In Old Colts Country

So I took a trip to Baltimore this week. The primary goal of which was to take my girlfriend to see Lacuna Coil play at Rams Head Live. She's a really big fan and was uber excited when I surprised her awhile back with tickets for the show. Unfortunately it was part of a tour and they only got to play for a half hour or so. The venue was reasonable enough, tho security people were a pain and some areas had very bad viewing angles. But they did at least have a bunch of nice flatscreens around the place so you could watch those when around and about. Also the foodstand place gives refills which I didn't know at first. The lady doing the serving recognized me and gave me shit about ditching my cup. I told her I just assumed there would be price rape-age, but she was nice and gave me another Dr. Pepper free of charge.

We also fit some other things into our day and a half stay in the Inner Harbor area. We stayed at a really nice hotel, the Hampton Inn. It's a Hilton hotel so it was a bit pricey but everything in Baltimore seems to be anyway. The room was great, nice and roomy, bed extremely comfortable and good for the hot secks. The hotel staff was quite helpful and the valet man was kind enough to grab us something from the car that we forgot. We got to check out the indoor pool which was okay, except for the little kids doing cannonballs every 30 seconds and the fact that even in the deep end I could stand without my head submerging.

Places in Baltimore seem to close kind of early, so we were lucky enough to make it to the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore before they closed at 11. We both had delicious salads and a nice herb chicken dish. Also sample some of the alcoholic beverages and walked away with nice Martini and Hurricane glasses. Our other primary food experience was at some place called like J. Paul's. But it was pretty good, Becky had a seafood platter and I was able to chow down on a simple yummy burger and fries. Also the cool thing about this place was they give you free warm pretzels with mustard as appetizers. We checked out some shops and went out for a half hour or so on a dragon shaped paddleboat.

The other main event of the day was a trip to the aquarium. I had been hoping since we were going on a Tuesday that it wouldn't be so crowded, but it most assuredly was. There were parents and their little brats everywhere. So it was really slow going in some points, at least if you actually wanted to see something, and even more so if you wanted to take some pictures like I did. But we scoped out basically all of the place. We didn't end up making it to the dolphin show, but neither of us really cared. The general aquarium parts were all fun and I got some nice shots, but I think both of us enjoyed the Rain Forest and Australian exhibits most. They really give you a cooler feel of being in the animals environments and you have birds flying around and some open exhibits. Check out my pictures from our trip.

There were some problems on the trip, primarily crappy traffic, crappy Baltimore streets, Crappy Parking Garages and way too much walking, but I still had a really good time and I think Becky did too. There was also the side benefit of me having taken two days off work, so I had that going for me, which was nice.

Good Eats

Went out to The Melting Pot over the weekend. I hadn't been there in quite some time. I think the last outing was when I was quite young. I don't know if it was simply the prices, or if it was the fact that the woman in my life at that time (A.K.A. Mom) didn't want to go there because she couldn't smoke. Fortunately the woman in my life now(A.K.A. Becky) can content herself to wait.

If you've never been to this restaurant and can afford it you should definitely check it out sometime. I'm serious on the if you can afford it tho. Don't show up with less than a c-note, and you'll probably need more. Also you might want to have a reservation, as when my Becky and I showed up out of the blue around 5 pm we were told they were booked up til 10:15. We promptly left and ended up at Ruby Tuesdays. A fine meal to be sure, but not what I had been hoping for. So when I got home I made a reservation for Sunday.

Basically they offer you several simple choices. Which of these 5 cheese dips do you want? Salad? Pick your meat or meat platter, and what to cook it in. Later you get to choose from a variety of chocolate dipping sauces. Then they bring out each course and you dip and cook and eat at your leisure.

The cheddar cheese fondue was quite tasty, tho I slightly regret not going with the traditional swiss. We ended up choosing their signature selection of meats, but both of us ended up being huge fans of the teriyaki marinated sirloin. For dessert we went with their combination of milk chocolate and Baileys Irish Cream which was quite delicious. At first they served a simple platter of chocolate dipping foods, but at our servers offer we gladly accepted extra strawberries, bananas, and mini brownie cubes. Overall the meal was tremendously fantastic.

Couple things of note.... This is not a short meal. I think we were seated around 5:55 and didn't leave until after 8. Beverage selection is limited. They serve you water, which I like well enough, but it seems kind of lame given the fanciness of the meal to be had. There's a range of mixed drinks(which were quite potently made), and a vast wine selection. Not much else.

Also you might want to change clothes afterward, unless you want to smell of Coq Au Vin for the rest of your evening. Speaking of which while there might be plenty of people all dressed up at the restaurant, there is no dress code, so feel free to show up in a tshirt, jeans, and sandals like I did.

Definately a place to go when you have the cash to blow and want a delicious and/or romantic meal.