With everyone stuck at home over the past year, unable to travel, the thought of an adventure brings a smile to our faces. Different from a Staycation because that is what we have been doing for the last year. Now we are all in need of a vacation from staying at home.
Why not a socially distant trip to a location that is nearby, and accessible by car? Keeping to ourselves and getting out to experience some local scenery and history. A place that we have long wanted to know more about. – That somewhere for me is Harford County, Maryland. Located on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay and just along I95 and historic Rte. 1. This made a close-by get-a-way that had good food, lodging, and interesting history to learn more about.
As a child, I often heard the stories from my Mother, as we drove down Route 1 and across the Conowingo Dam. She would recount how she as a child walked across the Dam on the opening day in 1928 holding the hands of her two uncles. Now that I am doing family research, a visit to this historic place was something that I wanted to do to learn more about this bit of Maryland history.
We speed up and down I-95 by car or on a train via Amtrak traveling along the Northeast Corridor, crossing the Susquehanna and we miss the beauty of this rural and historic part of Maryland known as Harford County, a county that stretches from the Mason Dixon line to the Chesapeake Bay and from the Susquehanna River south to the outskirts of Baltimore.
GMC reached out to me to review the new 2021 Yukon Denali for a few days, thus the opportunity for this adventure came together. Driving around a scenic area, checking out its history, in a great car that I need to photograph and write about. Win-Win in my book.
After consulting with the Harford County Convention and Visitor Bureau inquiring about picturesque local spots to photograph the car, they offered me the opportunity to spend the night at a brand new Fairfield Inn and Suites in Aberdeen Maryland, just off I95 and Route 22 in Aberdeen Maryland.
First Stop – Aberdeen
Aberdeen Maryland is a Military town with the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, an expansive Army base. Yes there is a big military airport, and I always thought it was an Air Force base. Then I remembered that the US Air Force grew out of the Army Air Corps back in the day.
Since Aberdeen was where our hotel is located, it made sense to explore the surrounding area, from Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium, a sports entertainment park that was built in the last ten years. And then visiting the historic train station in town.
Aberdeen’s Historic Train Station
If you are like I am, the sound of a train horn and rattle of the wheels on the rails is always something I want to know more about. That leads us to the Aberdeen Train Station.
So we took some time to wander around the historic Aberdeen rail station, one that dates back til, and serves multiple MARC and AMTRAK trains that travel between Wilmington Delaware, and Baltimore Maryland each day.
Before my other half retired, he had worked on a Master Plan for Aberdeen’s Amtrak Station, as part of a review of their Northeast Corridor stations. The recommendations had not been acted on, but it was interesting to talk about how the plan was done less than a decade earlier and to reflect on how the current pandemic situation has and will affect public transportation, especially as we experienced a nearly empty train station at what would have been a weekday rush hour in January of 2021. This is something we talk about in the YouTube video on this trip, posted at the top of this post.
Havere De Grace
Quite the little metropolis on the water. Just a few miles up Rte. 40 North of Aberdeen is this picturesque town. It is much bigger than I thought from seeing it from the train while passing overhead. And yes when a train comes across the bridge, you know it. Being late January, most shops and attractions were closed, but you can tell in season this is a bustling little town, with antique shops, places to eat, and some nice Victorian homes and gardens to look at as you stroll the streets.
Aberdeen appears as more than just a tourist town, more than just a fishing village, it seems to have a live its own with a hospital and other things that one equates with a larger community.
While we were invited to stay at a quaint B&B in town. One of several that looked perfect for a romantic weekend. I can see wedding parties coming to town to celebrate, or a business group, reunion, or family would want to spend time here as it looks so nice. When we drove around, I know that this is a quaint town I want to return to.
Where Did We Stay
Our home for two nights would be the brand new Fairfield Inn and Suites, Aberdeen. This Marriott property is located just south of 95 at the Rte. 22 exit and is on the other side of the highway from the baseball facility, Ripken Stadium also known as Leidos Field. The Fairfield by Marriott opened at the beginning of 2021, and it’s classic Marriott. With all the amenities that Marriott puts in Fairfield properties. An indoor pool and workout room, a large lobby where in normal times breakfast would be served. During quarantine, I experienced a different routine; a coffee station and the attendants at the front desk provide guests with a muffin, a juice cup, a snack bar, and a few other simple items. The days of an open buffet breakfast service have ceased to exist. Of course, there is a convenience store corner that offers many items for sale, that you might need, from ice cream to aspirin.
As a frequent traveler with many hotels, I have found that booking directly through the hotel’s website or calling the hotel directly is the best way to get the best rate on a better room, get an upgrade if they are available and recognized as a frequent traveler. This is what I did in this case, being a Bonvoy Member with Marriott.
This Fairfield Inn and Suites is located behind a large Home Depot shopping center, a senior living community, and in front of a residential community that borders on I-95. The location is excellent as it is easy on and off the highway, with plenty of shops and restaurants, chain ones, as well as delightful local establishments right there.
Day Two
The plan for the day was to roam the backroads up and around the Conowingo Dam.. We dallied in our large extended double suite at the Fairfield and then took time to check out the baseball stadium complex across 95, which has been a boon to this part of Harford County, bringing minor league baseball, and it appears lots of youth baseball as well as other events to the area. The large parking lot is often hosting events like local autocross groups and others.
Two hotels are right there, the Courtyard and the Residence Inn, as well as a townhome community. And to our surprise, BGE has located about nine Electric Vehicle Chargers at the Northend of the lot. Something that travelers up and down I95 should be aware of if they are in need of a charge for their EV’s. As it has both Chadimo and CMS chargers that will recharge pretty much every electric vehicle on the road today.
History On Display
Our plans were to visit a few of the locations on the Harford Barn Quilt Tour. While we only made it to one barn and quilt , I know we will head back in warmer weather and check out others.
That is just one of the many things to see and do around the county. We just blazed our own trail and saw rolling farmland, heavily wooded areas like Rocks State Park. Historic places like the Carter Archer house a surprise find along the Susquehanna river providing a glimpse of what life was like in the days before cars and hydroelectric power plants, and nearby this hydro-powered mill.
Food Was Great
Now don’t think for a minute that we went hungry on our tour of Harford County, we found two delightful and very different locally-owned restaurants to dine in. Yes, we Dined In, during these days of social distancing. Both restaurants were well set up for that, blocking off tables between parties. Our first was Water Street Seafood in Havre de Grace Maryland, a new seafood place on the waterfront. Sorry I enjoyed the fresh home-made crab cake before I could photograph it. Also, not pictured is the bacon-wrapped scallops another home run, and were quickly devoured. On the second night, the delightful staff at the Fairfield Inn and Suites Aberdeen recommended Mamie’s Café with Love, a place we would never have found on our own. so you can take the extras home for another meal. The food was good, the restaurant is decorated with classic Maryland kitsch, is like going to your Aunt’s house. Lots of tchotchkes around for the décor, and portions that were more than enough to take home and make a second meal out of. Hint do like we did and dine there on your last night in tow. Happy we chose this for the last night of our visit, as we had great leftovers when we returned home. Both places were reasonably priced for the high quality of food they served.
Why Visit Harford County Maryland
What got me all charged up to visit Harford County, beyond the family history part, was a recent episode on Maryland Public Television, PBS, about the Harford County Barn Quilt Trail. This is an app-based passport where you do selfies with the 22 quilt squares painted on barns all around the county. The more you post and check in on the app, the more opportunity you have to win prizes.
Overall Impressions
When you are looking for a day trip or overnight or two get-a-way, give Harford County a try. There are plenty of things to do, plenty of places to eat, and any number of places to stay overnight. We want to thank the Harford Country Convention and Visitors Bureau for hosting us at the Fairfield Inn and Suites, and General Motors Corporation for providing us a brand new 2021 GMC Yukon Denali for the visit.
Talk about what a get-a-way is supposed to be about. Exploring country roads and finding interesting sites to visit and enjoying the views. That is what we found on this two-day get-a-away
Words and Images by William West Hopper
Mr. Hopper was raised in Pennsylvania in a variety of historic homes his Mother fixed up and “flipped” back in the 1960s. This has given him an appreciation for what has gone on before and how it impacts today and the future.
He lives in Washington DC with his life-partner and three rescue cats. You can find him on Twitter @wwhopper, Instagram @DCCarGuy, and on YouTube @The Real DCCarGuy.
After being shuttered for decades, the iconic 1960’s TWA flight terminal is the only surviving monument to the golden age of air travel at Idlewild, otherwise known as JFK Airport in Queens. This building has helped travelers idolize those high flying days of air travel, in movies such as Mame, and Catch Me If You Can.
In May 2019 after a three-year restoration that has brought the iconic wing-shaped air terminal to a new life as the centerpiece for the TWA Hotel. The 1962 building, a New York City Landmark in 1994, had already out of date by the time it opened as larger jetliners were replacing the smaller propeller craft. Though the terminal continued to operate and service passengers until 2001, when airport operations, think pre-flight security, outgrew the building that had travelers standing outside waiting to board aircraft, no longer the elegant era of air travel.
MCR Development, a well-known hospitality real estate developer took on a labor-intense project of restoring the Eero Saarinen designed Flight Center to period-correct detail. Now it serves as the central core, the 200K square foot lobby, of the TWA Hotel. The clean design was to appear like floating wings to attract travelers to fly the airline.
Today, after a multimillion reportedly upwards of 265-Million-dollar renovation the original TWA Terminal has been restored to its 1960’s glamour. Expansive amounts of open space give you the feeling of freedom under the floating wing-like roof. Large modern windows had to be remade to fit the original design, as well as penny tile remade and re-laid, restored terrazzo floors that seem to flow to the far reaches of the building. All of these give the space a fresh and open feel, just as it was designed to do. Views at the time, back in the 1960s, would have been of the arriving and departing airplanes and runways. Today the view is of the Jet Blue Terminal and the access road as well as the airports parking garages. That does not take away from the experience you will have standing inside the restored terminal building, walking along the chili-pepper-red carpeted flight tubes that passengers would use to access the gates, made famous in the movie Catch Me If You Can. These two tubes now connect to the hotel’s two flanking six-story sleeping room towers housing 512 guest rooms, as well as JFK’s Terminal 5 housing Jet Blue Airlines.
Between the historic terminal and the automobile access road that leads travelers to the terminal is an expanse of pavement on which a 1958 Lockheed Constellation airplane sits. Connie, as she is known and is one of the hotel’s cocktail lounges. As a historic aviation artifact, this is one of the must-visit aspects of the hotel. You walk out of the flight center and up the historic steps to board the plane, just as you would have in the day. Once inside, slide into the cockpit for the pilot, co-pilot or navigator experience, as they would have when it was in operation. The original controls and switches are all operational, not connected to anything, but you will have the fantasy of being a pilot in the heyday of aviation. Just be careful, as the cockpit space is small and the bank of switches in the ceiling will hurt if you jam your head into them as I did. Better yet, settle into one of the passenger seats for a cocktail, all the while imagining you are on a trip to some exciting destination.
While the tarmac around the plane is expansive, it is what is underground that houses the 50K square feet of meeting and ballroom space. While not convention center sized, is still spacious enough for a trade show, business event, or grand social soiree. With breakout spaces, cocktail bars and other areas for hosting events, all designed to keep with the rest of the hotel property in that mid-century modern style. And here you will find all the latest modern technical audio-visual and internet-capable amenities to bring any event into the 21st century.
The hotel offers two sleeping room wings, the Saarinen and Hughes Wings, an ode to both the architect and Howard Hughes, the elusive aviation magnet of the era, who had owned TWA at one time. Both wings have rooms that have either an airport view or a TWA Terminal view and are broken up into a variety of rooms from standard King and double queen to Presidential suites.
We were lucky enough to snag what appeared to be a presidential suite on the seventh floor of the Hughes Tower. Spacious, modern and decorated in timeless mid-century style with a wall of windows it had a foyer bar area and a sitting area equipped with a wall-mounted flat-screen TV. The view was overlooking the terminal and taxiways. Which for AV Geeks like ourselves was a dream come true. The only worry we had, would we stay up all night and watch as the international bound planes were loaded and taxied out for takeoff on their overnight flights abroad. We did find as the night settled in, the traffic at the terminal slowed to a snail’s pace.
The king bed was comfortable and offered a sound night’s sleep with the plush with soft linens. And in the morning, we were not disturbed by the noise as the floor to ceiling windows are multiple panes of glass that keep the room quiet, even with both automotive and airplanes traversing about just a couple hundred yards away.
The bathroom while large and with Broadway Bright Hollywood lighting could have used a dimmer switch and a nightlight. For late nite visits to the Loo were like stepping on stage. The shower stall, a walk-in, roll-in one was small, as this was an accessible room, did have a seat for a disabled person — plenty of soft terrycloth towels and nice quality soaps and lotions.
As one would expect, food choices are limited to on-property options. And when we were there on opening day two, just the Jean-George’s Paris Café on the upper level overlooking the entrance to the hotel and the Hughes hotel wing was operating. Both food and libation were well presented and well made with fresh ingredients. Spirits at the bar seem to be from New York State distillers, and while the options were limited, they were of a high-quality. And at a price that was not outrageous, as you would think of from either an NYC hotel or an airport establishment. As this property is truly an on airport, there is no walking down the street to find a nearby restaurant. Other food options are planned and will be appreciated, as the hotel is not convenient for stepping out and finding other options. We did wander over to the terminal, but food options were on the other side of TSA security, and we were not ticketed to go anywhere.
Registration is on the street side at ground level in what once was the TWA ticket counters. Checking in to get your key, as well as valet parking, is all computer-assisted. Our valet ticket was via text message. The hotel check-in process uses a tablet screen with a credit card reader mounted on one side and a room key program pad on the other. While a bit onerous, it was the first time other guests, or we had seen or used it, which lead to confusion for many The front desk staff quickly resolved any issues and people were on their way. While we had checked in online earlier in the day when we arrived, the automated system told us to check with a front desk staff member, who informed us our room was not ready. An hour and a half after our arrival an email arrived indicating that our room was ready and to pick up our key at the front desk. That time was spent relaxing in the bar with a cocktail.
Underneath that the TWA Hotel has 50K square feet of modern mid-century style event and meeting space. To build that they first had to excavate and remove 74K cubic feet of sand, using four thousand dump trucks. The sand was donated to nearby Spring Creek Park for their storm resilience and ecosystem restoration project.
While the building itself is a museum piece of modern architecture, not unlike the Guggenheim or Getty Museum. The TWA Hotel has a variety of displays of period-correct history from vintage travel and aviation art to 
Shopping is an important part of any travel experience. We found the TWA Hotel Store had some wonderful and well made TWA specific items, like clothing, card games and other things that were of the 1960’s era, just new and now ready to be the perfect retro gift items to take back home as gifts or remembrances. Also, you can shop at a Warby Parker retail store, the online glasses retailer; Shinola, the Detroit retailer of watches, leather goods, and other high-end items that have become popular in today’s modern age. Or maybe stop into The Reading Room to peruse books and periodicals.
While a more mundane way to arrive is by private car, and the hotel offers valet parking for $48 a day plus tip – or you have the option of parking in the airport’s garage and schlep your way into terminal 5 and into the hotel.
Want to reach the hotel in style? 
The more mundane way is by private car, and the hotel offers valet parking for $48 a day plus tip – or you have the option of parking in the airport’s garage and schlep your way into terminal 5 and into the hotel.
