Buzz

Obrycki's crabs at BWI among top-selling airport items

USA Today Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Next time you're in Austin, Texas, pick up a "Keep Austin Weird" T-shirt. It's among the Austin Bergstrom International Airport's best-selling items, USA Today writes.

And in Baltimore, airport travelers like to sink their teeth into Obrycki's crabs. "During the month of February 2013 alone, travelers bought more than 4,000 crab cakes and an equal number of deviled crab balls," USA Today writes. "Sleepless in Seattle" T-shirts are a hot item in Seattle, even though it's been 20 years since the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie came out.

Obrycki's closed its Fells Point restaurant in 2011 and has airport locations in Cleveland and at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

TripAdvisor names Inn at the Black Olive a top 10 small hotel

TripAdvisor Thursday, January 17, 2013

Two Baltimore travel properties have received national recognition.

Travelers have named the Inn at the Black Olive as one of top-rated small hotels in the country, according to TripAdvisor, which unveiled its Travelers' Choice 2013 awards.

The Fells Point property scored an impressive No. 3 ranking on the list of small hotels, behind Inn of the Five Graces in Santa Fe., N.M., and Wentworth Mansion in Charleston, S.C. Billing itself as a "premiere boutique organic hotel," it is owned by the Spiliadis family, who also operate the Black Olive and Olive Room restaurants.

The award also recognized Rachael Dowry's Bed and Breakfast in its list of top bed and breakfasts and inns. The Ridgely's Delight property came in at No. 6. Point Clear Cottages in Fairhope, Ala., the Welsh Hills Inn in Granville, Ohio and Stony Point Bed & Breakfast in Tyrone, Pa. were the top three.

Baltimore Among 10 Most Haunted Cities

SmarterTravel.com Friday, October 26, 2012

Baltimore residents who want to be spooked on Halloween have nothing to fear, according to SmarterTravel.com.

The travel website named Baltimore one of the 10 most haunted cities. Charm City boasts plenty of ghostly destinations, including Edgar Allen Poe's final resting place, the Westminster Hall catacombs. Then there's Fort McHenry, where haunted apparitions have appeared.

"Hundreds of years of lost lives and the spirits that remain make the Fells Point area popular among ghost trackers," SmarterTravel.com says. "Guided tours through the maritime neighborhood take you to taverns, shops, and restaurants where things go bump in the night."

Washington, D.C., Savannah, Ga., Chicago and San Francisco also made the list.

Maryland's haunted appeal got another boost recently whenTrip Advisor named Ellicott City one of the top 10 spooky American Getaways.

And if SmarterTravel's suggestions aren't your cup of brew, there's also the Creative Alliance's annual Halloween Lantern Parade & Festival tomorrow.

We just hope that "Frankenstorm" Hurricane Sandy doesn't scare everyone away from their Halloween plans.

Michael Phelps To Go Shark Diving, Golfing

Larry Brown Sports Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Now that Michael Phelps has retired from competitive swimming after winning 22 Olympic medals, you might wonder what he's going to do with his time.

It turns out that most decorated Olympian is going shark diving with his South African competitor Chad Le Clos. He told NBC's Bob Costas in a post-race interview that he's fascinated by the creature and plans to go diving in South Africa with the swimmer who has long regarded Phelps as his idol.

“That’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and Chad (Le Clos) and I were talking, and Chad said ‘why don’t you come to South Africa?’ So I said ‘let’s dive with great whites together.’ And he said ‘OK, let’s set it up,’" Larry Brown Sports writes.

He also talks about taking up golf to maintain his competitive edge.

But will the Olympian stay in Baltimore after selling his Fells Point condo for a $400,000 loss? A source tells WBAL News that he purchased another property in Canton.

Star-Spangled Trail Launches in Baltimore

Washington Post Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The National Park Service has given tourists another reason to visit Maryland.

On Monday, July 31, it launched the Star-Spangled National Historic Trail, kicking off the event in Fells Point. The 560-mile route traverses land and water in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., and takes visitors to important marks in the War of 1812.

"By land or water, by bike or on foot, in a car or on a boat, visitors can follow the routes taken by the British during the 1813 and 1814 invasions of the Chesapeake, which resulted in the burning of the White House and Capitol, the capture of Alexandria and the battle for Baltimore, culminated in the writing of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,'" writes the Washington Post.

You can read the Post's entire story here.

USA Today: Four Seasons Bets Big on Charm City

USA Today Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore continues to get plenty of ink in USA Today.

In a recent article, the newspaper wrote about Baltimore developer Michael Beatty's decade-long effort to bring the hotel to Charm City.

"Over the last decade, Beatty's firm has been steadily developing the upscale Harbor East neighborhood along the harbor near trendy Fells Point where the glass-wrapped Four Seasons tower stands," USA Today writes in its story titled "Four Seasons Bets Big on Baltimore."

"The pedestrian-friendly neighborhood contains several towers with pricey corporate offices, apartments and four other hotels including a Hilton Garden Inn and the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. Harbor East's shopping options include national and local clothing shops (Anthropologie and J. Crew will open locations later this summer), as well as a Whole Foods supermarket."

You can read the rest of the story here.

Huffington Post Goes Behind the Scenes at Baltimore Aquarium

Huffington Post Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Huffington Post recently checked out the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

But it didn't see the usual sharks and stingrays at the downtown attraction. Instead, it went behind the scenes at the aquarium's Fells Point facility known as the Warehouse. The spot, which isn't open to the public, houses resources needed to take care of the aquarium's building and its animals.

You can read the review and slideshow here.

Woodberry Kitchen's Spike Gjerde Featured in GQ

GQ Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Baltimoreans all know that Woodberry Kitchen is the city's original and most popular farm-to-table restaurant. Well it seems that word has gotten out to the editors of GQ magazine.

Woodberry Co-owner Spike Gjerde was recently featured in the magazine's food and travel section. Gjerde talks about his favorite spots in Baltimore, which include Hampden's Spro coffee shop, Wit and Wisdom restaurant in the Four Seasons Baltimore and the Thames Street Oyster House in Fells Point. You can read the rest of his picks here.

It certainly won't be the last we hear of Gjerde. The restaurateur is opening a coffee shop of his own and a fast-casual eatery this spring.

Esquire Contributor John Mariani Highlights Baltimore

John Mariani Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Esquire contributor John Mariani has featured Baltimore in a new section of his website that highlights good day-trip destinations.

He focuses on restaurants in Mount Vernon, Harbor East and Little Italy, including Tio Pepe, Charleston, Aldo's Italian Restaurant and Chazz: A Bronx Original.

"A good deal of the charm of the surrounding neighborhoods are its townhouses, built along British lines, with their identifying marble stoops, and there is a thriving Little Italy, adjacent to the Inner Harbor," Mariani writes.

You can read the rest of his description of Charm City here.

White House Hosted Baltimore Entrepreneurs

Baltimore Business Journal Tuesday, December 06, 2011

What do Urban Pirates, Marine Steel Wire Products, aMuse Toys and Union Box Co. have in common?

Leaders from all of these Greater Baltimore firms were invited to the White House to share their thoughts on health care reform, the economy and other business concerns, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

You can read more about the meeting and see a complete list of businesses that participated here.

Baltimore named "Most Underrated City" for travelers

Shermans Travel via The Huffington Post Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Finally! We know our city is top-notch, but it often takes a backseat with travelers who head to D.C. instead. Well, the truth is out that Baltimore is the No. 1 underrated city for travelers.

Here's an excerpt:

"Native blue crabs seasoned with Old Bay are reason enough to visit Baltimore, but there's much more to experience in this waterfront town. Take, for example, this underrated city's revitalized Inner Harbor area, where you'll find Kimpton's Hotel Monaco; the upscale neighborhood of Mount Vernon, home to the nation's first large-scale Washington Monument and the..."

See the slideshow here.

Taking a staycation? Here's what out-of-towners think is cool to do in Baltimore

Washingtonian/The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's easy when you live in a city to overlook what makes it a great place for tourists. With the long Labor Day weekend approaching, here're two lists of places to see and restaurants to eat in around Baltimore.

Here's an excerpt:

From the Washingtonian, "It's a city of interesting neighborhoods, and here are good ones to explore�whether you like history, antiques, science, or sports."

Read the entire article here.

From The Wall Street Journal, "What to do: Historically, tourists skipped over Baltimore for Washington, D.C., its neighbor less than an hour's drive south. But this harbor city on the Chesapeake Bay is worth a visit. Baltimore has been home to curmudgeons ranging from the acerbic journalist H.L. Mencken, who died in 1956, to filmmaker John Waters, who made "Hairspray." More recently, it gained prominence as the setting for the critically acclaimed HBO crime program "The Wire." While some Baltimore neighborhoods exemplify the blight portrayed in the television series, which ran from 2002 to 2008, other parts of the city are distinctly graceful, with historic brick and brownstone houses lending visual appeal."

Read the entire article here.

How wired is Baltimore? Very wired!

Forbes.com Tuesday, March 09, 2010

While Baltimore's tech community, local business leaders, government reps and citizens make a push to be the lucky city chosen to recieve Google's ultra-highspeed broadband network, it seems our fair city is already pretty darn wired, according to Forbes' list of America's Most Wired Cities.

Out of 20 cities, Baltimore ranks no. 8 on the list just three spots behind the Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia-area, the only other city in the Mid-Atlantic region to make the list. The ranking does take into account the estimated 66 percent broadband adoption rate in Baltimore, the 18 broadband providers and 10,141 people per wi-fi hot spot. It didn't count the citywide Wifi, Clear, available in Baltimore using WiMax technology.

Here's an excerpt:

"...we compiled the list by computing the percentage of Internet users with high-speed connections in a particular city and the number of companies providing high-speed Internet in that area. Since many urban residents access the Internet by wi-fi, we also measure the number of public wireless Internet hot spots."

Read the entire article here. Read the Baltimore blurb here.

Baltimore Fiber's Google project catches national attention

Business Week Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Baltimore's grassroots effort to be one of the lucky city's chosen as a test ground for Google's ultra-fast 1-gigabit per second broadband deployment is just one of several currently taking shape in city's across the country. See what the other cities competing for the prize doing...

Here's an excerpt:

"Broadband-starved cities and towns across the country are going to great lengths to grab the attention of Mountain View (Calif.)-based Google, which in February said it will set up a network that can deliver speeds of 1 gigabit per second, about 20 times faster than the speediest ones sold by Verizon Communications (VZ). Google will spend "hundreds of millions" on the effort, Richard Whitt, Google's Washington telecom and media counsel, said in a recent interview with Bloomberg News.

To set themselves apart, some municipal officials are naming cities after Google, owner of the world's largest Web search engine. The city of Greensboro, N.C., is preparing an "Operation Google" gift package for delivery to Google headquarters and has earmarked $50,000 for promoting a Google broadband effort."

Read the entire article here.

Where are Baltimore's most romantic spots?

Blog -- Kathika.com Tuesday, October 20, 2009

If you're wondering where to go for a romantic date, Kristin Kizer has come up with a list of the city's most romantic destinations. On the list are the Senator, Fells Point and any of the city's parks.

Here's an excerpt:

"One of Baltimore's Parks -- Is there anything more romantic that a picnic in the park with your loved one? The city of Baltimore features about 6,000 acres of parks and public spaces for people to enjoy. There are large parks with wide open spaces for a game of Frisbee or ambling about, there are smaller wooded walks with trails for strolling through, there are lakeside parks where you can watch the wildlife, and there are even parks with public golf courses for the couple who likes to hit the links together."

Read the full blog post here.

Fells Point : Buzz