busy in Baltimore

It seems hard to believe that it is already more than a week since we were in Baltimore.  We squeezed a lot in to this 6-day trip, including a trip to Williamsburg, VA, and Ocean City, MD.  Kyalo can now cross two more states off his list.  (I think he's up to 8 right now, which is pretty good.)

The reason for the trip was for my cousin's wedding.  Both my parents are from Baltimore, so I spent a lot of time there (usually around Christmas) growing up. It was nice to be back.  Since the wedding was in the evening, we had a chance to do some exploring. 

The most important stop, according to my parents, was this place:

 since 1782! a little slice of history, right there

because inside, it has this:

Faidley's is a seafood joint that we always go to when in town. They serve the best crab cakes or soft-shell crab sandwiches. Stop in next time you're in Baltimore.  But, before we could get to the crab cakes, we needed to have some oysters on the half shell.

 oysters, horseradish, a little lemon, maybe a little hot sauce 

divine

Eating oysters-on-the-half-shell (ie, raw) is kind of a right of passage for outsiders to really be considered TRUE Merings. My sister-in-law, Noelle, did it either before or right after getting married.  Now it was Dexter's turn. He's not really a seafood lover, so it was more of a challenge for him.  But he did it!

uta do?

(a Kenyan slang phrase meaning, roughly, "what're you gonna do about it?")

Sure is a weight off everyone's shoulders to be able to welcome Dexter fully into the family!

Then we moved on to the other side of the room to get crab cakes and sandwiches.  

 yum

Dexter opted out of this, having done his duty, and got a Philly Cheese-steak sub, which is also a good choice.  

Faidley's has a little piece of advice for you, free of charge.

so there you go

On the way to the market, I saw this.  

Did you know? I did not.

And considering how run down the city feels, I think maybe the title needs to be reconsidered. . .

This was a very nice way to spend the morning of the wedding, and, except for the walk there and back in 107* F temps I'd say it was perfect!