My family’s recent trip to Baltimore was an abbreviated one. One of those get-up-and-drive-on-Saturday-morning-and-come-back-on-Sunday-afternoon
kinds of adventures—so we had a lot to pack into just 36 hours.
First stop: Little Italy—a
neighborhood chockablock with restaurants along its narrow, row house-lined
streets—for lunch. We took a table at Amicci’s, a casual eatery serving up
classic Italian dishes and offering a $4.95 children’s menu (quite the steal!).
Their signature dish is the pane rotundo, a bread bowl brimming with creamy
shrimp scampi. For dessert, we ducked across the street to Vaccaro’s Italian
Pastry Shop and stocked up on their infamous cannoli and an assortment of
butter cookies.
Content and full (much like
that caloric bread bowl) and running a few hours behind schedule—a consistent
theme in my family’s life—we opted to spend the rest of our post-lunch
afternoon at the Port Discovery Children’s Museum.
Housed in a high-ceilinged, 80,000-square-foot former
fish market, Port Discovery boasts three floors of exhibits, many designed by
Walt Disney Company Imagineers. It wouldn’t have been my first choice of
attractions, if only because I would have preferred something more uniquely
Baltimorean, like the Baltimore Museum of Industry. Port Discovery, however,
was a wonderful place to wile away an entire afternoon with my three children,
who range in age from two to seven years old. We spent nearly three hours there
and the kids were fully engaged. Not to mention, virtually whine-free the entire time.
Jack, my two-and-a-half-year-old, was mesmerized by the
exhibit inspired by Scholastic Entertainment’s Clifford the Big Red Dog on PBS Kids. He could have spent the entire
day loading oversized foam bones onto a conveyor belt that spilled its contents
into a life-sized blue dog bowl for the massive mutt. My other two
kids—Charlie, seven, and Vivi, five—preferred climbing up, crawling in, jumping
on and sliding down KidWorks, a three-story up-only “urban treehouse” with
entrances and exits on all levels. But all three of my mini mes were inextricably
drawn to the Wonders Of Water (WOW!),
complete with window squeegees, water chimes and life-sized bubble hoops. They
eschewed the waterproof Land’s
End slickers and
candy-hued Crocs in favor of getting completely soaked, a fact which the available
full-body dryers did little to mitigate. Needless to say, Saturday came to a
sopping end.
On Sunday, we started off at Miss Shirley’s, a
Southern-inspired restaurant best known for their decadent breakfast dishes
like cinnamon Danish pancakes drizzled with cream cheese icing and coconut
cream-stuffed French toast. Although absent of a separate children’s menu, the restaurant’s
vibe was decidedly kid-friendly and the huge portions likened to sharing.
Afterwards, we headed to the National Aquarium, a true must-see
for anyone visiting Baltimore. I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes,
a 65,400-square-foot immersion exhibit filled with over 150 plants and 1,800
animals indigenous to Australia, like shield shrimp, barramundi and laughing
kookaburra.
My troupe climbed to the
glass-encased tropical rain forest at the very top of the building, then wound
our way down through the rest of the aquarium. Boasting a smart design, it is
built in such a way that it feels as if you are descending deeper and deeper
into the ocean and swimming with the sharks, rays, sea turtles and schools of
fish rather than just peering at them from the other side of a tank. Luckily,
while Sunday showed a similar aquatic theme, we didn’t end up drenched this
time around.
When the weather perks up, we hope to return to Baltimore again. Perhaps we’ll spend our time hopping from
neighborhood to neighborhood via water taxi, take in an Orioles Game at Camden
Yards, and sit outside and eat Maryland blue crabs. All in record time once more.
BALTIMORE HOT SPOTS
WHAT TO DO
National Aquarium, Baltimore
Pier 3/501
Pratt Street, 410-576-3800, aqua.org
Port Discovery Children’s Museum
Tip: Harbor Park Garage, attached to the museum, offers discounted parking on
weekends. 35 Market Place, 410-727-8120, portdiscovery.com
WHERE TO EAT
Amicci’s of Little Italy
231 South High Street, 410-528-1096, amiccis.com
Miss Shirley’s
750 East Pratt Street , 410-528-5373, missshirleys.com
Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop
222 Albemarle Street , 410-685-4905, vaccarospastry.com
WHERE TO STAY
InterContinental
Harbor Court Baltimore
Tip: Standard doubles typically run between $275-$305/night, but we nabbed a
room on Expedia for $125. 550 Light
Street,
Reservations: 800-424-6835, harborcourt.com
OTHER NEARBY CITIES (In 36 Words)
By Kat Harrison
Boston, Massachusetts
Don’t be shy—touch the sharks
and rays at the New England Aquarium
while baseball fans take a tour of Fenway Park. End the day with a relaxing Swan Boat ride
through the Boston Public Garden.
Mystic, Connecticut
A trip seaside is never complete
without the Mystic Seaport‘s maritime.
Like caramel? Sample the Sticky Fractured Finger flavor at the Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream shop before
“boarding” the new Titanic exhibit at
the Mystic Aquarium.
Newport, Rhode
Island
Pack sturdy shoes for Fort Adams‘ tunnels, a free family adventure. Then fly a kite
in Brenton Point State Park before
adoring the abodes of the rich and the famous thanks to Amazing Grace Harbor Tours.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Walk through a giant heart at The Franklin Institute before soaking
in American history at Independence (p.s. the Liberty Bell is right across the street). And the Please Touch Museum is a hands-on
funland for all.
Washington D.C.
Touch a real Lunar rock at
the National Air & Space Museum
before picnicking beneath the blooming cherry blossoms at the Jefferson Memorial. Admission is
totally free to see the pandas at the National
Zoo, too.
