Baltimore

Making Grown-Up Memories

My two girlfriends and I took a short trip to Baltimore last summer. When I say short, I mean short; call it a petite getaway if you will—just one night in Charm City.

One of my girlfriends, Heather, married a military man and relocated to the west coast a few years ago. She returned to visit her family, but we never had enough time to catch up during her short stays. After she and her family completed their service in California, the family moved back to the east coast. Now that we were back in the same time zone, I knew we had to plan a trip to see each other and spend some much-needed time together.

Baltimore seemed like the most logical choice because it was a convenient destination for us all. I had never spent any time in Baltimore and was looking forward to visiting Charm City with my chicks.

Nichole, my BFF since middle school, and I made the 5-hour journey to Baltimore one Friday after work. Heather was to arrive the next morning by train. We arrived in downtown Baltimore close to midnight. Even that late at night, the city felt alive. There were folks out on the streets, people on bikes, and the town was lit up with lots of energy; it didn’t feel like midnight.

Baltimore Lodging

Parking at the hotel was valet only, which was convenient and much appreciated since we had arrived so late in the evening. I wasn’t too keen on having to park in a parking deck and find my way back to the hotel late at night.

We stayed at the historic Lord Baltimore. It is an older 23-story hotel, originally built in 1928 and restored in 2014 to showcase its impressive history and architectural splendor. The lobby was stunning, from the detail on the high ceilings to the iron railings around the balcony to the grand chandelier. The elevators required that you scan your room key card to access your floor, which added to our sense of safety.

Our room was surprisingly spacious, and I wasn’t expecting so much room for such an older hotel. The three of us shared a room. We wanted to optimize the time we had together and keep the cost of the trip at a minimum. The bathroom was the typical size and served its purpose, nothing mind-blowing there. One thing that did blow my mind was the iron; it had a light on it. I’d seen that on vacuums before, but never an iron. Can you tell it doesn’t take much to impress me?

The next morning Nichole and I grabbed a coffee and light breakfast from the hotel bakery and waited in the lobby for Heather. Once she arrived, we hugged it out and wasted no time before heading out into the city. One of the perks of staying in a big city is walking to most destinations without having to worry about parking or having any transportation expenses. The weather was ideal, so we headed toward the waterfront without a true destination.

Our Day in the City

For lunch, we agreed on the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. It was a typical chain restaurant and offered plenty of seating inside and out, a spacious bar area, and an abundance of Forest Gump memorabilia. The waitstaff was a riot, they would randomly shout out Forest Gump movie trivia, and the patrons would shout out answers in return. All the servers seemed to enjoy working there, even if our assigned server often went missing. We didn’t mind, though; we were having a good time sipping on our adult beverages and catching up. Another party left before their drink order was ready, and we were given their drinks on the house. . Score!

After lunch, we walked through the nearby shops and laughed at the touristy tee shirts and off-color humor gifts in the shops. Then we resumed our walk along the harbor. It was a perfect day for selfies, using the harbor as our backdrop.

Sightseeing on the Baltimore Harbor

We walked past a harbor boat tour and couldn’t resist. It was starting to warm up considerably, and the boat offered an air-conditioned cabin and a bar (score again). The tour only lasted about 30 minutes but offered great views of the harbor and some history about the shoreline buildings. Passengers could sit in the cabin or roam about and check out the views of the top deck. There was a refreshing breeze and a 360-degree view from the upper deck.

After our sightseeing adventure on the harbor, we were returning to the hotel when we came upon a Burger King. Do you remember when Burger King offered the $1 tacos on their menu? It didn’t last long, so that tells you how successful that little venture was. It was half joke and half curiosity that made us go in to give it a try. The tacos were not great, but they were edible. We had a good laugh at their attempt at tacos. We ate quickly and cleared out to make room for the baby shower scheduled in Burger King’s dining room.

Happy Hour

Happy hour was upon us, so we headed to the rooftop bar at the hotel. The rooftop bar sounds so appealing and conjures up images of cool breezes, a night sky, and loud music. It was late afternoon, so there was no nighttime sky. This rooftop bar didn’t provide much shade from the afternoon sun. The shaded seating they did offer was already occupied, but they didn’t deter us. We found a comfortable (but hot) spot, ordered some drinks, and split an order of sliders. We tried to finish our drinks before they got too hot but didn’t quite succeed. It was quite hot, so we didn’t hang out atop this grand hotel for long. It was almost time for baseball.

Baseball, America’s Greatest Pasttime

I am not a big sports fan, but I enjoy sporting events. I think anything live is better than watching it on T. V. We lucked up because the Baltimore Orioles were playing at home that weekend. The night we attended was free Orioles Hawaiian shirt night. Who doesn’t love free shirts? The stadium was located within walking distance of our hotel, so we headed out to the game with the throngs of other fans adorned in their Orioles tees, jerseys, and hats.

We didn’t buy tickets ahead of time because, from what I was told, the Orioles weren’t having a banner year, so finding a seat wouldn’t be an issue. And since we aren’t baseball fanatics, we weren’t too picky about our seats. We just wanted to be out of the sun, drink a cold beer and enjoy a mediocre hot dog while watching America’s favorite pastime. (I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of my ballpark hot dog, so disappointed in myself.) Our seats were pretty high but provided a great field view. We had a good time cheering on the Orioles while taking part in all the banter between the plays. We stayed until the 7th inning stretch to sing the crackerjack song. I love a good sing-a-long.

We weren’t familiar with the downtown area, and having only one night in the town as a group, we didn’t have time to discover where all the cool kids hang out. So we played it safe, as any respectable married woman would do, and stopped by the hotel bar before calling it a night. I think a part of us wanted to be the girls we were years ago…stay up late, have a few more drinks, bitch and vent, laugh about past escapades, and daydream about future hijinx. But it just wasn’t in the cards. The long day, the heat, and our ages reminded us that we weren’t the girls we were a decade ago. We were content to sit in that lobby bar and wind down with some food and a nightcap of high-quality H2O.

Miss My Girls Already

I can’t say there wasn’t a small part of me that wished we could have managed to make the “party” last all night. Sometimes I miss those days of tomfoolery and having that sense of just letting go, giving in to the night, and fully enjoying whatever was in store. The time we spend together now is so much more precious to me. We have grown up together as adults. We share a past with many great memories we can celebrate when reuniting. I cherish my girlfriends and the new grown-up memories we are making together, and I look forward to continuing the petite weekend getaways and making more grown-up memories.