Day 11: Baltimore, MD→ Washington, DC

Good morning Baltimore! After checking out of the hotel we walked around Fells Point and visited the eclectic E.C. Pops shop. We bought a Moxie soda and drank it while we walked around. I am not sure why I feel this way but Baltimore just weirded me out. It smelled like a dead body all throughout the area and when asked what the smell was we were told it was the heat mixed with the yeast at the Domino Sugar factory. We walked to lunch at Max's Taphouse and then headed to DC.

We pulled up to the most bougie looking hotel I've ever seen in my whole life called The Riggs in DC. It's a 5 star hotel and boy, it shows. I just felt like the Beverly Hillbillies because we unloaded all of our stuff from our car including our cooler. The door man asked if we were moving in and the fact that I drove a 2015 Nissan Sentra with rear end damage probably had them thinking we got this hotel stay as a gift or by accident. We let them know that we were celebrating our anniversary and they brought up two glasses of champagne and chocolate to our room. A man in white gloves brought all of our stuff up to our room and even brought us a mini fridge to plug in. Wow.

We crossed the street after we unpacked and had dinner at The Smith. We both had pasta and enjoyed the atmosphere. While the traffic into DC was a nightmare - the pedestrian ambiance was lovely.

Day 10: Philadelphia, PA→Rehoboth Beach, DE→Baltimore, MD

We left the charming city of Philly with the goal of visiting Rehoboth Beach to eat fries with the Bidens. It was so crowded at the beach but it was worth it because having french fries with apple cider vinegar at Thrashers along the boardwalk changed the way we eat fries. We watched the seagulls dive bomb beach goers and popped in and out of shops. For lunch, we went to a restaurant on the boardwalk called Above the Dunes and split a pizza.

On our way to Baltimore we stopped at our first Wawa. It's nice, it reminded me of Kwik Star. We found our way to the Inn at Henderson Warf in Fells Point where we were staying. The front desk guy was nice - he told us he designs toys in his outside life. After we got to our room he knocked on our door and told us he made us popcorn with some crab salt seasoning. It was okay but it's very cliche of Baltimore to have everything crab flavored. We then walked around Fells Point and we had dinner at the Thames Oyster House. We, proudly, had a crabcake. It was good!

Day 9: Philadelphia

A soggy day of sightseeing meant that we were some of the only people at Independence Hall and the line for the Liberty Bell. That was fine with us! Very cool to see the room where it happened and the history of Philadelphia. We found Benjamin Franklin's grave and said hi. We stopped by Betsy Ross's house and said hi. We went to the oldest street in the USA, Elfreth's Alley. We said hi to Chief Tamanend's statue. We also decided we'd have to try a Philly Cheese Steak at Sonny's. We knew enough to know to ask for whiz wit when ordering. It was good! We went to the Franklin Fountain and shared a shake.

We decided to be total tourists and run up the Rocky steps (Philadelphia Museum of Arts). After saying hi to the Rocky statue, I ran up the steps and punched the air. Mission accomplished. Afterwards we decided to go back to the coolest pub - McGillin's Olde Ale House. We had a blast like the night before and I never wanted to leave. I wanted it to be a Cheers situation where I show up every day. We walked back to the hotel and the glow of all of the lights on Independence Hall was very cool.