‘Baltimore’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Review: Nick’s Fish House {Baltimore, Maryland}

November 13, 2013 · Narrative

A waterfront restaurant in downtown Baltimore with a menu full of fresh fish? We are so there. And you should be too.

When the kids and I spent a weekend in Baltimore back in June, I had one thing on my mind when it came to food.

Fish.

Or, more specifically, shellfish.

Which displeased the kids to no end. Because besides the odd occasion when Nick will eat salmon, they pretty much refuse to eat all fish of all kinds.

And I continue to hold out hope that that will change.

Given how my own taste buds have changed over the years, I know it will. I just need to be patient.

We went down to the hotel front desk to ask their dinner recommendations. Not what they recommend to tourists coming to see their city, but where they would eat themselves.

Because that’s the very best way to get a good dinner recommendation.

Ask the locals where they eat.

And that’s how we ended up at Nick’s Fish House. Relatively easy to find in an industrial part of town, just by pulling into the gravel parking lot, the initial impressions pleased us all to no end. For various reasons.

The kids love eating outdoors, as do I, and the weather was too gorgeous not to. And the restaurant had a slew of outdoor seating.

It was loud and lively (a good thing in the summer time).

It had oysters (that one was for me).

And it was called Nick’s. Which means it was a given that we would be leaving with a t-shirt for Nick. Natch.

And from those initial impressions, it only got better.

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Beauty in Baltimore {Maryland}

October 9, 2013 · Narrative

When the kids and I visited Baltimore back in the Spring, we took a ton a pictures. I know, surprising. And I had a lot of photos that I felt would make for a great “Beauty in Balimore” post … scenes around the city that deserved a post of their very own.

This is that.

Jun 9, 2013 …

Review: One Sweet Moment {Baltimore, Maryland snowball}

August 30, 2013 · Narrative

We were coming out of a organic market (review on that coming another time), and the kids and I noticed a little buzz outside a stoop down the block. As were were walking towards our car, we got close enough to notice that it was a snow cone place. Or as they like to call them in Baltimore, a snowball place.

People were gathered on the double-wide stoop, alternately placing their order and waiting for it to be filled, and more people had collected on the sidewalk and near the curb. Chatting with each other. Calling out to familiar faces. Exchanging hellos and stories.

This is the kind of place you visit when you’re traveling. A place that doesn’t make the “top tourist spots” of the city, but the local well-kept secret type places.

And so, of course, we took our place in line and started furiously scanning the menu.

You know, so we didn’t look like an out-of-towner when it was our turn to place our order.

The flavors available are exhaustive (over 150!), and the combinations impressive. It was one of those sort of menus that once you make a decision, you need to stop looking, lest you change your mind.

The line moved quickly and when it was our turn at the window, we were greeted with a smile and a friendly face. We ended up going with orange, cherry, and orange with marshmallow. Yes, marshmallow. Like fluff, but a bit smoother.

What an awesome twist.

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Visit: Ripley’s Believe It or Not! {Baltimore, Maryland}

August 28, 2013 · Narrative

When we were planning our quick trip to Baltimore, visiting the Baltimore Zoo was our main reason for going. Outside of that, I had a short list of other area attractions and general quirky stops to choose from in filling up our weekend. Although the aquarium was on that list, once we found out that there was a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, that took the lead.

Because while the aquarium would have been awesome, I also remembered how much Nick loved visiting the Ripley’s museum down the shore last spring.

And so it was.

This Ripley’s is right in the heart of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, which really means that it is, in theory, a great location, it was also meant it was a bear to try and find parking on a Saturday night. It doesn’t have its own lot, a nearby parking garage was closed, there was a downtown event that night, and it meant that we circled the area “one last time” for about 45 minutes. Just when I was about to throw in the towel (and really stop believing in the luck I usually have when it comes to parking), I found a spot a short distance away (and I wasn’t entirely sure it was a legit space, so we mostly said a quick prayer that the car would be there when we came back out; spoiler alert: it was).

This Ripley’s location is over 13,000 square feet, packed with all the weird, odd, and downright squeamish exhibits you have come to know and expect from them (over 500 exhibits!). Unlike the Atlantic City location, this one is several floors, and also has a 4D movie theater experience, which we loved. It might have even been our favorite part.

Each of the Ripley’s locations have completely different exhibits, which tells you two things: 1) there are a lot of weird oddities to see in the world and 2) each place is a different experience, so it’s not “visited one Ripley’s, visited them all.” The Baltimore location, however, had more in terms of “museum” exhibits, so it was not all ew-gross-type stuff around every corner.

Which pleases this Mom to no end.

That being said, there was still plenty of gross exhibits throughout.

Which pleased my 11-year-old boy to no end.

So everyone was happy.

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Visit: 34 Foot Tall Stainless Steel Mary {New Castle, Delaware} – Road Trip

June 17, 2013 · Narrative

When the kids and I road tripped to Washington DC nearly two years ago, as we were crossing into Delaware on the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I spied a giant statue of Mary on the side of the road. I didn’t know anything about it at the time, and we snapped the best picture we could from where we were.

When we were on our way to Baltimore two weeks ago, and I was going through the Roadside America app, the statue of Mary popped up as one of their roadside attractions along our route.

And this is when it came full circle.

And quickly got added to our list.

One, because it was pretty cool to check out, given how super-sized it is.

And two, because I knew our littlest road tripper would love it.

Case in point. When I told her last week that I had signed her up for a week of Bible Camp this summer, her response was “Oh that’s awesome! You know how I’m all about God!!”

And so it is.

Whether you’re religious or not, this statue of Mary is a pretty awesome sight. All around the statue are plaques with the stations of the cross.

Tucked in by Mary’s feet were some rosary beads that visitors had left, and a few notes asking for prayers. Although Catholics traditionally don’t offer up prayers directly to Mary, she is often seen as a go-between to her son.

The statue is made by sculptor Charles Parks, a Delaware native, who had made several others, including one that is just two feet smaller and currently in Santa Clara, California. While it looks like it might be solid stainless steel from a distance, it’s actually constructed from strips of stainless steel that are shaped and welded together, giving it an unusual but awesome textured appearance. It cost $500,000 to build and Parks and his assistant worked on it in various stages as the money was raised.

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