Phillip's Seafood, Baltimore, Maryland

We only planned to have a quick snack since we had just gotten off of the boat and were still feeling the effects of being able to have a hamburger or two at two o'clock in the morning. But we had been walking around the harbor area for a couple hours at this point and decided a little snack would be good.

There wasn't a line to wait in so we entered what looked like it might be a slightly fancy restaurant and asked for a table.  We were seated at an outside table, not that we weren't dressed well enough but it was a nice place to sit, and the menu prices were a little high.  I ended up ordering the crab soup thinking it might be ok since we were by the bay which was attached at least to the ocean. I also had just bought a magnet with a crab soup recipe on it, which I still haven't tried.

I was more than happy with the soup and can't think of why I haven't tried the recipe I got even still. It's probably because there is so much else going on that I just either don't have the time or the ingredients when I do. It's been a while and I don't really remember what else we ate but it was all delicious, the crab soup was just that much better.

It goes without saying that this place was situated in a good place, a seafood restaurant on the water, but it needs to be mentioned that the service was good too.  We were never waiting around to see where our server had gotten off to.

As far as parking was concerned I didn't see a lot of places to park but since we were taking the trolley it didn't bother us any. The train stop was some ways away though and isn't an ideal way to get there if you aren't going to be looking around as well. If you find yourself in the area you really should at least have a cup of soup.

Hours: Mon–Thurs 11am – 10pm
            Fri –Sat 11am – 11pm
            Sunday 11am – 9pm
Location: 601 E. Pratt St, Baltimore, MD
Website: http://www.phillipsseafood.com/locations-and-menus/baltimore

Shrimp 'N Stuff, Galveston, TX

I don't think I need glasses just yet but it was a little confusing finding this place, not because it's a bad location but because it's on Avenue O which looks a lot like Avenue Q if you aren't paying very good attention. An easy way to tell the difference is Avenue O is a one way street and Avenue Q isn't. If you find yourself on the wrong street just go two blocks north and you're there.

As their site says, they've got good prices on good food.  When you order a po-boy you get more than will really fit in the bun they put it on. It was a little farther from the hotel than we would have liked but they're in a great location for business.  If I ever move to Galveston I know what area I'm moving to.

When we got there it was a little busy but the line moved along quickly and we were ordering before we knew it.  Drinks were serve yourself and the meal was picked up at the window inside.  It didn't take too long to come out considering the traffic of people.

For some reason you just can't get seafood anywhere like the coast.  There have been some places that messed it up even then but this place wasn't one of them.  I could have eaten their popcorn shrimp and hush puppies until I popped but we had places to go.  Their bread was fresh and everything was cooked just right.

Parking was a little iffy.  If you get there when someone is leaving or if they're not too busy then you're good to go.  The parking is angled parking from the street so you're backing out into traffic but the streets aren't that busy.  I wouldn't take a little car just in case it scrapes the ground.

Prces as mentioned were fair.A shrimp po-boy is only $5.99. They would probably charge $8-$9 up here and not be half as good. $2.00 for drinks with free refills.

If you're in town for more than a day you have to check this place out.

Hours: Sun - Thurs 10:30am - 9:30pm
Fri - Sat 10:30am - 10:30pm
Location 3901 Avenue O, Galveston, TX
Website: http://www.shrimpnstuff.com