By Lauren Proudfoot
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
With much to do, see and eat, Port Covington is the place to be if you’re looking for a perfect getaway for your next staycation.
It doesn’t look appealing from I-95, but past the factories and construction, I found beautiful, quiet places to relax by the water, yummy food to eat with my family, and unique things to do for entertainment.
Once driving into the area (I knew I was there once I started to hit the bumpy roads), I started at West Covington Park (39°15’40.3″N 76°37’01.4″W). With my husband Shawn, I pulled into a large parking lot with plenty of available parking spots. This is the type of place where you can park the car, grab a volleyball, book or speaker and head towards the waterfront.
Here there is an open grassy area good for any yard game, four volleyball nets with sandy ground and at least a dozen chairs where you can gaze at the Patapsco River, watch boats pass by every once in a while or read your favorite book on a colored lawn chair.
After spending some time at the park, I headed to a restaurant called Nick’s Fish House to grab lunch with Shawn.
Upon walking to the host stand at Nick’s, we were greeted by the hostesses and immediately sat on the second floor of their marina deck overlooking the gorgeous boat docking area and Hanover Street Bridge. We did not have a reservation, though it was 2 p.m. on Sunday, but if you decide to come Saturday evening, you might want to call ahead.
After looking at their lunch menu, Shawn decided to get their chicken Chesapeake sandwich and after much consideration between their fresh fish angler sandwich and crab grilled cheese sandwich, I opted for the fresh fish, which was fresh and delicious.
Our server, Emily, was very friendly with a genuine interest in giving us the best experience. She answered all of our questions and was honest with her recommendations.
Dining at Nick’s along the water was the most relaxing time. In case of rain and/or nasty weather, rolled-up pavilion walls can roll and zip down to keep guests comfortable and dry.
I definitely plan to return and try the crab grilled cheese sandwich, which is offered on both the lunch and dinner menu.
After lunch, we drove back over to West Covington Park to check out City Garage.
City Garage is an innovation hub where starting companies and local entrepreneurs can rent out rooms and do what they’re intended to do: create. Once a Baltimore City bus depot, City Garage grasps the need for more jobs and talent in the Baltimore metro area. City Garage is the perfect place to incubate ideas.
If City Garage interests you, or you have a dream of building your own company one day, you can check out the local start-up tenants that use the space here. And while most of these vendors might seem a little too tech-y for you, don’t let it scare you! I had a friend who once sold her own earrings at this garage. Sometimes they have “open houses” where new small businesses can come and showcase their talents and passions.
After finishing up at City Garage, we got in our car and headed down the street to the
Sagamore Spirit Distillery. Here, in this area of Port Covington, you have the Sagamore Spirit Distillery, Rye Street Tavern, and Under Armour headquarters. And while the Under Armour headquarters is not the place to shop for merchandise, we were awed by the 170,000-square-foot campus where sports gear and garb are created. We couldn’t get too close due to the security gates surrounding the area.
We had planned to take a tour of the Sagamore Spirit Distillery but had run out of time, so instead we looked around their gift shop. Founded in 2013, this distillery paved the way for the revival of rye whiskey in Maryland.
During the tour, guests can get a behind-the-scenes look at Sagamore’s distillation, aging and bottling process. The tour fee is $20 per person. It starts off with a 30-minute walkthrough of the distillery facility and then ends with a 30-minute whiskey tasting that you don’t want to miss. From a Sagamore Spirit Rye Whiskey Old Fashioned to a Rye Whiskey Lemonade, these peppery drinks will leave you wanting more.
We perused through the Sagamore Spirit gift shop with cocktail cookbooks, Under Armour and Sagamore Spirit polos, and whiskey barrel candles. Afterwards, we took a short walk to Rye Street Tavern.
Although closed now due to COVID-19 and construction around the area, Rye Street Tavern is a restaurant under NoHo Hospitality Group, which owns Rec Pier Chophouse in the Sagamore Pendry in Fells Point, and 14 other restaurants around Baltimore, New York City, and Detroit.
I am hoping it reopens because the menu created by head chef Brian Plante with the help of American award-winning chef, Andrew Carmellini was creative and mouth-watering, from the blackened catfish, to the a two-foot tower with assorted oysters, ceviche, clams, and much more called the “rye street tower.”
After exploring Port Covington for the day, I found so much more than I expected.
It’s gone through a transformation from one of the last railroad coal-unloading piers in Baltimore to a trendy new gathering place. It was once labeled as “Fort Covington” due to its role, with Fort McHenry, in defining Baltimore during the War of 1812. Later in the early 1900s, it became a railroad terminal built by the Western Maryland Railway.
As Lomond Johnson, assistant floor manager at Sagamore Spirit and long-time resident, testifies: “What makes Port Covington so special is the fact that it was overlooked for so long. You look out at the piers and you can still kind of get a glimpse of what this entire area was, it was just falling apart. Millions of people per year were driving past it [on I-95]; I didn’t even know it existed and I’ve lived here for over 10 years now. … It’s gorgeous.”