A few years ago, we spent Valentine’s weekend in Baltimore. Since then we have fallen in love with the city, the harbor, the shopping, and, of course, the food.
For our last excursion before Christmas, we decided to spend the day in Baltimore. We headed first for Hampden, an adorable little neighborhood of independent shops and restaurants.
Though we were there only days before Christmas (five to be exact) the area was only slightly more crowded than other times we have visited.
We only ran into squishy situations in stores with tighter spaces or stores like Trohv that are ridiculously popular.
Though it isn’t an overly long stretch of shops, there are still a handful of dining, dessert, and coffee options I am longing to try.
On this trip, we ate at The Food Market where brunch was being served. As soon as we sat down we were given complimentary donut holes. I could have made an entire meal out of these babies alone. They had a bold crunch on the outside with a delicate, warm center. The only thing missing was a little bowl of melted chocolate to dip them in.
A new found fan of chicken and biscuits I knew exactly what to order. The chicken and biscuits were accompanied by perfectly poached eggs*, a drizzle of hot sauce, and a “cheese whiz” potato casserole.
*I recently learned how to poach an egg and I am incredibly proud of myself. So much so, that I felt the need to announce it right here, right now.
It is a good thing I don’t live in the south where chicken and biscuits are much more common. If they were, I would end up eating them every single day of my life.
Lance ordered the Double Bison with cheese.
Despite the pretty picture of shopping and eating that I have created, we weren’t in Baltimore for those two alone.
For the past month or so, I have been searching for the perfect museum membership for us. Though shopping and eating are always a major highlight in our travels, we have especially enjoyed the variety of museums we have been able to take in as well.
After a little consideration, we decided that for 2016 we are going to spend a lot of our time at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.
That way we can see strange fish like this guy…
And touch jelly fish like these…
Or, maybe just watch other people touch them instead.
And then get freaked out by creatures like this…
Peacock Mantis Shrimp-scary and beautiful all at once
Check this out…
Even with the wide variety of sea creatures it holds, my favorite part of the National Aquarium will always be Calypso, their green sea turtle. He was found stranded in Long Island Sound in 2000 and had to have his left front flipper amputated.
He’s beautiful.
Because it was Sunday, by the time we were ready for dessert, a lot of our choices were closed. So, we headed somewhere we knew wouldn’t disappoint.
The Donut Shack fulfills all my snacking hopes and dreams. It is a donut shop that is open 24 hours a day.
That is 2 4 H O U R S. Round the clock. All day long.
If you don’t understand why this is exciting, I’m not sure we can be friends.
No. I’m just kidding.
But seriously. Please tell me you understand why this is a good thing.
We walked in around 8:30 pm and the donuts we took with us were just as fresh, just as delicious, just as satisfying as if we had purchased them hours earlier.
They also made for a nice distraction for the two-hour ride home we still had before us.
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