Here's what's new since Frommer's Maryland & Delaware came out.
Baltimore
Because the popularity of Baltimore's Inner Harbor continues to grow, a new group is starting to welcome visitors and keep the area looking spiffy. The Partnership for Baltimore's Waterfront, an organization of the area's businesses, has hired 16 guides who will work every day during warm weather from noon to 8 p.m. Look for them in dark blue uniforms with "waterfront guides" emblazoned on their backs if you have a question or need directions.
In addition, a 2.5 acre harborside park has opened beside the new Visitors Center on Light Street, across from the Hyatt Hotel. It opened in time to welcome the Volvo Ocean Race sailboats to the Inner Harbor in April 2006. West Shore Park is a much nicer look than the "temporary" parking lot that never seemed to have a free parking space. It's simple, mostly lawn with a few plantings, but it's good to have a green space for lounging and looking out over the water.
Baltimore has lots of ways to tour: boats, buses, trolleys, even "ducks." Now they also have Segways. These two-wheeled vehicles are available for rental (if previously trained to use them) and for tours around the Inner Harbor and in Fells Point from Segs in the City (tel. 800/734-7393; www.segsinthecity.net). A two-hour "safari" costs $70. A short trip up Federal Hill is also available, as well as a tour of the Maryland Science Center. The company also rents Segways in Annapolis and on the battlefields of Gettysburg.
In the Inner Harbor, Pier 4¿where the National Aquarium in Baltimore's Marine Mammal Pavilion is -- has become home to several new restaurants, all quick and casual. They are all located in the ground floor of a new building at 621 E. Pratt St., built between the aquarium and the Power Plant complex of shops and offices.
There's an Asian fast food place, Blu Bambu (tel. 410/637-3396) with a Mongolian stir-fry bar, sushi and the usual take-out such as sweet and sour chicken and tempura. Try the Kung Pao egg roll. Vegetarians also have lots of options here.
There's also a branch of the popular Mexican chain Chipotle's (tel. 410/837-8353). Order at the counter and sit down with a taco, burrito bol (burrito or fajita without the tortilla) or burrito.
Another addition here is Houlihan's (tel. 443/872-0058). The only sit down restaurant of the three, Houlihan's also has a bar.
The Joy America Café, we're sorry to report, has closed, though a new restaurant is expected to open in the space at the American Visionary Arts Museum. In the meantime, hungry visitors will have to find somewhere else to eat. Luckily, lots of Inner Harbor restaurants are within walking distance.
If you love luxe goods and are willing to paw through merchandise to in an atmosphere more Wal-Mart than Waldorf, check out the Neiman Marcus Last Call center (7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, tel. 410/379-0159; www.arundelmills.com). The outlet is full of designer handbags, accessories, clothing and home furnishings gathered from all their stores and Bergdorf Goodman, too. You might get a handbag for $300 instead of $600 but you're going to have to look through a lot of stuff to find it. Like the hunt? You'll love this store.
Ellicott City MD
The B&O Railroad Museum has taken over sponsorship of the Ellicott City Station (2711 Maryland Avenue, Ellicott City, tel. 410/461-1945; www.ecborail.org). The station is now open Wednesday through Sunday 11am to 4pm. Rail-lovers will appreciate the combination tickets for both this station (America's first rail station) and the beautifully-restored roundhouse museum west of the Inner Harbor. Tickets (good for both) are $16 for adults, $14 for seniors and $10 for children. Tickets have to be used within six months of purchase.
Chesapeake City MD
Chesapeake City has lost a landmark. Schaefer's Canal House is now shuttered and the docks are closed. It reportedly has been sold to make way for condominiums¿which will have a great view of the C&D Canal. Those of us who liked the restaurant's tradition of dimming the lights and announcing a ship's name and home port as it passed by mourn the loss.
Gettysburg PA
Forget the bus and don't even think about hoofing it through the Civil War battlefields. Segs in the City (tel. 800/734-7393; www.segsinthecity.net) has opened an outlet here to enable visitors to tour the battlefields in small groups on a Segway. When you sign up, you take a short training and then head off on a 90-minute to two-hour "safari." They cost $70. If you've been previously trained, you can rent a Segway and head out on your own. Segs in the City also has outlets in Baltimore's Fells Point and Annapolis.
New Castle DE
When you've had enough history in New Castle, head out to the highway for go-karting at Mid-Atlantic Grand Prix (4060 N. Dupont Hwy New Castle, DE 19720; tel. 877/656-RACE; www.midatlanticgrandprix.com) The indoor track is open Monday to Thursday from 11 am to 10 pm, until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays and only until 8 pm on Sunday, with after-school and evening hours during the school year. Hours change in the winter. It costs about $15 to $20 to drive, including lessons. These "Arrive and Drive" sessions are open to the public and don't require a reservation.
Newark DE
The Olympic women's figure skating champion hails from Bel Air, Maryland, but Kimmie Meissner trains at the Fred Rust Ice Arena (tel. 302/831-2868; www.udel.edu/icearena/public/information.html) at the University of Delaware in Newark, near Wilmington. Anyone who wants to soak up the Olympic atmosphere can skate here for $6 a session with a $3 skate rental during one of their public sessions. (You may not see Kimmie but you'll share the air she breathes.) Public sessions are held during the weekends in winter and Sunday nights during the summer.
Talk with fellow Frommer's travelers on our Delaware Message Boards or our Maryland Message Boards today.