There are endless things to do here, aside from attending a certain wedding celebration of certain friends/family of yours. Instead of listing a sampling of activities and attractions, I found some great websites that should answer many questions you may have about museums (traditional and grandiose to intimate and quirky), restaurants (cheap to B’more unique and DC chic), shopping (national merchants and local entrepreneurs) and lodging (beyond what we’ve booked). Before you click on the websites, let us give you a list of personal favorites.

Washington is a great town to walk, even though November might not be the best season. Make sure you walk around the mall and visit all the fabulous and completely free museums there - in particular the old wing of the National Gallery, with one of the best collections in the world of Dutch and Impressionist Masters. Downtown is OK, but some of you may want to visit the White House, the Treasury Department, the World Bank, and the one that tops them all, the International Monetary Fund - the ugliest building of the four I must say. One area that deserves to be visited is Dupont Circle, and then 18th Street north towards Adams Morgan and all the streets around the area. In Dupont there’s a wonderful private museum called The Phillips Collection, a much more intimate affair than the National Gallery. If you have a car, you may want to drive along Massachusetts Avenue north of Dupont Circle. It’s called Embassy Row because all the foreign embassies are located one beside the other, and you will see some nice buildings. Finally, Georgetown is a must. Try not to stay on M and Wisconsin only, even though these two streets have all the nice shops. Walking down to the Potomac River, or walking the old little streets around M and Wisconsin is well worth your time. If we were to recommend one restaurant in DC it would be Zaytinya, on 9th and G Streets (call for a reservation at 202/638-0800 and ask to be seated in the main room). It’s pretty fancy, and the mediterranean tapas and desserts are very creative. Make sure you don’t get there too late, and don’t go there on the weekend (too many people, too noisy). And remember, Washington is a very safe city for the most part, especially if you stay in the areas indicated above.

Baltimore has recently renovated its waterfront, so that it is now possible to walk by the water all the way eastward from the Museum of Science to Fells Point. Again, November may not be the best time of year but give it a try, it’s a nice walk. The aquarium is one of the best in the States if you like this stuff, and make sure you visit Fells Point, one of the oldest, quaintest neighborhoods - if you don’t feel like walking, you can take the water taxi from the Harbor or, if it’s too cold, a plain taxi. Another nice neighborhood is Mount Vernon - you can get there by walking Charles Street north from the Harbor. Mount Vernon is home to a lot of old but well kept historic houses, such as those you find around Washington’s Monument. Eric, Laura and Edward live in one such gorgeous old house. If you go to Mount Vernon make sure you visit the library of the Peabody Conservatory, located at one angle of the monument. It’s free entry, and a little known gem. Another nice area is the one where we both used to live, around Hopkins’ Homewood campus. The campus has been renovated in the past few years and is really pretty. Make sure you see all of it including hard to find spots such as the President’s garden. This campus is one of the most meaningful places for us. On campus you will find Baltimore’s Museum of Art, home to an impressive Monet collection - among other things - thanks to the collecting zeal of Baltimore’s Cone sisters. Regarding restaurants, there are many we like. One we won’t name because we might take you there. Others that we like: the Helmand, Tapas - drive there, don’t walk -, City Café, and Paper Moon for breakfast - mostly for the younger crowd - etc.

For Baltimore, try http://www.baltimore.org/

For those of you interested in exploring Washington, D.C., peruse:
http://www.thingstodo.com/states/DC/index.htm

and
http://www.culturaltourismdc.org/

Of course, you can always email or call us with questions!!