Charm City Surprise

In October I became a member of the 40 and over club. So far, I am not too bothered by the accomplishment.

Sharon, the girls and I are "Foodies" and not only love to eat good food, but we find ourselves often watching the Food Network. One of our favorite shows is Ace of Cakes, which is a reality show about a bakery in Baltimore that creates some of the most amazing, one-of-a-kind cakes you will ever see.

Well, for my Big 4-0, my girls and Sharon wrote to the fine folks at Charm City Cakes and gave them probably way to much information about me so that they could create a special birthday cake to celebrate this event.  See Sharon's article "Ace of Birthdays" for her perspective of the event. 

Since Hershey, Pa. is only about 90 miles from Baltimore, we decided to make this "Birthday Trip" a doubleheader and have fun at both places. We flew into Harrisburg, Pa. which is actually one of the nicest, easiest airports I have ever been. We proceeded directly to Hershey, and went to East Chocolate Avenue to visit Jennifer Krahling, and the customer service team there that helps us make sure we have plenty of Hershey's Chocolate on hand for our customers. They were very gracious; and we told them all about our trip to Baltimore.

The leaves were in all of their Fall splendor and the drive to Baltimore was absolutely beautiful. We had never been there before and stayed at the Henderson's Wharf Inn .  It was very comfortable, and we were able to walk to shops and restaurants close by. We even saw the famous Domino Sugar sign. Baltimore is definitely a city I want to spend more time in some day.

The next morning we proceeded to Charm City Cakes for our scheduled pick up of my "surprise" cake. It was just so cool to see the building and the people we have watched on the show for the last few years, and they were extremely nice. Chef Duff and Geoff were in California so we did not get to meet them. But Mary Alice was there; and the girls were very happy to find out that Elena was the one who made my special birthday cake.

So I know what you are thinking: tell me about the cake already will you! OK, I will.

The cake was Bananas Foster flavored, and a Willy Wonka themed creation, with me sitting on top dressed in--you guessed it--Willy Wonka garb. Scattered around the cake were custom Hershey's miniatures (made out of gum paste so that we can keep them forever) basically detailing the favorite things in my life. From my wife and daughters to my cats and hobbies, they were all there on custom Hershey's miniatures bars. It was truly wonderful and something I will always cherish.

We left Baltimore and headed back to Hershey Pa. where we checked into the Hershey Hotel. We stayed in the Hugs and Kisses Suite, and ate cake for 3 meals a day for the rest of our stay. My girls thought the world had turned upside down because we let them eat cake whenever they wanted.

A wonderful trip, and a wonderful 40th birthday.