Help Deciding a One-Night Birthday Getaway

[Hey Adrien!]

My birthday is in about two weeks (won't give the exact date just to prove that I'm not that thirsty for positive attention) and in my usual typical self I have no idea what I want and my wife wants to start planning soon.

I'm not a big presents guy, so I typically like to do a small travel jaunt to celebrate. I'm turning a non-milestone age and since my wife is turning 40 in October, we already have a nice three day trip to Maine planned for her birthday, so I'd rather keep it small for this one.

Anywho, I respect and appreciate reading the travel suggestions of the Boneyard to assist me out.

Here are the options in no particular order:

A) Baltimore

• Drive down early one day to Baltimore and spend one night at the Marriott Waterfront, a hotel I've stayed in before and loved
• Early dinner/drinks/raw bar at Thames Street Oyster House followed by
• 7 PM game to see the Yankees play at Camden Yards (never been there before and my wife has become a Yankees fan)
• Drive back late the day after the game

B) Beacon, NY

• On the same night that the Hudson Valley Renegades play (the A affiliate of the Yankees) spend one night in Beacon, at a nicer hotel that I can book on hotels.com (we have a one-night coupon worth $180). We've stayed at the Roundhouse a few times before when we've had these coupons, but they no longer book through hotels.com
• Afternoon walk in the Dia:Beacon
• Evening game to watch the Renegades
• Spend the rest of the time just ambling around the Beacon area, one of my more favorite towns about an hour away

C) New Haven

• We're seeing Beach House in New Haven just a few days after my birthday. To enhance this trip and make it partially to celebrate my birthday, we would:
  • Book a night at the Yale Graduate. I loved my experience at the UConn Graduate so much, it would be fun to stay at New Haven's (plus we watched an episode of a Discovery+ series about the Graduate Hotel and there was an episode about the New Haven location
  • Just enjoy the city: pizza, drinks, seafood, whatever

D) Options of your choice. Rules:

• Somewhere within a three hour drive from Norwalk, CT (the only exception is Baltimore)
• One night at a hotel
• I like food, love seafood and I'm not really a meat eater
• I like wine or a good cocktail, but I'm not a big drinker
• I'm cool with the outdoors, but the only Yeti I own is a tumbler
• I'm more of a morning person, so nothing would involve me heading back to the hotel any later than 10 or 11 PM
• I hate casinos

Thanks in advance,

~ H. A.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Beach House is ______ great. That's all I've got.

 

[McLovin]

Love Baltimore. Tons of great food, historic charm and go Yankees!!

 

[8893]

Baltimore hands down, but fly Avelo out of New Haven instead of driving.

Flight leaves New Haven Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. and lands at BWI at 9:15; return flight leaves BWI at 7:35 p.m. and lands in New Haven at 8:40 p.m. Should be $50 or less each way per person. We just did that a month ago and it couldn't have been easier.

That will require two overnights but you can catch all three games, or do something else the other days (e.g., I highly recommend the American Visionary Art Museum, one of the most interesting and unique museums we've ever been to).

The game tickets should be cheap, as well as the lodging. Abundant food choices (I can help with other recs).

 

[BlueMAB]

Baltimore.

My other suggestion would be Newport.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

same answer, as usual.
Newport, Rhode Island.
i hear that the fish is pretty good there. the sights and sounds, too.

and oh, for youse mets morons watching, we got another one.
'and my wife has become a Yankees fan.'

happy birthday.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

and oh, for youse mets morons watching, we got another one.
'and my wife has become a Yankees fan.'

She's from a Twins family.

The in-laws lived the first 35 years of their life in eastern North Dakota so dad is obsessed with Roger Maris. They're cool with it.

The issue is the fiery younger sister who is obsessed with the Twins. My wife is afraid to tell her that she doesn't actually care about the Twins anymore and is actually a Yankees fan. This is the same sister who got beer thrown at her during a Yankees game for standing and chanting MVP whenever Joe Mauer came up to bat...she got what she deserved.

Side note, something revolving around a Yankees game in the Bronx is always up as a potential option, but I go to too many games to make it seem like a unique birthday thing.

Other side note, I hold no contempt towards the Mets. Two of my most sports obsessed friends are Mets fans and I will happily attend a Mets game and root them on. Objectively, Mets games are a more fun experience for me: I like the stadium more and I can better enjoy the atmosphere of a baseball game without the lows of a potential loss.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Beach House is ______ great. That's all I've got.

Haha yes they are.

It'll be my fourth time seeing them...the New Haven trip is the one I'm leaning the most away from as I'd rather just drive straight home from the concert as it's just a 40 minute drive.

 

[8893]

Side note, something revolving around a Yankees game in the Bronx is always up as a potential option, but I go to too many games to make it seem like a unique birthday thing.

It will probably cost you less—and be a far better experience, with much better seats—to fly to Baltimore and see two or three games than to go to the Bronx for one game.

The Uber and Lyft drivers there always talk about how the Red Sox and Yankee fans flock to their games there because it’s easier and less expensive for them to travel to Baltimore to see their team than to see them at home.

 

[superjohn]

Baltimore, big cities are more fun.

The big ball club is way more fun to watch than the little ball club.

 

[UCDaveD]

Canefield, West Virginia

 

[Connecticut13]

Baltimore's not a city that I'd choose to go back to. It has some redeeming qualities, but there are many more cities close by with lots more to offer. And probably too far for a one-night trip.

Newport would be near the top of my list. Beacon sounds cool, though I've never been. Cold Spring too. Heck, I'd do Philly and Boston before Baltimore.

 

[Drytortugas]

You could consider New Bedford. The Whaling Museum is a pretty underrated place, the city has as vibrant a working waterfront as any around, so the seafood is very good, as is a lot of ethnic foods. Check the schedule at the Zeiterion Theater, great place.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

New York City? Food, atmosphere and bonus that you can take the train right out of Sono or E Norwalk.

 

[MDHuskFan]

If you go to Baltimore to Camden Yards, don’t bring cash & make sure you have your cards. They stopped accepting cash there I heard, allegedly due to some mugging a outside stadium recently

 

[Devland]

If you go to Baltimore to Camden Yards, don’t bring cash & make sure you have your cards. They stopped accepting cash there I heard, allegedly due to some mugging a outside stadium recently

Rentschler Field and XL Center have also gone cashless. I think pretty much every arena/stadium will be cashless before long. I'm pretty sure it is not due to security risk. Possibly a result of covid

 

[8893]

If you go to Baltimore to Camden Yards, don’t bring cash & make sure you have your cards. They stopped accepting cash there I heard, allegedly due to some mugging a outside stadium recently

Rentschler Field and XL Center have also gone cashless. I think pretty much every arena/stadium will be cashless before long. I'm pretty sure it is not due to security risk. Possibly a result of covid

Dunkin' Donuts Park (Yard Goats) is also cashless.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Rentschler Field and XL Center have also gone cashless. I think pretty much every arena/stadium will be cashless before long. I'm pretty sure it is not due to security risk. Possibly a result of covid

I haven’t been in a few years. Just what some friends who live down near Baltimore/go to a lot of games had said. None the less, cashless park

 

[HooperScooper]

Dunkin' Donuts Park (Yard Goats) is also cashless.

Fenway Park also. Faster to get more people through a line. Which means they sell more. It’s always about money.

 

[Waquoit]

We go to Portland ME for a birthday weekend every other year or so. But that's a haul for you. Love DIA:Beacon, if you go there try to work in the Walkway over the Hudson if you haven't done so before, it's about 20 miles north.

 

[SubbaBub]

Can't sign off on a 5-hour drive to Baltimore for an overnight trip. This sounds like a NYC/Boston coin flip. Both are way better than Baltimore. From Norwalk, take the train, stay at a nice hotel, walk around, have a nice meal, see a show, back to the hotel.

Not a seafood lover so you're on your own there. As for the show, Come from Away is closing later this year. Great show with a great cast, should have won the Tony and you can get tickets pretty cheaply. The hotel/restaurant are budget specific.

 

[superjohn]

If you go to Baltimore to Camden Yards, don’t bring cash & make sure you have your cards. They stopped accepting cash there I heard, allegedly due to some mugging a outside stadium recently

Do any stadiums take cash anymore?

 

[Umami Zen]

@Hey Adrien! -- Since you mentioned NH as an option but not as attractive to you for this celebration-- Sometime this summer you might want to check out Shell and Bones Oyster Bar if you haven't been before..

 

[Hey Adrien!]

@Hey Adrien! -- Since you mentioned NH as an option but not as attractive to you for this celebration-- Sometime this summer you might want to check out Shell and Bones Oyster Bar if you haven't been before..

@8893 has mentioned that spot too. I've never been before and it looks great.

Considering that we might fly to Austin (I'm tagging along to my wife's work conference) and then straight from there to Phoenix (in-laws), a trip to Baltimore just a few days before is sounding less attractive.

However: dinner at Shell and Bones, a night at The Graduate and the Beach House show sounds like a pretty awesome birthday night.

 

[Umami Zen]

@8893 has mentioned that spot too. I've never been before and it looks great.

Considering that we might fly to Austin (I'm tagging along to my wife's work conference) and then straight from there to Phoenix (in-laws), a trip to Baltimore just a few days before is sounding less attractive.

However: dinner at Shell and Bones, a night at The Graduate and the Beach House show sounds like a pretty awesome birthday night.

If you decide to go there.. Two recommendations.. Definitely get a reservation ahead of time and parking is tight--Not impossible.. Taking Uber over (if an option) would take the stress out of it. I would check with them re: valet parking--Don't remember if they have it available. Place has a fun/upbeat vibe with excellent seafood and wine choices.