If summer is the season of traveling to new places, then fall is the season of exploring your own city. These past few weekends have been nothing short of perfect – brunch at the Hopkins’ Club, a trip to the farmer’s market, a day spent shopping in local boutiques, hitting my favorite annual flea market, hoarding books from what’s probably one of the coolest bookstores I’ve ever been to, dinner at The Helmand after a Shakespeare play…and then, of course, returning home to cook and read and rest. I thought I’d share some of my favorite places in Baltimore, from recent discoveries to old favorites.

Cafe Hon

It’s a Baltimore landmark, of sorts – and featured in a (somewhat) recent episode of Kitchen Nightmares. Cafe Hon is filled with an eclectic mix of decor – from retro to rustic – with lime green walls and leopard wallpaper in the bathrooms to top it off. The menu features plenty of crab, but there’s lots else – I had a seriously delicious black bean burger with guacamole.

Caravanserai

I learned about this shop at the Baltimore Farmers Market – there was a booth set up selling wide array of goodies, including ornate pillows, one of which I immediately knew would be perfect for my studio. The vendor told me about their shop in Hampden, and, knowing I’d be in that neighborhood soon, I decided I’d have to make a stop. The store is nothing short of amazing – jam-packed with exotic treasures from all over (an employee told me that the owner is going on a buying trip to India this week). There are Mexican sugar skulls, Moroccan tea glasses, Indian eye liner, racks of patterned coats, tunics and pants, exotic teas and incense, bowls full of colorful beads, and fair-trade bracelets made of PVC pipe from Nambia – just to name some of it.

David’s On the Avenue

This used furniture shop is chock full of mid-century modern pieces at affordable prices – I swooned over the set of chairs below and a few marble and brass tables. In the front of the store there are crates of copper framed reproduction vintage posters – I picked up a Lanvin perfume ad.

Trohv

Trohv is one of those stores that’s thoroughly gorgeous, inside and out. The products are perfectly curated and organized, and the whole space is beautifully styled in a way that’s somehow slightly rustic and slightly modern at the same time. Products include enviable home goods and accessories (including Rifle Paper Co. coasters, striped paper straws, and glasses and mugs of all kinds), beautiful books and magazines (among them Kinfolk and Anthology), and a little collection of succulent terrariums up front.

The Mill Centre

Once a textile mill, The Mill Centre now holds studios for artists, graphic designers, photographers, and architects. From time to time they have an open house, where you can peek in some studios and talk to artists about their work (and buy it).

{A cheeky sign out front…I just had to include this}

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