Inner Harbor with teenagers

Hi Everyone,

We%26#39;re visiting Baltimore in August for a couple of Red Sox games. What is the best thing to do with teenagers? We are staying in White Marsh and are going to games Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We will have all day Saturday before the game to do something. The kids ages are 11, 12, 14 %26amp; 15. Is the aquarium a good option or do you think they will get bored? Thanks.

Inner Harbor with teenagers

They will not get bored at the Aquarium- it is very cool.

Also, the ESPN Sportzone might be something they would enjoy and it%26#39;s right next to the aquarium.

Inner Harbor with teenagers

Thanks for the info. Have you been to the ESPN Zone before? I%26#39;ve seen a few around the country but have never been into one. Is it a restaurant?

I%26#39;ve been there a couple of times, but to be honest it%26#39;s not my cup of tea. The ESPN zone in Baltimore is the flagship ESPN Zone. It was the first one, and it%26#39;s huge. It is a restaurant, yes. Lots of games, and rows of armchairs (!) in front of a huge TV.

Hanging out at the 2 waterfront pavilions in the Inner Harbor would occupy for an hour or two. Also the Sports Legends Museum is very nice and right next door. Water taxi ride over to Fells Point- shops, pubs, restaurants abound! Paddle boat rides in the harbor. The Duck Tours are fun I have heard. Those are the boat/bus that takes you on a tour of Baltimore and the waterfront area. You should have no prob keeping your group entertained.

Thanks for the great information about Baltimore. Have you ever been to the National Zoo in Washington DC? Is it worth the drive to get there? Do you think that we could do that Saturday day and still get to the game Saturday night?

My husband has taken my son there and he said that the national zoo in DC was nice, and it%26#39;s FREE! Be warned, traffic getting back to Baltimore from DC at rush hour is a nighmare, so plan accordingly.

The National Zoo in DC was wonderful many years ago. I have not been there in quite some time. The city of DC has so much to offer the Smithsonian, monuments.....Your older children might enjoy those more than the zoo.

If you are planning to visit DC on Saturday, you will not have to contend with the rush hour traffic. Another option would to drive to a metro station, park your car and metro into DC.

The link to the DC Metro is

http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm

Another option to get to DC is the MARC train, but I do not think it runs on weekends. You might want to check that.

You also can drive to DC from Baltimore, allow your self plenty of time. Parking is always an issue wen you get there and I personally find driving within the city of DC a bit confusing.

Recently went to DC Zoo. Honestly- it has somewhat deteriorated over the last few years. There has been some concern over the state of the zoo and not much has been done to solve it. When my kids were small we went on frequent school trips there which were great, so I was very saddened to see the state of the zoo. It just seemed not well kept and a little '; rough around the edges';. I also think it would make a really long day to try to do get to DC, walk the '; huge'; zoo and then get back to an evening ball game. JUst my opinion!

I think if you were going to do a day trip to DC, I would not do the zoo, but would do some of the more kid-friendly and interactive museums instead. The Air and Space museum is cool and so is the Natural History Museum (they are within walking distance of each other). To do this, you could drive to Camden Yards train station and park, then take the train in to Union Station and then walk or quick metro ride to the National Mall where the museums are. Train tickets are probably about $14 on the weekend, but it might be better than the headache of driving. The bonus would be that your car would already be at Camden Yards when you got back for the game (alternatively, if you wanted to go home, change, etc, I would reccomend leaving from Penn Station since that wil give you easily access to get back to White Marsh).

Another good idea if you have any free nights (not sure if you are coming in Friday or leaving Sunday?) would be to take the kids to one of Baltimore%26#39;s best kept secrets - Bengies drive in movie theater. I remember as a cynical teenager even thinking this was really cool:

http://www.bengies.com/

mac rvd