A Young Couple Goes to Baltimore

The Inner Harbor area has two excellent educational centers, the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center. We were most impressed by the large aquarium on the first floor of the National Aquarium because it was full of sharks, rays, and a sea turtle. The building is set up so that you can see this massive tank from every floor.

I enjoyed the hands-on lie detector exhibit at the Science Center, as well as the device that would precisely measure your height just by standing beneath it. There's also a bed of nails for brave folks to try out!

Quick Tips:

Go to the large glass Baltimore Visitors Center on Light Street, just south of Pratt Street ,to get all the information you need. A reasonably priced Harbor Pass is also available, which gives you various discounts and free admission to various attractions. The front desk at our hotel had several helpful maps and graciously provided directions to the Maryland Zoo.

Best Way To Get Around:

Our hotel was within walking distance of the Inner Harbor, and we walked to all of the area attractions. We drove to the Maryland Zoo; parking was free, and the route was well marked. Otherwise, the water-taxi service seemed like a convenient way to travel to other sites, such as Fell's Point or the Museum of Industry.

The Residence Inn is a great hotel for the Inner Harbor area in Baltimore. It's close enough to the Harbor area to walk there, but it's far enough away that noise isn't a problem.

We found a room with two queen beds along with a small living room and kitchen areas.

Here's a tip: Take advantage of AAA rates to get the best price.
The hotel offers complimentary breakfast in the morning and an early evening snack during the weekdays. The food selection was fine, and the quality was good. My only complaint would be some rude guests, but I can't blame the hotel for them.

The northwestern tip of the Inner Harbor area is only about two blocks from the hotel, downhill! Some of the major attractions, like the aquarium, are a few more blocks east, but the hotel is definitely convenient to the area.

There are some more expensive, and presumably nicer, hotels closer to the Inner Harbor, but I imagine that the noise would easily ruin a good night's sleep. We were there during a holiday, so perhaps it was louder. Nevertheless, I wouldn't recommend staying right next to the Inner Harbor.

Lastly, the hotel offers valet parking, which is a little expensive and somewhat inconvenient, but there are some parking garages nearby. We didn't think that the paltry savings by parking ourselves offset the convenience of dropping off our car and luggage right at the front door, so we just used the valet service.

In sum, the Residence Inn offers nice rooms at a reasonable price, and the location can't be beat. I recommend it.

The Cheesecake Factory is located right on the Harbor, and it is convenient to all major hotels and attractions in the Inner Harbor area. The food is great, and the menu is varied. I enjoy the Navajo sandwich. There are about 30 kinds of cheesecake on the menu, and obviously it's what they are known for. There is limited outdoor seating, but you can see the water from most seats in the restaurant. It's a chain restaurant, and the food is slightly overpriced, but you won't be disappointed. Due to the quality of the food and the location, it can get pretty busy. Be prepared to wait for a table. But it's worth it.

The California Pizza Kitchen is a chain restaurant that offers a unique variety of delicious pizzas. The restaurant is located right next to the harbor, and we took advantage of its veranda seating so that we could enjoy the sights, sounds, and breeze from the waterfront area.
I selected the Jamaican Jerk pizza on the optional honeywheat dough, and it was delicious. There was plenty left over to bring back to the hotel and enjoy as a snack the next day.
Since CPK is located in a bustling, touristy area of Baltimore, be prepared to wait for a table. The service was fairly slow, but the restaurant was busy and didn't seem to have very many waiters. Overall, I enjoyed the experience.

The California Pizza Kitchen offers a great variety of pizza dishes at affordable prices. It's a great place to bring children or finicky eaters. Everyone likes pizza, but you're sure to find something on the menu that you've never tried before. Enjoy!

The Maryland Science Center was a fun and educational place to spend our last afternoon in Baltimore. We spent most of our time in the Newton's Alley and Your Body exhibits. The other exhibits mainly focused on dinosaurs and space, and they simply weren't as enjoyable.

The first floor of the Center features working geyser models and--for an additional fee--a Segway tour. Newton's alley has a lot of classic hands-on physics exhibits. I didn't learn much of anything new in this area, but it was fun to play around and apply or demonstrate simple principles. The Your Body exhibit was more interesting, offered more learning opportunities, and had more unique exhibits. The best exhibit featured an interactive lie detector, so make sure to bring a friend. The instructions ask that your try to guess a number that your partner is chosen, but it's also fun to ask embarrassing or nagging questions for which you've been dying to know the truth.

It was a fun, although half the exhibition areas were kind of boring. But that allowed us to spend more time in the areas we enjoyed instead of rushing to see everything. I recommend it.

The Maryland Zoo is a fun place to learn about animals. Although the kinds of animals presented were fairly standard for your typical zoo, the park was well-designed and fun.

Maryland is hot in July, and we were impressed by how much shade was provided throughout the outdoor exhibitions. We never felt like we were being scorched by the sun, and that allowed us to maintain a good pace, see all the animals, and not feel absolutely drained by the end of the day.

We enjoyed the outdoor giraffe exhibit and the indoor monkey exhibits the best. A few of the monkeys were behaving rather strangely; what began as a curiosity became somewhat sad as we continued to watch.

Some tips:
- Definitely take the tram when you first arrive, unless you're a serious nature buff.
- The giraffes provide the best photo opportunities when they're outside, and it's fun to watch the polar bears and otters play in the water--separate water, of course!
- The children's area is also well designed and offers plenty of opportunities for them to learn and play at the same time.
- The polar bear exhibit has an air-conditioned Arctic transporter. It's very refreshing.

I was disappointed by the National Aquarium. We had a decent time, but it was relatively overpriced. It was far from horrible, but it just wasn't that great, either--certainly not all it was hyped up to be.

The best part of the aquarium is the large shark-and-ray tank on the first floor, which can be seen from every floor of the building. There are also convenient moving walkways to transport you up to the next exhibits. The worst part is the separate building that features dolphins and frogs. Both exhibits were lacking. I learned more about animals by reading the factoids posted in the walkway between the buildings than I did in the buildings themselves.

In general, the Aquarium was very crowded, and discourteous people (especially little children) really detracted from the experience. Most of the exhibits were small and uninteresting, and I found myself having to put forth a lot of effort to figure out what I was looking at and what I was supposed to learn about it. If the term can be applied to aquariums, this one was not very user-friendly.

The ticket lines can be very long, so I recommend getting there early. The tickets also specify at what time you may enter (in an effort to control the crowds). The earlier you arrive, it's more likely that your ticket entry time will be close to the current time and more likely that the crowds will be small once you actually enter the building.

One tip--when we were there, they offered a $5 discount for late entry in a promotion called Aussie Nights. It's a nice way to save some money, but I'm sure the larger crowd later in the day offsets the value of your savings.