Destination #1: Washington – Part 3

Previously on Destination #1: Washington:

• Fancy, high-class hotel
• Good foods & stuffs on Main Street
• CLAUDE MONET
• “Spaced out”

Partied on until about 2am, then went for our beauty sleep.
The next day, what a better way to greet the morning than to attend the final leg of wedding events: the farewell brunch, buffet style.
Very good breakfast foods were had – freshly made omelettes and waffles, sausages, fresh fruits, bacon… and morning alcohol, for some.

Hangover Bar

And then, we left.
And then, we came home.
The end.

(Just kidding.)

We decided to stop over at Baltimore, Maryland for a night before continuing our 8.5h drive back to the home base.

I’ll be honest, this part of the trip is kind of a blur to me. Half the time, I was studying for my music history exam, and the other half was spent walking around the inner harbor. It was really refreshing though, to be near some water. The buildings are industrial-looking, which just adds to the charm of it all. Aside from the LARGE Barnes & Noble and the Hard Rock Cafe, which are housed inside what used to be a power plant, there wasn’t really much to see – at least nothing that interested me a lot.
Except for the National Aquarium. We only got to see the exterior of it, unfortunately, because tickets were too pricey for us, at $40/adult.

Inner Harbor, National Aquarium Exterior

Pratt Street Power Plant – Barnes & Noble, Hard Rock Cafe

National Aquarium Exterior

What did amuse me, however, were the two Canada geese that I found chilling in the harbor. Just can’t seem to get away from them…
Recorded this encounter as well as the interior of Barnes & Noble in this vlog here, from 4:08-end.

I think one of my favourite parts about travelling is trying out good food everywhere I go, considering I just talked about food at the beginning of this post, and again now. We had an early dinner at Phillips Seafood, which is also located at the Pratt Street Power Plant. Here are the things we ate:

Hoopers Island Crab Cakes – handmade using Shirley Phillips’ original family recipe: a classic Maryland-style mix accented by hints of tangy mustard, zesty lemon and a touch of butter

Gnocchi – shrimp, kale, oven-roasted tomatoes & a shallot butter sauce

Premium Broiled Seafood Platter (Phillips Classic) – lobster, crab imperial, shrimp & scallop skewer, salmon, mashed potatoes, asparagus

Phillips Signature Warm Cinnamon Bread Pudding – white chocolate glaze & caramel sauce

I must say, all were quite delicious, but I preferred the gnocchi to the other two entrées (probably because that was my order). And the bread pudding was freshly warm, and moist yet chewy. The only negative was that the prices were pretty hefty (see menu here) for what we were given. Verdict: tummy was happy, wallet… could be happier.

After that, we settled back into our room at The Inn at Henderson’s Wharf. The place has a completely different vibe and atmosphere than that of the Four Seasons back in Washington – rustic with warm tones rather than modern with cooler, monochromatic tones. Also fun fact: the building used to be a tobacco factory. A mini-tour of the lobby and our room can be found here, at 3:21.

Following a small breakfast at the inn the next morning, we climbed back into our car, and continued en route back home.

Now, this is actually the end of our Washington 2016 trip.
Thank you for joining us on our first Once Upon A Sojourn adventure!