TL;DR

Baltimore, MD and York, PA

• Stay
  • Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, 245 St. Charles Way, York, PA 17402
    • The lodging options in Pennsylvania near the wedding were surprisingly sparse, so we elected to use AAdvantageHotels.com and booked the Country Inn & Suites (I am generally a big fan, as it gets me both loyalty points/American Airlines AAdvantage miles, usually at reasonable prices)
• Eat/Drink
  • G&M Restaurant, 804 N Hammonds Ferry Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD 21090
    • This place was close to the airport and had been suggested
  • Arby’s
    • I mean, we ate here. That doesn’t mean you have to. Hence I am not linking to an address or website. If you’ve ver had Arby’s, go ahead. But don’t blame me.
• See/Do
  • William Kain Park, 274 Hess Farm Rd, York, PA 17407
    • A beautiful natural place, with well developed areas for hiking (with and without strollers)
  • Northern Central Railway of York, 2 W Main St, New Freedom, PA 17349
    • How do kids like trains? I don’t really know but both Cooper and Clementine really enjoyed this charming hour+ long ride. The open windows and summer weather coupled with fresh air made for a really easy and fun ride.
  • Stone Mill Inn, 305 South Broad Street – Hallam, PA 17406 
    • The venue for the wedding featured a big parking lot, a lovely grove where the ceremony was held, and a beautiful main building with exterior patios where the dinner and reception were held.

Trip Background

Caitlin’s cousin Erich was kind enough to invite us to his wedding outside Baltimore (in Pennsylvania), so with a little planning, we arranged our schedule to be there on an August Saturday to get settled before the wedding on Sunday, and then a quick dash back to Chicago on the Monday following.

We had always planned on spending some time in Baltimore as Caitlin’s grandmother lived there (til her unfortunate passing in 2022) and Caitlin’s mother had grown up there – but like many things in life, we just never made the trip happen until this point in time. I was excited to try Maryland blue crab as my then mother-in-law had raved about it for years, and though most of our time on this trip was focused on the wedding, we still managed to find some fun ways to entertain the kids.

Day 1 (August 19, 2023)

We got to O’Hare Airport’s terminal 5 on time to check in, and we were told we had to check in because Clementine was traveling as a lap child. It took us 45 minutes to get to the front of the Southwest line where we were informed that checking in was unnecessary – thanks a lot, Southwest. But here is where we realized that TSA Precheck is really a necessity these days.

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The regular, non-PreCheck line must have been 300+ people; the PreCheck line was perhaps 30. As a result, getting through security took far less time for us than for the hundreds of peeved people beside us.

Upon arriving in Baltimore, we learned at the baggage claim that the spotted lanternfly is apparently an invasive species and the signage telling us to stomp them on sight was an odd thing – see later in this journey for why this is funny.

We were again reminded why having status helps one save time – we got to the Avis line which wasn’t as bad as the PreCheck line, but it was still long. We bypassed it all and went straight to our car, loaded up, and were on our way in a flash.

As we set off for York, PA, we decided to grab some crab cakes from G&M Restaurant, which had been recommended by several people. I had been hearing for years about the deliciousness of Maryland Blue crab, and I had always claimed pride in Dungeness crab (the staple in my hometown of San Francisco) – and basically I have concluded that both are excellent and not inherently better or worse than another. The individual preparation and flavor determines the quality and G&M was quite good.

With some food in our belly and fries for the road, we drove to the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson in York, PA, about an hour away. We finished our dinner and got settled, then decided to make it an early night.

Day 2 (August 20, 2023)

After getting some breakfast, we decided to take a short hike in William Kain Park with the kids. It was a beautiful, well-maintained area with several walkways over brush and water as well as trails that were easy to traverse. But this was just a time-filler before we got to take Cooper and Clementine to the Northern Central Railway of York. If your kid loves trains, take them here. We got on at New Freedom and the roughly hour long round trip to and from Glen Rock was a charming way to see the local area and let the kids imagine being on an old-time train (which apparently was the route Abraham Lincoln took en route to delivering the Gettysburg Address).

At one point, the conductor pointed at a nearby factory (which I think had something to do with waste reclamation) and said, “I don’t know  what they do there but they tell me they’re number one and number two!” The entire train burst out into laughter.

Oh and fun fact – Pennsylvania had been subject to an invasion of the spotted lanternfly – so much so that there were signs everywhere (from Baltimore airport to the streets of York) instructing us to smash them wherever we saw them. While on the train, one landed on Caitlin and before we knew what was happening, it flew off. Only later did I make the connection to dozens of signs we’d seen on the trip!

That night, we went to the Stone Mill Inn in Hallam, PA, where Caitlin’s cousin was getting married. They thoughtfully handed out these folding fans, which were a godsend because the temperature was in the 80’s and the guests in their suits and dresses were slowly melting. After a touching ceremony in nature, we relocated to the main building for dinner – and Clementine bonded with another little girl on the dance floor.

Day 3 (August 21, 2023)

This was not a typical wedding trip, since the event fell on a Sunday. This mean we had to depart early on a Monday, heading out from York at 7:30 AM to get back down to Baltimore airport for a noon flight. The Southwest flight home was super easy, and I appreciated the signage indicating there would be open seats (a relief).

Final Thoughts

Weddings are almost always joyous occasions, and this was no exception. Though a quick trip that did not afford us a lot of time to explore, I found myself enjoying York and Baltimore, and wanting more time to explore the area. Next time!