Seattle, WA - The Space Needle

I often shy away from tourist attractions, but the Space Needle in Seattle was awesome. Eat at the restaurant there if you can afford it (it's quite pricey but completely worth it - day/night tickets cost $22 for adults if you don't eat a meal there, so why not get a nice meal too - and you don't have to pay for tickets if you're eating at the restaurant). We went at dusk, which was really perfect because we got to see everything in the sunlight, then getting duskier (it's called "magic hour" in film for a reason - that warm glow that dusk settles on everything) and then we got to watch the city light up as it became night time. The Space Needle rotates ever so slowly, so you get to see the mountains, the harbor, and the city no matter where you sit, and it really is a breathtaking view in most directions.

One of many breathtaking views of the Seattle skyline from the restaurant in the Space Needle

The food was exquisite, as well. I had the Oven-Roasted Jidori Chicken and for desert we shared a rich, mouth-watering chocolate cake (which I can't find on their online menu to tell you what it's called). It really was a spectacular meal and a very romantic night - my boyfriend and I were there celebrating an anniversary, and this was the perfect way to do so.


If you go during the summer, there's a whole amusement park at the base of the Space Needle, but that was closed when were were there, as it was October so I can't tell you if it's any good or not.

Baltimore, MD - the Inner Harbor

I was lucky to be staying in a hotel just a few blocks away from Baltimore's Inner Harbor. We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn, which has one of the nicest gyms I've ever seen and is smart enough to have a separate pool for small children, so it's actually pleasant to swim there for adults. Plus it had free wi-fi, which should be a requirement for all hotels but unfortunately is not. The Inner Harbor is a really nice area, not nearly as dangerous as people keep telling me the rest of Baltimore is. We were there on a beautiful weekend, and so we spent a lot of time just walking around the harbor, people watching and seeing the sites. There's a cute little red lighthouse that you can go up into, and many ships from different eras and even a submarine to check out. The harbor was bustling with people, including street performers in a little square that gathered quite the audience. It was a really pleasant little area, though I was disappointed that most of the restaurants seemed to be big chain restaurants - I wanted to eat on the water but I didn't want to eat somewhere that I could eat in NY.

My favorite Inner Harbor experience was paddle boating. I always find paddle boating on a sunny day to be quite relaxing, and it was interesting to see the harbor from the water in a teeny tiny paddle boat. You can go in a regular paddle boat for $11/half hour (half an hour is typically plenty of paddle boating) or you can go in a brightly-colored "Chessie" (pictured above - the Chesapeake Bay's version of Nessie, the Lock Ness monster) for $17/half hour. We chose the regular paddle boat because the wait was longer for a Chessie, but the Chessies seemed bigger, so they're probably more family friendly for those of you with kids. Plus they're just a lot of fun. Definitely a great activity when the weather is nice.

Baltimore, MD - The National Aquarium

The main reason that my boyfriend and I went to Baltimore was to go to the National Aquarium. If you're planning on taking a trip there, there are a few things you should know. First, it might be best to go during the week (although there may be school groups then so I'm not quite sure how accurate that statement is). We went on a Saturday, and during a holiday weekend, so it was packed. We bought our tickets around 11am and the next entrance time we could get was at 1:15pm, the next dolphin show we could see being at 3:30pm. I think this is common practice there, so be prepared to have some time to kill between buying your tickets and going inside unless you go really early in the morning.

When we got inside, it was often really hard to see anything because every aquarium had a swarm of small children pressing their faces against the glass. So a lot of the smaller aquariums were very hard to see. Note: There are ledges for kids to stand on, so be careful when approaching the aquariums if you are trying to get in close - I banged my shin really badly trying to get close to take a picture of some anemones and not seeing the ledge in the darkened room.

One cool part is the sharks and rays that are in an ovular 3-story tank, and you start at the top (on the inside of the oval) and work your way down and around. The rays are really quite beautiful in an eerie/not-of-this-world kind of way, and one of my favorite discoveries was the sawfish, which is bad ass (and is actually a ray, and not a shark, though it looks more like a shark at first). We also got to see the rays being fed, which was quite cool. Two scuba divers were in the tank and the rays just swarmed them and were swimming all over them. I imagine that would be a little freaky at first, having rays swimming on your head.

The rainforest exhibit was kind of disappointing in my personal opinion - it was really hard to see anything with everything hiding in the trees, although we did see a few different types of birds that I hadn't seen before. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the Australian exhibit, which we both really wanted to see but after a long day and not seeing any signs for it to remind us, completely forgot about.

We ended the day at the dolphin show, which was a bit underwhelming compared to the Miami Seaquarium's shows, but still fun. Dolphins are just so amazing - so smart! Seeing these shows makes me really want to abandon my film career to be a dolphin trainer and swim with the dolphins every day.

Baltimore, MD - The Glass Grill

One of the most interesting ideas for a restaurant that I've ever heard of is a restaurant attached to a glass blowing studio. I found out about "Date and Demo night" at the Glass Grill by looking through events on Baltimore's Citypaper.com, which seems like a pretty useful resource if you're thinking about going to Baltimore - we also found out about the Walters Museum's free First Friday event on Citypaper.

The Glass Grill is kind of a strange place upon first glance. The restaurant looks like a hole-in-the-wall, greasy spoon type of sports bar (and has a menu full of burgers to match), but then has beautiful glass pieces everywhere, not to mention a gorgeous chandelier. You have to go outside and across the yard to the glass blowing studio, where they give demonstrations and later in the night you can make your own pendant, flower or ornament if you want. And even if you don't make your own, the demonstrations are really interesting to watch.

In terms of food, I just got a traditional cheeseburger from the place, but I have to say it was one of the best cheeseburgers I think I've ever had. I was quite upset because I wasn't feeling well and couldn't finish much of the burger, despite how savory it tasted (note: it doesn't reheat well unfortunately, a lot of that flavor is lost). All in all, I would definitely recommend this place as a unique and worthwhile place to visit if you're traveling to Baltimore.

Fort Lauderdale - Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Up until I went to Florida, I thought the Hard Rock was just a restaurant chain. Boy was I wrong. On my last night in Fort Lauderdale in February, some local friends of mine took me out for "ladies night" at a club within the massive complex that is the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The thing is like a miniature city unto itself. Tons of restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, billiard halls, and more than one hotel and casino mind you. Plus a big lake with pretty lit up fountains (the above picture doesn't really do it justice). Of course, it wasn't as flashy as someplace like Vegas but it was so much more than I expected. I honestly don't even remember what club we went to (maybe Pangaea?) because I was just so in awe the whole night of the craziness that was surrounding me. I had also never been in a casino before, so that was cool to see but I didn't end up finding the time to gamble (I was too busy drinking for free and dancing my butt off!).

And even though the whole place is maybe a little cheesy/over-the-top, I'd still recommend it (especially if the clubs have a lady's night for you ladies out there because then you can drink for free!) and I had so much fun!

Ft. Lauderdale - The Embassy Suites

If you can afford it, I have to recommend The Embassy Suites if you find yourself staying in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I've always been a fan of Embassy Suites hotels in general but this one is particularly gorgeous, with a beautiful garden court in the center of the building (where you can eat your continental breakfast and have free drinks from 5-7pm), a lovely heated swimming pool and hot tub with palm trees to shade you from the sun and a sort of pueblo-style architecture with warm colors and stucco. The one downside is that the hotel doesn't have free wi-fi (and I find it utterly riciculous that they want you to pay $10/day on top of what you're already paying for your room just for wireless internet). I spent a great deal of time by that pool though because of the lack of wireless, so perhaps it wasn't the end of the world (though I had hoped to get more work done while on my trip). And the pool was nice and empty because it was February and there was a "cold front" (ie it was only 67 degrees F, but that was way warmer than the -2 it was here in NYC and the sun kept me nice and warm).

The Miami Seaquarium

I have to admit that when we first decided to go to the Miami Seaquarium, I thought it would be cheesy and I thought I would feel sad for the animals. It was a little cheesy and maybe I did even feel a little sad for the animals (not to mention it was EXPENSIVE) but overall I thought it was actually quite cool. The dolphins seemed pretty content (they're fed quite well, probably much better than dolphins eat in the wild). We saw the sea lion show and the Orca show. Plus we got to see the bottle nose dolphins being fed. The shows were definitely a little cheesy but still really fun. The seal show was by far the cheesiest, but it was cute. The orca show was actually pretty cool - I was always obsessed with whales and dolphins growing up and orca's were my favorite so it was pretty awesome for me to see one up close and personal like that. And he seemed to be treated well although his tank did seem kind of small for a creature of his magnificent size.

Overall, I would say it was worth the cost of admission, especially if you're obsessed with whales and dolphins like me. In the end, this was definitely one of the highlights of my trip.