Explorers At Royal Sonesta Harbor Court

This is a review for Baltimore's authentic Christmas village. Held at Inner Harbor. The holiday German village set up for 2023 was quite remarkable and fun. There are loads of food options all traditional German style food from Bratwurst to smoked salami, chocolates, potatoes, along with all sorts of wonderful, hot beverages, both alcoholic, and non-alcoholic. I especially liked the Irish coffee, spiced mold cider in the hot chocolate with a touch of Baileys. The other nice aspect was being able to pick up a mug or Stein as a remembrance from the days events that was more economical cost to refill once it was purchased. However, I do suggest if everybody's going to get one to go into the German village and buy the three for 20 instead of three individually. There's plenty of room to maneuver around, and the flow moves pretty quickly in and out. The only difficulty was in the German Village under the tent when you wanted to get in line to see the traditional German style, holiday, decorations, and chocolates, but the line did move pretty quickly. The only huge issue we had was to poor WiFi onsite that caused many vendors to post cash only. Suggest someone looks into that as the chocolate booth had to turn-away credit card sales. We enjoyed the Salami Raclette Sandwich, Alpine Cheese Fries(vegetarian) with Swiss Cheese, Smoked Glazed Bacon, and Pretzels with German mustard. All of which were hot nicely prepared and delicious. We were also able to reserve parking right across the street from the venue for $20 online that offered a three minute walk to the venue. Everyone that served us polite and helpful and the atmosphere around entire village was festive. To top off the day before we left the Ravens band played for us as the Majesty came into dock. We enjoyed the day and spent a little over 4 hours checking out the shops, listening to music and enjoying some fantastic food! Highly recommended!

If you visit city of Baltimore, Inner Harbor offers lots of attraction such as the National Aquarium, Top of the World Observation Tower, Federal Hill park, Science center etc. Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit the Science center. Most of the attractions are within the walking distance so be sure to wear your comfortable shoes. You would need to pay for your own parking. If you get to the Top of the World Observation Tower or the Federal Hill park you can get a good view of the city.

Living and trying to start a family in the 1990 's Inner Harbor was challenging and exciting. Neighborhood parks and local charm along with job opportunities made the area very attractive at that time.The Renaissance and Sheraton Hotels were perfect with their views and pedestrian bridges. The baseball and football franchises were the best. All accolades from out of town quests. Watching The Wire on HBO, there was always hope for improving the many urban issues. Visiting recently, I am saddened by the closure of the Gallery Place mall and the nearly abandoned Harborplace, all costing around $100 M. The nearby empty office spaces and attempted renewals of Lexington and Cross Street Markets are symptomatic of an underlying weak economy and residual Covid issues. Still charming and worth the visit. All the pieces matter.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor was a lovely introduction to what sights there are to see downtown. We took a stroll through here after visiting the aquarium and ran into a lot of cool things. There's shops, restaurants, paddle boats, pirate ships, and a stunning view all around you. Even on a Monday afternoon, there were quite a bit of others exploring as well. I also recommend checking out Rash Field Park at the end of the harbor It's the best view of the skyline!

The new 'Our Baltimore ' Wall Mural had its completion celebration at the Renaissance Harborplace hosted by The Charm 'tastic Mile. The majestic art breath 's a bit of fresh air to downtown and the Inner Harbor.