There is a madness when one travels with kids. The need to keep them entertained and the need to keep yourself entertained. Above is the menus from Phillips on Baltimore's Inner Harbor which was part of the day's happy happy joy joy efforts and I was happy to see a couple of things. Notice the not insane pricing. Five bucks for a US shaker glass is nothing to turn your nose up at. Notice the characterization of the selection as "regional craft" as opposed to treating a Sierra Nevada as somehow an equivalent.

I chose the Inlet IPA from 16 Mile from Delaware. Never came across it before. Never had beer from the Pratt Street Ale House before either. Not only is beer arguably best local - it is also regional and maybe sometimes unfortunately so. You cross a line like the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland and a whole new range of beers come into view, ones you have never heard of let alone had access to. Neither wine or spirits get treated like this. Is beer really less stable? Maybe it is. Maybe it is when you want a five buck glass of good beer. Maybe local is better means local is better priced as well as in better condition. Which undermines the point of shipping too many good beers across the local borders. Maybe that is what is going on. Maybe the marketplace is working.