Any suggestions on good hotels and eateries near the B&O museum. If I recall my 95 visit on business-when I didn't have the chance to visit the Museum, the museum isn't to far from the inner harbor and there was some good seafood there.

The closest hotels of any major type are the Holiday Inn Inner Harbor and the Days Inn Inner Harbor, which are basically across the street from Camden Station and Camden Yards. Oh, wait, there's also a Marriott just west of those two. Now, if you want cheap, that's another matter. I've stayed at the Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Renaissance, and Harbor Court on business (see below), and found all three quite acceptable. I have an axe to grind against the Hyatt, but don't let me dissaude you on that account.

I work with a major convention (actually, this year's largest in Baltimore, with 25,000 expected) that occupies most of Baltimore's hotels and the entire Convention Center, and my main job is hotel and restaurant liaison, so I'm in a good position to recommend anything you want, from cheap fast food to blow-the-expense-account. Please feel free to e-mail me personally at LNER4472 --at-- bcpl dot net and I'll be happy to make more suggestions off-list/forum. (And as a professional beer writer, I can tell you where every decent beer is in town as well.)

I also highly recommend trying your hand at any of the myriad of hotel-clearing-house websites, such as hotels.com, travelocity.com, etc. They'll usually beat anything you could get walking in the door or contacting the company directly. You can probably find a cheaper mom-and-pop (well, not in downtown Baltimore) if you cruise the highways in town, but the websites offer quality at a discount (usually).

Is the turn-of-the-century Pratt Street power plant on Baltimore's Inner Harbor still an ESPN Sports Bar? Is there anything to see inside in terms of the old machinery?

Someone I know visited the place I think when it was a "Six Flags Power Plant". From what he said, it sounded like at least a little of the original machinery was still in situ.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

ESPN Zone, Hard Rock Cafe, Barnes & Noble, Gold's Gym, and probably a few more I'm forgetting. I don't know about any real machinery per se, but some remnants of the boiler shells, stacks, etc. still exist in the Barnes & Noble. Not that I would ever stoop to going into an ESPN Rock Gym.........

If you'd like to try a nearby neighborhood place, the Sip-n-Bite on Boston St. east of Fell's Point has always had the best crabcakes. Not meant to impress the tourist customers, but the seafood has always been good.