First Orioles Home Game

[seak05]

If you’re coming into the city, I’d stay in the harbor east/fells area. It’s walking distant to the stadium, pedestrian friendly. But that area has more in terms of restaurants the the inner harbor area. 
 

Federal Hill is also great. The water taxi is a good idea, American visionary art museum is both good and unique to Baltimore, same with fort mchenry. From Camden yards you can also hop on the Marc train and get to dc (much easier then driving/parking in dc). 
 

Baltimore is a really fun, unique city, with a lot of good food. Stay somewhere downtown and it’s safe and walkable. Don’t hit the block at 2am. 

[justD]

One of the OH faithful (whose handle I now can't remember because I know him by actual name and am becoming senile anymore) manages the Lord Baltimore Hotel, within walking distance to the stadium.  It's restored and maintains a lot of its original character. 

If you're willing to spend a bit more, my favorite of those he's managed over the years is The Inn at Henderson's Wharf; they have a shuttle that will take you to and from the stadium. 

[NashLumber]

If it's just my wife and I, we have stayed at the Lord Baltimore Hotel just a couple of blocks north of the ballpark. I also recommend The Wilson House bed and breakfast. It's near Reservoir Hill and not terribly far from Penn Station (we have taken Amtrak from Durham NC to Baltimore a number of times). The Light Rail is just a half mile's walk from there and that means you can get to the game without driving. There's ample parking on the block at the house. 

The owner is a retired military intelligence officer and inventor / author. We've had some really great conversation with him at breakfasts there. It's a Victorian restored home and is named for the convention in Baltimore which nominated Woodrow Wilson. The negotiations for the nomination occurred at the house. 

 

 

 

 

[SteveA]

5 hours ago, Aristotelian said:

Restaurants in Little Italy are great and within easy walking distance. Isabella's has fantastic pizza.

Yep, I remember before I got arthritis in my knees that I considered Little Italy "walking distance" from Oriole Park.   Those were the days.

[AZOriole]

Lots of useful information. Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond. It's really helpful.

It'll likely be just me (the wife wants me to take a solo trip - which is code for "I don't want to go"). Going solo gives me a lot of flexibility for lodging/location/attractions. Probably looking at mid-to-late September. Or maybe the last homestand against the Jays in early October.

[Tony-OH]

7 hours ago, AZOriole said:

Thanks for the feedback so far. Ideally, I'd be staying within walking distance to the park. And yeah - I already plan on avoiding NYY/BOS games.

I've also been looking into the ballpark tour option that I found on the O's website. So xe I've never been, I've been kicking the idea around of "paying up" for that experience. Whether it's worth it or not, I don't know. But it sounds fun.

Be very careful downtown especially more than a few blocks from Camden Yards. Even in what was once a safe area like the Inner Harbor, there have been reports of bands of people attacking and robbing citizens for no reason. Little Italy, once a great, safe place to get good food, has seen people shot and killed in the last year.

I see some city residents on here will tell you it's overblown, but one look at the TV on the local news would tell you otherwise. A man was killed by a 15-year old squeegee worker on the corner in the last month, people are threatened and cars are damaged on a daily basis while the city does nothing, so be careful if you drive through downtown. 

In fact, most of the police have stopped proactively policing due to their concerns of having no support from the DA's office (I know this for a fact). Crime is through the roof and Baltimore remains a fairly dangerous place to visit. 

If you can Uber everywhere and go directly into some of the places previously mentioned, you can still enjoy the city, but try and stick to crowded areas and never venture out randomly away from high citizen traffic areas.

Camden Yards remains a great place to watch a game once inside, but Uber is your friend for moving throughout the city. 

 

[Jagwar]

10 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

The light rail is in operation but I would recommend staying in the city, as there is so much more to see and do. 

I know some people are country mice that aren't comfortable in cities, but there isn't a city in the US where I couldn't happily spend a few days, especially if there are baseball games to attend.

Is there any update on developers trying to resuscitate the old Harborplace Pavilions?

[seak05]

3 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Be very careful downtown especially more than a few blocks from Camden Yards. Even in what was once a safe area like the Inner Harbor, there have been reports of bands of people attacking and robbing citizens for no reason. Little Italy, once a great, safe place to get good food, has seen people shot and killed in the last year.

I see some city residents on here will tell you it's overblown, but one look at the TV on the local news would tell you otherwise. A man was killed by a 15-year old squeegee worker on the corner in the last month, people are threatened and cars are damaged on a daily basis while the city does nothing, so be careful if you drive through downtown. 

In fact, most of the police have stopped proactively policing due to their concerns of having no support from the DA's office (I know this for a fact). Crime is through the roof and Baltimore remains a fairly dangerous place to visit. 

If you can Uber everywhere and go directly into some of the places previously mentioned, you can still enjoy the city, but try and stick to crowded areas and never venture out randomly away from high citizen traffic areas.

Camden Yards remains a great place to watch a game once inside, but Uber is your friend for moving throughout the city. 

 

The man literally drove across 4 lanes of traffic to stop his car and chase the 14 year old squegeer with a bat. So yeah, don't try to attack people with bats 

(and look I wouldn't stay out past midnight and walk around that's true, take an uber. The roving gangs attacking random people at the harbor thing is straight fear mongering, the 2am car jacking in Little Italy is both true and was horrible. And most of the rest of this is just Fox BS, the police aren't allowed to just stop people and frisk them bc it's unconstitutional, and good lord no we shouldn't be arresting people for weed. But yeah I'd probably trust the people who live in the city. I (small female) have walked from the Fells area to camden yards multiple times this year while it's light out. To get home at night I either uber or walk in a group). 

[NashLumber]

1 hour ago, Jagwar said:

Is there any update on developers trying to resuscitate the old Harborplace Pavilions?

I had no idea so much had closed there. I can see how things would have not survived 2020, but from this article, it appears the financial troubles compounded a little earlier. I admit that I had not been to the harbor as much, as the times I go to games lately, it's been with just my wife. With our girls in tow in earlier years, we made a point to go over that way. We tend to spend more time at Fells Point when in town. 

This photo essay covers a lot of the ghost town quality of that area. Sad. 

https://www.southbmore.com/2022/03/11/photo-tour-of-the-harborplace-pavilions-at-the-inner-harbor/

One place I dearly miss is The Ale Wife on Eutaw St. across from the Hippodrome. Is there anything remotely that cool anymore around that area? The bars on Pratt St. etc, are fine, but we tried to find places not as crowded. Ale Wife fit the bill perfectly, as it was not far from our hotel oftentimes. 

Edited August 2, 2022 by NashLumber