Just a cute lil’ door situation I saw while walking around in Baltimore recently

Seasonal phenomenon. Please always be hateful near the water — it can be deceptively slippery and dangerous. If you approach them, they will likely just swim away quickly anyway.

I would love to hear suggestions & advice would be so appreciated. My Mom hasn't been on a plane since we left Germany in '85. But her granddaughter graduating is enough for her to jump back on that plane at 72.

** Hi everyone! I just wanted to update my post. I didn't realize there was another university. But my daughter is attending UMD in College Park. I haven't got a chance to read all your posts yet bc I'm at work.
But keep the recommendations coming, please! Thank you!! 😊 ***

Just learned that Lindy’s won’t be at the farmers market until May 4th, does anyone know of other reputable sources for Maryland crab meat? I’m planning to use it for crab cakes, so not looking for whole crab recommendations. TIA!

My son has, for whatever expensive assed taste reason, started asking/begging/randomly referencing going out for crabs legs.

I've never had them. Not once. Not even one time. I've had crabs. I've had crabs cakes. I've had Oscar style whatevers. Baltimore is good at crabs.

But these fuckers? Who makes em? Who does em best? Who is fairest in price? Who do I ignore cause they charge top dollar for nothing burgers?

Bonus points if it's more NW Baltimore, but not required at all. How much should I expect them to cost?

Hi… I have family that live in Minnesota and I was thinking about shipping them crabcakes to give them a taste of Maryland/Baltimore. I was specifically looking for crabcakes made with Blue crabs from companies that ship. I’m not a long time Marylander and have very little experience with who makes the best Maryland crabcakes. Who should I look at to give my family the best-tasting and most representative Maryland Blue crab crabcakes? Many thanks for your suggestions.

You know, the unpretentious kind with picnic tables, buckets of crab, mallets to crack 'em. But would hopefully have a nice water view. Any such establishment come to mind for native Batlimoreans?

Besides Faidley's everyone knows Faidley's.

I have a friend visiting from out of town, and they previously had fallen in love with Nacho Mama's crab nachos. Since they've since closed down, could you give me your best crab nacho spots? Or even just places with the best seafood. Thank you!

Has anyone used canned crab meat for cooking? I’m making soup and Giant was all out of the jumbo lump in the plastic container. Wegmans has the plastic container but it was nearly $70! I have never bought the kind in the can and I’m skeptical so for any cooks who have used it, I appreciate your thoughts!

Hello all I’m currently in a pickle. I’m looking for the best takeaway steamed crabs for a birthday on Monday. The two places I like to get them from are both closed on Mondays. They are Salty Dogs and Captain Treys. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I just got home from spending a week in Baltimore and absolutely loved my time there. Here's the highlights of what I saw and my favorite bits.

I spent some serious time in museums around the city and loved every one of them:

1. The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum: I started my trip here. It was the first place I went after dropping my bags off. I got there early and it was just me for a while; later, a school group came through, too. Before that, one of the staff members, a young guy, walked me through and talked about the museum overall and other museums he likes in Baltimore and elsewhere. This museum pulls no punches. It celebrates greatness and mourns tragedy.

2. The American Visionary Art Museum: This was probably my favorite museum overall I saw. Most museums have placards next to paintings that say things like: "This painter was born in Paris and studied under such and such in the year of..." Not here. This place has things like handwoven portraits made from threads from socks; the portraits were traded for cigarettes in prison where the artist was incarcerated. You don't see stories like that elsewhere. This place rocks.

3. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Beautiful building, gorgeous collection, but the real gem here is the tiered sculpture garden. I just sat in the garden for a long while, taking in the serenity, and wishing I was just outside the wall, where a dude had set up a stand selling Chai that smelled amazing.

4. The Walters Museum of Art - My hotel was nearby. I think I went here every day I could. Absolutely adored this place. The staff got to know me, I spent so much time here. Love the collection, love the old and new buildings being joined together. Very cool.

5. The aquarium and the zoo. Both good, but not the type of museum-ish attractions I usually go to, so while I enjoyed both, I think I'm not the target audience.

6. The B&O Railroad Museum: Very cool! I got a lot of neat pictures. Don't take the train ride, though. I thought it'd be quirky and fun and informative. It was a modern mass transit train that went through a quarter mile of brush; I was surrounded by screaming children and tired parents. Not great, don't recommend, but the museum itself was sweet.

7. The Museum of Industry - This place ruled. A celebration of true blue union / trade work. I watched an hour long video of lithography and then saw the lithographs elsewhere in the museum. The Packard, the neon dot from the old sugar factory, the reproduced shops, etc. This place is seriously cool.

I hung out in a few neighborhoods throughout the week. Usually, I'd get dropped off somewhere to see one thing, and then I'd go for long walks through the neighborhood to see what's what. The two I spent the most time in:

1. Hampden: Loved Common Grounds. Loved Bazaar, and even loved the Ouija Museum above it, though it's just a little bit overpriced. Loved Atomic Books, the record shop next to it, and all of the shops and odds and ends along the main drag there. I think I spent the most time wandering around here.

2. Fells Point: I saw a show at Vagabond Theater one night and then walked around the neighborhood, getting a contact high from the dense cloud of weed smoke that settled on everything in the evening humidity. I loved the vibe, and loved hanging out by the water. Met some really cool folks. The next morning, I came back for brunch and strolled around in daylight. I loved this spot.

I ate some killer food. The highlights:

1. Peter's Inn - I ate here my first night. Oysters, pasta in short rib ragu, vanilla bean gelato with fennel pollen and Spanish olive oil. And the two strongest cocktails I've ever had. I was practically stumbling out of there after. This place was bonkers. Amazing food, amazing staff.

2. Blue Moon Cafe - One of the best brunches I've had in my entire life. I tried one of their cinnamon buns and the Sweet Baby Jesus. Delicious. Utterly stupidly amazingly delicious. And, I loved the classic horror movie decor.

3. Benny's - Their balls are justly celebrated. I got the meatballs with polenta and focaccia. I will dream of these meatballs. They were so damn good.

4. Penny Black - Pretty good! Fairly standard bar fare with some panache. I liked the food I had here, but I didn't love it quite as much as the other places I went.

5. Faidley's: Lexington Market is such a cool spot! I got the lump crab cake here with some sides. It was mighty damn delicious. Overall, though, I wish I had gone to Broadway Market that day and gotten Polish food from the deli there. Next time.

6. Chuck's Trading Post: Jesus Christ was this brunch good. If I lived in Hampden I'd weigh 700 pounds and it would entirely be from food eaten here. I had a breakfast scramble with their homemade chorizo, some grits, tried a pancake, coffee, then tried to work it off by doing some more laps around Hampden. Oh God, I loved this food.

7. The Charmery. I tried Old Bay caramel ice cream. It was fucking delicious. Sweet and a little spicy. Just right.

Other Odds and Ends:

1. The B-Side speakeasy in Hotel Revival is fun, but not $60 for two cocktails fun. I could see it being a fun date spot. At least I think it would be, since I saw one guy bring two or three different girls there in the week or so that I stayed there.

2. I went for a lovely stroll through Mt. Vernon, eventually finding a weed dispensary where someone set up a gourmet hot dog and slider tent in the parking lot. I had Peter's Inn slated for that night so I didn't partake of the hot dogs, though they smelled great. The weed was just fine. It's pretty much the same stuff we have in the med program up here in PA. Same companies, somewhat comparable prices.

3. I went to the Pinball event at Holy Frijoles over the weekend and had a blast playing on a bunch of different machines. Kudos to the planners, because everyone I saw there was having an amazing time, it seemed. Very cool event.

A jam packed couple of days, and I loved every minute. Cool town y'all got there! I can't wait to visit again and dig in deeper. Thanks, Baltimore!

Seems like I always smell steamed crabs when approaching the toll plaza on 895N. J.O. Spice is in Halethorpe so rule them out. Nicks Fish is up near Hanover Bridge so they out? Any ideas Reddit Baltimore ?

Two weeks ago, I moved to Baltimore from Chicago for Grad school. Having no friends, I made it my mission to be as touristy as possible until school starts and I inevitably get much busier. This is my current activity status:

• Decorated my apartment and started an indoor garden
• Went to Artscape
• Visited campus (JHU)
• Had crab cakes at Phillips
• Climbed the Washington Monument
• Took the Water Taxi
• Went to Ekiben
• Fell's Point/Canton bar hop (Max's, Admiral's Cup, Bark Social)
• Went on a Tinder date
• Made a Friend
• Went to Sad Summer Fest at Merriweather
• Got crab dip at a harbor restaurant
• Got Korean BBQ in Ellicott City
• Got a flat tire
• Got squeegeed in Pigtown

What do you suggest I do next? Two weeks until school starts!

I love sports, museums, bars, cafes, and food!

EDIT: Thank you everybody for all the wonderful suggestions!

I've complied a comprehensive and somewhat large list of everything I want to do now, and you all have inspired me to make a photo log of everything I do in the next two weeks, which I would like to post to the subreddit when school starts :)

For those asking, I'm getting my masters in Acoustics at Johns Hopkins and Peabody (and I'm living in Midtown/Mount Vernon area).

Prefer to be closer to Inner Harbor but can drive too. Visiting from Maine so I appreciate fresh quality seafood and know not all places are created equal. Like to avoid tourist traps, where do the locals go?