Another great outing to Baltimore and the Orioles

For the fourth consecutive year, I headed to Baltimore for a baseball wallow with my brother-in-law and two of my nephews. We took in three Orioles games at Camden Yards in which the home team defeated the Chicago Cubs once and the Kansas City Royals twice. For the O’s, it was the front end of their first four-game winning streak of the year. They downed KC again on Sunday, and now the All-Star break is upon us.

I’ve written enthusiastically about Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and this post will sing further praises not only of the ballpark but the Charm City in general. In our first three visits to Baltimore, we stayed at the Hilton Hotel across the street from the main gate. This time, we were farther away at a hotel on the edge of the Fells Point neighborhood, which we hadn’t previously explored.

One of the highlights of that neighborhood is the Horse You Came In On, a saloon that has been in continuous operation under a few names over the years since 1775. It is said to be the last place Edgar Allan Poe stopped in 1849 before he was found badly out of sorts, taken to hospital and died a few days later.

Before Orioles games, we’ve made a habit of stopping at Pickles Pub. It’s close by the Brooks Robinson statue across the street from the ballpark. Pickles always seems packed, and there’s overflow room on the street out front where lots of fans share pre- and post-game beers and other libations.

Inside the park, there’s plenty to see and do, eat and drink. At one of the team stores, I picked up a cap with the green-and-cream theme of the O’s new City Connect livery (see top photo).

I had a terrific, Milwaukee-caliber bratwurst at the Thursday afternoon game against the Cubs and again on Friday evening against KC. On Saturday, I delighted in a crab/macaroni-and-cheese hot dog. To wash the dogs down, I sampled a “Steady Eddie” IPA named for Eddie Murray, a “Simply AJ” IPA named for Adam Jones and the local signature beer, National Bohemian, a.k.a. Natty Boh.

We bought our seats for the Cubs game at the ticket window but used Seat Geek for the other two games. I’ve found Seat Geek to be a great way to find good, affordable tickets, and not just in Baltimore.

The Orioles do their best to entertain the fans in between innings. At one game, a young girl did a beat-the-clock run from the outfield fence to “steal” second base. Each game also had a hot dog race, a digital version on the big centerfield screen for the first two games and a live race with costumed characters on Saturday. Fans at the Saturday game got a free cap — either red for ketchup, yellow for mustard or green for relish. Mustard won all three of the races we saw, and the camera crews roaming the stands scored big in showing a woman in the stands wearing a yellow T-shirt that said “Ketchup cheats.”

The O’s mascot “The Bird” picked a fan to dance with on the home dugout roof in the Seventh Inning Stretch of each game to John Denver’s “Thank God I’m a Country Boy.” (I find that tune much more compelling than the wretched “Cotton Eye Joe” played at Yankee Stadium, but to each his own.)

The national anthem was sung well Saturday evening by a 103-year-old World War II veteran, who grinned when the crowd shouted “O!” as he sang the “Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave” line.

There’s so much to like about the Orioles and the Camden Yards experience. I’m rooting for the team to gel and improve and someday make it back to the World Series. Their fans deserve a chance to swig a Natty Boh in celebration at the Horse. 🐴