Admit it. What you remember about your trip to Italy isn't the Sistine Chapel, but rather that marvelous spezzatino di vitello you had at the little trattoria near your hotel. You're the kind of traveler who arrives in a city and scouts out the local restaurants before the local sights. Cruises? They're just an excuse to eat lavishly six times a day. But you don't have to sign up for a gourmet's tour of France to make a marvelous meal the real destination of your travels. We have plenty of places within a few hours' drive of Baltimore that let you combine sightseeing or vacationing with good eats, if not haute cuisine. (And sometimes you'll get haute cuisine as well.) Here is a sampling of them.
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH COUNTRY
In the good-eats category, surely Pennsylvania Dutch country comes to mind first. Located a little more than an hour north of Baltimore, Lancaster County is a fascinating region to visit to learn about the Amish way of life. No "historical re-creation" this, but a chance to see a living community that practices a vanishing lifestyle. You can visit working farms (one of the attractions is a celery farm!) or tour an Amish village, ride in an Amish family's horse-driven carriage to see the countryside or visit museums and historic sites. Start at the Information Center at 501 Greenfield Road in Lancaster (800) 735-2629, Ext. 2322 to watch the film "There Is a Season," which will introduce you to the area.
Mary Rankin of the Visitors Bureau suggests that the best way to experience the food of the Pennsylvania Dutch is to start at a farmer's market. Lancaster's Central Market is the oldest publicly owned, continuously operated farmer's market in the nation. Located on the square in downtown Lancaster, it's open year-round Tuesdays and Fridays from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturdays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Here you can get locally grown produce and the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch foods -- chowchow, shoofly pie, cheeses, scrapple and bologna, funnel cake, homemade breads and much more.
Authentic Pennsylvania Dutch cooking can be found at family-style restaurants with names like Good n' Plenty, Bird-in-Hand, Plain & Fancy, Harvest View or Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant. The food is plain, hearty and bountiful. Be sure to sample the traditional seven "sweet and sours" (vegetable dishes with a vinegar and sugar dressing), pot pies, pork and sauerkraut, red beet eggs, baked dried corn, potato rolls and, of course, shoofly pie with its molasses bottom and crumb crust.
Directions: Take Interstate 83 north to Route 30 east. Continue until you see Lancaster County exits.
CRISFIELD
If your idea of a vacation is to be near the water and eat seafood, I don't need to tell you to head for Ocean City or just about anywhere along the Eastern Shore. To pick any one town or restaurant to recommend has to be a somewhat arbitrary decision; but Crisfield in Somerset County bills itself as "The Seafood Capital of the World," and who are we to argue?
Crisfield has Maryland's largest marina, Somers Cove. Bay cruises to places like Tangier and Smith islands originate here, along with walking and driving tours of historic homes, landmarks and scenic areas. You can visit the Janes Island State Park, with its isolated shorelines and undeveloped beaches. Summer will bring Soft Shells and Jazz (June 20), the Tangier Sound Country Music Festival (June 27), the Annual Crab and Clam Bake (July 15), Watermen's Folklife Festival (July 18) and much more. For more information on any of these activities or events, call Somerset County Tourism at (800) 521-9189.
The Somers Cove Marina is administered by the state Department of Natural Resources' Boating Administration. Its public affairs officer, John Lanzone, has conducted a survey of ,, Crisfield's restaurants, from Side Street, where you can eat crabs on the deck, to Watermen's Inn, which specializes in "regional American cuisine" like cream of crab soup and crab a la Watermen. You can get a copy of the survey by calling Mr. Lanzone at the marina, (410) 968-0925.
Crisfield's best-known restaurant is the Captain's Galley on West Main Street and the waterfront. It calls itself "the home of the world's best crab cake." Granted it's not the only Maryland restaurant to boast of having a world-famous crab cake; but it does have clippings from the New York Times, the Washington Post, Southern Living and People magazine to back up its claim. The crab cakes, made of 100 percent back fin, cost $14.95, but you can get a "taste" of them for $2.75 extra when you order another dinner. And, of course, every other sort of Maryland seafood is available at the Captain's Galley, from Eastern Shore-style oyster fritters to soft shell crabs.
Directions: Take Route 50 across the Bay Bridge to Salisbury. Pick up Route 13 south to Route 413 south into Crisfield.
BAVARIAN INN
When I asked travel agent Cathy Carlin at Precision Travel in Columbia where she would recommend when the destination was food, she polled her office and the choice was unanimous: the Bavarian Inn and Lodge on Route 1 in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The Greystone Mansion, built in 1930 as a private home, was converted into an inn in the '60s by Erwin Asam, a native Bavarian, and his wife, Carol. The accommodations consist of four Alpine chalets, and the dining rooms are elaborately decorated with antiques, deer horn chandeliers and fine china and linens.
All sorts of German specialties are offered -- sauerbraten, German sausages, Wiener schnitzel, beef stuffed with bacon, onions and pickles. But you can also indulge in top-of-the-line dishes like chateaubriand, frogs legs and rack of lamb; game in ** season (pheasant, wild boar, venison); and homier fare like shepherd's pie and fried shrimp. Reservations are highly recommended; this is a very popular place ([304] 876-2551).
While you can stay overnight at the inn, it's a comfortable day trip from Baltimore. Shepherdstown is three miles southwest of Antietam Battlefield and 10 miles west of Harpers Ferry; but the small college town, the oldest town in West Virginia, is interesting in its own right. You can visit historic sites (the steamboat was invented here) or do some serious antiquing. Charles Town Racetrack is nearby, and half an hour away you can bathe in the mineral waters or have a therapeutic massage at Berkeley Springs, the nation's first health spa.
Directions: Take I-70 west to exit 49; turn left on Route 40 Alt. to Braddock Heights-Boonsboro. Turn left in Boonboro on Route 34 to Shepherdstown.
CHADDS FORD INN
If you're more interested in Revolutionary War than Civil War battlefields, and more interested in two-textured duck with thyme-huckleberry sauce than bratwurst with sauerkraut, consider the Chadds Ford Inn in the Brandywine River Valley. In 1703, Francis Chadsey, a Quaker, bought the land that comprises most of present-day Chadds Ford, Pa. His house is now the Chadds Ford Inn.
Located at state Routes 1 and 100, the historic building has handsome dining rooms with linen tablecloths, fresh flowers and hand-dipped candles. This is Wyeth country, and original art from four generations of Wyeths hangs on the walls.
The Chadds Ford Inn may have a charming period look, but the food is so now it's almost tomorrow. The chicken is free-range and wild mushrooms are used lavishly. Begin with oysters baked with leeks, Gruyere and cream, perhaps, and follow it with mahi-mahi with pistachios and a citrus beurre blanc or quail stuffed with a variety of dried berries and shiitake mushrooms. At Sunday brunch you can have anything from a chocolate chip waffle with white chocolate sauce to black and white lobster ravioli over lobster cream sauce. Lunch is more sedate, with sandwiches and salads offered as well as elaborate entrees. Make reservations by calling (215) 388-7361.
If you have the energy to explore after indulging in a meal like these, there's plenty of sightseeing to be done. Nearby is the Brandywine River Museum, housed in a restored grist mill in a beautiful wooded setting. There the works of Andrew Wyeth and family, and other American artists, are exhibited. The information center of the Brandywine Battlefield State Park is in Chadds Ford. Longwood Gardens, with its gorgeous floral displays and impressive landscaping, is an easy drive away, and between it and Chadds Ford is the Chadds Ford Winery. (Free tours are offered.)
Directions: Take I-95 northeast to Wilmington, Del., to U.S. 52 north, to Route 1 north to Route 100 in Chadds Ford.
WILLIAMSBURG
Williamsburg, or more properly Colonial Williamsburg, is a town-size museum. Eighty-eight original buildings have been restored and many more reconstructed to make up the 173-acre Historic Area, where some 40 exhibitions and activities are open to visitors daily. You can get a very good sense of the life and society of 18th century Virginia through the "historic interpreters," and crafts people dressed in period costumes and plying their trades.
While there are plenty of restaurants in and around Williamsburg, the Historic Area's four Colonial taverns are the most interesting places to eat. Each reflects a different aspect of 18th century tavern life. The decor of each is authentic, but the food is designed to appeal to 20th century tastes.
King's Arms is Colonial Williamsburg's most genteel tavern, the place where the best class of travelers stopped in Colonial times. It is decorated with original period furniture and art as well as reproductions and, of course, lit only by candles. Entertainment is provided in the evening by wandering balladeers playing authentic instruments. Dinner includes such traditional Southern dishes as peanut soup, Smithfield ham with grape sauce, Sally Lunn bread and pecan pie.
Christiana Campbell's, with its cozier, more comfortable ambience, is known for its seafood. Crab cakes, crab imperial and Chesapeake Bay jambalaya are on the menu along with such Southern specialties as sweet potato muffins, spoon bread and rum cream pie.
The original Josiah Chowning's was a tavern for the common people; the furnishings are simple and unpretentious. The food is hearty and straightforward, including Brunswick stew and prime rib, with few of the Southern dishes that give the taverns their special character.
Most interesting is the newest tavern, Shields, which catered in Colonial times to what we might call the upper-middle class. The Shields Sampler, "A Tasting of 1700s Foods," is the closest any of the taverns comes to serving the actual dishes of the period. It includes a beef and pork pasty, two carrot puffs, Smithfield ham, Indian corn pudding, 18th century-style chicken fricassee and white onion soup.
Dining at the taverns is an important part of the experience of Colonial Williamsburg. During peak seasons (April through October and Christmas) it's necessary to make dinner reservations as much as two months in advance. Call (804) 229-2141 or (800)-HISTORY.
Directions: Take I-95 south to Richmond. Outside of Richmond, take I-295 to I-64 east. Take exit 238 and follow the green signs to Colonial Williamsburg..