Audio version of the story
Scarlett’s trip home for her mother’s birthday was filled with catch-up visits to old friends and extended family members. Scarlett was also sure to visit Mr. Traiger at what she considered the most interesting place in Morristown – the Museum of Fakes.
While most museums prided themselves on authenticity, the Museum of Fakes was a fun, creative look at some of history’s lost and unknown treasures. Even though the place was not very big, it was filled to the brim with artifacts. The place stayed in business because it was on the road between Baltimore and Gettysburg. The area was crawling with tourists interested in history and some of them stopped for a walk through the museum.
TripAdvisor ratings were generally excellent, but occasionally a visitor would leave a review that showed they did not get the joke about everything being fake. Some of the confused visitors wondered why there was not more security and how the place could afford a sculpture by Michelangelo.
Scarlett had worked at the museum all through high school. The owner, Owen Traiger, always had a half-dozen teenagers taking money at the door, leading tours, or dusting exhibits. Scarlett always volunteered to lead tours with any kids in the group. She loved the look of complete wonder on their faces as they stared at huge, fake diamonds and piles of fake gold coins.
The Museum of Fakes inspired Scarlett’s studies at the University of Maryland. She had finished her master’s degree in Art History a year earlier and was now working at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
“It’s definitely not as fun as this place,” she said to Mr. Traiger after dropping in at the Museum of Fakes.
“I always knew you would go on to great things,” said Mr. Traiger, admiring Scarlett with his bright, smiling eyes. “How long will you be here?”
“I drive back to Pittsburgh on Sunday night.”
“Will you come back on Saturday after we close? I have something very special to show you.”
“You can’t show me now?”
“Not with other people around.”
The wrinkles in Mr. Traiger’s face had grown deeper since the last time Scarlett had seen him. She could tell the Saturday visit was hugely important to him. She agreed to cancel dinner plans with her cousins so she could return.
When Scarlett arrived back at the museum that weekend, two of its young employees were headed out the door, intending on locking it behind them. Scarlett slipped into the room that served as the lobby and souvenir shop. She chuckled when she saw they still sold the same T-shirt design which read, “I kept it real at the Museum of Fakes.”
Mr. Traiger shuffled up behind her, dressed in the same combination of khaki slacks, white shirt, and tie that he always wore. Scarlett suspected it was his attempt to look like an archeology professor. With a little encouragement, he surely could have pulled out a whip and fedora hat to complete his Indiana Jones costume.
“Thank you so much for coming back, Scarlett. I didn’t want any extra ears around when I tell you what I need to tell you.”
“It was no problem, Mr. Traiger.”
“Why don’t you call me Owen? You seem too grown up to call me Mr. Traiger anymore.”
Scarlett laughed. “I don’t think I can do that. Too much of a habit.”
“Whatever you want. I know all about habits.” Mr. Traiger motioned toward the door that led into the museum’s first display room. “I need to show and tell you something. I’ve been waiting to do it for a long time. Let’s take a walk through the museum.”
Scarlett followed Mr. Traiger along the path she knew very well. The museum was laid out so that visitors had to pass through each room to get back to the lobby. The first stop on the tour was a room called Relics.
Mr. Traiger tried to keep the museum clean and tidy, but he did not have a big budget for lighting or display cases. In the Relics Room, items sat in clear plastic boxes raised three to four feet off the floor. A printed poster hung below each item, explaining what it was supposed to be. Scarlett’s favorite relics were the gold burial masks imagined to have come from royal tombs in Egypt and South America. She also loved the green jade dragon, something which might have come from the palace of the first Chinese emperor. Next to the dragon was the Spear of Destiny, supposedly used at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, giving it supernatural powers.
Some relics hung directly on the walls instead of being held in plastic boxes. A thick rope strung between metal posts on the floor kept visitors from getting too close to anything. Scarlett remembered people complaining about being too far away to read the posters. When she was leading a tour, she would often need to stop and provide short descriptions of the objects.
Scarlett noticed the worn walking path in the carpet and the stained overhead ceiling tiles. The room was not as brightly lit as those she had become used to at the Carnegie Museum. She chuckled to herself at how tightly the relics were packed together. Real museums would use a room ten times as large to display the same number of items.
“You were the best employee I ever had, you know,” said Mr. Traiger as he and Scarlett strolled through the Relics Room. “I kept an eye on you. You were always full of positive energy. And I could trust you with anything. Did you know I was testing you?”
“You were? How?”
“Sometimes I would leave money out on the counter where I knew you would find it. You always put it back in the cash register. One time I put too much money in your paycheck. You came right back and made me correct it.”
Scarlett laughed. “I remember that. That was on purpose? Why would you do that?”
“To see what you valued the most. From everything I know, you’re a person who says what she means and means what she says.”
Scarlett smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, Mr. Traiger. I didn’t know you were watching so closely.”
Mr. Traiger returned Scarlett’s smile and gestured toward the entrance to the next room, simply called Paintings. The room was the longest in the museum but quite narrow. Paintings, supposedly from the greatest artists in history, hung on both sides of a roped-off walkway. Missing or unknow pictures from Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci hung right next to those done by more recent painters like Monet and Picasso.
Coming face to face with all the paintings again, Scarlett was struck by how good they looked. She had examined real paintings by the same artists up close and from the rope line she could see no difference in quality. She had always wondered who had produced the fakes but had never felt it was something she could ask Mr. Traiger. It was all part of the magic of the museum.
“Another thing I know about you is that you have a true love of art and an appreciation for history,” said Mr. Traiger, when he and Scarlett were most of the way through the Paintings Room.
“It’s what I studied in college,” said Scarlett.
“And you don’t have any regrets?”
“Oh no. I love it even more now.”
They continued their slow-motion tour of rooms filled with sculptures crammed so close together they were touching. Then they reached a room called Lost Treasures containing replicas of Black Beard’s pirate hoard and jewels once worn by kings and queens. In the Books Room, they passed by what was supposed to be a first edition Gutenberg Bible and parchment sections from Dead Sea Scrolls.
Scarlett liked the next room, called Craftworks, best of all. Two chairs sat in front of the displays for her favorite objects in the entire museum – gold and diamond covered Faberge eggs. The rope usually separating visitors from the eggs was gone.
“I thought you didn’t allow chairs in the museum so people would keep moving,” said Scarlett.
“I’m making an exception. Have a seat.”
Scarlett perched on one of the plastic chairs, feeling nervous about what might be coming next. She had anticipated Mr. Traiger showing her a new fake item he was excited about, but now it seemed like he had something much bigger on his mind.
“I’m going to tell you a secret I’ve been keeping for fifty years, if you’ll promise me never to tell anyone else.”
Scarlett looked at Mr. Traiger as if he might be kidding. After a few seconds, it was obvious that he was deadly serious. “Okay, I promise,” she said.
“You have to mean it. Swear that you’ll keep the secret.”
“Is it something illegal? Something you’ll get in trouble for?”
Mr. Traiger smiled and shook his head. “Nothing like that.”
“Okay, then I swear.”
Mr. Traiger took a long, deep breath. “All of this is real. They aren’t fakes. They’re real.”
Scarlett smiled to show she appreciated his joke, but to her surprise, Mr. Traiger did not smile back. He simply stared and studied her face.
“What do you mean they’re real?” Scarlett asked. “How could they be?”
Mr. Traiger stood up and stepped to a clear box holding one of the Faberge eggs. He lifted the lid, picked up the egg, and handed it to Scarlett. “I know you’ve been partial to these. Take a closer look and tell me that one isn’t real.”
It was the first time Scarlett had actually handled any of the items in the museum. She had assumed the eggs were only plastic shells covered in gold paint and glass beads, but what she was holding was very heavy. She leaned her eyes close. Everything she had learned about art told her the egg was made from real gold covered in real diamonds. The designs over the surface were so intricate that only a master craftsman could have made them.
“This is impossible. How could this be here? It’s worth millions and millions of dollars.” Scarlett’s voice trailed off as she stared at the egg.
Mr. Traiger nodded his head. “Think of what a Rembrandt painting is worth.”
Scarlett was too stunned to say more than, “But how?”
“When I was your age, this museum and this building were a lot different. My dad started it to preserve local history. He put me in charge, and it was barely surviving. Then one day the strangest old man I ever met walked in. You might think I’m eccentric, but I’ve got nothing on him. He had a room in a hotel but preferred to sleep in the woods. He came in every day for a month, quizzing me on history and asking if I was a man of my world.
Finally, he told me his secret. He was fabulously wealthy and had traveled the world, collecting its greatest treasures. He would give it all to me instead of a big museum under one condition. I had to keep it all together and I couldn’t sell any of it.”
Scarlett was still clutching the egg. She had a million questions but the only one she could manage was, “Why you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll never know. But it was too good of an offer to refuse. I gave him my promise and I’m a man of my word. Suddenly I had the greatest museum in the world. It’s all still together. Nothing’s been sold.”
“Then why tell everyone it’s fake?”
“I realized I couldn’t keep it safe if everyone thought it was real. I would have had a robbery every night. I didn’t have money for security guards or locking vaults. But no one wants to steal a fake. It was the only way to protect it while showing it to the world.”
“You never told anybody else?”
“Never.”
“So why are you telling me?”
“I don’t have many years left. I don’t have any children. This museum is like my child, and I need someone to take care of it. I was hoping that someone would be you.”
“Oh Mr. Traiger, I don’t know what to say.” The initial surprise of the secret was beginning to wear off and Scarlett’s mind raced with all the possibilities for the collection. “If I was to take over, maybe we could sell a few things without you breaking your promise. And then we could build a huge museum with state-of-the-art security.”
Mr. Traiger frowned and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten attached to all of it, just like the strange man who passed it on to me. If I give it to you, you’d have to promise to keep it all together. No sales allowed.”
“Okay, well there’s a lot of things we could still do. Maybe borrow some money. We could sell a lot of tickets once people found out. This would go viral for sure.”
“I’m afraid big museums survive on big donations and endowments, not ticket sales.”
“We could find people to help. I know we could. Any one of the things in here would be the centerpiece of any other museum in the world. It’s like we’re surrounded by billions of dollars.”
Mr. Traiger nodded. “It is amazing and an amazing burden. I want you to think about it before giving me your answer. But don’t think too long. I’m an old man without a lot of time to figure out a Plan B.”
Scarlett’s whole body shook as she walked out of the museum and into the surrounding twilight. Her immediate impulse was to agree to anything Mr. Traiger wanted. She had already decided to devote her life to art and history. Why not surround herself with the greatest history collection in the world?
The farther she walked along the abandoned streets of Morristown, the more she felt the burden Mr. Traiger had warned about. She could make all kinds of grand plans for the collection, but there was a good chance they would not work out. She could end up an obscure slave to the collection, surrounded by a crumbling building, just like Owen Traiger. Was that better or worse than being an obscure employee at the Carnegie Museum?
Scarlett walked alone a good chunk of the night and throughout Sunday. She did not drive back to Pittsburgh. By Monday morning she had reached a decision and wanted to tell Mr. Traiger right away. She arrived at the Museum of Fakes before he had opened the door.
“My life has never reached a fork in the road like this one,” Scarlett said to him.
“No, it hasn’t,” he replied. “What’s it going to be?”
Scarlett summoned the courage to give him an answer and then said, “I think we better talk inside, away from any listening ears.”

Audio version of the story
Scarlett’s trip home for her mother’s birthday was filled with catch-up visits to old friends and extended family members. Scarlett was also sure to visit Mr. Traiger at what she considered the most interesting place in Morristown – the Museum of Fakes.
While most museums prided themselves on authenticity, the Museum of Fakes was a fun, creative look at some of history’s lost and unknown treasures. Even though the place was not very big, it was filled to the brim with artifacts. The place stayed in business because it was on the road between Baltimore and Gettysburg. The area was crawling with tourists interested in history and some of them stopped for a walk through the museum.
TripAdvisor ratings were generally excellent, but occasionally a visitor would leave a review that showed they did not get the joke about everything being fake. Some of the confused visitors wondered why there was not more security and how the place could afford a sculpture by Michelangelo.
Scarlett had worked at the museum all through high school. The owner, Owen Traiger, always had a half-dozen teenagers taking money at the door, leading tours, or dusting exhibits. Scarlett always volunteered to lead tours with any kids in the group. She loved the look of complete wonder on their faces as they stared at huge, fake diamonds and piles of fake gold coins.
The Museum of Fakes inspired Scarlett’s studies at the University of Maryland. She had finished her master’s degree in Art History a year earlier and was now working at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
“It’s definitely not as fun as this place,” she said to Mr. Traiger after dropping in at the Museum of Fakes.
“I always knew you would go on to great things,” said Mr. Traiger, admiring Scarlett with his bright, smiling eyes. “How long will you be here?”
“I drive back to Pittsburgh on Sunday night.”
“Will you come back on Saturday after we close? I have something very special to show you.”
“You can’t show me now?”
“Not with other people around.”
The wrinkles in Mr. Traiger’s face had grown deeper since the last time Scarlett had seen him. She could tell the Saturday visit was hugely important to him. She agreed to cancel dinner plans with her cousins so she could return.
When Scarlett arrived back at the museum that weekend, two of its young employees were headed out the door, intending on locking it behind them. Scarlett slipped into the room that served as the lobby and souvenir shop. She chuckled when she saw they still sold the same T-shirt design which read, “I kept it real at the Museum of Fakes.”
Mr. Traiger shuffled up behind her, dressed in the same combination of khaki slacks, white shirt, and tie that he always wore. Scarlett suspected it was his attempt to look like an archeology professor. With a little encouragement, he surely could have pulled out a whip and fedora hat to complete his Indiana Jones costume.
“Thank you so much for coming back, Scarlett. I didn’t want any extra ears around when I tell you what I need to tell you.”
“It was no problem, Mr. Traiger.”
“Why don’t you call me Owen? You seem too grown up to call me Mr. Traiger anymore.”
Scarlett laughed. “I don’t think I can do that. Too much of a habit.”
“Whatever you want. I know all about habits.” Mr. Traiger motioned toward the door that led into the museum’s first display room. “I need to show and tell you something. I’ve been waiting to do it for a long time. Let’s take a walk through the museum.”
Scarlett followed Mr. Traiger along the path she knew very well. The museum was laid out so that visitors had to pass through each room to get back to the lobby. The first stop on the tour was a room called Relics.
Mr. Traiger tried to keep the museum clean and tidy, but he did not have a big budget for lighting or display cases. In the Relics Room, items sat in clear plastic boxes raised three to four feet off the floor. A printed poster hung below each item, explaining what it was supposed to be. Scarlett’s favorite relics were the gold burial masks imagined to have come from royal tombs in Egypt and South America. She also loved the green jade dragon, something which might have come from the palace of the first Chinese emperor. Next to the dragon was the Spear of Destiny, supposedly used at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, giving it supernatural powers.
Some relics hung directly on the walls instead of being held in plastic boxes. A thick rope strung between metal posts on the floor kept visitors from getting too close to anything. Scarlett remembered people complaining about being too far away to read the posters. When she was leading a tour, she would often need to stop and provide short descriptions of the objects.
Scarlett noticed the worn walking path in the carpet and the stained overhead ceiling tiles. The room was not as brightly lit as those she had become used to at the Carnegie Museum. She chuckled to herself at how tightly the relics were packed together. Real museums would use a room ten times as large to display the same number of items.
“You were the best employee I ever had, you know,” said Mr. Traiger as he and Scarlett strolled through the Relics Room. “I kept an eye on you. You were always full of positive energy. And I could trust you with anything. Did you know I was testing you?”
“You were? How?”
“Sometimes I would leave money out on the counter where I knew you would find it. You always put it back in the cash register. One time I put too much money in your paycheck. You came right back and made me correct it.”
Scarlett laughed. “I remember that. That was on purpose? Why would you do that?”
“To see what you valued the most. From everything I know, you’re a person who says what she means and means what she says.”
Scarlett smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, Mr. Traiger. I didn’t know you were watching so closely.”
Mr. Traiger returned Scarlett’s smile and gestured toward the entrance to the next room, simply called Paintings. The room was the longest in the museum but quite narrow. Paintings, supposedly from the greatest artists in history, hung on both sides of a roped-off walkway. Missing or unknow pictures from Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci hung right next to those done by more recent painters like Monet and Picasso.
Coming face to face with all the paintings again, Scarlett was struck by how good they looked. She had examined real paintings by the same artists up close and from the rope line she could see no difference in quality. She had always wondered who had produced the fakes but had never felt it was something she could ask Mr. Traiger. It was all part of the magic of the museum.
“Another thing I know about you is that you have a true love of art and an appreciation for history,” said Mr. Traiger, when he and Scarlett were most of the way through the Paintings Room.
“It’s what I studied in college,” said Scarlett.
“And you don’t have any regrets?”
“Oh no. I love it even more now.”
They continued their slow-motion tour of rooms filled with sculptures crammed so close together they were touching. Then they reached a room called Lost Treasures containing replicas of Black Beard’s pirate hoard and jewels once worn by kings and queens. In the Books Room, they passed by what was supposed to be a first edition Gutenberg Bible and parchment sections from Dead Sea Scrolls.
Scarlett liked the next room, called Craftworks, best of all. Two chairs sat in front of the displays for her favorite objects in the entire museum – gold and diamond covered Faberge eggs. The rope usually separating visitors from the eggs was gone.
“I thought you didn’t allow chairs in the museum so people would keep moving,” said Scarlett.
“I’m making an exception. Have a seat.”
Scarlett perched on one of the plastic chairs, feeling nervous about what might be coming next. She had anticipated Mr. Traiger showing her a new fake item he was excited about, but now it seemed like he had something much bigger on his mind.
“I’m going to tell you a secret I’ve been keeping for fifty years, if you’ll promise me never to tell anyone else.”
Scarlett looked at Mr. Traiger as if he might be kidding. After a few seconds, it was obvious that he was deadly serious. “Okay, I promise,” she said.
“You have to mean it. Swear that you’ll keep the secret.”
“Is it something illegal? Something you’ll get in trouble for?”
Mr. Traiger smiled and shook his head. “Nothing like that.”
“Okay, then I swear.”
Mr. Traiger took a long, deep breath. “All of this is real. They aren’t fakes. They’re real.”
Scarlett smiled to show she appreciated his joke, but to her surprise, Mr. Traiger did not smile back. He simply stared and studied her face.
“What do you mean they’re real?” Scarlett asked. “How could they be?”
Mr. Traiger stood up and stepped to a clear box holding one of the Faberge eggs. He lifted the lid, picked up the egg, and handed it to Scarlett. “I know you’ve been partial to these. Take a closer look and tell me that one isn’t real.”
It was the first time Scarlett had actually handled any of the items in the museum. She had assumed the eggs were only plastic shells covered in gold paint and glass beads, but what she was holding was very heavy. She leaned her eyes close. Everything she had learned about art told her the egg was made from real gold covered in real diamonds. The designs over the surface were so intricate that only a master craftsman could have made them.
“This is impossible. How could this be here? It’s worth millions and millions of dollars.” Scarlett’s voice trailed off as she stared at the egg.
Mr. Traiger nodded his head. “Think of what a Rembrandt painting is worth.”
Scarlett was too stunned to say more than, “But how?”
“When I was your age, this museum and this building were a lot different. My dad started it to preserve local history. He put me in charge, and it was barely surviving. Then one day the strangest old man I ever met walked in. You might think I’m eccentric, but I’ve got nothing on him. He had a room in a hotel but preferred to sleep in the woods. He came in every day for a month, quizzing me on history and asking if I was a man of my world.
Finally, he told me his secret. He was fabulously wealthy and had traveled the world, collecting its greatest treasures. He would give it all to me instead of a big museum under one condition. I had to keep it all together and I couldn’t sell any of it.”
Scarlett was still clutching the egg. She had a million questions but the only one she could manage was, “Why you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll never know. But it was too good of an offer to refuse. I gave him my promise and I’m a man of my word. Suddenly I had the greatest museum in the world. It’s all still together. Nothing’s been sold.”
“Then why tell everyone it’s fake?”
“I realized I couldn’t keep it safe if everyone thought it was real. I would have had a robbery every night. I didn’t have money for security guards or locking vaults. But no one wants to steal a fake. It was the only way to protect it while showing it to the world.”
“You never told anybody else?”
“Never.”
“So why are you telling me?”
“I don’t have many years left. I don’t have any children. This museum is like my child, and I need someone to take care of it. I was hoping that someone would be you.”
“Oh Mr. Traiger, I don’t know what to say.” The initial surprise of the secret was beginning to wear off and Scarlett’s mind raced with all the possibilities for the collection. “If I was to take over, maybe we could sell a few things without you breaking your promise. And then we could build a huge museum with state-of-the-art security.”
Mr. Traiger frowned and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten attached to all of it, just like the strange man who passed it on to me. If I give it to you, you’d have to promise to keep it all together. No sales allowed.”
“Okay, well there’s a lot of things we could still do. Maybe borrow some money. We could sell a lot of tickets once people found out. This would go viral for sure.”
“I’m afraid big museums survive on big donations and endowments, not ticket sales.”
“We could find people to help. I know we could. Any one of the things in here would be the centerpiece of any other museum in the world. It’s like we’re surrounded by billions of dollars.”
Mr. Traiger nodded. “It is amazing and an amazing burden. I want you to think about it before giving me your answer. But don’t think too long. I’m an old man without a lot of time to figure out a Plan B.”
Scarlett’s whole body shook as she walked out of the museum and into the surrounding twilight. Her immediate impulse was to agree to anything Mr. Traiger wanted. She had already decided to devote her life to art and history. Why not surround herself with the greatest history collection in the world?
The farther she walked along the abandoned streets of Morristown, the more she felt the burden Mr. Traiger had warned about. She could make all kinds of grand plans for the collection, but there was a good chance they would not work out. She could end up an obscure slave to the collection, surrounded by a crumbling building, just like Owen Traiger. Was that better or worse than being an obscure employee at the Carnegie Museum?
Scarlett walked alone a good chunk of the night and throughout Sunday. She did not drive back to Pittsburgh. By Monday morning she had reached a decision and wanted to tell Mr. Traiger right away. She arrived at the Museum of Fakes before he had opened the door.
“My life has never reached a fork in the road like this one,” Scarlett said to him.
“No, it hasn’t,” he replied. “What’s it going to be?”
Scarlett summoned the courage to give him an answer and then said, “I think we better talk inside, away from any listening ears.”

Audio version of the story
Scarlett’s trip home for her mother’s birthday was filled with catch-up visits to old friends and extended family members. Scarlett was also sure to visit Mr. Traiger at what she considered the most interesting place in Morristown – the Museum of Fakes.
While most museums prided themselves on authenticity, the Museum of Fakes was a fun, creative look at some of history’s lost and unknown treasures. Even though the place was not very big, it was filled to the brim with artifacts. The place stayed in business because it was on the road between Baltimore and Gettysburg. The area was crawling with tourists interested in history and some of them stopped for a walk through the museum.
TripAdvisor ratings were generally excellent, but occasionally a visitor would leave a review that showed they did not get the joke about everything being fake. Some of the confused visitors wondered why there was not more security and how the place could afford a sculpture by Michelangelo.
Scarlett had worked at the museum all through high school. The owner, Owen Traiger, always had a half-dozen teenagers taking money at the door, leading tours, or dusting exhibits. Scarlett always volunteered to lead tours with any kids in the group. She loved the look of complete wonder on their faces as they stared at huge, fake diamonds and piles of fake gold coins.
The Museum of Fakes inspired Scarlett’s studies at the University of Maryland. She had finished her master’s degree in Art History a year earlier and was now working at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.
“It’s definitely not as fun as this place,” she said to Mr. Traiger after dropping in at the Museum of Fakes.
“I always knew you would go on to great things,” said Mr. Traiger, admiring Scarlett with his bright, smiling eyes. “How long will you be here?”
“I drive back to Pittsburgh on Sunday night.”
“Will you come back on Saturday after we close? I have something very special to show you.”
“You can’t show me now?”
“Not with other people around.”
The wrinkles in Mr. Traiger’s face had grown deeper since the last time Scarlett had seen him. She could tell the Saturday visit was hugely important to him. She agreed to cancel dinner plans with her cousins so she could return.
When Scarlett arrived back at the museum that weekend, two of its young employees were headed out the door, intending on locking it behind them. Scarlett slipped into the room that served as the lobby and souvenir shop. She chuckled when she saw they still sold the same T-shirt design which read, “I kept it real at the Museum of Fakes.”
Mr. Traiger shuffled up behind her, dressed in the same combination of khaki slacks, white shirt, and tie that he always wore. Scarlett suspected it was his attempt to look like an archeology professor. With a little encouragement, he surely could have pulled out a whip and fedora hat to complete his Indiana Jones costume.
“Thank you so much for coming back, Scarlett. I didn’t want any extra ears around when I tell you what I need to tell you.”
“It was no problem, Mr. Traiger.”
“Why don’t you call me Owen? You seem too grown up to call me Mr. Traiger anymore.”
Scarlett laughed. “I don’t think I can do that. Too much of a habit.”
“Whatever you want. I know all about habits.” Mr. Traiger motioned toward the door that led into the museum’s first display room. “I need to show and tell you something. I’ve been waiting to do it for a long time. Let’s take a walk through the museum.”
Scarlett followed Mr. Traiger along the path she knew very well. The museum was laid out so that visitors had to pass through each room to get back to the lobby. The first stop on the tour was a room called Relics.
Mr. Traiger tried to keep the museum clean and tidy, but he did not have a big budget for lighting or display cases. In the Relics Room, items sat in clear plastic boxes raised three to four feet off the floor. A printed poster hung below each item, explaining what it was supposed to be. Scarlett’s favorite relics were the gold burial masks imagined to have come from royal tombs in Egypt and South America. She also loved the green jade dragon, something which might have come from the palace of the first Chinese emperor. Next to the dragon was the Spear of Destiny, supposedly used at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, giving it supernatural powers.
Some relics hung directly on the walls instead of being held in plastic boxes. A thick rope strung between metal posts on the floor kept visitors from getting too close to anything. Scarlett remembered people complaining about being too far away to read the posters. When she was leading a tour, she would often need to stop and provide short descriptions of the objects.
Scarlett noticed the worn walking path in the carpet and the stained overhead ceiling tiles. The room was not as brightly lit as those she had become used to at the Carnegie Museum. She chuckled to herself at how tightly the relics were packed together. Real museums would use a room ten times as large to display the same number of items.
“You were the best employee I ever had, you know,” said Mr. Traiger as he and Scarlett strolled through the Relics Room. “I kept an eye on you. You were always full of positive energy. And I could trust you with anything. Did you know I was testing you?”
“You were? How?”
“Sometimes I would leave money out on the counter where I knew you would find it. You always put it back in the cash register. One time I put too much money in your paycheck. You came right back and made me correct it.”
Scarlett laughed. “I remember that. That was on purpose? Why would you do that?”
“To see what you valued the most. From everything I know, you’re a person who says what she means and means what she says.”
Scarlett smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, Mr. Traiger. I didn’t know you were watching so closely.”
Mr. Traiger returned Scarlett’s smile and gestured toward the entrance to the next room, simply called Paintings. The room was the longest in the museum but quite narrow. Paintings, supposedly from the greatest artists in history, hung on both sides of a roped-off walkway. Missing or unknow pictures from Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci hung right next to those done by more recent painters like Monet and Picasso.
Coming face to face with all the paintings again, Scarlett was struck by how good they looked. She had examined real paintings by the same artists up close and from the rope line she could see no difference in quality. She had always wondered who had produced the fakes but had never felt it was something she could ask Mr. Traiger. It was all part of the magic of the museum.
“Another thing I know about you is that you have a true love of art and an appreciation for history,” said Mr. Traiger, when he and Scarlett were most of the way through the Paintings Room.
“It’s what I studied in college,” said Scarlett.
“And you don’t have any regrets?”
“Oh no. I love it even more now.”
They continued their slow-motion tour of rooms filled with sculptures crammed so close together they were touching. Then they reached a room called Lost Treasures containing replicas of Black Beard’s pirate hoard and jewels once worn by kings and queens. In the Books Room, they passed by what was supposed to be a first edition Gutenberg Bible and parchment sections from Dead Sea Scrolls.
Scarlett liked the next room, called Craftworks, best of all. Two chairs sat in front of the displays for her favorite objects in the entire museum – gold and diamond covered Faberge eggs. The rope usually separating visitors from the eggs was gone.
“I thought you didn’t allow chairs in the museum so people would keep moving,” said Scarlett.
“I’m making an exception. Have a seat.”
Scarlett perched on one of the plastic chairs, feeling nervous about what might be coming next. She had anticipated Mr. Traiger showing her a new fake item he was excited about, but now it seemed like he had something much bigger on his mind.
“I’m going to tell you a secret I’ve been keeping for fifty years, if you’ll promise me never to tell anyone else.”
Scarlett looked at Mr. Traiger as if he might be kidding. After a few seconds, it was obvious that he was deadly serious. “Okay, I promise,” she said.
“You have to mean it. Swear that you’ll keep the secret.”
“Is it something illegal? Something you’ll get in trouble for?”
Mr. Traiger smiled and shook his head. “Nothing like that.”
“Okay, then I swear.”
Mr. Traiger took a long, deep breath. “All of this is real. They aren’t fakes. They’re real.”
Scarlett smiled to show she appreciated his joke, but to her surprise, Mr. Traiger did not smile back. He simply stared and studied her face.
“What do you mean they’re real?” Scarlett asked. “How could they be?”
Mr. Traiger stood up and stepped to a clear box holding one of the Faberge eggs. He lifted the lid, picked up the egg, and handed it to Scarlett. “I know you’ve been partial to these. Take a closer look and tell me that one isn’t real.”
It was the first time Scarlett had actually handled any of the items in the museum. She had assumed the eggs were only plastic shells covered in gold paint and glass beads, but what she was holding was very heavy. She leaned her eyes close. Everything she had learned about art told her the egg was made from real gold covered in real diamonds. The designs over the surface were so intricate that only a master craftsman could have made them.
“This is impossible. How could this be here? It’s worth millions and millions of dollars.” Scarlett’s voice trailed off as she stared at the egg.
Mr. Traiger nodded his head. “Think of what a Rembrandt painting is worth.”
Scarlett was too stunned to say more than, “But how?”
“When I was your age, this museum and this building were a lot different. My dad started it to preserve local history. He put me in charge, and it was barely surviving. Then one day the strangest old man I ever met walked in. You might think I’m eccentric, but I’ve got nothing on him. He had a room in a hotel but preferred to sleep in the woods. He came in every day for a month, quizzing me on history and asking if I was a man of my world.
Finally, he told me his secret. He was fabulously wealthy and had traveled the world, collecting its greatest treasures. He would give it all to me instead of a big museum under one condition. I had to keep it all together and I couldn’t sell any of it.”
Scarlett was still clutching the egg. She had a million questions but the only one she could manage was, “Why you?”
“I don’t know. I’ll never know. But it was too good of an offer to refuse. I gave him my promise and I’m a man of my word. Suddenly I had the greatest museum in the world. It’s all still together. Nothing’s been sold.”
“Then why tell everyone it’s fake?”
“I realized I couldn’t keep it safe if everyone thought it was real. I would have had a robbery every night. I didn’t have money for security guards or locking vaults. But no one wants to steal a fake. It was the only way to protect it while showing it to the world.”
“You never told anybody else?”
“Never.”
“So why are you telling me?”
“I don’t have many years left. I don’t have any children. This museum is like my child, and I need someone to take care of it. I was hoping that someone would be you.”
“Oh Mr. Traiger, I don’t know what to say.” The initial surprise of the secret was beginning to wear off and Scarlett’s mind raced with all the possibilities for the collection. “If I was to take over, maybe we could sell a few things without you breaking your promise. And then we could build a huge museum with state-of-the-art security.”
Mr. Traiger frowned and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten attached to all of it, just like the strange man who passed it on to me. If I give it to you, you’d have to promise to keep it all together. No sales allowed.”
“Okay, well there’s a lot of things we could still do. Maybe borrow some money. We could sell a lot of tickets once people found out. This would go viral for sure.”
“I’m afraid big museums survive on big donations and endowments, not ticket sales.”
“We could find people to help. I know we could. Any one of the things in here would be the centerpiece of any other museum in the world. It’s like we’re surrounded by billions of dollars.”
Mr. Traiger nodded. “It is amazing and an amazing burden. I want you to think about it before giving me your answer. But don’t think too long. I’m an old man without a lot of time to figure out a Plan B.”
Scarlett’s whole body shook as she walked out of the museum and into the surrounding twilight. Her immediate impulse was to agree to anything Mr. Traiger wanted. She had already decided to devote her life to art and history. Why not surround herself with the greatest history collection in the world?
The farther she walked along the abandoned streets of Morristown, the more she felt the burden Mr. Traiger had warned about. She could make all kinds of grand plans for the collection, but there was a good chance they would not work out. She could end up an obscure slave to the collection, surrounded by a crumbling building, just like Owen Traiger. Was that better or worse than being an obscure employee at the Carnegie Museum?
Scarlett walked alone a good chunk of the night and throughout Sunday. She did not drive back to Pittsburgh. By Monday morning she had reached a decision and wanted to tell Mr. Traiger right away. She arrived at the Museum of Fakes before he had opened the door.
“My life has never reached a fork in the road like this one,” Scarlett said to him.
“No, it hasn’t,” he replied. “What’s it going to be?”
Scarlett summoned the courage to give him an answer and then said, “I think we better talk inside, away from any listening ears.”

My family and I are going to be visiting Baltimore in a few weeks. We used to live out there, but we moved away about 15 years ago. We are going to be staying in a hotel in Harbor East and we are planning on seeing an Orioles game one night while we are there.
My questions are about the safety of walking back from Camden Yards to Harbor East after the game gets out late at night (on a Friday night). Is that a good idea? Is it safe enough these days for a family with two teens, if we stuck to walking along Pratt to President Street? Are there pedicabs or something similar to get back to the hotel that would be better than walking?
When we left Baltimore, the Harbor was pretty bustling and full of shops. I understand that it’s quite a bit emptier now. I’m just not sure how much things have changed. If I read reviews on Tripadvisor, I get the impression that it’s a deserted hellscape, but I think the negative reviews might be written by people who are a little scared to be in a big city in the first place.

Things like this: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60811-i165-k13068787-The_Wire_tour-Baltimore_Maryland.html
(This seems like a guy and his friends, but AFAIK there was/is an agency in Baltimore that does actual "Wire" tours.)
I mean... I KIND OF understand. I'm a huge fan of the show... but it seems like stuff like this is designer tourism. Go gawk at poor people. Is the appeal to go and see the shittiest parts of an American city, and be glad it isn't us?
Does this kind of shit bother anyone else?

• What: A list of things (food, experiences, shops, etc.) concentrated around Atlantic City. It includes some points of interest up to within about 1 hour drive.
• Why: I pretty much exclusively go to Atlantic City to vacation. I enjoy promoting Atlantic City as an awesome place, because it is.
• Update Frequency: This list should hopefully be continually updated.

MUSEUMS

Arts

• Noyes Arts Garage - https://www.artsgarageac.com/
• AC Arts - many places in AC - https://atlanticcityartsfoundation.org/
• Noyes Museum - Hammonton - 30 mins - https://noyesmuseum.org/

History

• Absecon Lighthouse - North End AC - https://www.abseconlighthouse.org/
• Atlantic City Historical Museum - AC Boardwalk, Boardwalk Hall - https://www.atlanticcityexperience.org/
• Tuckerton Seaport Museum - 35 mins - https://tuckertonseaport.org/
• Batsto Village - Hammonton - 40 mins - https://batstovillage.org/ & other Pine Barrens ghost towns
• Cold Spring Village - Cape May - 50 mins - https://hcsv.org/

Animals & Nature

• Atlantic City Aquarium - AC Gardners Basin - https://www.acnj.gov/pages/acaquarium/
• Marine Mammal Stranding Center - Brigantine - https://mmsc.org/
• Stockton Observatory - Galloway - https://stockton.edu/sciences-math/observatory.html
• Reed's Organic Farm & Sanctuary - Egg Harbor Township - https://www.reedsorganicfarm.org/
• Cape May Zoo - Cape May - 35 mins - https://www.capemaycountynj.gov/1008/Park-Zoo
• Wetlands Institute - Stone Harbor - 40 mins - https://wetlandsinstitute.org/
• Camden Aquarium - Camden - 1 hour - https://www.adventureaquarium.com/

Memorials

• Korean War Memorial - https://www.nj.gov/military/community/civic-engagement/war-memorials/korean-war-memorial.shtml
• World War I Memorial - https://visitnj.org/nj-attractions/world-war-i-memorial

OUTDOORS/ACTIVE/GAMES

Places

• Several places in Atlantic City along the boardwalk,
• Bike Rental - Brigantine - https://www.allaboutbikesbrig.com/
• Ocean City boardwalk - 30 mins - https://oceancityvacation.com/

Outdoors

• Split Elm - Horseback Riding - https://www.splitelm.com/
• Mill Pond - Port Republic - 20 mins - https://southjerseytrails.org/2017/05/15/millpondtrailj/ - not an official website - If I remember right one part of the lake is brackish and the other part of the lake is fresh cedar water, separated by a manmade dam. We used to fish there when I was a kid & my dad liked the two different fishing areas.
• Edwin B Forsythe NWS - Galloway - 20 mins - https://www.fws.gov/refuge/edwin_b_forsythe/ - There are a few Edwin B Forsythe NWS areas so make sure if you put it in your GPS you point to the one in Galloway

Gaming/Amusement

• Steel Pier - Boardwalk by Hard Rock - https://steelpier.com
• Central Pier - Boardwalk - https://centralpierarcade.com/
• Escape Room - Tropicana - https://escapeac.com/
• Lucky Snake Arcade - Showboat - https://www.theluckysnake.com/
• AC Minigolf - http://www.acminigolf.co/
• Esports Center - Tanger Outlets - https://idealacesports.com/
• Axe Throwing - https://westecunkaxe.com/
• Range 129 - Absecon - 10 mins- https://www.range129.com/ - firearms, archery
• Bowling - Egg Harbor Township - 20 mins - http://www.kingpinbowlingnj.com/
• Cornhole - Somer's Point - 20 mins - https://www.cornholecraze.com/
• Paintball - Williamstown - 35 mins - https://acpaintball.com/
• Ocean City Minigolf - 30 mins - https://oceancityfun.com/golf/

Kids

• Ripley’s Believe it or Not - AC Boardwalk - https://www.ripleys.com/
• Lucy the Elephant - Margate - 15 mins - http://www.lucytheelephant.org/
• Island Aquapark - Margate - 15 mins - https://islandaquaparknj.com/
• Storybookland - 20 mins - https://storybookland.com/
• Diggerland USA - West Berlin - 40 mins - https://www.diggerlandusa.com/
• Fantasy Island - Beach Haven (LBI) - 1 hour - https://fantasyislandlbi.com/directions/
• Morey's Piers - Wildwood - 1 hour - https://www.moreyspiers.com/

Water

• Fishing - http://www.highrollerfishing.com/home.php
• Jet Boat - https://www.funjetboat.com/
• Parasail - https://www.atlanticcityparasail.com/
• Dolphin Cruise - https://atlanticcitycruises.com/
• Tiki Cruise - http://alohatikicruises.com/
• Brigantine - Truck Beach - with a permit, you can drive your truck onto the North and South Ends of the beach - https://brigantinebeach.org/beach-tags/
• Baycats Kayak/Sail/Paddleboard Rental - Ocean City - 30 min - https://www.baycats.com/
• OC Waterpark - Ocean City - https://ocwaterpark.com/

SHOPPING

• Tanger Outlets - https://www.tangeroutlet.com/
• The Quarter at Tropicana
• Playground Pier - https://www.playgroundpierac.com/ - not for actual shopping, it's basically a dead mall, but the interior is neat and it's cool to wander around.
• Smithville (not just shopping) - 20 mins - https://www.historicsmithville.com/

MISCELLANEOUS

• Orange Loop - https://visitorangeloop.com/ - Sort of a business association
• North Beach - https://www.atlanticcitynorthbeach.com/ - Sort of a business association
• AC Library - http://www.acfpl.org - $30/year membership for non-residents, maybe worth if you visit a few times a year.

ENTERTAINMENT

Clubs

• Tropicana has like 4 clubs -- I think Boogie Nights is the biggest.
• Harrah's Pool After Dark

Shows

• AC Jokes - https://www.acjokes.com/
• AC Comedy Club - https://atlanticcitycomedyclub.com/
• AC Ballet - https://www.acballet.org/
• Lots of live music, most casinos have at least one bar (if not more) featuring live music later in the week. Hard Rock is of course a good place to go. Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall on Fri & Sat.
• IMAX Tropicana - https://www.tropicana.net/venue/amenities/imax-theatre-tropicana

FOOD

(within Atlantic City unless otherwise specified)

Treats, Bakery

• Bar 32 - https://www.bar32chocolate.com/
• Formica Bakery - https://formicasbakery.com/
• Tripician - Galloway - https://boardwalkmacaroons.com/

Fine Dining, Upscale, Casinos

• Knife and Fork Inn - https://www.knifeandforkinn.com/ (This is my personal recommendation for a meal - expensive, but absolutely 🔥🔥🔥)
• Ramsay Steak - Harrah’s - https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-ac/restaurants/gordonramsaysteak
• Council Oak - Hard Rock - https://www.hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com/restaurants/fine-dining/council-oak-steaks-and-seafood
• Old Homestead- Borgata - https://borgata.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/old-homestead-steak-house.html
• Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse - Golden Nugget - https://www.vicandanthonys.com/location/atlantic-city/
• Guy’s Chophouse - Bally's - https://ballysac.com/restaurants/guy-fieris-chophouse/
• Blue Water Grille - Flagship Resort - https://www.fantasearesorts.com/blue-water-grille/

Specialty

• Bourre - Cajun - https://bourreatlanticcity.com/
• Setaara - Afghan-French - https://setaaraac.com/
• Leavander's 22 - Southern - Claridge - https://leavanders22.com/

Casual - Bars

• Vue Rooftop Lounge - Claridge - https://vueac.com/ (bar food, mostly view)
• Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall - https://www.tennesseeavenuebeerhall.com/
• Chelsea Pub - https://www.thechelseainn.com/eat-and-drink
• Ducktown Tavern - http://ducktowntavern.com/
• Irish Pub - https://www.theirishpub.com/
• Pic-a-lilli Pub - http://www.picalilliac.com

Casual - Breakfast

• Gilchrist - https://gilchristrestaurant.com/
• Chelsea Five Gastropub - Tropicana - https://www.tropicana.net/venue/restaurants/chelsea-five-gastropub

Casual - Sandwiches

• Whitehouse Subs - https://whitehousesubshop.net/

Italian, Pizza, Etc.

• Tony Boloney’s - https://www.tonyboloneys.com/
• Tony's Baltimore Grille - https://www.tonysbaltimoregrillac.com/
• Angeloni's - https://www.angelonis.com/
• Cafe 2825 - http://www.cafe2825.com/
• Angelo’s Fairmont Tavern - https://www.facebook.com/angelos.atlantic.city/
• Scanniccios - http://places.singleplatform.com/scannichios-restaurant-at-leftys-bamenu?ref=google
• Chef Vola’s - https://www.chefvolas.com/ - Website is useless, you must call for a reservation
• Italian Gourmet - Galloway - 20 mins - http://gourmetitaliancuisine.com/

Seafood

(I’m not a seafood person & my partner is allergic so my list is devoid of some VERY GOOD seafood places)

• Dock’s Oyster House - http://www.docksoysterhouse.com/

INTOXICATING FUN

Alcohol - Winery/Brewery/Distillery

• Biergarten AC - Boardwalk - https://www.biergartenac.com/
• Tun Tavern - https://www.tuntavern.com/
• The Seed - Brewery - 2021 best - https://www.instagram.com/theseedbeer
• Little Water Distillery Co. - https://www.lwdco.com/
• Tuckahoe Brewing Company - Egg Harbor Township - 20 mins - http://tuckahoebrewing.com/
• Renault Winery - Egg Harbor City - 30 mins - https://www.renaultwinery.com/dine-and-events/
• Balic Winery - Mays Landing - 30 mins https://www.balicwinery.com/
• Tomasello Winery - Hammonton - 40 mins - https://tomasellowinery.com/
• DiMatteo Winery - Hammonton - http://www.dimatteowinery.com/
• Plagido's Winery - Hammonton - https://www.plagidoswinery.com/
• Bellview Winery - Landisville - 40 mins - https://bellviewwinery.com/

Cannabis Dispensaries

ADULT-USE RECREATIONAL

• The Botanist, Egg Harbor Township
• Cannabist, Vineland - 40 Mins - https://gocannabist.com/location/vineland/

MEDICAL

• The Botanist - AC Boardwalk - https://www.shopbotanist.com/locations/atlantic-city/

SPAS

• Spa at Harrah's - https://www.caesars.com/harrahs-ac/things-to-do/the-spa-at-harrahs#.YbOl42DMJPY
• Toccare at Borgata - https://borgata.mgmresorts.com/en/amenities/spa-toccare.html
• Immersion at Borgata - https://borgata.mgmresorts.com/en/amenities/immersion-spa.html
• Sea Spa at Tropicana - https://www.caesars.com/tropicana-ac/things-to-do/spa-and-salon
• Exhale at Ocean - https://www.theoceanac.com/exhale-spa/
• Spa at Golden Nugget - https://www.goldennugget.com/atlantic-city/amenities/spa-salon/
• Qua at Caesars - https://www.caesars.com/caesars-ac/things-to-do/qua-baths-and-spa
• Hard Rock Spa - https://www.hardrockhotelatlanticcity.com/amenities/rockspa
• Resorts Spa - https://resortsac.com/hotels/amenities/spa-and-health-club/
• Aqua Spa at Atlantic Palace - https://www.fantasearesorts.com/aqua-spa/

PETS

• Harrah's has pet-friendly rooms.
• Dogs are permitted on the AC boardwalk/beach for part of the year, between 9/15 and Memorial Day. https://ecode360.com/15208726
• AC Dog Boarding Hotel - https://www.atlanticcitypethotelandgrooming.com/
• Dogs are permitted on the North End of Brigantine beach year-round, and all beaches between 9/30 and Memorial Day. https://ecode360.com/7165596 (⚠ WARNING: be aware of Greenhead Flies especially on the North End beach. They can be an absolute menance on this beach in particular due to the proximity of salt marshes in the protected wildlife areas. I got chewed up as a teenager, so you don't have to!)
• Brigantine has a dog park - https://brigantinebeach.org/visit-brigantine/dog-friendly-park/
• Houndstown Daycare/Boarding - Galloway - https://houndstownusa.com/locations/south-jersey-shore/
• Longport Dog Beach - 30 mins - https://www.bringfido.com/attraction/9653

CASINOS/HOTELS

Non-Casino Hotels

• There are a lot of chain hotels such as Best Western, Super 8, Days Inn, etc.
• Flagship - This is the tall building away from the casinos on the northern end. https://www.fantasearesorts.com/resorts/flagship/
• Atlantic Palace - This one is situated near Bally's and Claridge. https://www.fantasearesorts.com/resorts/atlantic-palace/

North Beach

Really lively area of the boardwalk -- four casinos and the Steel Pier clumped all together, so there's usually people and activity going on around here.

• Ocean - Newest and tallest building in Atlantic City. Formerly Revel building. Large, sprawling property. They have a neat outdoor "park" with a fireplace and some awesome views of the boardwalk.
• Showboat - NOT A CASINO, just a hotel. Seems to be aiming for family-friendly. Large arcade, water park under construction.
• Hard Rock - Formerly Taj Mahal building. Sprawling, huge property. Restaurants and music. Very lively casino with lots of people traffic.
• Resorts - First opened 1972, first casino in Atlantic City. Still houses the first slot machine ever in the city (inoperable but cool). Very straight, easily navigated layout due to being a former hotel.

Mid-Beach

Active area of the boardwalk around Bally's/Caesars. Well-situated at the center of the boardwalk. Easy access also to the Tanger Outlets shopping in the city.

• Claridge - NOT A CASINO, just a hotel. Some great restaurants & a very cool bar at the very top of the building. Awesome old and beautiful building.
• Bally's - Purchased by new owners in 2020 and has made consistent renovations and updates since. They do a lot with the space they have.
• Caesars - Many rooms renovated throughout 2021. Several towers, one of which is a former Howard Johnson converted long ago. Roman themed, but barely. Also owns Wild West underneath Bally's Tower. Live music and some table games located in Wild West.
• Tropicana - Six hotel towers, massive property. Many restaurants and shops. Lots to do within the casino itself (activities, food, etc.). Poorly situated on the boardwalk -- further south, there's not a lot going on, it's very quiet. It's about 3/4th of a mile north to Bally's.

Marina

You have to drive to anything outside of the casinos, if you choose to stay at a marina casino. The marina casinos are separate from the boardwalk. You can only walk between Borgata/Harrah's (via a boardwalk on the bay, or a large empty field/parking lot). Everything else is a drive. Some people consider the separation from the boardwalk/city as a benefit. Everything is expensive in casinos, but the marina casinos seem to charge a premium because they know people don't want to drive out to get necessities or similar.

• Borgata - Dominant casino in terms of revenue for a very long time (Hard Rock/Ocean are very competitive now). It is very nice, probably with the most upscale interior of the casinos. It's starting to show its age a little, and some rewards program changes have some players upset. Still an extremely active casino.
• Harrah's - Relatively easy to navigate, it's a loop on the inside. Limited dining and entertainment options late at night. On the back end of the casino, there's a boardwalk along the bayside.
• Golden Nugget - I don't know a lot about this casino, I've only ever been inside once.

Casino Rewards

There are whole communities dedicated to rewards programs and similar, so these are just some starter points.

• Three casinos (Caesars, Tropicana, Harrah's) are owned by the same parent company. The rewards program is the same so stuff transfers, you can get a promo at any of the three casinos, etc.
• No casinos within Atlantic City (except as noted above) share rewards between them. However, many casinos have other properties (e.g., there are many Hard Rock casinos, there are many MGM properties for Borgata, etc.).
• Some casinos will match your status at another rewards program. So if you can get a status at one casino, you may be able to upgrade at another.
• If you want to get started in a reward program, look for a credit card accompanying that casino. Many of them have a credit card that will give automatic status, or status with $X purchases on the card per year.

Poker

In 2020, Caesars closed the Wild West poker room due to COVID, leaving three poker rooms in the city.

• Borgata - Largest, frequently considered best, poker room. As of March 2021, the only poker room hosting tournaments.
• Tropicana - The only poker room on the boardwalk, everything else is in the marina. As of COVID, the Trop poker room closes from 5:30 AM to 11 AM on the weekdays. It's fully open on the weekend from Friday 11AM-Monday 5AM.
• Harrah's - Relatively tiny poker room tucked in a back corner of the casino.

MISC TIPS

• Monday-Wednesday, especially in Not Summer (Sept 30th through Memorial Day), many things are closed. These are the quietest days of the week and many places just don't open on these days. The casinos are always open, but not all of the restaurants will be open. The town isn't completely closed, but your options are definitely a bit more limited.

MORE INFO

Online

• https://www.reddit.com/atlanticcity/
• https://www.reddit.com/borgata
• https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g29750-i78-Atlantic_City_New_Jersey.html
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/397873194365864/
• https://www.facebook.com/groups/495660587738982/

Books & Reading

All praise 🙌 to JReedNet

• Associated Press. (2010, May 17). Atlantic City's Claridge gets $20M upgrade. Retrieved from NJ.com: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/atlantic_citys_claridge_gets_2.html
• Atlantic City Free Public Library. (2006, January 6). History of Atlantic City. Retrieved from Atlantic City Free Public Library: http://www.acfpl.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=724
• Atlantic County. (2010, October 2). Abescon and Absecon Island. Retrieved from Atlantic County Government: http://www.aclink.org/HISTORY/mainpages/ABSECON.asp
• Cunningham, J. T., & Cole, K. D. (2000). Images of America: Atlantic City. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.
• D'Amato, G. A. (2001). Chance of a Lifetime: Nucky Johnson, Skinny D'Amato and how Atlantic City became the Naughty Queen of Resorts. Harvey Cedars, NJ: Down the Shore.
• Johnson, N. (2002). Boardwalk Empire. Medford, NJ: Plexus.
• Kent, B., Ruffolo Jr., R. E., & Dobbins, L. (1998). Atlantic City: America's Playground. Encinitas, CA: Heritage Media.
• Meter, J. C. (2003). The Last Good Time. Crown: New York.
• Pencak, W. A. (2004). Friends and Enemies in Penn's Woods: Indians, Colonists, and the Racial Construction of Pennsylvania. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University.
• Peterson, R. A. (1998). Patriots, Pirates, and Pineys. Medford, NJ: Plexus.
• Reid, R. (2001, June 1). A Brief Time Line History of Absecon. Retrieved from Westfield, NJ: http://www.westfieldnj.com/whs/history/Counties/AtlanticCounty/absecon.htm
• Sokolic, W. H., & Ruffolo Jr., R. E. (2006). Images of America: Atlantic City Revisited. Charleston, SC: Arcadia

💐 RIP, Closed :(

• Harry's Oyster Bar
• Ri Ra
• The Continental
• Buddakan

Some of you may remember TNM House (formerly Tongnamoo House), the Korean BBQ restaurant on Route 40 in Ellicott City that had a fire in 2017 and then closed. The building (at 9445 Baltimore National Pike) has now been repaired, renovated, and (based on my drive by of it today) appears to opening soon as another Korean BBQ place, Chosun Hwaro.
Last summer HoCoNomNom reported this location as re-opening as Dae Bok BBQ, and in fact there was a liquor license application under that name. However it is now apparently going to be an eastern counterpart of the Chosun Hwaro restaurant in Las Vegas NV (previously the only US location). You can check out the Las Vegas location on the web at chosunhwarous.com. It's also on Yelp, Tripadvisor, etc. (sometimes as Chosun Hwaro and Nara Tappan), so you can read reviews. They appear to be generally favorable. The Las Vegas menu includes a $33 all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ special; I'm not sure if they'll be offering that at the Ellicott City location.
Fun fact: "Chosun" (조선) is more commonly romanized today as "Joseon", and refers to the historical Korean kingdom that lasted for five centuries, from 1392 until 1897; there are lots of K-dramas set in that period. Romanized as "Chosen" it was also a traditional name for Korea in the West. And according to the Naver dictionary "Hwaro" (화로) is the Korean word for "brazier", i.e., "a pan for holding burning coals" or "a utensil in which food is exposed to heat through a wire grill" (per Merriam-Webster). So "Chosun Hwaro" almost literally means "Korean barbeque".
Anyway, I didn't stop to ask when the actual opening date is, and I couldn't find anything about it on their web site or social media. They do have a carryout entrance and an outdoor patio, so they should be able to open even before COVID-19 restrictions are totally lifted. If anyone knows more, or is able to check it out when it opens, please let us know!

So, by most accounts, 'The Wire' is, quite intentionally, a very accurate portrayal of Baltimore, all its nuances, quirks, etc. from all sides of the law.
While I've never been, nor to Maryland in general; I can see that curiosity would be too much for some, who would like to indulge in some nostalgia being huge fans of the show. I can also imagine visitors making absolute arses out of themselves in the process.
Of course, Baltimore doesn't strike me as a quintessential tourist hotspot, but hey, maybe I'm overlooking something.
There is some very real feedback on TripAdvisor suggesting that it's probably not the best idea—which seems pretty obvious at this point:

The things that are famous without the show like the Poe Cottage, you can just go to. I'd make a list of the "Wire" locations, and during the day before school lets out, you can just walk around and see it. But remember that people live there, and it's not Vail, CO, so don't act like a fool.
I've wandered all over Baltimore and have bicycled really all over and my father-in-law had a store in the middle of West Baltimore (Pennsylvania and Laurens St) and no one has ever bothered me, ever.
But I wouldn't wander around at night or just when school is letting out (not that kids will bother you, but you'll be overwhelmed by so many kids hitting the streets at the same time; no school buses, just City bus routes for them). It can't be worth $100 to ogle a rough neighborhood where 95% of the people are just regular people, but struggling.

Another entry almost makes it seem appealing and interesting:

I love The Wire and I love Baltimore and I've given a few tours but its not something that should be for sale. Its not a zoo. Even though the TV show stopped filming years ago The Wire is still playing out right before your eyes*.*

Has anyone satisfied their own curiosity at this point? Anything interesting to report?

I go to one away game every year and picked your lovely city for this season.
I have tickets to the aquarium and will be checking out TripAdvisor and /Baltimore for things to do.
Any gameday tips or fun tailgating experiences would be appreciated, I tried searching the sub here and didn't really find anything in that area.
Hope it's a good safe game this weekend and nobody gets injured. We have two of the most fun QBs in the league so I hope it's an exciting game.

I'm looking for some folks that want to come hang out with me in little italy at a great and very busy restaurant. Lots of money to be made this month so the sooner you can start, the better. Experience and flexibility a plus, there is a lot of opportunity here. If it's you, send me a message. If you know someone send them my way and let me know - if they end up being the right person, I'll make sure you get a nice meal for your troubles!
​
Edit: La Tavola on 248 Albemarle
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https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60811-d527381-Reviews-La_Tavola-Baltimore_Maryland.html
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https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/best-italian-restaurant-every-state-gallery/slide-20

My wife and I adore Mexico. The food is outstanding, there are easy direct flights from Baltimore, and the resorts are very well equipped. Resort de Pedregal and Rosewood Mayakoba were our two favorite places, both on TripAdvisor's top 25 hotels in the world (if that's worth anything).
But we've gone eight times now. There's got to be something else out there.
Price doesn't matter. Where can I find great pools, relaxation, top-end luxury, and good food? We have no problem staying on the resort the entire time if there's enough to do/eat/drink. We're in our mid-30's if that makes any difference. Here are some favorable options for direct flights, but feel free to throw out other recommendations too:

• Nassau
  
• Punta Cana
  
• Jamaica
  
• Grand Cayman
  
• Aruba
  
• Costa Rica (heard bad things about mosquitoes though).
  
• Turks and Caicos
  
• Puerto Rico
  

It would also be helpful if any of these destinations could be eliminated. So feel free to cast a vote against one of these if you don't think they fit what we're looking for.

I just got back and a friend who is taking the exact same cruise and is also cost conscious asked me to give him all my lessons learned. I figured you all might benefit even if some of this information isn't strictly about cruising. I'm going to ask my travel companions to review it (first time in Hawaii and first time cruising) to see if they have anything to add.

Getting There And Getting Around

Air Fare
With Southwest now offering tickets to Hawaii, I expect the competitive market to drop prices across the board but unless you are fortunate enough to live on the west coast in a city with flights that fly direct, air fare can be pricey. I had to get 4 people there round-trip (2 from rural Maine, 1 from Louisville Kentucky and 1 from the Baltimore/D.C. area). I ended up signing up for the Chase Sapphire credit card (annual fee waived for the first year) and the Alaska Airlines credit card that gave me a buy one/take one sign up offer. My total air fare cost was $2400. Besides the credit card, there was no secret other than monitoring the prices as far in advance as possible to see what typical prices are and then striking when there was a decent sale. I would also mention following Scott's Cheap Flights on the off chance a deal becomes available for when you were already planning on traveling.
Ground Transportation
We flew into Waikiki on Tuesday (cruise started on Saturday) so I got a rental car through Autoslash. The total cost for a mid-size for 4 days was $176 and ended up being from Alamo. While I feel this was a good deal as I had four people, if you're not 100% sure you will need it - you can probably get by with an Uber, taxi or even a hop on/off bus (see excursions later). Many excursions had an option for hotel pickup/drop-off.
Probably the best deal I found was Star Taxi which only charged $25 for up to 4 people one-way to/from the cruise terminal and not much more for other locations. Call 1 hour before you need the service.
Parking
Parking is EXPENSIVE so be sure to do a lot of research if you plan on renting a vehicle.

Oahu

General In your mind, you have this idea of what Hawaii is going to be like. Oahu (specifically Honolulu/Waikiki) is not it. It is very over developed and crowded. Many places are run-down because investors have purchased the property but have chosen to wait until conditions are more favorable to develop. There is a very large homeless population in Hawaii overall but I was shocked by the number of shanty towns and abandoned vehicles doubling as homes I saw on Oahu.
Excursions

• Snorkel-Cruise-Swim-Dolphins-Turtles - highly recommended (hint: This excursion may be cheaper directly with the vendor Dolphins And You - if you buy the photos, you will have to go to their Waikiki office later to pick them up and they will offer you a 10% discount on merchandise at that time).
• Shark Dive - Unfortunately, this tour got canceled due to weather so I can't comment on it. Since it is on the north shore, the plan was to do an early morning adventure (when the water is calmest) and then spend the rest of the time exploring the beaches and surfers. (hints: You may be able to get this cheaper directly with the vendor North Shore Shark Adventures and if you drive, take one way to get there and another way to get back so you can experience more of the island).
• Sunset Cruise & Show - The people I was going with had never cruised before so this was to get their feet wet so to speak. It was nice but not spectacular. You may be able to get it cheaper directly through the vendor Star Of Honolulu. On Fridays, they offer an extra hour for a nominal fee upgrade which includes fireworks. I didn't see the fireworks myself but several people I talked to said they are put on by a hotel and aren't anything special. (hint: If you drive, they will validate your parking ticket and parking will only be $4 instead of $18).
• Waikiki Trolley Hop-On Hop-Off You can trade time for money and if you have time, this would be a much more cost effective solution to getting around and is very configurable (how many days of use, how many different lines, etc.)
• Polynesian Culture Center - I had the Ambassador Luau Package With Circle Island Tour of Oahu. Pickup was at 8:30 in the morning and drop off wasn't until after 10 PM so it is a long day. If you do this one I have several recommendations. First, take it early in the trip because it includes a multi-day pass so you can go back at no charge for 3 more days and the Circle Island tour allows you to see some areas you may want to explore on your own. Second, you don't get food until 6 PM so be sure to eat breakfast first and plan the rest of the time accordingly (bring snacks for instance). The only thing I was disappointed in was the Diamond Head didn't actually drive up to the crater. Update After the initial post, I was reminded by mashel2811 of a few things. The PCC is Mormon owned/operated which has pros/cons. On the downside, there is no alcohol on-site and things overall tend on the conservative side. Not that I have an issue with that but if you're looking for authenticity then this would represent Polynesia post Christian missionaries. On the upside, it is a huge facility that truly will allow you to experience many of the cultures besides just Hawaii. Also, regardless of how you feel about religion, the money taken in from PCC helps to sponsor many students education from all over Polynesia. I had nothing to compare the luau to but I have heard from several other people that there are much better options (the luau at PCC is optional). The Breath Of Life was awesome.
• Pearl Harbor (see the end of the cruise excursions)

Recommendations/Notes

• You probably want a beach other than Waikiki due to the number of people - Hanauma Bay looked awesome. If you do decide to stay in Waikiki, walking the coastline towards Diamond Head is a better choice for the beach instead of around all the hotels. This is because in Hawaii, beach access and water is considered a public service (free)
• What is and isn't expensive didn't make any sense. Eggs imported from the mainland were cheaper than eggs from Hawaii despite chickens EVERYWHERE but I was able to get a large jar of peanut butter for $1.89. The best place I found for groceries was Don Quijote and it had a free parking garage.
• Souvenirs were much cheaper on other islands
• It rains - almost daily - but not for long - don't let it fool you - WEAR sunscreen of at least SP50
• Hydrate more than usual - especially if you're drinking beer like me
• Updates From original post below
• You can get insanely discounted Pearl Harbor tickets from recreation.gov but they sell out in 5 minutes. Exactly 7am Hawaii time they sell tickets for the next day or for 2 months out. Nothing in between. I recommend having 2-3 people trying it simultaneous for different time slots. The early tickets sell faster. Then the bus ride anywhere is $2.50 each. When you board the bus ask for a transfer ticket. The transfer ticket is good for two more rides for the next 2.5 hours. If you get out of PH within the time slot you can ride back for free.
• There's a stand near Breakout Waikiki that is a hard sell timeshare sales pitch (couples only). If you're willing to sit through it, they give you $150 towards an excursion or a free meal and a $120 Visa gift card (as of March 2019). If you want the exact location, message me.
• You may think being a Costco member will help you out on expenses and you're probably right but know that the busiest Costco in the world is on Oahu and they claim 1 in 4 people have membership so plan accordingly (think shopping for the latest toy on Christmas Eve)

Pride Of America

I have to be honest, this was hands down the most expensive cruise I have taken and it was the worst cruise ship. I had a great time but there was a lot left to be desired.

• Entertainment was very underwhelming - I believe unlike other mass-market cruise lines, NCL's entertainers are on multi-month contracts just like other staff. This tends to be bad for entertainers like comedians (how many different sets can they have prepared) but should be better for magicians (you shouldn't have to rely on the suitcase you get through security at the airport). I have seen a Vegas quality magic show on NCL before (Norwegian Spirit last November) but this act was honestly no better than a birthday party. I could go on but I will summarize it as this: On Carnival, I struggle deciding what I am going to do because of so many good things where as on this ship, I struggled to find anything I actually wanted to do.
• Beer prices were outrageous and included a mandatory 20% gratuity and since you spend a LOT of time in port, taxes too. In each port, I found a better selection of beer right off the ship for at least 20 - 30% cheaper than on the ship. If you do drink on the ship however, I highly recommend the Gold Rush Saloon as it has a couple of beers on tap you can't get anywhere else. It has a self-serve popcorn machine and is adjacent to the buffet so you can get self-serve ice cream too.
• The food was mediocre (main dining quality was about the same as the buffet which was good but not great). I didn't spend the money to try any of the specialty dining.

Update: One thing that really stood out as being a good thing is that the room had 3 US standard outlets!!!
Why Does It Cost So Much

• There is no casino to subsidize the fare cost
• It is a US Flag cruise ship which means it has to abide by US labor laws (this is an indirect result of the Jones Act as it doesn't travel to any foreign ports)
• Hawaii not only has a sales tax but a tourist imposed General Excise Tax which of course NCL passes on to you
• Exclusivity - unless you want an extremely sea day intense cruise from California, around Hawaii, to Mexico and then back to California (or similar) cruise - they're the only show in town

Hint: You should get the NCL Mobile App. It includes dinner reservations, account charges, dinner reservations, deck plans, passenger to passenger chat for an additional fee ($10 vs Carnival's $5) and other nifty features.
Observations
I was astounded by the number of first time cruisers I saw (based on their ship card color). Because so many of the employees were American, I was also surprised by how many told me that they were on their first contract and wouldn't be back. The people (both employees and passengers) were incredibly friendly and most everyone seemed to be having a good time. I didn't see long lines at guest services. I mentioned earlier how this was the worst ship I had been on - and, while true, shouldn't give you the impression that I didn't have a great time. For my traveling companions, they had nothing to compare it to and other than the entertainment - they had no complaints at all and loved it.

Day 1 & 2 Maui (overnight)

If you have ever been on a Caribbean cruise and you didn't feel like paying for an expensive excursion you could always just walk off the ship and go to a beach or a shopping district or a friendly bar - something. This is not the case in Maui. Where the Pride Of America docks there is absolutely nothing (it took 10 minutes to walk out of the port with chained link fence on both sides only to end up about another 10 minutes away from a strip mall). I do want to point out that the strip mall did have a few artisans selling things out on the sidewalk but this was far from what you will be used to at other locations.
So what to do instead?

• Rent a car if you want to go on your own - day rentals are common and you will be in port overnight. You will have to do your own research as to what to do as I booked excursions for both days
• Go up to Haleakala Crater for sunset or sunrise. I went for sunset as sunrise required leaving the ship at 3 AM. I can't stress how amazing this sunset was at nearly 2 miles above sea level. If you go, take plenty of warm (think Maine winter) cold. It was 44 degrees without the windchill when we arrived at around 5 PM (still sunny) and the temperature dropped significantly by the end of the sunset (around 6:40 for us but varies based on time of year).
• Road To Hana - I didn't take this excursion but it is extremely popular. Most guests I spoke with said they absolutely loved it though a few called it the road to hell (it's an all day excursion)
• Maui Northshore & Waterfall Walk - This is the one I took because it was rated as "easy" and one of my traveling companions has mobility issues. There is an alternative called Waterfall Hike that you may want to consider. This was a great excursion which took you into a historical town for lunch (delicious) and gave you some free time to explore the artisans (glass blowing, jewelry making, etc.) before taking you to the private access Wailele Farm. The waterfalls you can walk to (as opposed to hike to) were not breathtaking but overall the plants and flowers here were amazing. You will get an opportunity to eat many of the things you encounter so if you're feeling adventures, give it a try.
• Choose another of NCL's Excursions
• Choose something from Viator

Day 3 Hilo Hawaii

This is the first of two days on the island of Hawaii and it is on the eastern (very wet) side of the island. Normally doing two excursions in one day is a not recommended. I would make an exception here because the Botanical Gardens are not to be missed. It is a short excursion (2.5 hours), is relatively inexpensive (you can even do it on your own) and is offered at multiple times allowing you to get another excursion in.
Recommendations

• The Botanical Gardens - either through NCL or directly with Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden - they have social media as well if you have questions. Tip: One of my traveling companions said walk through twice - once looking down and once looking up because there is just so much to see.
• Go zip-lining. I happened to choose Zipline Through Paradise as it had a tandem/parallel course (you got to zip at the same time as someone else). You can even hold hands on one line for a very special photo. You may even want to book directly with Kapohokine
• Choose one of NCL's excusions
• Choose one of Viator's options

Day 4 Kona Hawaii

The other side of the island is a stark contrast to Hilo as it is dry/desert climate. It is the only tender port on the cruise. Unfortunately, we didn't fare very well here on excursions but shopping and beer was good.
It has been on my bucket list to be in a real submarine and go over 100 feet to below the surface to the ocean floor. That's what 3 of us did here in Kona and while I am glad that I can now say I have done it (105'), the experience itself was underwhelming. To not interfere with the wildlife, the sub doesn't use any artificial lights nor does anything to attract the fish to your windows. This means almost everything is a monochrome blue (the color red doesn't exist at this depth for instance). It's also nearly impossible to get nice photos out the windows even though they are clear enough - just not the right conditions. Now, I met a guest back on the ship that said he had a phenomenal time on a sub that wasn't sponsored through NCL but I'm not sure what it was.
The other guest in my party decided to go on the Gold Coast & Cloud Forest excursion and was also not impressed. The gold supposedly comes from the Hawaii state fish (yellow trigger fish also known as humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa) but apparently they haven't been plentiful enough to turn the coast gold for years. She also said if she was a coffee drinker, she probably would have enjoyed it more (they are famous for their coffee).
Recommendations

• If you would like to buy coffee at a discount, a tour guide let me in on a little secret. To be called Kona Coffee it has to indicate what percentage is from Kona (i.e. 100%). Well, geography being what it is, the line between Kona and the region to south is arbitrary (created by humans) so buying coffee labeled just across the boarder (I forget the name of the place - I don't drink coffee) is 25% cheaper
• If you want to see the pretty coral and reefs, consider a glass bottom boat ride. The bartender I chatted with told me that she used to work on the sub and a much more beautiful experience was the glass bottom boats.
• Normally, the closer to port you are the more expensive things are - like souvenirs. That may in fact be the case in Kona but I found the prices at Whalers General Store to be very competitively priced. Many of the same items I saw at stops before here were at least 20% cheaper.
• Have a drink or 6 at Paradise Brewing Company. I was fed up with the prices on the ship so I checked this place out (there was another one further up the street with a fairly large beer menu as well but they weren't very friendly so I moved on. I sat in here for hours (was one of the last tender boats back to the ship). It was extremely friendly - the beer was good, the food was good - I would definitely recommend.
• Take an NCL excursion
• Take a Viator option

Day 5 & 6 Kauai (Overnight)

Remember how I said you have this ideal image in your head of what Hawaii is and Oahu doesn't meet it. Kauai exceeds it - I fell in love and if I ever go back, I will just fly directly here and stay on this island - it is that good.
I am not going to suggest you do anything other than exactly what I did because I couldn't possibly imagine having a better time.
Recommendations

• Day 1 - Best Of Kauai. I have no idea if a similar excursion can be booked elsewhere because it included 5 stops (Waimea canyon, Spouting Horn Park, Keoki's Paradise for lunch, Opaekaa Falls and Wailua River Fern Grotto). If you want to "build your own", just go to Waimea canyon and dine at Keoki's Paradise as they were the highlights of the day. If you are into photography and have gotten tired of lugging all of your lenses around, today is the day to have it all at the ready.
• Day 2 - Mokihana Helicopter - There are no words to describe how amazing this was. I did discover that can get it substantially cheaper directly with Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tours.

Now, there's more to the story than just these two excursions. First, since you're overnight you can stay out as late as you want. I asked our tour guide where an affordable place to get good beer close to the ship was. She recommended The Nawiliwili Tavern (or just the Tavern). It happens to be a 2 minute walk from one of the free shuttle stops and they have great pizza, beer and pool. Secret I learned this is also where a lot of the crew from the ship hang out after they get off at 9PM so if you want to have a real conversation and ask real questions - this is the place to do it. Once the bartender realized I was into craft beer and trying all they had, she told me about a brew pub not too far up the road that I really wanted to try but ran out of time.

Napali Coast (still day 6)

The cruise ship leaves port early (circa 2PM) and instead of heading to Honolulu backtracks around Kauai. There is a portion of the island that's only reachable by air (helicopter) or by sea (cruise ship) and I was fortunate enough to do both. Actually, our pilot said that a few of the beaches can be reached by a hiking 11+ miles but it isn't an easy hike. In any event, this is where the opening scenes of Jurassic Park were filmed if I remember correctly - utterly gorgeous. My pilot also let me in on a little secret - that the captain times the cruise ship to sunset when the coast is all lit up in spectacular colors so be out on deck with camera ready.

Day 7 - Honolulu (Pearl Harbor & City Tour)

I made a big mistake here. I booked a late flight so I could go to Pearl Harbor and then get dropped off at the airport. We had already done the Circle Island Tour and none of the other offerings were of interest. This was a mistake for two reasons.
Reason 1: Exhaustion
After having spent 5ish days in Waikiki and then taking a 7 day cruise, we were wiped out and really didn't have the stamina to really take it all in.
Recommendations

• Eat a big breakfast as this tour didn't include food
• Bring food for the tour and possibly the airport (see airport notes below)
• The cheapest place to get hot dogs at the time was at the Missouri ($6 as of March 2019)
• If you are using your phone as a camera, practice taking photos against the bus window as the city tour took you to some neat places but they didn't stop to let you off
• The tour includes the Missouri and the Arizona - everything else is additional
• At the time of this writing, the Arizona was still under repair so you only took a boat close. You will be watching a very emotionally moving video before the boat ride so sit as close to the exit doors (front left) as you can so that when it's over you can pick one of the corners of the boat to get unobstructed photos from - they don't allow you to stand up and they don't play. Oh, and if you are sensitive to loud noises - when the bomb actually drops on the Arizona it is about 10 times louder than the rest of the film so be prepared
• Our guide got tickets for the Arizona at 2:15 PM, helped us navigate the shuttle over to the Missouri and told us he would see us at the bus 3:30 PM. If you're not comfortable navigating on your own then this is probably not the tour for you
• It's only 5 minutes from the airport so if you want to stay longer because of a late flight it would be fast/cheap to go on your own - just ask to get your luggage off the bus

Reason 2: Airport
If you have a late flight home, I'm sorry. All of your checked bags have to be screened by agriculture (certain plants are not allowed to leave the state) which is airline specific and unless that airline is running flights all day (looking at you Alaska), then you will have to wait for them to open before you can even check in. While you wait, there is essentially no place to eat (Starbucks and a bar that serves hot dogs for $12.50 - yes, $12.50). I recommend you keep some food with you for this reason. They do offer a baggage hold service but the prices were ridiculous (4 checked bags for 24 hours was $100). Sorry if it seems like I am whining - it was the end of a long trip and I was returning to reality.

Update: Viator

In this post, I have provided a number of links to NCL's excursions, directly to the vendor and also to Viator. Viator is part of Tripadvisor and generally speaking, you can trust the reviews. On most of the bookings, you can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours in advance. They are competitively priced and you can usually get a discount. For instance, new customers will get offered a 10% discount off their first purchase. Companies like Ebates and TopCashBack will offer an additional 3 to 6% cash back as well. Use a credit card that gives back 2-4% on travel and it can really reduce the price. I haven't had too much trouble figuring out what vendor was being used through Viator so you could just book with them direct too and just use them as a way to find fun things to do and use the reviews to distinguish between what's good and what's not.

After the JB fiasco (who's mysteriously been MIA for a while), an Endbringer was killed and things were starting to calm down...Bloodbag, Eve and Grimoire would all find invites to the 'Company Party'. The invite would be surprisingly delivered by a Yuriev in a red ugly Christmas sweater and a Santa Hat. She seemed mildly embarassed while Boris and even Yuri were highly amused. It seemed like the three closer circled Parahumans were being brought into a tradition.
The dress was formal with a change of clothes for sleeping, swimming and casual attire. No plus one's and the whole deal was supposed to be very secretive.
Assuming they accepted, they'd find their meeting point at an office building. There, a very well dressed Boris would be waiting along with the duo, Artur and Anton although they'd be seperate. Boris would smile as he'd meet up with Bloodbag and Eve and take them up top. Grimoire would be accompanied by her favorite, Artur along with his buddy Anton.
On the roof top, they'd see a landing pad and a luxury helicopter. With big ol' grins, the three would take the three Parahumans on for a helicopter ride a good forty five minutes away. Deep in the forest, they'd come upon a clearing where a road lead to a gate. The actual mansion was something similar to this. It had a courtyard in the center, various paths around it, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a garage and multiple car ports. They'd see a landing where two helicopters already were placed. There'd be multiple vans in the area too.
When they landed, they'd find something rather surprising. There'd be a woman dressed in some female variant of some kind of Russian looking military dress uniform. Her distinct coat would reveal herself to be Yuriev. On either side of her would be two men in some winter soldier level shit gear.
She'd stand there as they'd land. The three Parahumans would be escorted on out by Boris, Artur and Anton. The tall woman would wait for the helicopter's blades to come to a stop.
"Glad you three can make it. Welcome to our dining in."

Hi Baltimore Locals!
I am helping plan a bachelor party for a group of about 10 to 15 guys and Baltimore has been narrowed down as one of the possible destinations. I haven't been to Baltimore (aside from the airport) before so I am hoping to get a few ideas to help us plan a great weekend.
We will be there around the end of April for 3 days 2 nights. As of right now, our only plan would be to attend a baseball game at Camden Yards. My assumption is that we would stay close to there so any advice on hotels / AirBnB to go to or to stay away from would be great!
Any other spots you can recommend would be great as well. I looked through TripAdvisor and saw that there was a Haunted Pub Crawl in Annapolis and thought that might be kind of fun - but I am big into History so I don't know if that will fly with the rest of the group and that might be a bit too far away to be feasible. There are also other Brewery Tours that I saw...but I am looking for other cool stuff to do during the day so we are not just sitting around or going to a bar (we will be doing plenty of that during the nights).
But I know there is other great stuff to do around your city. Are there any driving ranges / gun ranges / batting cages / arcade game bars we can go to? Are there any places where we can join in a competition for a weekend like somewhere having a shuffleboard or cornhole tournament? What are the good bars to go to? What are the good strip clubs to go to? Where is the best place for breakfast in the morning? What dinner spot do we need to hit up, and which spot is really popular but completely overrated so we should avoid?
Most of us are coming from Cleveland, and I know if someone told me they were coming to Cleveland for a bachelor party my first thought would be that they are an idiot because there is 'nothing to do in Cleveland'. After some thought though, I would be able to give that person a lot of awesome off-the-path spots to hit up that would make a great weekend. That's what I am looking for.
Thanks for any advice in advance. Also, if anyone wants to meet up in late April for a beer or a crab cake, let me know!

I just stumbled across this photo of the Thinker at "Baltimore Museum of Art".
Below are 3 photos of The Thinker in the EXACT same location and pose (current pose/timeline):
http://blog.artbma.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_8847.small_.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/81/8e/e4/818ee4963da08a423afdf97554d5d763.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4570840543_ae78349480.jpg
And here is the residue (remember, exact same location, but it looks to me there is a CLOSED FIST to CHIN):
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/03/2c/d2/76/baltimore-museum-of-art.jpg
Zoomed in version:
http://i.imgur.com/RG4n20u.jpg
It's not the clearest photo, but it definitely looks like he has a closed fist, just put the images side by side and you can see the differences a lot better.
Tell me what you think in the comments below.
You don't possibly believe that it is an open hand pointing to throat, do you? (which is the current pose).

Hi everyone,
So I'm planning on visiting Japan from May 11 to May 28 but still have a lot of questions about everything I need to do before leaving. Ultimately, I decided to do a group tour through a company called The Dragon Trip but plan to arrive in Tokyo a few days early to get settled in and explore the city on my own for a bit.
The itinerary for this tour is available here. Alternatively, I've provided a quick day-by-day breakdown of where I'll be each day. Included in parenthesis are some of the highlights or main attractions for that particular day.

• May 11 - Flying from BWI to TYO
  
• May 12 to May 14
  

I'm not really sure yet what exactly I plan on doing on these days but have a lot of things in mind. In particular, I really want to spend some time in Shibuya, especially the area around Shibuya intersection. I'd also like to see Zojoji Temple, Golden Gai, and possibly even Narita. Since I imagine the group tour will move relatively quickly, I'm not opposed to exploring Shibuya, Shinjuku, and other neighborhoods that I may see again while on the tour. I think having a few days alone in the city is also an excellent opportunity to try and meet up with other solo travelers from here or elsewhere. It'd be fun to do a crawl through Golden Gai, for instance, with other people. How about the New York Bar in Park Hyatt Tokyo? Is that worth seeing?
Does three days seem like enough time to do most of those things? Are there any recommendations as to where I should stay before my tour begins? Should I consider a hostel, hotel, Airbnb, etc.? The accommodations on the tour are almost exclusively hostels so it could be nice to stay at a hotel for a couple of days though this may not be the most social option. Also, I'm assuming since I plan to just stay in Tokyo for these few days that I won't need a JR pass at the time. Should I instead consider getting an IC card instead?
Group Tour Starts

• May 15 - Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and Asakusa Temple)
• May 16 - Tokyo (Tsukiji Fish Market and Akihabara)
• May 17 - Tokyo (Sumo District, Edo-Tokyo Museum, Tokyo’s Samurai Museum, Robot Restaurant)
• May 18 - Tokyo (Imperial Palace, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku, Shibuya)
• May 19 - Kamakura (Kotokuin Temple)
• May 20 - Hakone (Owakudani, Lake Ashi)
• May 21 - Kyoto (Kiyomizu Temple, Kawaramachi, Pontocho Alley)
• May 22 - Arashiyama/Kyoto (Arashiyama, Arashiyama Monkey Park, Tenryu-ji Temple)
• May 23 - Kyoto (Eikando and Nanjenzi Temples, Fushimi)
• May 24 - Kyoto (Kinkaku-ji Temple)
• May 25 - Hiroshima (Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Miyajima Island,
• May 26 - Osaka (Osaka Castle, Dotonbori and Shinsaibashi)
• May 27 - Osaka (Umeda Sky Tower)

Group Tour Ends

• May 28 - Flying from TYO to BWI

In preparing this post and reviewing the itinerary in greater detail, I actually think the group tour looks awesome. It includes the cities I'm most interested in seeing - Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Osaka - along with some cool activities like a sushi-making workshop, a guided meditation class, and a tour of a sake brewery. Anyway, since I'll have some time in Osaka on the last day, I'm open to suggestions regarding what I could do. I guess I could also fly back on the 27th but was just thinking that it might be too much.
Here's a list of the accommodations associated with the tour. If anyone has any experience with these places, I'd love to hear your input.

• Tokyo House Inn
• Guest House IZA Kamakura
• Onsen Guesthouse Hakone Tent
• K's House Kyoto
• Backpackers Hostel K's House Hiroshima
• B&S Eco-Cube Shinsaibashi

The biggest thing I still need to do is schedule my flight. For whatever reason though, or mostly because this will be my first trans-pacific international flight, I've gotten the wild idea of wanting to fly business class in some form or another. How practical is this? Is it possible to find roundtrip business class tickets for around $3000? This would probably be the most I'd be comfortable spending. The lowest airfare I've seen was $3200 and involved a short flight from Baltimore to Toronto with economy seating and then from Toronto to Tokyo with lie-flat seating. In the past day or so, however, the price for the same flight (Baltimore to Tokyo with one stop) shot up to $4200. I'll continue to track airfare for the flights I'm interested in but when is the latest I should plan to have everything booked?
Also, outside of applying any initial reward bonus from a travel based credit card that I recently enrolled in (i.e. Chase Sapphire Preferred), are there any other means to subsidize the cost of airfare? Charging $4000 to my card in the next three months is probably possible but doing that in a few weeks to obtain the initial reward bonus may be somewhat challenging. I stopped at AAA today thinking that they might have access to more competitive pricing from some of their airline partners but this proved to be completely useless.
TL/DR: Where should I stay in Tokyo in the days before my trip? How should I get around? When and how is it best to book my flight? Is it possible to find business class seating for $3000 (or less) from BWI to TYO and without having to make multiple stops or endure long layovers?

Hello everyone! FAderp91 here again, and I am here to bring you part 4 of the 5 part preview guide to all of the ballparks' eatery for the upcoming season! I've reached out to every team's subreddit and with my own research I have compiled a list of some of the best food each team has to offer. Over the next few days I will be covering all of the awesome food and drinks that each team has.
The posts will proceed as follows:

1. Specialties
   
2. Treats
   
3. Drinks
   
4. General
   
5. New for 2016
   

Today in part 4 will be covering the general concessions that ballparks offers. Today is the day for you to be proud of your weiners and sausages. Will be going over each team's concessions and some of the different twists they have on them.
For each team I am going to be linking to their team's concession page and also will see if outside food or drinks are allowed into their stadium. So lets start with the NL West and go from there!

NL West

- Los Angeles Dodgers

Concession link
Food is permitted from outside the stadium provided it is not in bottles, cans, coolers or thermoses. Unbroken, factory-sealed plastic bottles of non-alcoholic beverages of 1 liter or less are permitted. (No outside food or beverage can be brought into stadium suites).
Dodger Dogs: The world famous Dodger Dog is a 10 inch link wrapped in a steamed bun. You can get them either Steamed or Grilled.

- San Fransisco Giants

Concession Link
Outside food is allowed but sealed plastic bottles and soft-sided juice containers containing non-alcoholic beverages are only allowed in AT&T Park (except in the Luxury Suites).
Garlic Fries: The actual name for the dish is the Gilroy Garlic Fries which is named for the town in nearby Santa Clara county that hosts an annual garlic festival to celebrate its self-proclaimed status as “garlic capital of the world.”

- San Diego Padres

Concession link
The San Diego Padres permit guests to bring food into Petco Park for individual consumption (but not for large groups of individuals) as long as the items are consumed in the general seating or designated picnic areas. Outside food cannot be brought into any restaurant, club lounge, or suite.
Pizza Port: New in 2015 the local Pizza place has a significant presence in the park. The brewpub's five grub and grog locations (in sections 104, 121, 215, 311 and 320) will sell cheese, pepperoni and garlic artichoke pizza, plus their signature garlic beer buddies with ranch and marinara sauce and Pizza Port beer on draft and in cans.

- Colorado Rockies

Concessions Link
Full list of permitted items
Helton Burger: The Helton Burger can be found at the Helton Shack which are both named after the famous former Rockies player Todd Helton. The Helton Burger consists of a decent sized patty, pickles, onions, cheese, and a special sauce. For $14 dollars you can receive a decent sized meal with fries or onion rings, and a drink.

- Arizona Diamondbacks

Concessions list
Permitted and Prohibited items
Suggestions from the subreddit: "Some of my favorites include Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles, and a restaurant that sells specialty hot dogs like the Sonoran Dog (hotdog wrapped in bacon topped with beans and pico de gallo) and the Venom Dog ("habanero sausage" topped with black beans, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo).
When I go to games I usually get one of the things I already mentioned, but Chase does the normal stuff pretty well too. There's more Mexican food options than you'd find at other stadiums. There are usually food trucks outside the stadium too if you want to eat out there before the game. Prices all over are very reasonable for a baseball game." Link

NL Central

- Chicago Cubs

Concessions map
Permitted and Prohibited Items
Wrigley Dog: "If you go to Wrigley and don't get a hot dog then you have failed as a tourist. Something about the steamy buns and Vienna Beef dogs gets me going. Fuck ketchup and other red things/birds." Subreddit suggestions

- Pittsburgh Pirates

Concessions Map
Gate Policy: Guests are permitted to bring bottled water and food that may fit into a 16x16x8-inch soft-sided bag into the ballpark. Water bottles should not exceed 24 ounces in size, and must be clear, plastic, sealed and disposable. Children's juice boxes and items necessary for medical purposes are permitted. Alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages, sports drinks, cans, glass bottles and thermoses are not allowed.
Subreddit Suggestion: Bottomless Popcorn.

- Cincinnati Red

Concessions Link
No glass bottles or cans may be brought into Great American Ball Park. Guests are welcome to bring in soft drinks and water provided they are in clear plastic bottles and the safety seal has not been broken.
Skyline Chili Coney: A specially made hot dog in a steamed bun with mustard and our secret recipe chili, topped with onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

- St. Louis Cardinals

Concessions list
Fans can bring their own food & drinks into Busch Stadium for all 81 games. Alcohol, bottles, cans, thermoses, hard-sided coolers, hard plastic cups/mugs are not permitted. Non-alcoholic beverages including water and soda in open cups or in clear plastic bottles no larger than 2 liters are allowed. Food & beverages from the outside will not be permitted in the Cardinals Club, Luxury Suites, Party Suites or any of our other All Inclusive Areas.
The St. Louis Dog: a Fan Favorite which can be found at the Food Network Stand is a hot dog topped with barbecue sauce, shredded Provel and crumbled Red Hot Riplets.

- Milwaukee Brewers

Concessions Link
Outside food policy
Roasted Nuts and Cheese Fries in a helmet: These both are suggestions from the subreddit. Link

NL East

- Atlanta Braves

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
H&F Burger: A subreddit suggestion, a griddled double cheeseburger topped with red onion and house-made pickles, ketchup, and mustard, served on a freshly baked pan de mie bun.
Oh and of course Waffle House.

- Philadelphia Phillies

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit suggestion: Hot Dogs are good from the local Hatfield and they have Dollar Dog nights throughout the season. There is also a Glutten Free stand that does some decent glutten free versions, including a glutten free cheesesteak.

- New York Mets

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion:Citi Field has an amazing Pat LaFrieda's steak sandwich as well as Italian Sausage and peppers. Also, even though I've never tried it, I hear the Mex Burger (named after famed Met/current broadcaster Ketih Hernandez) is a must."

- Miami Marlins

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Helmet Nachos: tasty chips, topped with pico de gallo, shredded cheddar, scallions and Levy Restaurants (the concession czar here) own chipotle cheese sauce (lighter than the usual yellow goop), served in a souvenir helmet.

- Washington Nationals

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Ben's Chili Bowl is a local chili place that offers warming chili (in a bowl or served on other things like fries or hot dogs).

AL East

- New York Yankees

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs: The world famous New York Hot dogs are offered here with a choice of classic ballpark top pins such as chili and cheese

- Boston Red Sox

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit suggestion: Flying Pizza

- Toronto Blue Jays

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: I'll agree with the other comment re: footlong dog from Hogtown Grill. We also have the "Muddy York Market" which at least has a few interesting options that aren't the typical ballpark food.

- Tampa Bay Rays

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "Dude, the Pulled Pork Nachos at the Trop are awesome."

- Baltimore Orioles

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "Boog's BBQ & Chesapeake Fries (waffle fries topped with crab dip) are 2 things that I never miss out on!"

AL Central

- Detroit Tigers

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Mac and cheese waffle topped with pulled pork

- Kansas City Royals

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "The Brisket Nachos in a helmet are amazing. BBQ Brisket, cheesy corn, and coleslaw over tortilla chips."

- Minnesota Twins

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggetion: "Karmarczucks brats are god like - get it with brown mustard only, ketchup is a sin."

- Cleveland Indians

Concessions map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Hot dogs with Bertman Original Ball Park Mustard. Definitely unique to Cleveland.

- Chicago White Sox

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "You can't walk down a concourse at the Cell without smelling one of the stands where they're steaming Maxwell Street polish sausages and hot dogs over a huge bed of onions. They do it all on a flat top grill on a mobile cart with no vent hood so all of the steam from cooking goes out over the concourse. The onions cook until they're caramelized and then they're served on the bun with the sausage or hot dog."

AL West

- Oakland Athletics

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Top Subreddit Suggestion: "We got bacon wrapped hot dogs on the ramp to Bart after the game"

- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Nacho Helmet

- Houston Astros

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Nolan Ryan Beef Hotdogs: You can get them at dollar hot dog night

- Seattle Mariners

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries...

- Texas Rangers

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: From RangersOfficial, "You can never go wrong with a hot dog and ballpark nachos. We also have delicious garlic fries, hand-breaded chicken tenders, chicken wings, pizza, Fritos Chili Pie, several different versions of hot dogs including - Fritos Dog, Nacho Dog, Texas Taco Dog, and more, BBQ including a smoked brisket sandwich, brisket tacos, and more."
Thanks for reading everyone, sorry for making some of you hungry. If any of the teams who do not have anything listed come up with something then please let me know and I will add it! If you find something that I missed let me know and I will add it as well!

This post is currently being edited

Hello everyone! FAderp91 here again, and I am here to bring you part 4 of the 5 part preview guide to all of the ballparks' eatery for the upcoming season! I've reached out to every team's subreddit and with my own research I have compiled a list of some of the best food each team has to offer. Over the next few days I will be covering all of the awesome food and drinks that each team has.
The posts will proceed as follows:

1. Specialties
   
2. Treats
   
3. Drinks
   
4. General
   
5. New for 2016
   

Today in part 4 will be covering the general concessions that ballparks offers. Today is the day for you to be proud of your weiners and sausages. Will be going over each team's concessions and some of the different twists they have on them.
For each team I am going to be linking to their team's concession page and also will see if outside food or drinks are allowed into their stadium. So lets start with the NL West and go from there!

NL West

- Los Angeles Dodgers

Concession link
Food is permitted from outside the stadium provided it is not in bottles, cans, coolers or thermoses. Unbroken, factory-sealed plastic bottles of non-alcoholic beverages of 1 liter or less are permitted. (No outside food or beverage can be brought into stadium suites).
Dodger Dogs: The world famous Dodger Dog is a 10 inch link wrapped in a steamed bun. You can get them either Steamed or Grilled.

- San Fransisco Giants

Concession Link
Outside food is allowed but sealed plastic bottles and soft-sided juice containers containing non-alcoholic beverages are only allowed in AT&T Park (except in the Luxury Suites).
Garlic Fries: The actual name for the dish is the Gilroy Garlic Fries which is named for the town in nearby Santa Clara county that hosts an annual garlic festival to celebrate its self-proclaimed status as “garlic capital of the world.”

- San Diego Padres

Concession link
The San Diego Padres permit guests to bring food into Petco Park for individual consumption (but not for large groups of individuals) as long as the items are consumed in the general seating or designated picnic areas. Outside food cannot be brought into any restaurant, club lounge, or suite.
Pizza Port: New in 2015 the local Pizza place has a significant presence in the park. The brewpub's five grub and grog locations (in sections 104, 121, 215, 311 and 320) will sell cheese, pepperoni and garlic artichoke pizza, plus their signature garlic beer buddies with ranch and marinara sauce and Pizza Port beer on draft and in cans.

- Colorado Rockies

Concessions Link
Full list of permitted items
Helton Burger: The Helton Burger can be found at the Helton Shack which are both named after the famous former Rockies player Todd Helton. The Helton Burger consists of a decent sized patty, pickles, onions, cheese, and a special sauce. For $14 dollars you can receive a decent sized meal with fries or onion rings, and a drink.

- Arizona Diamondbacks

Concessions list
Permitted and Prohibited items
Suggestions from the subreddit: "Some of my favorites include Lo-Lo's Chicken and Waffles, and a restaurant that sells specialty hot dogs like the Sonoran Dog (hotdog wrapped in bacon topped with beans and pico de gallo) and the Venom Dog ("habanero sausage" topped with black beans, guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo).
When I go to games I usually get one of the things I already mentioned, but Chase does the normal stuff pretty well too. There's more Mexican food options than you'd find at other stadiums. There are usually food trucks outside the stadium too if you want to eat out there before the game. Prices all over are very reasonable for a baseball game." Link

NL Central

- Chicago Cubs

Concessions map
Permitted and Prohibited Items
Wrigley Dog: "If you go to Wrigley and don't get a hot dog then you have failed as a tourist. Something about the steamy buns and Vienna Beef dogs gets me going. Fuck ketchup and other red things/birds." Subreddit suggestions

- Pittsburgh Pirates

Concessions Map
Gate Policy: Guests are permitted to bring bottled water and food that may fit into a 16x16x8-inch soft-sided bag into the ballpark. Water bottles should not exceed 24 ounces in size, and must be clear, plastic, sealed and disposable. Children's juice boxes and items necessary for medical purposes are permitted. Alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages, sports drinks, cans, glass bottles and thermoses are not allowed.
Subreddit Suggestion: Bottomless Popcorn.

- Cincinnati Red

Concessions Link
No glass bottles or cans may be brought into Great American Ball Park. Guests are welcome to bring in soft drinks and water provided they are in clear plastic bottles and the safety seal has not been broken.
Skyline Chili Coney: A specially made hot dog in a steamed bun with mustard and our secret recipe chili, topped with onions and shredded cheddar cheese.

- St. Louis Cardinals

Concessions list
Fans can bring their own food & drinks into Busch Stadium for all 81 games. Alcohol, bottles, cans, thermoses, hard-sided coolers, hard plastic cups/mugs are not permitted. Non-alcoholic beverages including water and soda in open cups or in clear plastic bottles no larger than 2 liters are allowed. Food & beverages from the outside will not be permitted in the Cardinals Club, Luxury Suites, Party Suites or any of our other All Inclusive Areas.
The St. Louis Dog: a Fan Favorite which can be found at the Food Network Stand is a hot dog topped with barbecue sauce, shredded Provel and crumbled Red Hot Riplets.

- Milwaukee Brewers

Concessions Link
Outside food policy
Roasted Nuts and Cheese Fries in a helmet: These both are suggestions from the subreddit. Link

NL East

- Atlanta Braves

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
H&F Burger: A subreddit suggestion, a griddled double cheeseburger topped with red onion and house-made pickles, ketchup, and mustard, served on a freshly baked pan de mie bun.
Oh and of course Waffle House.

- Philadelphia Phillies

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit suggestion: Hot Dogs are good from the local Hatfield and they have Dollar Dog nights throughout the season. There is also a Glutten Free stand that does some decent glutten free versions, including a glutten free cheesesteak.

- New York Mets

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion:Citi Field has an amazing Pat LaFrieda's steak sandwich as well as Italian Sausage and peppers. Also, even though I've never tried it, I hear the Mex Burger (named after famed Met/current broadcaster Ketih Hernandez) is a must."

- Miami Marlins

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Helmet Nachos: tasty chips, topped with pico de gallo, shredded cheddar, scallions and Levy Restaurants (the concession czar here) own chipotle cheese sauce (lighter than the usual yellow goop), served in a souvenir helmet.

- Washington Nationals

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Ben's Chili Bowl is a local chili place that offers warming chili (in a bowl or served on other things like fries or hot dogs).

AL East

- New York Yankees

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs: The world famous New York Hot dogs are offered here with a choice of classic ballpark top pins such as chili and cheese

- Boston Red Sox

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit suggestion: Flying Pizza

- Toronto Blue Jays

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: I'll agree with the other comment re: footlong dog from Hogtown Grill. We also have the "Muddy York Market" which at least has a few interesting options that aren't the typical ballpark food.

- Tampa Bay Rays

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "Dude, the Pulled Pork Nachos at the Trop are awesome."

- Baltimore Orioles

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "Boog's BBQ & Chesapeake Fries (waffle fries topped with crab dip) are 2 things that I never miss out on!"

AL Central

- Detroit Tigers

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Mac and cheese waffle topped with pulled pork

- Kansas City Royals

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "The Brisket Nachos in a helmet are amazing. BBQ Brisket, cheesy corn, and coleslaw over tortilla chips."

- Minnesota Twins

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggetion: "Karmarczucks brats are god like - get it with brown mustard only, ketchup is a sin."

- Cleveland Indians

Concessions map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Hot dogs with Bertman Original Ball Park Mustard. Definitely unique to Cleveland.

- Chicago White Sox

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: "You can't walk down a concourse at the Cell without smelling one of the stands where they're steaming Maxwell Street polish sausages and hot dogs over a huge bed of onions. They do it all on a flat top grill on a mobile cart with no vent hood so all of the steam from cooking goes out over the concourse. The onions cook until they're caramelized and then they're served on the bun with the sausage or hot dog."

AL West

- Oakland Athletics

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Top Subreddit Suggestion: "We got bacon wrapped hot dogs on the ramp to Bart after the game"

- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Nacho Helmet

- Houston Astros

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Nolan Ryan Beef Hotdogs: You can get them at dollar hot dog night

- Seattle Mariners

Concessions Map
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries, Garlic Fries...

- Texas Rangers

Concessions Link
Outside Food Policy
Subreddit Suggestion: From RangersOfficial, "You can never go wrong with a hot dog and ballpark nachos. We also have delicious garlic fries, hand-breaded chicken tenders, chicken wings, pizza, Fritos Chili Pie, several different versions of hot dogs including - Fritos Dog, Nacho Dog, Texas Taco Dog, and more, BBQ including a smoked brisket sandwich, brisket tacos, and more."

I wrote an email about Mexico City to share with friends a while back that I've been adding to for the last couple of years every time I visit and as friends offer recommendations. I'm copying it below and will be adding to it over time. Out of the more than 50 countries I've been to, Mexico City is my favorite city on the planet. I think you'll love it too. This is by no means comprehensive or a definitive guide, so please message me with additional input and awesome places to visit in and around Mexico City and I will add to the list.
Where should I stay? I prefer to stay in an Airbnb or hotel in either Condesa or Roma Norte. The most popular options with tourists are Centro Histórico, Polanco, or Reforma, and those are good too, but are much different. Condesa and Roma Norte are probably the most gentrified neighborhoods, but in my opinion have the best food and nightlife. Walk around Parque España in Condesa and down Av. Álvaro Obregón in Roma.
Is it safe? Mexico has problems with violence in certain parts of the country, but Mexico City is very safe. If you live in the U.S., note that the U.S. State Department has no travel advisories in effect for the area, and that Mexico City's murder rate is lower than that of cities like New Orleans, St. Louis, and Baltimore. Like any city in the world, there are bad neighborhoods and there are good neighborhoods. Just travel smart and you'll be fine. I have never had a single problem.
Must-dos? The four things that I consider required, regardless of the sights that you see, involve eating and drinking: (1) drink mezcal, (2) eat tacos al pastor, (3) eat chilaquiles for breakfast, (4) visit a Mexican market. If you can handle it, I would add to that to eat street food like tamales or churros, and get some fresh juice (agua fresca). But be safe about it. Only eat street food that's cooked in front of you, no raw fruits or vegetables on the street, though you might have to make an exception for the juice. Be careful of anything washed in tap water or served with ice (ask if it's filtered). Anything you get in restaurants, including water, is going to be fine.
Anything else? Take Uber, not taxis. Taxis in Mexico City can be pretty sketchy and might rip you off. Uber is also much cheaper. You'll need cell data, so buy a SIM card at the airport or call your phone company before you travel and have them turn on data for Mexico. If you're looking for places to eat or stuff to do that isn't on this list, people use Foursquare way more than Yelp, so check there.
SIGHTS, ACTIVITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS:

• Teotihuacan: This is a must-see, pre-Aztec, Mesoamerican pyramid ruin just outside of the city. It's easy to rent a car, book a tour, or just catch a bus to get there. If you want to take a bus, head to the North Bus Terminal and ask for the buses that go to Teotihuacan. (Thanks Visor2040 for the correction.)
  
• Mexican markets: I could have put this below, under "restaurants," but Mexican markets are an experience in and of themselves. Mercado de San Juan (Centro) is a particularly good one, especially for a meal. So is Mercado Merced (Centro). But there are a million others (Sonora, Lagunilla, San Pedro, Buenavista, Medellin) so do some research. There's also a great street market every Tuesday morning in Condesa. There are also great markets for shopping. Ciudadela Market in Centro specializes in souvenirs. For more high-end, hipster stuff, try Bazar Fusion in Juárez. But my all-time favorite market for shopping is El Bazaar Sábado in San Ángel, which is a huge market and art fair that's hosted every Saturday.
  
• El Zócalo: The main square in Centro Histórico with the National Palace, which has some beautiful Diego Rivera murals, and Metropolitan Cathedral. There are also some visible ruins of the Aztec city Tenochtitlan here.
  
• Condesa and Roma: See "Where to Stay" above.
  
• Coyoacán: Besides Condesa and Roma, this is my favorite neighborhood. It's worth a day of exploration, especially on Saturdays, but is much better in the daytime than during the night. Check out the main square, the Frida Kahlo Museum, and the Trotsky Museum. The market here, Mercado de Coyoacán, has great tostadas and churro stands nearby. If you're a movie or architecture person, Cineteca Nacional is not far. Eat dinner and drink mezcal at Los Danzantes back in Coyoacán.
  
• Biking Reforma: If you're in Mexico City on a Sunday, the city closes Reforma (the main street of the city) and some other roads for bikers. It's very easy to rent a bike around here. If you're staying at a hotel near Reforma, many of them have bikes that you can use for free.
  
• Lucha Libre: On every Wednesday and Friday there are Mexican wrestling matches at Arena Mexico (Roma Norte). They are absurd and offensive (think wrestlers that are walking stereotypes throwing little people around), but so much fun. If you go, pony up for some of the best seats as they're not that expensive and it's good to be close.
  
• Xochimilco: Get a boat, cruise around and day drink. This place is especially good if you have a big group of people. The boats cost $350 MXN per hour (not per person). Since you're a tourist, they'll probably try to rip you off. Try not to let them.
  
• Mariachi: The best place to see mariachi music is at Plaza Garibaldi (Centro). Be prepared to run into tourists. If you want to try pozole, which is a delicious and ancient Mexican soup dish, there's a well-known place nearby called El Pozole de Moctezuma.
  
• The top of Torre Latino: This is one of the tallest buildings in the city (in Centro) and will give you a great sense of how big Mexico City actually is. Protip: to skip the line, tell the elevator attendant that you are going to the restaurant/bar, the views there are just as good.
  
• Polanco: This is the most upscale neighborhood in the city, with lots of higher-end shopping, nightlife and some incredible restaurants.
  
• Day trips: If you like a hike and beautiful scenery, drive about two hours outside of Mexico City to Nevado de Teluca, a 4,700m volcano and crater lake. More info on TripAdvisor (via ohtheplacesiwant2go). There are a number of other great volcano hikes not far away. The beautiful colonial city of Puebla is a 2.5 hour drive from Mexico City. It's a World Heritage site and the nearby pre-Colombian city of Cholula has a bigger pyramid than Teotihuacan. I also quite like Pachuca and Huichapan in nearby Hidalgo State, as well. There are many more possibilities so do your own research.
  

RESTAURANTS:

• Tacos al pastor: You must eat as many of these as possible. All the time. Almost any place you go is going to be pretty good, but some of my favorites are in Condesa, including El Tizoncito (there are a lot of El Tizoncitos in Mexico City, but the original one is at Tamaulipas 122 in Condesa and considers itself the inventor of the dish), El Farolito (Altata 19), and El Califa (Altata 22). These three are close enough together to do a "taco hop" one night if you want to try them all. If you're up for more of a trek, you should try El Vilsito (Navarte). Some of my friends consider this the best late-night tacos al pastor place in the city. This is a place you should go after the bar, post-midnight. It's a bit off-the-beaten-path, but worth the journey.
  
• Pujol (Polanco): This place is rated the 16th best restaurant in the world, has three Michelin stars, and won't break the bank (via hungryone).
  
• Tres Galeones (Roma Norte): Awesome fish tacos. Great lunch spot. This is one of my favorite places and I go here almost every time I'm in Mexico City. (If you want more of a hole-in-the-wall, a block away is a place called Chico Julio that also has great fish tacos and burritos.)
  
• Contramar (Roma Norte): Such damn good seafood. One of the best and hottest restaurants in the city.
  
• Quintonil (Polanco): Chef Jorge Vallejo is a genius and this is also rated one of the best restaurants in the world. Splurge and order the tasting menu with the wine pairings.
  
• Maximo Bistrot (Roma Norte): Anthony Bourdain likes this restaurant for a reason. Get a reservation early, they're high in demand.
  
• Balmoori (Roma Norte): This place is on a rooftop and has a DJ spinning. It serves small plates and is a great place to start an evening.
  
• Huset (Roma Norte): Really fresh, great seafood. Try the avocado pizza and the gnocchi.
  
• Azul Historico (Centro): This spot is pretty frequented by tourists, but that's because it's delicious. There is a great set of higher-priced boutique shops on the second floor. (There's also an Azul Condesa in Condesa.)
  
• La Tlayudería (Roma Norte): Delicious, authentic Oaxacan food. Try chapulines (fried grasshoppers). They're actually pretty tasty and a very common thing for folks to eat in Mexico.
  
• Yuban (Roma Norte): Another place with fantastic Oaxacan food and great cocktails. A little more expensive than Tlayuderia if you want a more upscale restaurant.
  
• El Parnita (Roma Norte): If you are not into street food, this is a good restaurant to try authentic Mexican food that you might otherwise find on the street. You can also try Mezcal Amores here, which is one of the most popular mezcals in Mexico (via myallurement).
  
• Casa de Toño (Zona Rosa): myallurement says this restaurant is a "MUST" and that there are many cheap, delicious options here, like pozole, flautas, sopes, agua de horchata, etc. For dessert don't forget to try "el flan de la abuela."
  
• Butcher & Sons (Polanco): Probably the best burgers you'll find in the city if that's your thing, $250-300 MXN per person (via JohnnieWalks9).
  

BREAKFAST/BRUNCH, COFFEE, AND ICE CREAM

• La Panadería Rosetta (Roma Norte): Holy god, go here and get a pastry. Expect to wait in line, but it's worth it for the mouth orgasm you will experience. This is a required Mexico City experience.
  
• Maque (Condesa): Another one of my favorite places. This is a breakfast or brunch spot. Get chilaquiles (the best hangover food in the world) and sweet bread.
  
• Lalo! (Roma Norte): Newish restaurant with one long communal table that is known mainly for great breakfast/brunch, but has awesome dinner as well.
  
• Restaurante El Cardenal (Centro): Considered one of the best restaurants in Mexico City if you want traditional food. This place has great food all day, but especially breakfast. Try the escamoles (I'm not going to tell you what they are).
  
• La Parroquia de Veracruz (Centro): They have food, but are known for their coffee. The original place is Veracruz is famous. When you order coffee, get "Lechero" (via JohnnieWalks9). I've been to the original in Veracruz and can confirm the coffee is delicious.
  
• Café La Habana (Centro): If you're feeling like a coffee, head to the 70-year-old shop where Fidel and Ché planned their revolution. It's a good place to stop if you rent bikes in Reforma on a Sunday.
  
• Cielito Querido Café (multiple locations): A local chain of cafés which are very well designed (via myallurement, whose favorite beverages here are Horchata caliente or Horchata fría).
  
• Helado Obscuro (multiple locations): This place makes ice cream mixed with different types of liquor (via myallurement).
  
• Chiquitito Café (Condesa): Hipster place with extremely good coffee.
  
• El Moro (Centro): Legendary churro place.
  

NIGHTLIFE:

• Mezcalerías: My favorites are La Lavandería (Condesa) and La Clandestina (Roma Norte), but feel free to find your own favorites and please message me about them afterwards.
  
• Departamento (Roma Norte): Looks like a house party on the inside and usually has a DJ spinning. Great place to start the night.
  
• Casa Franca (Roma Norte): My favorite place to see live music in the city. Casa Franca feels like if an extremely Bohemian friend of yours had a massive apartment and one day decided to put a bar in it and invite their friends who play in a Gypsy jazz band to do a gig. Every night.
  
• Hotel Condesa DF (Condesa): This place has a really nice rooftop bar called La Terraza, great for having a laid back cocktail anytime, day or night.
  
• China Grill/Moon Bar (Polanco): Another alternative to Condesa DF for a high end, party-like-a-rock-star, NYC Meatpacking District vibe if that is your thing. Also the hotel it is in, Camino Real Polanco, is an amazing piece of modern architecture (via taarok).
  
• La Graciela (Roma Norte): If you're a beer fanatic, this is a good bar to try Mexican microbrews.
  
• Other good cocktail bars: Try Gin Gin (Roma), which specializes in gin, Baltra (Condesa), which has a great vibe and amazing drinks, or Felina Bar (Condesa), which is good for a date.
  
• Juárez: If Condesa and Roma were the original hipster neighborhoods, Juárez is next in line. There's a number of great bars there, including Parker and Lenox, which is a really cool speakeasy jazz club behind what looks like an old diner, and Xaman, which has great drinks.
  
• Patrick Miller (Roma Norte): This is a straight up dance club, but what's cool about it is that there are regulars who go there and make crazy dance circles and do coordinated dances. It's kind of surreal but super fun. Check out the VICE video on it.
  
• Caradura (Condesa): Classic grunge rock venue.
  
• Rhodesia (Roma Norte): Near the Fountain of Cibeles, this is a nightclub that caters to electronic music fans. It's famous for its shots and is surprisingly cheap. Usually a younger crowd. Permanently Closed
  
• Los Insurgentes Pulqueria (Roma Norte): Pulque is a pretty gross Mexican drink that has been distilled from agave for thousands of years. If you want to try something truly Mexican, check it out.
  
• Cabaret La Perla (Centro): Get drunk, see a drag show. Pretty hilarious place.
  
• Other clubs: For techno, Mono (Juárez) and Janis (Condesa). For latin music, check out Café Paraíso (Roma Norte).
  

ART AND MUSEUMS:

• National Museum of Anthropology (Chapultepec): I'm not a big museum person and actually have never been here, but everybody raves about this place. It's in Chapultepec Forest, which is awesome in its own right, and near Chapultepec Castle, which is ohtheplacesiwant2go's favorite spot in the city. Even if you don't go to the museum, it is definitely worth walking around the forest/park.
  
• Palacio de Bellas Artes (Centro): This is a stunning building with some incredible murals by Diego Rivera inside. If you like art and architecture, check this place out.
  
• Kurimanzutto (Chapultepec): Very hip hipster modern art. Where the cool kids in CDMX are going to these days.
  
• Museo Soumaya (Polanco): Built by Carlos Slim for his wife, hosting the largest Rodin and Dali collections in the world. Beautiful architecture on the outside.
  
• Museo de Arte Moderno (Chapultepec): Best modern art museum in the city.
  
• Museo del Juguete Antiguo (Doctores): This place is wild. It’s a Japanese collector's old toy museum who has collected literally anything you could imagine throughout his lifetime. On the roof there are INCREDIBLE murals and street art. You have to specifically ask to go up there.
  

EDITS: Adding great recommendations from the comments below and other friends.

My partner and I have taken up biking as a new hobby. She's crazy excited about biking so I thought she and I could ride down to Annapolis from Baltimore (I've done this path before) and spend a weekend there for a "get out of town" birthday trip.
The last time I went I walked around the downtown area and got some fries and then ate at a local sushi restaurant. What are some fun places to see, drink at, and do? We love hiking, shopping, and are content to eat ice cream by the water. Any particular hotel recommendations as well? I've gone over tripadvisor.com but thought I'd ask the locals.

I'll be visiting the Washington DC area soon, and I plan on going to a Thursday night 7:05 game in Baltimore. I'm really pumped for the game and to visit beautiful Camden Yards, but it's looking like post-game transit options are limited. Looking at this and some other resources, it looks like there aren't many great options for getting back to DC after a weekday night game. If I want to insure I can stay for the entire game, is taking Amtrak back to DC my best option? Thanks for your help.