Birthday Celebration, Halloween and Parents Visiting!

So I know Simple Plan will tell you that “no one likes you when you’re 23” but that has not been my experience thus far. Two weekends ago I celebrated by birthday with many new friends from the School of Nursing. We went out to dinner at a great Mediterranean tapas restaurant in Fells Point called Kali’s Mezze where I got the full experience by ordering the “tasting menu.”

On my actual birthday I went across the Chesapeake bay with my boyfriend to a cute town called St. Michaels. There we enjoyed a delicious lunch and visited St. Michael’s Winery which features signature sweet wines called Gollywobblers.

On Halloween I joined many of my nursing classmates down in Fells Point where hundreds of people crowded the streets, all decked out in their Halloween finest.

My parents came down to visit this past weekend and we explored more of the city together. They stayed at the 1840’s Carrolton which is a unique bed and breakfast near Little Italy. The rooms were decorated in ornate Victorian fashion and the breakfast was serve in the parlor which was just as grand. I joined them for a delicious breakfast which included a new favorite of mine, chopped bananas with nuts and honey.

On Saturday we used an article my parents had brought entitled, “72 Hours in Baltimore” as a guide to the highlights of the city. The first stop on the list was the Edgar Allen Poe house. When we arrived at the address we almost drove by it without noticing. It was closed because it was a Saturday but truthfully I wouldn’t have wanted to get out of the car. It was located in run down area of Baltimore that our article mentioned was close to what they refer to as “the wire.”

Next we visited the Northwestern neighborhood of Hampton and walked up and down West 36th street which is home to cute, artsy shops and restaurants, a place I will definitely want to go back to and check out again.

For lunch we decided to try out a seafood restaurant in Canton that I had been getting rave reviews about from my fellow nursing students. At Mammas on the Half Shell my parents and I enjoyed grilled oysters, crab cakes, lump crab salad and a fried oyster Po Boy. I will definitely be going back to Mammas, their crab cake might have been the best I’ve ever tasted.

That afternoon my parents took me shopping for my birthday and I had no trouble finding some new clothes. I had had my eye on some items but because I am on a nursing student budget, I waited until my birthday to splurge. One new store that I just discovered after moving to Baltimore is called South Moon Under, located in Harbor East. Though most items are out of my current price range, it doesn’t hurt to look!

Finally, for dinner on Saturday we followed a recommendation from the hotel’s concierge and ate at an Italian restaurant that is walking distance from the inn itself. I had a delicious, luxurious meal at La Tavola and made sure I left room for dessert at Vaccaro’s, another Little Italy gem.

After all this delicious food I am crossing my fingers that I will still be able to fit into my new clothes! (Not to worry, I already taken advantage of Cardio Jam and kickboxing at the Cooley Center this week :).