(Please read our Covid 19 Statement first - Ed) We've been told that the best crabcakes in Baltimore come from a stand at the Lexington Market. Letty's been on a mission to try as many as she can while we're here.
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The Charm City Purple Route stops in front of our hotel on Redwood Street and it's a quick, easy, and free ride to a stop three blocks from the market.
It's a bit of a downtrodden three blocks, very similar to walking through our hometown's (Los Angeles) Skid Row. This is our second attempt, my wife got sick a couple of days ago and we had to postpone our visit but we're here now and ready to go.
Faidley's Seafood is in the back of the market, allowing us to peruse all the other stands along the way. It really reminds me of how Grand Central Market in L.A. was before all the gentrification hit.
The sights, sounds, and smells let you know the market is the real deal. It's a wonderful place, even if you have to go through some not so wonderful real estate to get there.
I'm not much of a seafood lover but even I can taste the goodness in this lump of crabmeat. Letty will eventually proclaim this to be a close second to the crabcakes she will try during this trip.
You will pay a price for it, however. The cake, two sides, and a soda (one refill only) will push the boundary to $25 which you order and get from a counter, take on a foam plate to a table you must stand at, and then eat. Luckily, since I did buy some food, I could partake of the chance of a pint of Natty Boh for a measly $2.50 at the adjacent oyster bar.
As the title on the post says, it's game day so we head back to the hotel to rest up for the night's festivities.
A decent eight block or so walk takes us past the Inner Harbor where we can see this old church. It's the Old Otterbein United Methodist Church, standing in this spot for 244 years. Across the street is one of baseball's classic stadiums but it's only been standing here for 23 years.
The massive B&O warehouse signals that we've arrived at our destination, Oriole's Park at Camden Yards. Tim has gotten us a deal on seats right behind home plate.
Entering here, we're at center field, opposite the side we'll be sitting on. This gives us a chance to see the stadium on the way to our seats.
I'm told it's new for this year but there's an honest-to-goodness German style beer garden out here beyond the bullpens. Almost makes me disappointed we didn't sit out here in the cheap seats. Almost.
We may not have a beer garden behind home plate but we do have vendors coming by with pints of ice cold Natty Bohs every five minutes. And I mean ICE cold, too. They taste very good on this extremely hot and humid night. At eight dollars, it's the same price as the 12 ounce craft brews they sell at the nearby snack bar.
Letty doesn't do well with the hot weather here and frequently sneaks off to the air conditioned gift shop to browse.
It would help if the stadium had an open concourse to allow the air to blow through in addition to having a view of the field whenever you went to the snack bar.
Tim and I enjoy the Esskay hot dogs they sell here. The popcorn is OK, not bad but nowhere near as good as the custom made Topsy's you'll find in Kansas City.
The game is another loss for the slumping Orioles but we do get to see a play early in the game where outfielder Kevin Kiermaier made an outstanding leaping play to rob the birds of a home run.
It ended up being the play of the week on ESPN and we got to see it live. Unfortunately, Kiermaier was injured on the play and had to exit the game. Final score, Tampa Bay Rays 6, Orioles 3.
It's a fun game and, since we're visitors, it really doesn't matter who wins for us. The stadium is very nice and the wheelchair seats are top notch and scattered about in all levels.
Camden Yards set a new standard for baseball stadiums and its influence is strongly felt on all stadiums built since its debut.
Game over, we walk through the streets crowded with fans back to our hotel and get ready to finish this trip to the charming and historic city of Baltimore.
Darryl
Copyright 2015 - Darryl Musick
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