Things That go Bump in the Night

This past weekend was terrifying for me and I'm not just talking about South Carolina losing to Tennessee by 2 points in the last few seconds of the game... because that was pertty horrible. I'm referring to a haunted house known as Bennett's Curse in Jessup, Maryland that was absolutely one of the scariest adventures I have ever been on. If you know me at all, you know I am FREAKED OUT by haunted houses. I don't know why but I seriously have panic attacks and go crazy even though I know it isn't real. Just click on the link to their website and you can tell that it's no joke in that place. I made the mistake of reading about this attraction, which has been featured on the Travel Channel and was also voted scariest haunt in Baltimore/Washington for the past 5 years, so I think I had it hyped up so much in my head that it was even scarier when I actually went in. The tickets range in prices depending on if you want VIP treatment (i.e., you don't want to wait in line because they can get pretty long) but we opted for the $30 general admission tickets because even those tickets come with some perks. For example, there is a Bavarian Beer Garden called Blob's Park right beside Bennett's Curse that sometimes has a cover charge, but if you go into the haunted house, they will waive your cover charge. So that's kind of nice if you go on a super busy night when there's a cover. It wasn't very busy at all on the night we went so there weren't long lines for the haunted houses (there's 3 different haunted houses inside this one giant dome) and there was no cover for Blob's Park. Anyway, let me break this crazy horrifying place down for you.

Basically it's THREE haunted houses in ONE and they were all pretty legit as far as monster makeup and levels of scariness. When you enter, this super creepy guy follows you all the way to the ticket lady so you are immediately ready to get out as fast as possible. He eventually gets to the door and it turns out, he's a vampire they hired to give you the rules. No running, no touching anything, no pictures and no turning back. The last rule was incredibly difficult for me because as soon as he said it, I wanted to turn around. We bravely lined up and entered the darkness. This is where the journey became really uncomfortable for my fiance because I literally had a death grip on his shirt and refused to let go no matter how much he was swatting me. I also kept burying my head in his back... sorry, C., but it couldn't be helped. 

The first phase of the dome is "House of the Vampyres." When you walk in, you know there is no Edward Cullen around the corner to sparkle and light your way through. Oh no, shit stuff gets real. They have real people dressed up in the most elaborate makeup (no wonder they were featured on Making Monsters) and they also have insane mechanical aspects too. We rounded one corner and was face to face with this GINORMOUS vampire head that shot out of the wall and was seriously about to eat me. This monster also had a giant hand that came out as well, and while I didn't see it, apparently it cut our friends off from us altogether and they had to squeeze by to escape and catch up to us. When leaving the Vampire phase, a wall LITERALLY starts to shut you in, so you have to hurry it up before you are crushed. I'm sure they don't actually crush people, but if you're claustrophobic, it's going to be a bad time. 

Then begins phase two: "Zombie Kingdom 3D!" That's right... 3D. These creepy zombies chase you down to give you 3D glasses which you wear while the living dead is trying to maul you. Everything was painted with glow in the dark neon paint, which made the skulls on the wall literally pop out and every zombie was painted brightly as well, so you knew just how close death was. At the end you walk through a giant vinyl tube that feels like you are trapped but you eventually reach the end. Downside to this tube? It REEKED of body odor. I seriously thought I was going to pass out from the awful smell, but I was sweating like crazy because it was hot and I was all freaked out thinking I was going to die, so I can see how it happens. It was definitely insane which brings me to phase 3...

"Sanctuary of Insanity!" This was probably the BEST and WORST part of the whole place. Definitely the scariest, which is probably why they saved it for last. It's COMPLETELY dark. I mean PITCH BLACK so you are feeling your way through the whole thing and then out of nowhere, creepers with flashlights appear right beside or behind you screaming in your ears. And sometimes when you were searching or feeling for a wall or which way to turn, BOOM... you are actually grabbing a "mental patient." I mean, it was truly the stuff of my nightmares. The very last room had tons of strobe lights going and was filled with crazy people locked in cells all trying to get out and grab you. They were all in straight jackets with crazy hair and make up, but some of them were loose and would just run up RIGHT beside you and screech as loud as possible in your ear and they just kept saying they were going to get you. It was absolutely horrifying. We finally made it to the end, where of course a guy with a chainsaw chases you out. I think that's just a rule if you have a haunted house because I've never been to one that didn't have a crazy chainsaw man at the end.

Anyway, after we caught our breath and realized we weren't going to die, we wandered over to the beer garden to drink our fears away. It was HUGE but it was also completely empty. The bartender was really nice though and told us that usually they have performers/bands/dancers so I'll definitely be going back on a night where they have something going on. Their beer was really, really good and just what I needed after being chased by vampires, zombies and crazies. Even if haunted houses aren't your thing, you should try this one out just to see the makeup and elaborate special effects! It was incredible how life like they make some of their monsters. Even if you can't make it out, at least YouTube their work. They certainly have some talented people working for them! 

Cheers to surviving Bennett's Curse! 

B. and Z. Take the Zoo

One of my very good friends was in town for about a week and on his last day here, we wanted to do something low key because he had an early morning flight. Obviously, The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is what came to mind. I LOVE zoos. I cannot emphasize that enough. Every single time I go to the zoo, I come away having discovered some new crazy animal I had never heard of, like for example, the Hellbender. As disgusting as this salamander (or "snot otter" as some call them) is, I never knew he was out there! If you can't tell, whenever I'm at the zoo my inner nerd does cartwheels and somersaults. The only part about the zoo that freaks me out would have to be the caves and the Baltimore zoo had plenty of them. The caves are usually dedicated to the snakes and spiders and other horrifying creepy crawlies. I push through so I can look brave but inside I'm running away screaming. Since it was a Tuesday, Z. and I had NO problem getting in and wandering around because it was completely empty. They offer a courtesy shuttle to the main zoo area if you don't want to use the walking path and when we reached the shuttle stop, we were the only ones in line and the only ones on the bus, which was kind of nice because normally zoos are filled with crying children and that one annoying little boy that wants to stick his gum in your hair (yeah, that happened to me once). It was a pretty standard zoo... they had all the big animals including: lions, chimpanzees, cheetahs, giraffes, rhinos, etc. They were all absolutely fascinating, but the one I loved the most was the POLAR BEAR! They house two polar bears but we only got to gander at the female and she was so funny. She actually woke up while we were there and started rolling around to appease an itch and then stretched out and yawned a bit before finding another spot to plop down and go back to sleep. I instantly fell in love. I'm gushing over all the animals we got to see but there were a few that were missing. They didn't have pandas (which isn't that uncommon because only a few zoos in the nation have a panda bear), koalas, gorillas, and a couple of others that I can't think of right off the top of my head. I know they have most of those at the D.C. zoo, so I can always just go there if I'm in the mood to ogle a koala. One of the biggest downsides to this zoo is the construction they have going on. There were several areas that were closed off due to construction. There was one very large work zone right by the cafeteria and carousel that is apparently going to be the new home for the penguins in 2015. Honestly, those penguins are going to have a baller house because it looked MASSIVE. There were also a few other small construction areas but the penguin habitat definitely is an eyesore at this point. Of course, it can't be helped. The cafeteria food was pretty standard and certainly nothing spectacular. I mean, it's just frozen food they stick in a fryer, right? We did the whole zoo in about 2.5-3 hours but that was because we knew it closed at 4 and wanted to see everything so we weren't really taking a lot of breaks.  If I go again, I'd probably make a whole day out of it and go on the weekend because it seemed like most of the talks and animal feedings happen on Saturdays. We did happen upon a "Big Tree Slide" at the end of a cave and really, really wanted to slide down it regardless of the "No Adults Allowed" signs but there were a couple of kids going down it and I didn't want their parents to judge me. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely go again, but I have been spoiled by the zoo in Columbia, SC and just kept comparing them in my head.


Perks of going on a random weekday: No lines and no crowds

Cons of going on a random weekday: The adult cafes that serve "Marga-cheetahs" are closed, there are no live feedings, and no talks/seminars on some of the animals

And yes, Marga-cheetahs are a real drink they serve.

All in all, I would give the zoo itself 3 out of 5 stars, but I would give the day 5 out of 5 stars! The zoo rating may change if I go back on the weekend or if I go back when they open the penguin exhibit in 2015!

I snapped a few shots while we were there so here's a few of my faves....

Leopard!

Polar bear! ... So adorbs...

Warthog, aka, a real life Pumba! Where's Timone?

Man's (and woman's!) Best Friend

A dog will teach you unconditional love. If you can have that in your life, things won't be too bad.

I think Robert Wagner hit the nail on the head when he made that statement some years ago. My fiance and I own TWO Boykin Spaniels, a.k.a Swamp Poodles, and they are the sweetest, most loyal dogs we could ask for BUT if you know anything about the breed then you know they are hyper as fudge energetic! I am constantly looking for things to do with them to wear them out. Dog parks, ponds, even trips to PetSmart... anything to make them less hyper in the evenings. Fortunately, in a city this big there is ALWAYS something to do with them. Last weekend we discovered the Baltimore Humane Society Dog Fest so we immediately made plans to go. It was on a Saturday during the day which was perfect because it meant my fiance could go instead of me trying to wrangle both dogs all day by myself. We loaded up the Mini Cooper and headed out around noon. It was REALLY, REALLY hot outside which was one of the biggest downsides, because ALL of the dogs there were panting like crazy and trying to lay down as much as possible. There was a $10 entrance fee for the humans but it was worth it because all proceeds go to helping the humane society which is something I never mind. I mean, I can't even watch those Sarah McLachlan commercials without tearing up and scrambling to turn the channel as fast as humanly possibly so I'm certainly not even going to think twice about giving them $10. It's such a good cause and I can only hope more people get involved in helping out the humane society in their communities. Anyhoo, when you entered the Dog Fest, they gave you a bottle of cold water and a bowl for your little critters (thankfully, because like I said... it was burning up!) and they directed you to a GINORMOUS field set up with all sorts of fun for our furry friends. Some of the stations were free and some of them were $2-3 bucks. The dog swim was $3 and we really wanted to participate but the line was way too long by the time we got there so we decided to explore some of the other stations. They had so many fun games and contests including: Find the Treasure, Hide and Seek, Most Photogenic, Best Kisser, Smallest Dog, and the list goes on and on. The volunteers were all very helpful and really great with all the dogs. They even had an agility course if you wanted to see how skilled your pups could be at seesaws and jumping through hoops. Let's just say... you won't be seeing Rusty and Huck (our Boykins) on Animal Planet anytime soon! Eventually, it did get too hot for our pooches. Rusty just started plopping down anytime we found shade so we knew it was time to head back to the shaded area where they were serving food. They had 4-5 food trucks, including a SC BBQ truck that made me so happy to see, and lots of drink and dessert stands. Some of the food was a little bit pricey but a portion of it was all going to help the animals so I didn't mind as much. I had some delicious Ahi Tuna Tacos from the WOLO truck and C. got some concoction called a "Crab Cone" from a food truck called The Gypsy Queen. His food wasn't as good as mine, but we wanted to try a variety instead of both eating at the same truck. The fresh squeezed lemonade was probably my favorite part of the day, and it was probably only that good to me because of the heat but I don't care. We finally came full circle and ended up back at the beginning. While the Dog Fest was a lot of fun for the pooches and it was for a good cause, I still can't give it 5 stars. Obviously, they can't help the weather but some of the festivity lines could have been helped by letting more than one dog participate at a time. For example, the dog swim was the most popular event but so many people were skipping it because they would only let one dog swim at a time and the line just kept growing and growing. It was even longer when we left than we we arrived and it was pretty long when we got there. All in all, I give it 3.5 stars out of 5 and yes, I would do it again. Even if the humans don't have as much fun, the dogs had a blast and that's really why you go in the first place, right? I can't wait to do it again next year!

Oh yeah, another annoying aspect for us was people trying to guess what breed our dogs were. Being that they are a South Carolina breed, no one here has really ever seen them so we kept getting random people guessing things like "Is that the rare Lakota retriever?" or "Is that there a large cocker spaniel?"  <--- What the heck is a Large Cocker Spaniel? Is that even a thing? Needless to say, if you have a rare breed, beware the crazy questions. 

Bonus: Can you guess which one is Rusty and which one is Huck?

Fiesta... Wednesday?

We have been a one car couple since we moved to Baltimore so meeting in the city for lunch hasn't been an option but now that we finally have two cars, I decided to take advantage! I called up my beau and set a date for noon at a restaurant right across from where he works called Blue Agave!

It's a small Mexican restaurant that we have been wanting to try since we moved here but just never found the time. But boy, am I glad we did! Their daily lunch special was "Choose 2" for $8 and the list to choose from was pretty decent. There were 3 of us lunching (yes, I just used lunch as a verb) together and not one person was unhappy with their order. All 3 of us ordered the Soup of the Day which was Baja Chicken and it was absolutely one of the most delicious soups I've ever had at a Mexican restaurant. The table was full of chips and 4 types of salsa including guacamole. If you know me at all, you know that I am a guac snob. For some reason a lot of places just don't know how to make it very well. It's always too salty, or too watery or too chunky but not here! It is by far one of my favorite guacs anywhere and they bring a lot of it so we ended up taking it home and it is still good several hours later (refridgerate it, of course). Along with my soup, I ordered the Chicken Tacos and WOW. They were SO, SO, SO good. I will definitely be getting them again and from what I took from it, my fiance will be going to lunch there a lot more since he's right across the street. Unfortunately, I didn't get to try their drinks but they sure did sound tasty. Most Mexican restaurants are all the same to me, but I really enjoyed the food here and the openness of the building. We sat indoors but they have large shutter windows that they open on nice days so you can get the fresh air without sitting in the heat outdoors. And normally, I wouldn't have passed up the chance to try a Watermelon Margarita but I knew I was going to be driving all over getting errands done. Safety first, y'all! The next time I go, I'll make sure I hit up Happy Hour and see if it's worth it to pop in for some tequila inspired cocktails. ;)

Cha-Ching!

Yesterday, one of my very good friends flew to Baltimore to visit which gave me the perfect excuse to visit the local casino. Why did he give me the perfect excuse? Because he's a professional poker player! Super exciting, right? His lifestyle is fascinating, but I assure you I don't have the stamina or nerves for it. Staying up into the wee hours of the night and tossing around stacks of thousands of dollars like it's candy... talk about STRESS! I mean, I have a hard time losing $5, much less $50,000. He loves it though so it's the ideal job for him. When he arrived yesterday (after not sleeping all night from poker shenanigans!), we dropped his luggage off and headed straight for Maryland Live! Casino. 

*Sidenote: Maryland Live! Casino is not in Baltimore. It's in the Arundel Mills area which is about 10-15 minutes outside of downtown Baltimore.*

This casino is ALWAYS packed for some reason. It was a Tuesday at 2:00 in the afternoon and table games were still full. They also have unusually high minimums for all the games. The lowest minimum bet for Craps was $25, whereas in a lot of Vegas and Atlantic City casinos, you can easily find $5-$10 minimums. We played a few slot machines, one being Wheel of Fortune, because I am the master at slots. He put $300 in and within a few minutes the machine was lighting up and we cashed out for $625. Like I said... I'm the master at slots. Well, maybe not but I do get lucky a lot. I also became the shooter (person who rolls the dice) for a Craps game and was rolling pretty well! It was so much fun and we left a little richer which is probably not the norm in casinos. As fun as it was, I am just not a fan of casinos. This one in particular was a little less fun because it's a Maryland state law that they cannot serve alcoholic drinks for free. So if you are planning on posting up at the penny slots and drinking the night away, think again. Drinks here add up and if you're already gambling, it's not worth it. It is also a Maryland state law that you cannot smoke inside public buildings, including casinos. This doesn't bother me at all, but it is the first casino I have ever been to that didn't have smoking sections. The restaurants in this casino are all pretty standard: Cheesecake Factory, The Prime Rib, Etc. They do have a Bobby's Burger Palace (Bobby Flay's burgers!) that is outstanding. The burgers are SO good and the milkshakes are to die for. Seriously, if you go to this casino, just go for the food. We had dinner at a ritzy steak restaurant, The Prime Rib, and even though it was really good, it simply wasn't worth what you pay for it. Anyway, out of 5 stars, I give this casino a 2.5. But apparently if you're a high stakes gambler and you love poker, you would like it a lot more than little ol' me! There is a Harrah's casino opening in downtown Baltimore next year, so I'll be sure to check it out and let you know which one I like better... more than likely it will be the Harrah's, but you never know!

New Surroundings

I grew up in a small beach town in South Carolina so I've never really been in a city. I went to college in a "city" in SC but let's be real... cities in South Carolina are nowhere near the hustle and bustle as they are up north. 

Tangent: While I am aware that Maryland is below the Mason-Dixon line and parts of it are steeped in southern heritage, throughout my entire blog, I will maintain that Baltimore is very much a "northern" city. 

I have two rules about what makes an area "southern:" 

1. You can go into a local restaurant and order sweet tea without getting funny looks.

2. People are generally kind and hospitable. 

Baltimore does not adhere to either of those rules so in my book it's not the south. 

OKokok, enough of my ramblings on sweet tea and the south. The point is I am VERY excited and a little nervous about living in a "big" city! Not to mention, when most people think of Baltimore, they automatically picture scenes from The Wire and assume I'm going to be dead by the end of the year. Albeit, parts of Charm City are far less than charming, the heart of Baltimore is absolutely incredible! I mean have you ever been to the Inner Harbor or out in Fed Hill on a Saturday night? There is just so much to take in and so much to be a part of. My fiance works at a start up smack dab in the center of Fed Hill and he gets free valet parking so we don't encounter a lot of the parking woes that we hear about, which I'm guessing makes the city that much better for us. I have only been here for a couple of weeks but here's a few places I am already obsessed with:

1. Wegman's! 

It is the local grocery store where we live and I absolutely LOVE it. They are HUGE and they have just about anything you can think of. They have Seafood stations (pictured), butcher stations, Indian/Asian/Mediterranean/American/Mexican buffet bars if you're on the go and need a lunch fix. I mean, they are just amazing. My fiance is particularly ooo-ing and ahh-ing over their "Create your own Trail Mix" bar and while I am in love with the candy aisle, my butt isn't. Anyway... if you have never been to a Wegman's, you don't know what you're missing! 

2. Heavy Seas Beer! 

This is a local brand of beer that is ACTUALLY brewed in Baltimore unlike Natty Bo which claims to be. I recently went on the brew tour and it was just fascinating. We have done a bout of home brewing before so I have only known the process on such a small scale. First of all, the staff at this place was phenomenal and the beer was even better. I couldn't have asked for a better experience for $5. That's right! The tour was free but you could pay $5 bucks and try the beers while you toured! It is one of the funnest things I've done in Baltimore so far. Not to mention they are opening a new lounge on site so you can just go have a beer after work if you want. If you are ever in this area, DO IT! 

3. Social Pub and Pie!

Such a fun pub and GREAT prices. Forever, all people told me about was how pricey everything was in the city, especially eating out and having drinks. If you know me, you know I am a social butterfly but I was skeptical about going out here because I didn't want Good Time Charlie to get a hold of my wallet. I am lucky that one of my best friends has lived here for a while and she invited us out one evening to this little place! It was SO much fun. They have the best happy hour prices around and it doesn't just apply to drinks! You can get $5 pizzas, 50% off salads (that are only $9) and they also have an Orange Crush liquor drink that is to die for. I stuck to beer but CJ was helping herself to those crushes. ;) Needless to say, if you're in the city and you want a fun atmosphere with cheap dinner/drinks... this is the place to be! 

Baltimore is certainly a big place and I have tons more to explore but those are just a few little gems I have found so far. My fiance is going on a "Crabcake Tour" to discover which restaurant has Baltimore's BEST EVER crabcake. I'm sure he'll be sick of crab soon enough, but I'll keep you updated on the process once he gets started. Hope you enjoyed the read!