 There are five crucial questions a journalist must ask (and, ideally, answer) when researching and developing a story: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. These Five W's, along with a bonus "How" for further clarity, introduce each blog post to provide proper insight into this weird, wild nomadic journey. The Five W's + H: Who: The traveling trio of Christina (the fiancé), Sophie (the cat) and me (the writer) What: Top 5 places to drink up Where: Baltimore, Maryland When: December 2020 - March 2021 Why: We had a great six month stay in Chicago, but it was time to escape before frigid, frosty weather engulfed the Windy City. We narrowly evaded sub-zero temps and arrived in Baltimore welcomed by more survivable 30 and 40-degree days. Aside from more bearable (slightly) weather, moving to B'more felt like a great opportunity to discover a new city we had only experienced through HBO’s The Wire—a great show but not exactly indicative of everyday life for many in Baltimore. Curiously, I did not, in fact, link up with Marlo Stanfield and secure my own corner slanging rocks, nor did I join a team of ragtag police officers building cases via wiretap. Pretty disappointing really. + How: Saving ourselves from the grind of one painstakingly long drive through the Midwest, we cut our roughly 11 hour and 700-mile ride into two treks. The first leg of this relatively brief journey (for us, at least) passed through South Bend, Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio before we called it a day just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This set up a brief morning drive across Pennsylvania, through Maryland and to our new home in the Harbor East neighborhood of Charm City. (Note: As of this writing, Covid-19—aka the plague—has infected more than 29 million people and killed at least 525,000 more here in the United States alone. As a result, for the first month or so in Baltimore, restaurants and bars were shut down and limited to takeout only. After eateries began to open, and the weather started to cooperate, we were finally able to dine out (outside, of course) at a few places before leaving. We were able to visit about half of the spots on this list, and the rest we enjoyed takeout or delivery. Luckily, none of the restaurants on this list have been forced to board up their doors and, per usual, all of these restaurants feature outdoor eating areas and/or offer to-go ordering when open for business. Hopefully, with vaccinations ramping up and people practicing safer social interactions, we are primed to finally escape this dire pandemic. Let’s continue to mask up, stay socially distanced and be safe out there.) Five Places to Drink Up: Baltimore, MDQuotable: "Dive bar with elevated cuisine." After a month or so waiting to find a quality place to venture for an outdoor meal, we started small at a tavern-looking restaurant called Barley's Backyard. Serving brunch, lunch and dinner, this Fells Point transplant has the look and feel of a dive bar yet features surprisingly elevated cuisine. Let's break down what makes Barley's Backyard one of the best bars in Baltimore:
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