How I ate and drank my way up the east coast, part one

I've been absent from blogland because I've been on an east coast adventure! I'm fortunate to have high school friends scattered throughout the country, so I'm always excited when my travel plans can coincide with a visit to see them.

I spent the past week in Philadelphia for a conference (more on that later) and realized that I could easily visit my friend Cristan in Baltimore the weekend prior. So off I went. I first visited Baltimore last spring and was pleasantly surprised by how clean and tourist friendly the Inner Harbor area was (until I almost got kidnapped in a fake cab on the way to the airport, but that's another story for another day.) Since I'd already explored the city a little bit I had no agenda for Cristan other that I needed to eat a crab cake. Having read my post Corey's amazing restaurant suggestions for us in Denver, Cristan and her boyfriend Terrence were bound and determined to one-up him. This could only turn out well for me.

Our first stop was a place called Alewife that we stumbled upon as a happy accident. We knew we were in for a treat when we realized the place had 40 beers on tap. And their specialty burger was topped with brisket and bacon. Wow. Cristan was off to a good start, it was delicious.

We then began a trek across the Inner Harbor, stopping along the way to check out some local shops, tour a lighthouse, and visit a couple of local pubs.

I have no idea what I'm pointing to, but clearly I was impressed.

I love how everything just looks historical on the east coast. The row houses, the brick buildings, the cobblestone streets. It makes me wish I knew something about history.

We ended up at our destination: dinner. Or should I say destination: crab cake. Um...wow. Mama's on the Half Shell, best crab cakes ever. In Iowa the crab cakes tend to consist of more breading than actual crab, so this was a treat. And my meal was rounded out by the best mac and cheese ever (and if you know me well you will know that's a big deal, I LOVE me some mac and cheese) and a signature Baltimore drink, the crush. Exhausted from walking and eating, we called it a night after dinner.

Day two started with an early breakfast at Blue Moon Cafe. After devouring a breakfast burrito we were off to check out Federal Hill. I'm not really sure what the significance of the hill is...but the view was great. My history teacher would be ashamed.

Please enjoy how incredible we look in this picture

We spent the rest of the morning exploring Cristan's neighborhood, including a local market that made me wish I wasn't traveling so I could buy some fresh fish. 

Then Cristan taught me how to make origami jewelry boxes, because what trip to Baltimore isn't complete without some origami? I was very impressed with myself. 

And after all that it was only noon, and time for me to catch my train to Philly. I hadn't ridden AMTRAK in years, so this was a fun treat for me as well.

I've given a lot of thought to the Cristan vs. Corey food battle, and I think I'm going to cop out and call it a tie. Although I might have to give the edge to Cristan because she ate at all the locations with me. If anyone else wants in on this battle I'd be happy to come visit you and eat my way through your city too!