STAYING AT DAYS INN INNER HARBOR BALTIMORE

The hotel is located at 100 Hopkins Place in Baltimore, Maryland.

You would think that since the hotel is across the street from the Baltimore Convention Center and Orioles Park at Camden Yards, the hotel would be called Days Inn Camden Yards or Days Inn Convention Center, but nope, it isn’t.

Instead it’s the Days Inn Inner Harbor because Baltimore’s famous Inner Harbor is a few blocks away.

Because one of my Circle of Sisters and I were in town for our annual 30 Plus Teams Tour to see the home town baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, play the New York Yankees, this was the hotel we stayed at.

We have stayed at several different hotels in Baltimore but never Days Inn because it was always full.

This time we got lucky.

Rooms were available and we got a junior suite, which just sounds fancy schmantzy , but all it is, is a king sized bed with a pull out sofa bed, which was very comfortable.

Normally there’s a pool and an onsite restaurant.

The pool was closed for maintenance and the restaurant wasn’t open for lunch and dinner.

We ate first at the Pratt Street Ale House and then ordered from Broadway Diner, who delivered our food right to the hotel by door dash.

I would recommend both places to eat the next time your 30 Plus Teams Tour takes you to Baltimore.

I really enjoyed my short stay from 28 July until 30 July, but I do have two complaints though.

Sorry not sorry but two hangers in the closet just won’t do because the Sports Diva just doesn’t bring a little bit of clothes, I bring half my closet with me.

Secondly, guys seriously, coffee makers in the room but no condiments to go into the coffee like cream and sugar, let alone something to stir the coffee with.

Make it make sense.

The Sports Diva likes her coffee every which way but black and no sugar, just putting it out there for my next visit to Charm City.

In spite of these two complaints, would the Sports Diva stay at the Days Inn Inner Harbor again?

You bet your Crab Cakes I would.

EATING AT GARDEN COURT BUFFET

Since the COVID, Las Vegas shut down a lot of buffets that they’re famous for.

My favourite buffet was the Paradise Buffet, which was located inside of the Fremont Hotel and Casino in Downtown Las Vegas, part of the Fremont Street Experience.

That particular buffet is now a food court .

The other buffet that is downtown and is the only one there, is the Garden Court buffet located inside of the Main Street Hotel and Casino.

The Main Street hotel is part of the hotels that make up the Fremont Street Experience corridor, but like the Plaza Hotel, it’s not on Fremont Street.

The buffet is listed as one of the top buffets in town and inexpensive at $23.

Now if you have a players card, high roller of course, you pay $20.

The hours for the brunch are 8am to 2pm, every day. Saturday and Sunday it’s $22.

Friday and Saturday only there’s a dinner buffet, 4pm to 9pm only.

While there aren’t as many food options as you would find at many of the other buffets, they have an assortment of Southern, American and Hawaiian options

There are so many Hawaiians that come to Las Vegas that they like to call the city the “Eighth Island”.

The Sports Diva as usual likes to make a pig of herself and had two plates of food along with coffee and cranberry juice.

My second plate of mashed potatoes, Kailua pork, and Smothered pork chops was my favorite.

The Sports Diva could have been a real glutton and gone for plate number three but nope.

The Sports Diva has gotta save some room for my friend’s birthday dinner at Capo’s.

STAYING AT HOSTEL INTERNATIONAL BOSTON AGAIN

If I don’t stay with a friend who lives in one of the Boston neighborhoods, my go to place is an old familiar spot in Chinatown/Theatre District of Boston.

It’s the Hostelling International Boston located on 19 Stuart Street.

It’s close by the Chinatown and Tufts Medical Center Stops on the Orange Line, (although Tufts Medical Center Station is a little more safer), South Station on the Red Line or the stop I get off at, Boylston Street Station on the Green Line.

The Tufts Medical Center Station and Boylston station stops are the most convenient to get to the hostel.

The last time I stayed here was six years ago.

It hasn’t changed that much and I still think it’s one of the nicest looking hostels in the United States and we don’t have many of them like they do in the rest of the world.

I love meeting new people to connect with and even though it was the Thanksgiving holiday, that was no different.

(Shout out to my new Instagram buddy that I met at the hostel, Sarah from Switzerland)

One can still make food at the hostel or buy it from one of the many restaurants or stores nearby.

The Korean style Chicken dumplings and Pho hit the spot for me.

The floors, all five of them, having changed that much either.

There’s new artwork showing landmarks of Boston, and each floor has signage for the T lines in Boston.

God willing, I hope to come and stay here again for another 30 Plus Teams Tour of Boston very soon.

TURKEY DAY IN THE 617

First of all, let me say Happy Thanksgiving to those of you here in the United States, don’t eat and drink too much.

Yeah, right. Have that ham, turkey and stuffing, Mac and cheese, along with some Egg Nog or Coquito, like my family is going to have.

Now you know being the Sports Diva and her family, there’s going to be heaping helpings of football in there too, starting at noon and lasting into the evening no matter if the teams that are playing stink or not.

The New England Patriots are playing so the fam and I are going to be glued to the TV.

My 30 Plus Teams Tour started out Wednesday morning at around 7:15 am, where I caught an earlier Long Island Railroad train to Penn Station.

It was supposed to stop at Woodside before it got to Penn Station, but because of a broken rail it didn’t.

The train tracks are old in New York City and besides, Amtrak and the Long Island Railroad share the same track.

After getting to Penn Station, I had more than enough time to meet my bus which was going to the 617, Beantown, my home away from home and my getaway place, Boston, Massachusetts.

I’m going to be here until Saturday, November 26, and the Sports Diva can’t wait to show you how my 30 Plus Teams Tour of Boston is coming along.

Stay tuned my peeps!

PICTURES OF BALTIMORE

It always has had a bad reputation, but the city of Baltimore has always been one of my favorite cities, especially when the New York Yankees are playing the home town baseball team, Baltimore Orioles.

Every year one of my friends and I do our annual trip to see the game.

We aren’t the only ones, either as many people come up not only for the game but to see attractions like Fort McHenry, Inner Harbor and new areas of Baltimore that tourists rarely see, like the area that John Hopkins University is located in, Charles Village.

As it was very hot and humid, I didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted to.

EATING AT HASH A GO GO

Here we go again.

It’s the Sports Diva and her love of food whenever I do a 30 Plus Teams Tour of somewhere.

This time my 30 Plus Teams Tour of Las Vegas took me to a place where I had never eaten before and in all the times that I went to Las Vegas, I had no desire to go to.

It’s called Hash A Go Go and while it has a few locations in Las Vegas, the location my friend and I went to was at one of the original hotels in Downtown Las Vegas, the Plaza.

Because the Plaza has a big bingo hall and my friend LOVES playing bingo, why not kill two birds with one stone?

The location in Downtown Las Vegas is located on the first floor of the hotel just as you walk in

In case you’re interested, the Plaza is the last hotel on the Fremont Street Experience, so you won’t hear a lot of noise coming from the two stages.

The food portions are HUGE!

While my friend had the scrambled egg platter, I thought I was being safe by ordering two eggs over easy with biscuits and sausage gravy.

Did I mention that the portions are HUMONGOUS?

OMG. The two eggs were overpowered by all the biscuits and sausage gravy that was on the plate.

Thank God I didn’t order the Chicken and Waffles that I was thinking of ordering.

Hash A Go Go is inexpensive and if I said it once, I’ll say it again so that the people in the back can hear it.

The portions are HUGE.

If you happen to take a 30 Plus Teams Tour of Las Vegas and you want an expensive place to eat, a place where you’ll get your money’s worth, try any one of the Hash A Go Go locations.

GOOD THAI FOOD AT ABSOLUTE THAI RESTAURANT

When I come to DC, the first thing I want to do is check and see what restaurants are close by.

Usually, I go to restaurants that’s recommended by friends or family who live in the area.

This time, I wanted to try a different restaurant.

I was really wishing and hoping for one of my favorite foods, Thai , and I was hoping with as many different type of restaurants that DC has, I’d be able to find at least one Thai restaurant in the area where I was going.

Enter Absolute Thai Restaurant at 541 G Street, right across the street from the Capital One Arena, home of the Washington Wizards basketball team and the Washington Capitals hockey team.

(Could the Sports Diva be any luckier since I was taking pictures of the Capital One Arena?)

The restaurant is easy to get to by Metro.

Since it’s at the Gallery Place Chinatown station , just follow the signs to the arena.

But then it gets tricky.

You’re on 7th and G street, but you have to walk around Capital One Arena to get to the lower numbers of G Street.

Or you can do what I did. Walk through the alleyway of Gallery Place.

You’ll see the restaurant, which is small.

Now what about the food?

I had my favorite food to have whenever I go to a Thai restaurant.

Penang Curry with beef and Jasmine rice.

I started off with Chicken Satay with red onion and cucumber salad and peanut sauce which I gobbled down like it was my last meal or something.

As for the Penang Curry, it was enough for 2 or more people to share.

It was so good and not too spicy, just the way I like it.

Of course I had to have some Thai Ice Tea to go with it, even if it was cold outside.

All of this came to $30 or so, not including tip, which I was happy to give because the waitresses were so friendly and helpful.

This restaurant isn’t expensive at all even though they’re that close to the arena.

I would definitely go again, but next time no appetizer, just my delicious and mouth watering Penang Curry.

A Walk Down Rockaway Avenue

Once again, my 30 Plus Teams Tour has brought me to the place known as The Incorporated Village of Valley Stream.

My ride, better known as the Nassau County Bus, brought me to one of, if not the main street of the village, and that’s Rockaway Avenue.

On this street, which takes you all the way down to Sunrise Highway, where the Long Island Railroad stops, one will find shops, office buildings, restaurants, and lots of houses of worship.

The restaurants had outdoor seating as we’re still on Phase 3 of opening New York.

Like their neighbors in the five boroughs, masks are a requirement here on Long Island.

Even though I miss traveling to another state for my 30 Plus Teams Tour, I’m enjoying my bus rides and train rides to the cities that are close by me.

It was a nice day as I walked down Rockaway Avenue and in other sections of Valley Stream.

It didn’t even bother me that one of the streets that I walked down was South Corona.

How much do you wanna bet they want to change that name when the virus from hell is over?

FAN GIRLING AT THE PLAYERS LOCKER

It’s located in Downtown Summerlin, a suburb of Las Vegas, right near the City National Arena, practice arena of the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team.

The restaurant, called The Players Locker, is owned by renowned chef Wolfgang Puck and five of his closest friends in Las Vegas named Deryk Engelland, William Karlsson, Alex Tuch, Reilly Smith and Shea Theodore.

Did I mention that his five closest friends just happen to play for the Vegas Golden Knights?

When you first walk into the restaurant, which opened for business in early February, not only will you see the five jerseys of the players, but this is a sports bar after all, so expect to see a big screen tv right in the middle of the restaurant showing some kind of sporting event.

The food, which isn’t expensive at all, are foods that you would find at a sports bar, but with a twist.

Some of them are named for the players or are foods that the players enjoyed either at home in Canada, Sweden, or the United States.

However, bring your appetite with you because the portions are HUMONGUS!

I couldn’t finish my loaded Nachos.

Thank God I didn’t order them with Chicken or Steak.

Someone would have had to carry me out of the restaurant.

I went with three of my Vegas friends right after we left practice.

Imagine our reaction when one of the players came in.

Talk about the Sports Diva and her posse losing their ever loving minds.

#MajorFanGirling

All of us were fanning ourselves after we left the restaurant.

Did I mention that he was one of the owners and just happened to be the favorite player of all four of us?

#TeamAlexTuchAllDay

If you happen to be in the Summerlin area while in Las Vegas, (Red Rock area is also nearby), have lunch, dinner or Sunday brunch at The Players Locker.

Who knows, you might just see one of the owners there.

Just don’t be that Fan girl or Fan guy.

LATTES AT THE MOTHERSHIP

No, it’s not an old rock and roll group, Mothership something or other out of San Francisco or Seattle .

I’m talking about a coffee shop in Downtown Las Vegas called Mothership Coffee Roasters.

There are a couple of them in the Las Vegas Valley, but the one that I visited twice for a Hazelnut Latte and a Vanilla Latte the very next day while on my 30 Plus Teams Tour of Las Vegas was located in the Ferguson Hotel in Downtown Las Vegas , which is at 1028 Fremont Street , past the Fremont Street Experience and the up and coming area of Fremont Street East .

It opened up last year in October , and this was my first time visiting .

The lattes are very good and many people were sitting outside , enjoying the springlike day as well as the pastries, teas and the suddenly popular green matcha drinks that seem to be very popular now.

As this is Sin City, yes, you can find Beer and Alcohol here as well,

The place closes around 9pm.

As I usually come to Downtown Las Vegas whenever I’m in town, Mothership Coffee Roasters will be another spot to add to my list.