Ron and I like to take different routes across America every trip or whenever we can. This year we decided to head south down the east coast and drove south to Baltimore, Maryland through Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York, and a short section of Delaware.

We were hoping to see some of the colors of autumn in the northeast, but summer is holding on tight this year and everything is green and lush still with just a touch of color starting to appear.

While Ron is driving, I get on my iPhone and shop for where we’re going to stay every night once we’ve determined where it is we’re going to stop. It can be a bit of a gamble as we’re trying to keep the expenses down, but not compromise the safety or cleanliness of where we’re staying.

By sheer luck, we found a fabulous place to stay in Baltimore called the Lord Baltimore Hotel. Built in 1928, the hotel is undergoing a major facelift. The bones of the hotel are historic and regal and we’re certain that the new private hotel group that has acquired it will bring it back to its original beauty and elegance. Our room was large and very comfortable; tremendous value for the renovation discount price that we paid.

The bellman, Allan, very dapper in vest and stylish fedora, was very helpful and gave us some great leads on what to see and recommended restaurants while we were in Baltimore. We walked around the harbor and marina and were delighted to be entertained with a parade of large sailing vessels from all over the world, entering and circling the marina announcing their arrival and participation in the regatta with cannon fire.

We stopped for a glass of wine in a restaurant with an upstairs balcony to watch the parade of ships and the setting of the sun. Nestled in Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore is a beautiful city with lots of history that has been well documented and proudly celebrated by its citizens. After the sun set, we continued our walk and found ourselves in a huge Barnes and Noble Bookstore housed in a four-story historic brick building. Books are a huge weakness for both of us, but we kept our purchases to a minimum as our little convertible is already MORE than full.

Ron has a wonderful nose for finding great restaurants. That night was no exception and we decided to sit up at the bar at Phillips Seafood for dinner. We ordered a Crab Cake Salad (fresh greens, tomato, corn and asparagus and topped with a classic crab cake) and a half-pound order of snow crab legs served with drawn butter and a side of sautéed baby spinach with lemon, sea salt and butter. Although we rarely select white wine, Ron selected a bottle of 2012 Matua Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and it was a perfect choice. The word “matua” means head of the family in the Maori language and this crisp, clean and slightly citric wine is New Zealand’s first ever Sauvignon Blanc. As they say on their label, it would be delicious in the hot sunshine and pair beautifully with anything that comes from the sea. We highly recommend it.

Everything was delicious, but the crab cake was absolutely outstanding. Phillips have created their own blend of seasonings which accentuates and compliments the abundance of crab meat in this house specialty. Their famous Seafood Seasoning contains celery salt, pepper, mustard, allspice, pimento, cloves, bay leaves, mace, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and paprika – a wonderful blend to complement seafood or to use in a crab and potato/corn on the cob boil (order online from their website http://www.phillipsfoods.com/retail-products and check out their other recipes as well). They have Shirley Phillips’ Maryland Style Crab Cake recipe on the back of the spice can and I can’t wait to try it once we get to Cabo:

1 egg
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. dry mustard
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
½ tsp. lemon juice
1 ½ tsp. mustard
1 ½ tsp. melted butter
½ tsp. parsley flakes
½ tsp. Phillips Seafood Seasoning
¼ cup bread crumbs
8 oz. crab meat

Combine all ingredients except crab meat. Fold in crab meat. Shape into cakes and pan fry.

We had such a great meal that first night in Baltimore, we came back on our second night to again sit at the bar and share some great conversation with our bartenders, Doug, with his velvety southern accent from North Carolina, and Gary, a Baltimore native.  We enjoyed the Crab Cake Salad once again after a full day of touring the city and the phenomenal National Aquarium – truly world class.

Baltimore is a great city that delighted and surprised us.  We look forward to visiting there again soon.