We spent last weekend in Maryland on a family trip to Baltimore! Here’s the recap of our visit from the aquarium to Camden Yards.
Family Trip To Baltimore
Earlier this summer Thomas got an itch to do a family trip in a city like he did a few times when he was a young lad, so he planned a getaway for us to Baltimore!
I have fond memories of downtown Baltimore with my grandfather. When we were little, he used to take us up to his office and then out to lunch on the harbor.
After we arrived at our hotel (The Marriott, booked on points of course), we walked to the harbor towards the aquarium.
We passed by the 9/11 Memorial and lots of pirate ships.
The National Aquarium
Our first stop was the National Aquarium, which was unfortunately a ZOO inside (pun intended). So many people had the same idea that you could barely move!
We still had a pretty good time meeting huge fish.
So crowded you could barely walk!
My favorite exhibit was the jellyfish immersion!
We also liked the 4D show with special effects. Although Birch cried hard when water came out of the screen!
We had cafe food for lunch which actually exceeded expectations. That’s a blackened salmon BLT I split with T.
We walked back to our hotel, stopping in a candy store for a hot second. I love Nerds and want this shirt!
AirTag Tip
A friend of mine recommended AirTags to put on your children at big places like theme parks and baseball stadiums. We use it on the downtown mall in Cville to to give Birch some freedom to run around the pavilion with his brother. You can put them in their shoe, pocket, or with a clip on ring like this one we have. Highly recommend!
The Orioles / Camden Yards
Next stop on our family summer fun trip was an Orioles game! My grandfather was a huge fan, yet I’d never been to a game! Camden Yards was such a nice stadium – and it was huge!!
We had great covered seats behind home plate.
Highly recommend this orange-y beer. It was like a Blue Moon and an IPA with orange.
The kids hated the Cracker Jacks – eye roll.
Mazen and I each had crab cake sandwiches for dinner. They were made with lump crab meat and pretty good!
Getting To Bed
After the game ended (sadly the O’s did not win) we walked back to our hotel. While the location could not have been more perfect, the hotel was so incredibly crowded that we didn’t have a great experience. Our room wasn’t ready until 5:30pm (while we were at the game) and there were so many people in the lobby trying to check in that I was so glad I had the Bonvoy app with a mobile key. Getting an elevator was even worse but we finally got to our room. (We tried to take the stairs but couldn’t without a physical key!)
Eventually we all showered and watched the Olympics in bed!
Good morning
I forgot how loud city sleeping is! We woke up a lot all night to various sirens, including the hotel alarm clock that someone set for 6am, but by some miracle we all slept until 8!
We surprised the boys with donuts for breakfast
Cousin Reunion
We had a lazy morning and then loaded up the car to drive up to Towson where my cousins live! I took the boys by my grandparents’ old house and by the church where my parents were married before we met up with family.
We had a great visit including getting to meet our littlest cousin who is a year older than Birch! We had BLTs and some summer fruit cakes for dessert.
After lunch we made our way back down to Cville. I love a one-night trip that spans two full days <3 Memories made!