Camden Yards - Baltimore Orioles (Opening Day!)

Our one day in Baltimore was a busy one! We had to check out of our little house we had rented that morning so we straightened everything up there and got ready to head out. Nothing like setting an alarm on vacation! 

We had tickets to the aquarium on Thursday so I had called and moved them to Friday when the game got  moved. That was to be our first stop. We had a quick 30 minute drive into the city and had no problems and no traffic getting there (which was weird because it should have been rush hour). 

We found parking super easy and started our day out. We walked towards the Inner Harbor. The Aquarium was super cool and much more enjoyable than the Atlanta Aquarium. We saw all kinds of different creatures like poison dart frogs, sharks, dolphins and fish from the rain forest. We even saw a parrot! We spent most of the morning in the aquarium and then decided to head over to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Our kids were impressed with Tom Petty's guitar and Elton John's jacket (they even had Madonna's short, sequined shorts, ha!) I don't think the food is ever anything to write home about in those restaurants, but it was still fun!

After waiting to eat and all that, we were about two hours from the game starting and decided to walk down towards the ball park. The Orioles played the NY Yankees for opening day. We saw lots of Yankees fans, but there was a sea of orange in Baltimore that day.  Dillon's mom was born in Baltimore so they are die-hard Orioles fans and I was really looking forward to seeing Camden Yards for the first time. Lucas was representing for Russ at this game and wore his Yankees hat. 

The closer we got to the stadium, the more people started to come in. Bars around town were filled to the brim with people celebrating opening day. We went into the stadium and tried to hold on tightly to each other because the crowds were overwhelming! Dillon wanted an Orioles hat and the line to the store was out the door, probably 75 people deep. We finally found a hat shop and Dillon picked out a hat only to find out later that he had just grabbed one and it was a Youth hat! :( Everyone was shoulder to shoulder and I pulled out our tickets so we could find our seats and then get food. I went to the wrong section and we finally learned that we needed to be on the next level. That reduced some of the tension and crowds, but it was still full! We found our seats and watched the opening ceremonies. The Orioles fans were not having anything to do with the Yankees and boo'd them at every turn. This upset Charlie because she said "You know, they're people too." She tried to clap for both teams over the boos for the Yankees, God love it. 

Dillon waited for a little bit and then went to find our pins that we're collecting from each stadium. To get the pins and two beers took a little over an hour! I went to get the kids nachos and hot dogs and missed almost 2 innings. The crowds were just SO intense! We left a little early from the game so we could miss the traffic and get to our car. The Orioles won (7-6) in a close, close game. 

I loved Camden Yards and want to return on a day that isn't so crowded. We didn't really get a chance to see much of the stadium or partake in their specialties. Dillon read that you can find a good crab cake in the stadium, but we'd never be able to find where that was exactly and we'd have to wait over an hour to get it! 

On our way out of Baltimore, we drove by Dillon's mom's house where she was born and grew up in until she was in about 1st grade. It was a sweet little neighborhood and we got to see where she went to school and hear about a lot of memories and friends that she had. 

All in all, I would go back to Baltimore! I'd like to spend some more time at the Inner Harbor and at the stadium with a smaller crowd. Since this is Dillon's team, I'm sure we'll return soon, I'll just make sure it's not on Opening Day! 

Pepperoni's for breakfast

Luke got pooped on by a bird! Good luck!

It was a sold out game!