served on blue corn tortillas and was quite yummy. They had other brunchy fare, omelets, benedicts, pancakes and waffles. Decent coffee and no wait to sit! I do love having a leisurely brunch when I am sans children on a weekend morning. And I can never pass up some Mexican eggs!

 

 

Fun Things To Do in Baltimore

Well since the Amy show was postponed, we didn’t end up doing a whole lot besides eating and sleeping… which as a parent of smallish children is a fun enough time in my book. Having lived in DC for seven years, I have been to Baltimore many times and most enjoyed the Inner Harbor, looking at the big ships, visiting the Aquarium, and seeing baseball games at Camden Yards. All of which I realized I should do with my little nuggets sometime soon! I think my kids would love to visit Baltimore and they would love this Kimpton hotel! Baltimore is only a 4-hour drive from Long Island, so I am putting a family trip on the winter/spring to-do list. And I’ll be back in March for Amy.

If she doesn’t cancel.

 

I loved reading Amy’s new book, The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo.

 

Photo credit: davidchidester via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

 

Check out other posts in this series: 48 Hours in … Vegas & Minneapolis

 

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