Life, Mapped: Our 1st Anniversary: Baltimore, Maryland

Jon and I celebrated our one year anniversary on September 28th in Baltimore, Maryland. We had a blast exploring the city, eating amazing food and staying at the most adorable bed & breakfast. We headed into town Friday evening to check in at the Scarborough Fair Bed & Breakfast. Jon and I had never stayed at a bed & breakfast before, and had always wanted to, so we checked out the map, read some reviews and made the reservation. This place was perfect! I would love to go back. Upon entering, the entire home smelled of hot mulled cider and pumpkin spice biscotti...amazing! We grabbed some delicious snacks, got settled into our adorable room, and took off to find dinner. The amazing thing is that we were able to walk everywhere.

Photo: Powell Woulfe Photography

We strolled the street and ended up at Regi's American Bistro. Somehow they were able to seat us right away on a busy Friday night. The staff was super friendly and the atmosphere was nice because tables were divided into a series of smaller rooms. I like that feel...makes it a bit more personal. The menu had a wonderful selection, but I knew I just had to try the crab (when it Baltimore). Yum! It was so good. After dinner, we walked up to a coffee & wine bar that had caught our eye earlier, and was located almost across the street from the bed & breakfast. The Metropolitan was a favorite of our trip. We ordered their espresso martinis and sat at a table in front of the large open windows to take in the evening. We are definitely not martini drinkers, but these were so good, y'all. Oh my goodness. I want to make them at home. (espresso, vanilla vodka and coffee liqueur)

The next morning we woke up to the sweet aroma of a home cooked meal and joined two other couples in the dining room for breakfast. (one of which was also celebrating their one year the same day as us!) We had quiche, sausage, biscuits, homemade blueberry granola, and pumpkin biscotti. After stuffing ourselves silly we headed out for more adventure. One thing Jon and I have both always wanted to do is see the Baltimore Aquarium, so we headed there first. It was so fun! In addition to seeing lots of cool animals, the aquarium's layout and design was super impressive. We also got to see a 4D show on wild salmon (kind of random, I know), but the 4D was incredible. In addition to the 3D glasses we wore, we got sprayed by water, blown by air gusts and had our floor and seats rumble. It was pretty exciting, and definitely caught us by surprise. As you can imagine, people's children were loving it.

Naturally we would need to get ice cream to continue our day, so we headed over to Affogato Cafe & Gelato. Coffee & gelato... is there a better combination? They had pumpkin gelato, so I had to go for it. We sat outside on the patio to enjoy our gelato on the hot, fall day. It was wonderful. I've never met an ice cream or gelato that I didn't like. We then continued our stroll over to Fell's Point, another popular little area off of Baltimore with more restaurants, bars and shops. Apparently this area has a notable number of bars within quite a small radius. Seeing as the bar scene is not really what Jon and I are all about, we really weren't that impressed with the area, to be honest. We walked through a few shops, and headed back over towards Inner Harbor. Next, we went into Baltimore's amazing Barnes & Noble. I know you're thinking 'Barnes & Noble, huh...sounds...exciting', but it was so exciting! This particular one is in a very cool, unusual building. I wish I had taken photos. If you ever visit the Inner Harbor you can't miss it.

After the bookstore, we headed back to the bed & breakfast for a power nap before dinner. We decided to try Abbey Burger Bistro Saturday night. My oh my. If you are ever in Baltimore you have to find this place. It is amazing. I've already told Jon several times over the past few weeks just how desperately I want to make the trip back just for a Baltimore burger. This burger came with homemade crab dip, apple wood smoked bacon, and cheddar cheese. It seriously rocked my world. I know, I've never had crab dip on a burger either, but trust me, it's amazing. We liked it so much that we went back for lunch the next day before we left town, and it totally delivered for round two. The owner found out we had been in just the night before and offered us a free round of beer. I love Abbey Burger Bistro. After dinner Saturday, Jon & I made another return to the Metropolitan for an Espresso martini. This time we sat at one of the small sidewalk tables as we enjoyed conversation and taking in the sights.

Photo: Powell Woulfe Photography

Of course, once we got home we had to break out the year old wedding cake. It was still great! I ate the entire top tier over the next few days. (This girl really loves sweets.)

We are so thankful to the Lord for the gift of marriage. He has already used it to teach us so much, drawing us closer to Himself and closer to each other. We cannot wait to see what year two has in store!