My trip out to Baltimore, Maryland was inspirational and rewarding! Four days filled with good food, good energy, and lots of love! Now, it’s only right I share this experience with you, so I’m devoting my next four posts to those four days!

On the way to Baltimore, DAY 1: Thursday, February 28, 2013

It all started with Songkick, a site that allows you to track your favorite artists and their concerts. Songkick, lead me to Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) performing at Rams Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland. Talk about being hyped. I mean, the thought of being in the same vicinity as this MAN was exciting. A road trip was long overdue anyway and Maryland was new for me, so it was the perfect time to make things happen!

My friend Rekai and I drove to Baltimore from Charlotte. The concert was Friday, March 1 but we headed out early Thursday morning. We ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then began our journey to Maryland. We turned a 6 ½, 7 hour drive into an 11 hour drive! That’s what happens when you put two shopping addicts together. Plus, we just love a good road trip. We had to stop and shop along the way. Tanger Outlet and a consignment shop in Mebane, North Carolina, and Tysons Corner in Virginia where the two major stops. We indulged in a light shopping spree.

Now, I have tell you about La Madeleine. It’s a Country French Café in Tysons Corner. After breaking down the menu Rekai and I both ended up ordering the Croque Monsieur. It’s a classic twist on the ham and cheese sandwich made with tender ham, warm Swiss, and a savoury garlic cream sauce. I ordered mine with turkey instead of ham, with a side of chips and a spinach salad. If you LOVE cheese then you will LOVE this sandwich! First bite made me fall in love. It was cheese everywhere… melted cheese in the sandwich and on top of the bread! They had some other dishes on the menu I wanted to try like the chicken pesto pasta and the chicken crepe riviera but that cheese on top of that bread…sold me that day. I would definitely explore La Madeleine again. They have about 60 locations across the Southern United States. I suggest you find one and explore it too, if you haven’t already.

justice is not given in this picture!

We finally reached Baltimore around 7pm and decided to get a hotel downtown. I wish someone would have warned me about the parking. Why isn’t there more overnight parking? Or was it just our luck that we only found the ones that had a 12am limit? Anyway, after settling in our hotel we decided to go out for food and drinks. We ended up at Supano’s, a Steakhouse restaurant on 110 Water St, after a waiter from another restaurant told us that Supano’s wings, quesadillas, and burgers were on point! Our waitress Noelle aka Zoe, a jazz dancer from Philly hooked us up. Those wings, quesadillas, and burgers was on their lunch menu and it clearly wasn’t lunch time. Noelle made it happen though. I just love good service. She even told us about a few thrift stores in the area. The quesadillas were actually pretty good but someone should have told me about Kelly! Kelly was the bartender that night at Supano’s and home girl makes a mean sangria! It was so good I actually considered having the peach sangria for breakfast the next day.  With good food and drinks, karaoke was born. I agreed to sing some tunes but I had no idea what to sing. I needed something I could front to. You know, like a song I can sing and it sounds like I can sing. Well, leave it up to Rekai to request Ordinary People by John Legend. I can’t sing that lol!

red sangria, before you stir

 Cheers to day Day 1! Our first night in Bmore was pretty live! I wish we took more pictures but sometimes your just wrapped up in the moment. Hopefully, my words painted a lovely picture for you.

 Check back to read about Day 2 in Baltimore with more shopping, food, & the Yasiin Bey concert!