Faidley Seafood and Lexington Market in a 2000 softtop Porsche... (Baltimore: how much, house)

[kpl1228]

So I'm flying to Baltimore to pickup a car with a buddy of mine. We're making a four day road trip out of it...driving the car home to New Mexico after pickup.
Getting a 2000 Porsche Boxster, soft top convertible, in great shape, all records good, worth the risk for the drive cross country.
Asked the seller (who lives in the city) where to go for the best crab cakes in town, he said Faidley Seafood and Lexington Market. I know Baltimore fairly well but forgot all about the Market....I've always wanted to go. He said watch out for the neighborhood though.
What I want to do is pick up the car near Johns Hopkins at his house and go to Lexington Market and do crab cakes and get some road trip travel munchies then hit the road.
Lived in city neighborhoods all my life, I'm always careful and never scared, but I've also never had a soft top Porsche before. Is there anything resembling secured parking? Will I be ok or is this a big stupid risk for crab cakes and a market I've always wanted to see? I figure we'll be there an hour, two hours tops.
We'll be there early this Saturday morning, Memorial Day weekend. I'm also thinking a big holiday Saturday crowd will be a plus for this situation.
Thanks all....

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by kpl1228

What I want to do is pick up the car near Johns Hopkins at his house and (then) go to Lexington Market ...

Backwards.

Take the Light Rail from the Airport into town...
do the crabs thing at the market. THEN head to Hopkins.
Leave the crabs out of the nice car.

[P47P47]

Originally Posted by MrRational

Backwards.

Take the Light Rail from the Airport into town...
do the crabs thing at the market. THEN head to Hopkins.
Leave the crabs out of the nice car.

Good idea depending on just how much luggage (and purchases) they'll be toting through Lexington Market.

If you want to get the car first, the garage directly across Paca Street from the market is probably OK for a brief trip to grab crab cakes (try a soft crab if you've never had one) and other treats. Fresh roasted peanuts from the vendor on the Eutaw Street side of the market are great. Utz potato chips, Berger cookies, fresh-ground horseradish and coconut are other Lexington Market favorites. If you're going to take perishables with you, pick up a cooler and ice on your way to the market. Faidley's will package purchases for you.

[Digger 68]

Interesting, a guy has been trying to sell a Boxster out here in the burbs. Newer though, 09 I think.........

[kpl1228]

Originally Posted by P47P47

Good idea depending on just how much luggage (and purchases) they'll be toting through Lexington Market.

If you want to get the car first, the garage directly across Paca Street from the market is probably OK for a brief trip to grab crab cakes (try a soft crab if you've never had one) and other treats. Fresh roasted peanuts from the vendor on the Eutaw Street side of the market are great. Utz potato chips, Berger cookies, fresh-ground horseradish and coconut are other Lexington Market favorites. If you're going to take perishables with you, pick up a cooler and ice on your way to the market. Faidley's will package purchases for you.

Nothing perishable. Eating crab cakes there.
But yeah, luggage for sure, and after train to Johns Hopkins area. So the car first, not the preference but it is what it is. Redeye flight arriving BWI at 6 a.m.-ish...and we'll be picking up the car at 8 am (at the latest) and need to wait for Faidley's to open....which is not till 1030 am. We'll go somewhere in the meantime. Probably somewhere for the toiletries we aren't packing from the flight.
GREAT tips for vendors....THANK YOU. We will use these! So now maybe I AM buying a cooler.....

[james777]

Since you must get the car first, how about a light breakfast, and then a crab cake lunch that doesn't involve Lexington Market? In addition to Faidleys, there are plenty of places in the Baltimore area that have excellent crab cakes. Try Pappas, with three locations, or G & M. Both have carry out and dining rooms open on Saturday where you can have a sit down lunch on your way out of the city. Your car will also be much safer.

https://pappascrabcakes.com

https://gandmcrabcakes.com

[P47P47]

While there certainly other places to go for crab cakes or soft crabs other than Faidley's (My suggestion would be Snyder's Willow Grove in Linthicum.), I think Lexington Market is interesting enough to make it worth while to go there, particularly if you want to load up on local treats. Getting there fairly early is a good idea.

If you have to kill some time between picking up the car and going to Faidley's and would like to just relax for a little while, may I suggest a ride over to Cylburn Arboretum. Very quiet and less-visited than the other City parks. I think that it's one of the few urban patches of old-growth forest on the East Coast.

[nurider2002]

Faidleys are good but I’d just as soon go to Pappas. Consistently good and no worries about the soft top.

[pappjohn]

Porshe convertibles are usually money pits.
Good luck though.

[Digger 68]

Originally Posted by nurider2002

Faidleys are good but I’d just as soon go to Pappas. Consistently good and no worries about the soft top.

I can walk to Pappas out here. Everybody goes nuts for their crabs.....