Baltimore's Inner Harbor

Two nights in a city does not generally allow us to explore an area in depth, but staying in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore allows easy exploration of the many compact, uniquely intriguing aspects of the city. From modern commercialism and tourist sites built up on the water, to Little Italy and the old quaint neighborhoods associated with the northeast, it is all a casual stroll away.

Beautiful day at the Inner Harbor

With only a few days, we tried to hit some of the top rated sights. The Historic Ships of Baltimore was one of the more surprisingly fun tours I have ever done. Four decommissioned ships are anchored in the harbor, each incredibly different and brimming with history. The first ship, the USS Constellation, launched in 1855 and was used to intercept vessels engaged in illegal slave trade and protect commerce during the Civil War. For a drastically different experience, the next stop was the USS Torsk, a submarine that served in the Pacific during WWII playing a critical role engaging Japanese submarines. It continued to patrol the water in the early years of the Cold War.

Next to the torpedo - From here, the Torsk sunk the last Japanese vessel of WWII 

Love the face lift

The Lightship Chesapeake was the 3rd boat, a 1930 creation that was one of the most modern and capable lighthouse boats engineered. Equipped with a 13,000 candlepower electric beacon lamp on each mast, the boat was essentially a floating signal for ships entering the Chesapeake Bay, even riding out multiple hurricanes to ensure safe passage for others. 

Finally, the United States Coast Guard Cutter Taney welcomed us aboard with an abundance of history. Anchored in Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Taney was in action during the Japanese attack. Its resilience is comprehensive, sporting a resume that includes downing numerous Japanese ships in WWII, providing medical assistance to thousands of civilians in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, and even combating drugs in the Caribbean, where it once seized a record 160 tons of marijuana. Finally decommissioned in 1986, the USCGC Taney holds the distinction of being "The Last Survivor of Pearl Harbor," whereas no other ship that saw action that day remained active past the late 1960's!

Posing outside the Taney

Walking below deck of these boats was the ultimate hands on experience, especially within the claustrophobic confines of the submarine. Amazing that groups spent long periods in the depths of the ocean, constantly on guard for enemy submarines and simultaneously hunting and avoiding detection. The courage of those serving then and now is astounding and the reason my wife and I are able to be on vacation in Baltimore learning about the sacrifices made on these ships. While the tour of the submarine was humbling, the history of the USS Taney was my highlight.

And I had complained about the comfort of our hotel bed....

We stumbled upon a privateer (fancy term for pirate) festival, as families dressed up and enjoyed a myriad of activities in the life of a pirate. Pirate ships were set up to taxi patrons around the harbor. This brought us to an old neighborhood with the charm we have grown to love out here, full of ornate brick buildings and cobblestone streets.

The initial reason for the trip was to keep expanding my list of ballparks. Camden yards is a gem of a baseball stadium. I will highlight this in greater detail in part two of my baseball stadium posts (part one here). Thoughtfully dedicated to the history of the team, the park is a wonderful place to watch a baseball game, and the architecture and location are top notch. Built at the beginning of the new ballpark era, the innovation of its design is obvious.

Finally, we decided to check out the National Aquarium. A huge collection of marine life from around the world, this is one of the nicest aquatic setups I have seen. An informative jelly fish exhibit highlighted the risks of an aggressively increasing jelly fish population, and the role humans are playing and can play in the future to ensure the diverse marine population remains intact. Not trying to preach here, but we all need to continue educating ourselves on exactly what our actions are doing to the environment. Interestingly, the unintended consequence of overwhelming demand from us to eat tuna (a natural predator to the jellyfish) is a major reason why the jellyfish population is proliferating. More than just a nuisance to swimmers, jelly fish have the ability to massively disrupt the ocean's ecosystem.

In only two days, we were efficient with our time, but there is so much more to see. History combined with a recent modernization creates pockets within the city worth exploring in depth. All the food was superb, and the city will be worth visiting again just to eat more fresh Maryland blue crab!

Dogfish Head - Off Centered Beer Paradise

We recently spent a weekend dedicated to my favorite beer on the East Coast, Dogfish Head (DFH). A completely unconventional company that puts out some of the tastiest, craziest, most uniquely brilliant beers.  Their motto of "off centered stuff for off centered people" nails it. The brewery in Milton, DE is a must visit for beer aficionados or anyone just looking for a fun afternoon. Having toured other breweries, this one set the bar. Jam packed with humorous stories, terrific sampling, and comprehensive yet clear explanations of the brewing process.

Getting ready to tour

DFH is currently the 13th largest craft brewery in the country, its name derived from the island of Dogfish Head, ME, an important place to founder Sam Calagione. An avid home brewer with the desire to go big, Sam moved to Delaware for the most important reason of all, his wife. Rarely do companies start with ease, and the initial hiccup for DFH was that brewing was illegal in the state. Showing impressive resolve, the company lobbied for change and was able to successfully alter the brewing laws just 3 days before the planned opening!

"Oooh Me so Hoppy" - Their dry hopping device

The tour's explanation of brewing was dumbed down perfectly, and we could truly appreciate the mix of science and art. In order to create what I feel is the most diverse beer portfolio out there (DFH will bottle 33 varieties of beer this year - an average brewery has 6-12), innovation needs to be coupled with a sense of fun and passion. All of the major equipment has its own name, their quality control is diligent, and the envy of beer drinkers everywhere is the site's "Disneyland," a massive collection of aging DFH beers.

They are currently in the process of unearthing ancient recipes from around the world and brewing limited release ales. They also are one of few to continuously hop their IPA's, so instead of putting in all of the hops at the beginning and/or end of the brewing process, they hop the beers continuously, which in my opinion creates some of the best IPAs available. Using significantly more barley than most, the average ABV of their beers is about 9%, and the favor profile is as robust as it gets. In general, they just kind of throw out the rule book.

Nowhere is their creativity more evident than in the Palo Santo Marron. A complex brown ale, it is brewed in handmade wooden vessels created from a tree in South America, a wood used occasionally for wine making. At 10,000 gallons, the tank is the largest wooden brewing vessel built in America since prohibition. When DFH went to gather the exotic wood, the local Paraguayan population told the group it wouldn't be easy. However, the tree is not much to look at, and at first blush, looks like you could snap off branches with bare hands. This was immediately refuted, as the story goes, when a local pulled out his handgun and unloaded into the tree, not even denting the wood! It ended up taking 17 diamond tipped blades to ready the trees for transport back to the brewery. So now, the bulletproof, dense wood holds this phenomenal beer and gives it natural subtle notes of caramel and vanilla.

The brewery's scheduler runs a tight ship!

After stocking up on some rarer beer and merchandise, we headed to Rehoboth Beach to DFH's brewpub. Here it gets enormously experimental, testing out all kinds of recipes to see what might stick and become the newest release. The founder himself, Sam, happened to sit down and eat dinner at the table right next to us! I don't have any cool stories about conversation with him or pictures to prove it though (he was enjoying time with family and I am not the type of person to intrude). Cool nonetheless, and illustrates how intimate the company seems to be under his guidance. Having loved this beer already, I am now even more enthralled with Dogfish Head and can't wait to keep trying their off center beers!

Cheers Indeed!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Never thought I could truly use this title, but our recent travels are just that! In just two weeks, I have accumulated enough blog material for several months! Time for writing has been slim, so wanted to provide a brief update.

It began with a train ride to New York City. My wife covered our extensive list of activities here. Needless to say, we saw a lot, and the natural energy oozing out of that city was addictive, I can't wait to go back!

View from the Brooklyn Bridge

Next came New Orleans via airplane for the French Quarter Festival. What a wonderfully unique city. The trip was a constant celebration of the city, food, art, and music. The highlight was staying at the Jazz Quarters B&B and waking up to gourmet breakfast and the friendly hospitality of the innkeepers.

Finally, the automobile took us to Baltimore. We toured historic boats, including a WWII submarine and the last surviving ship that was involved in the attack on Pearl Harbor, which remained active into the 1980's. We consumed large quantities of fresh Maryland blue crab and saw a baseball game at the remarkable Camden Yards.

I can't wait to relive all the best moments in future blog posts, so stay tuned for more from our adventures out East. Cheers!

Happy Belly - Victory Brewing Co

For new readers, Happy Belly is my attempt at a catchy tagline for blog posts related to the wonderful world of food and beverage. The move to Philadelphia makes finding content for this effortless, as the food and beer scene here is phenomenal. A recent stop was at Victory Brewing Co, a brewery with thoughtfully crafted beers and an impressive focus on environmental sustainability.

Victory is extremely family friendly, located in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. We saw numerous families and kids were running around as their parents waited to fill up growlers of their favorite beer. The restaurant is huge, with over 300 seats and a 60 foot bar.

Victory Brewing company is the creation of owners Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski. Having met in grade school, they grew up on a path destined for brewing stardom. Starting with home brewing kits, both studied in Munich, became disillusioned with corporate life, and came back to Pennsylvania to start the brewery.

Their motto of "locally brewed, locally loved" is evident in the beer quality. An emphasis on clean local water, mixed hops from Europe and America, and the use of whole flower hops (one of the few breweries in the country to use these) leads to an impressive lineup of aromas and flavors in each beer.

My favorites were Baltic Thunder, Storm King, and Hop Wallop

The brewery is committed to being Eco-friendly. Starting with the location, which is a renovated Pepperidge farm factory instead of building something new. Recent advancements have also made it possible to reuse a third of the natural gas from the brewing process, reducing CO2 emissions. Solar power is also utilized and monitors inside the restaurant show live updates to customers about how much energy generation is coming from the sun. Additionally, grain is recycled and shared in an agreement with a local farmer to use as feed for farm animals.

Victory's location is strategic due to its close proximity to the Brandywine Creek, a source of high quality water. Water is a vital aspect of top quality beer and the brewery recognized this importance by creating the Headwaters Grant, donating money to environmental groups for every bottle of their Headwaters Pale Ale sold. 

All of this and so much more can be found on their website here.

Gallery Hopping in Old Town

On the first Friday of every month, Old City puts on an event that showcases the artistic excellence of Philadelphia. The neighborhood keeps open late its more than 40 galleries to highlight an incredibly diverse collection of art. Several of them offer free beer, wine, and appetizers, or ask for a small donation to the gallery in return for the refreshments.

Rug made out of packaging tape

The sidewalks are also lined with local artists selling paintings, T-shirts, ceramics, jewelry, and more for reasonable prices. This was my favorite aspect of the experience. Chatting with the local artists, their pride and passion for their art resonated openly. No sticker shock here either, as we could actually purchase several items. 

Even on a chilly evening, art lovers were out in mass to view their favorite painting, sculptures, or the more unconventional creations. One exhibit consisted of items made entirely out of packaging tape! Another gallery involved artistic renderings of maps, a fascinating collection. If art viewing is not your thing, come to check out the captivating blend of people and then take in dinner or drinks at one of the many top notch restaurants nearby.

Speaking of dinner, we just walked into the first open place we found, and were rewarded with a delectable meal at Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar.  I don't have enough space to describe the array of spices within each dish, but each bite's palate was distinctive and satisfying. Coupled with expertly made mojitos mixed with smooth Brazilian rum, our bellies left very happy.

If you love art, local events, meeting new people,or just wandering around a phenomenal neighborhood, check out the first Friday of each month. It is free too, unless of course you find something worth taking home!

Sanibel - Sunshine and Relaxation

We took a small break from our recently scheduled craziness to unwind and relax on the majestic island of Sanibel. Visiting family at the beachfront Casa Ybel Resort, the "refreshing oasis" described on their website is genuine advertising.





Once settled on the sand, with the warm sun glowing down and ocean waves rolling into the shore, an abundance of island activity emerges. Sail boats, kayaks, shell hunters, casual strollers, nappers, readers, and fishers pass by, always moving at the island pace. We watched an older gentleman build mermaids, dragons, castles, and other beach archetypes from the sand and the myriad of sea shells that the island is famous for.

Most detailed beach creations I have ever seen - This mermaid even had fingernails made from shells

Spending the bulk of vacation on the beach, we soon became friends with the fascinating pelicans patrolling the beach, standing guard in troops of 20 plus in the trees. Somehow, knowing when to fly out to sea and dive bomb for breakfast, lunch, snack, or whatever meal cycle each was on. They continued to captivate us with their smooth gracefulness, yet often humorous mannerisms.

Sanibel even makes exercise fun. Biking is the easiest means of transportation on the island, as we occasionally moved at an equal pace with car traffic and never had to deal with beach side parking issues. Additionally, the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge offers spectacular kayaking and is known for exemplary bird watching.

Fun restaurants litter the island, consisting of menus containing all varieties of fresh seafood. The low key Island Cow was probably my favorite, where the coconut mahi was exceptional. A small taste of home, the $1.99 Yuenglings didn't hurt the restaurant't appeal either.

The nightly sunset

With the frenzied pace of our recent move to the East Coast, this laid back island splashed with constant sunlight and calming vibes was exactly the type of vacation we needed. Our skin sure appreciated the surplus of natural Vitamin D too!

Photos from Philly

We have now been to Center City in Philadelphia multiple times and are only getting a slight sense for the abundance of unique nooks hidden throughout the city.

One such location and a future Happy Belly post will explore the rejuvenation of 13th street, an area recently transformed into trendy restaurants and boutique shops. We have already eaten on the same block three times, including my favorite so far Jamonera, serving phenomenal tapas.

Comprehensive posts will come later once the city has been explored much more in depth, but for now, here are some pictures from a few days in historic Philadelphia.



The city is packed with historic neighborhoods




Constitution Hall



No idea what this building is, but the city is full of these architectural gems



Liberty Bell



Elfreth's Alley - The longest continually inhabited residential street in America



Paddy's Pub - A complete dive but apparently may have been inspiration for the show