One of the big to-do items when visiting Baltimore is to try the crab cake.  The city is famous for them, after all.  More than likely, you'll be in the Inner Harbor area at some point, either for your daytime activities, and/or for your lodging.  And that area is definitely not without its crab cake options.  But do you venture down to the harbor, where names like the Rusty Scupper, Phillips and McCormick & Schmick's entices you?  Or do you eat at the hotel restaurant where you are staying?

17 Light is located at the Residence Inn, which is one of the more family-friendly locations around the Inner Harbor.  Suites are typically more spacious, allow for more privacy, and have kitchens where you can make traveling a bit more affordable.  And upon looking upon the menu, you may notice that they have a crab cake.  Brilliant!  The Baltimore Marriott Waterfront over in Harbor East had some delicious crab cakes.  Will these follow suit?  Or should you venture somewhere else (say, around the corner)?  Read on to find out!

The other weekend was Honfest, which despite all the controversy surrounding it, is a festival celebrating Baltimore and the hard working ladies of the 50's and 70's with their beehive hairdos and cat's eye glasses, otherwise known as Hons.  This yearly festival brings thousands to The Avenue (aka 36th St) in Hampden.  If you were there, you were most likely distracted by all of the activities going on and all of the other food vendors selling everything from grilled cheese to, yes, crab cakes.  Even without the distractions, it may be easy to miss one of Hampden's newest eateries, Alchemy.  Recently opened back in December 2010, Alchemy bills itself as a modern American eatery, that also boasts The Avenue's only champagne brunch.  Looking to escape the heat and craziness of Honfest, the CCR stepped inside to sample what they had on offer.  Read on to see how it all went down!

Ale Mary's is a family-run neighborhood tavern located on the outer reaches of Fells Point, known for huge portions of food (especially their tots!), an excellent selection of beers, and maybe even a bit of controversy. While they've been around since 2004, it was in early 2012 that Catholic groups were up in arms at what they perceived to be blasphemy. From the name (which actually stems from the owner's wife's name), and the religious relics inside the bar (often brought in by patrons themselves), and maybe the draft list on a hymn board, one could possibly take offense. But luckily we're not the easily offended type, but the prospect of a heavenly crab cake is what we live for. So say a prayer and join us as we check out Ale Mary's!

So where do you go when you want to pre-game for a show, but want a wide selection of beers to choose from? That's right, you go to Alewife! Located in the Theatre District, Alewife is a gastropub that focuses on highlighting Maryland cuisine. And getting to choose from 40 draft and 100 bottled beers isn't such a bad thing, either. You can't get much more Maryland than a crab cake (or the Blackened Snakehead, AKA "the Frankenfish"), so we decided to stop in and give them a try. Read on to find out how they were!

Alexander's Tavern is a neighborhood bar located in the historic Fells Point section of Baltimore. You may get confused by which door to go into (one goes into the restaurant, the other goes into the bar area), but that shouldn't stop you from coming in. You may not know by looking at the place, but they've won numerous awards, from a "Best of" from FourSquare in the Food category, to 3rd Best Pub by Baltimore Magazine Readers in 2012. If the happy hour specials won't pull you in, then the astounding selection of tots will. But knowing us, we're all about the crab cakes with a side of tots. So we checked out Alexander's one day to check out how they were. Read along to see how our visit went!