Superior Tours
I only know of Superior Tours taking daily trips to NYC (they might do other tours, but I don't know about them). It's about a four hour ride on a comfortable coach bus. I believe it leaves around 6am for NYC, which is early, but it allows for a full day of touring. Once you're in the city, you're totally on your own until you leave. When I went, the bus was almost entirely old folks, but my high school friends and I still had a good time. They have a drawing on every bus ride, where if you win, you get a free 2nd trip.
Spencer Gifts
Over the years of middle and high school, going to the mall on weekends, I spent more hours in Spencer's than I can count. It's a wild store, full of crazy gift type things, gags and cool light things and posters and funny cards and sex related toys and so on. It's amazing, I always wonder how this store stays in business, because it's always crowded with people playing and looking, but no one ever seems to be buying. If you've ever been to a store called DAPY, which is a chain, I think it's most similar to this.
Royal Farms
It's a pretty typical convenience store, on par with any 7-11, plus a small deli counter. The hours are really good... It's always a nice convenience to have someone make you a sandwich at 2am. But one of the most distinguishing characteristics of Royal Farms is their fried chicken, and while a few other locations don't have it (such as the nearby Smith Ave location), this one does. Therefore, it is better. The only knock on this store is that the lighting always seems really dim, but that doesn't matter much.
Royal Farms
The Smith Ave Royal Farms has basically everything you'd expect from a convenience store. Freezer section, candy aisle, cigarettes, etc... But one of the definining things of most Royal Farms stores is the Perdue fried chicken. Unfortunately, this particular Royal Farms doesn't carry fried chicken. It's a shame. This Royal Farms also closes at 1130pm, rather than staying open till the wee hours, like many other such stores.
Summit Park Elementary School
I went to Summit Park from kindergarten through 5th grade, and it was a rockin good time. Seriously though, this is a top notch elementary school, and it has the repeated blue ribbons to prove it. The teachers are likely almost all gone from my day, but what has not changed is the atmosphere, the community. Summit Park is the heart of a community whose families truly value their children's education.
Chesapeake Knife & Tool
It's located in Towson Town Center. For me, it has always been a pretty neat place just to look at all the cool knives and zippo lighters. When your girlfriend drags you to the mall with her, and makes you look at every piece of clothing in the entire place, there's no better place to go in the mall to return the favor than here. The folks here are pretty willing to let you look at the knives up close, to handle them even, so long as you are careful.
Inn at The Colonnade Baltimore - A DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
This is just an all around NICE hotel/condo building. Pretty luxurious, with valet parking. The pool is small but it's really awesome, suspended above ground so you can see below, and with a really awesome glass dome roof (especially cool in the rain). About the valet parking though, you should definitely have someone drive your car into the garage for you, don't do it yourself, because the garage smells awfully of rotting cheese. I made this mistake.
Everfresh Food Market
This place specializes in Russian foods, but also has a great selection of Spanish, Asian, and other ethnic food products. This is not to say that you can't do your regular grocery shopping here though, also, as they do have most of the same things you'll find at any SuperFresh or Shoppers. I particularly love their cheese selection. Seriously, I never knew there were so many many varieties of feta cheese. Also, it's VERY affordable! For example, I pay $15.99/lb for parmigiano-reggiano at most stores, but only $11 or $12/lb here.
Pier Six Concert Pavilion
First off, pier six gets some points for being located right at the inner harbor. This makes it easy to make going to a concert more of an event, surrounded by some good meals and good bars. But I also really enjoy the pier setup, the seating is spacious, and I love being able to be outdoors at the show without worrying about rain. The cheaper lawn seats are obviously fartther from the stage, but it's not too tough to move up to better seats, since it's so big. I like it here a lot.
Autostream Car Care Center
It's a good gas station! I like to clean my windshield when I fill my tank, and I hate when the squeegy they give you is sitting in filthy water. The water here tends to be pretty clean (it's the little things that count). I really like having my oil changed here, also. Reason being, they give you a coupon for a free bagel at Miller's Deli right next door for while you wait. What other place will do this when you get your oil changed?? My only gripe is that the gas prices are usually a few cents higher than average.
