Baltimore: home of the raiders & kings

Hello Lovelies,

I wanted to make today’s blog post all about the home of the Raiders and Kings: Baltimore, Maryland.

I thought it might be fun to share some stories from my trip to the US as well as which things I saw and experienced that made it into the books.

My trip to Baltimore

In 2018 my parents, cousin, and I took a vacation in the US. We started in New York, more specifically, Manhattan where we spent about a week sightseeing and shopping before renting a car and driving to Baltimore.

We checked in at our hotel and went into a grocery store close by to stock up on snacks and soda and within ten minutes, we observed a theft. The security guard ran after the man, but he got away. It wasn’t the most comforting experience and though I would’ve loved to stay for longer in Baltimore, my family didn’t feel safe enough there, so we ended up going to DC the next evening.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory at the Harbor for dinner and had a lovely view of the water and ships. Baltimore is gorgeous at night with all the lights and beautiful buildings.

Seeing the sights

The next day we walked around for a bit to see a few places I had bookmarked for the trip. Among them was the police station where Cade and Cole work. It was really funny to walk past it and see what it’s like in real life and not just as it is on Google Maps.

While we were in the US I was writing the third book in the series and I certainly got a lot of inspiration for that book as well as many that were yet to come at that time.

I loved being there and seeing everything for real and I certainly feel better writing about a place that I’ve actually been to now!

USS Constellation

We saw the gorgeous ship from 1853 which has been in the Inner Harbor since 1968. It was beautiful and very well kept.

My cousin and I had some fun reenacting a certain Titanic scene and, no, we definitely weren’t the only ones!

We also went to a shopping mall that has since closed but it has featured in a few of my books though mostly in mentions (Joker among others).

Nash’s firehouse

We headed off to Fells Point, passing the firehouse on the way. I wanted a few pictures of it but a bunch of firefighters were sitting outside in camping chairs and I didn’t want to be a creep and take pictures of them. Maybe I’ll get to take some the next time I visit.

My mom did not have the same problem. She rolled down her window, took a bunch of pictures of them, and waved. The firefighters looked confused but waved back while I was melting into my seat in embarrassment. She has absolutely no shame! Gotta love that about her.

After seeing the park, we drove off toward Washington DC where we of course saw the White House, Congress, and a few of the Smithsonian museums. We had a lot of fun in DC and I, of course, was plotting the whole time. Or, you know, taking in and writing down information for future books! Things like the Congress where Emery works, the FBI building the Raiders work out of, the hotel where *spoiler alert* Neil and Marco met. And much much more…

Thank you for reading along this post as I walked you through some stories from my trip to the US and my experiences there. I hope to return someday and revisit some of the places from this trip as well as some new ones! Have you been to Baltimore? If so what is your favorite place to visit and why? Share in the comment section below!