Baltimore County Restaurant Week Extended

Baltimore County Restaurant Week has been extended through September 5, 2010 for 14 of the 15 originally participating restaurants.

2010 was Baltimore County’s first restaurant week, and from the look of things, this will continue yearly!

Restaurants from Towson to Timonium to Sparks have been and are continuing to participate with discounts for lunch and dinner!

The participating restaurants, brought together by the Milton Inn in Sparks, are:

Towson:

Cafe Troia on Allegheny Ave in Towson

The Melting Pot on York Rd in Towson

Stoney River Legendary Steaks in Towson Town Center

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Lutherville/Timonium:

The Peppermill on York Road in Lutherville

Michael’s Cafe on York Road in Timonium

Christopher Daniel on Padonia Road in Timonium

Sabor in Mays Chapel in Timonium

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Cockeysville/Hunt Valley:

Vito’s Cafe on York Rd in Cockeysville

Patrick’s on Cranbrook in Cockeysville

Greystone Grill in Hunt Valley Towne Center

Jesse Wong’s Kitchen in Hunt Valley Towne Center

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Other Baltimore County Locations:

The Milton Inn on York Rd in Sparks

Artful Gourmet Bistro in Owings Mills

The Grill at Harryman House in Reisterstown

Mia Carolina in Glyndon

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So enjoy these great Baltimore County restaurants while they have their specials going on for the next two weeks!

Charles Street Construction at 695 Ramp Closures

On August 10, the Charles Street ramp to 695 West closed, and the roundabout entrance to that & I-83N reopened.

Traffic before had been routed coming north into the right lane to enter the Beltway, and those traveling south have used alternate routes to access I-695W since that entrance closed in early April.

According to the State Highway Administration’s press release, this new closure should be temporary, about two weeks.

The big upcoming change should come at about August 24th, when the west bound ramp from northbound Charles Street should re-open. The ramp to eastbound I-695 from Charles Street remains closed for the time being.

Weekend work will really change things. Look out for these big issues the weekend of August 27 -30 (or 9/10-13 in case of inclement weather):

Charles Street Bridge Traffic Switch – Weekend Work

• 9 p.m. Friday, August 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 30: Crews will shift all Charles Street traffic from the old bridge to the new bridge.  The Charles Street Bridge will remain open to vehicular traffic during the shift, with flagging operations and intermittent traffic stoppages throughout the weekend.

The ramps from southbound I-83 (Harrisburg Expressway) and eastbound I-695 to Charles Street will be temporarily detoured to the MD 45 (York Road) interchange during the weekend.  The flyover ramp from southbound I-83 to eastbound I-695 will remain open during the bridge traffic shift.

In case of inclement weather, the Charles Street bridge traffic shift and temporary ramp closures will take place the weekend of September 10-13.   This interchange currently carries more than 120,000 vehicles per day along I-695, with 55,000 vehicles per day along Charles Street.

Additionally, the left-turn ramp from southbound Charles Street to eastbound I-695 (Inner Loop) will remain closed until late fall, and the posted detour through Lutherville will continue.

Maryland State Fair in Timonium 2010

The Maryland State Fair in Timonium begins August 27 and runs through September 6, 2010, bringing rides, games, and more to northern Baltimore County for 11 days!

This year, in addition to the regular concerts, one really big one is Justin Bieber, which has caused a huge stir all around Baltimore and sold out right away.

The two other Maryland State Fair concerts are Bret Michaels and Gretchen Wilson, both of which still have general admission tickets available.

A large portion of the Maryland State Fair is designated for livestock and horse shows as well as demonstrations. This year, the Timonium Farmers Market will be open each day to get local foods from local farms to enjoy!

Certain days have ride and admission specials, like a $20 wrist band for all day rides, and Food Lion has a $5 off coupon for 5 days of the Fair. Ride tickets are $1 each, and depending on the rides, they take 1-6 tickets. A book is available at the ride booth for $45 you get 50 ride tickets, and that is available to anyone on site.

Admission to the Maryland State Fair is $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens, $3 for children 6-11 years old, and free for children under 6 years old.

Parking is $3 in the main lot, and there are many other parking lots around where one can pay to park. Just north of the Timonium Fairgrounds is the Deereco Lightrail Park & Ride, where parking is free.

The Maryland State Fairgrounds are located at 2200 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093.

Timonium Farmers Market

The Timonium Farmers Market at the Maryland State Fairgrounds is a great source of fresh fruit, vegetables, and local meat.

Each Wednesday afternoon, the market has local farmers showcasing their great produce and those around are enjoying!

Even in the heat, the market is full of people looking for local food.

CSA members have the convenience of picking up their weekly shared vegetables from Hope Ridge Farms here.

Hills Forest Farm from Kingsville has their bees’ honey available, and since it is local, it has been shown to be good for allergies.

The local meat from Gunpowder Bison & Trading is delicious!

The greatest part about the Timonium Farmers Market is that it is run by these and other local farmers.

During the Maryland State Fair at the end of the month, the market will be open each of the the ten days.

The Timonium Farmers Market is open through October 27.

Come by and get some fresh wares!

Bay National Bank Closed

Today Bay National Bank in Lutherville was closed by Federal Regulators.

It will re-open on Monday as Bay Bank. Bay Bank is also located in Lutherville.

This is the fourth Maryland bank to close in the past two years, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Bay National Bank customers will be able to access their money over the weekend, and won’t have to worry that checks will not go through, as they will be honored. People who have Bay National Bank mortgages will continue to pay their mortgages as usual. All Bay National Bank customers should wait for notification from Bay Bank before making any changes, as it may take some time to get the systems switched over.

Bay National Bank in Lutherville was FDIC insured, so insured deposits are still available. The FDIC estimates that this closure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund approximately $17.4 Million.

What Not to Pack

Many times people are not sure of what not to pack when moving either for the movers or for yourself!

RISMedia and Lowe’s came up with a great list to help.

For irreplaceable items, I recommend taking them with you in your car. Unfortunately many times things get broken. You want to make sure to have these items with you. If you want or need to send them, take it to a shipping place like Fedex or someplace where they will pack it for you and ship it. For Timonium residents, there is a FedEx location (map) right on York Road in Lutherville.

For heat sensitive items, you will want to have them in a climate controlled location. Moving trucks are not climate controlled, so candles and such are likely to melt.

Large items such a pool tables, which need disassembling, let the pros do it. They can take it apart at your current house and put it together on the other end at your new house. The professionals do this often, and have insurance for situations where needed. If you take apart yourself, the insurance usually would not cover it.

As for flammable, hazardous materials and such? Do not bring them AT ALL. Find out how to dispose of them properly and do so before moving. Baltimore County residents have access to the Eastern Landfill in White Marsh for most items, while the Baltimore County Resource Recovery facility in Cockeysville takes a limited number of these things. Here is the Baltimore County Hazardous Waste Recycling and Disposal web page for more details and contact information.

Hopefully you found this information useful. Contact me for more Baltimore County moving resources.

Timonium Fairgrounds Farmers Market

The Timonium Fairgrounds Farmers Market is opening June 2 , 2010 and runs through October 27, 2010.

The Farmers Market in Timonium will be showcasing and run by local Baltimore County farms.

Grand opening is set for Wednesday June 9, but the sneak peek is June 2.

Hours for the Baltimore County Farmers Market are 2 pm – 6 pm every Wednesday.

During the Maryland State Fair, it will be open every day!

The Baltimore County Farmers Market will be located at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium.

Two other Farmer’s Markets in Baltimore County are the Green Spring Station Farmers Market in Lutherville on Saturday afternoons from 2-5 pm and the Hunt Valley Farmers Market Thursdays from 11-2.

The Maryland State Fairgrounds are located at 2200 York Road, Timonium, MD 21093.

Baltimore County Growing Home Campaign

Baltimore County Growing Home Campaign is designed to help in greening the county and provide $10 savings on qualifying trees from local nurseries.

The Baltimore County Government‘s site shares the benefits of planting trees, what trees you may want to plant depending on where you live, what kind of soil you have, and what purpose you would like to have it serve.

You can use your $10 tree coupon on each qualifying tree purchased — but you need one per tree.

The Growing Home Campaign is also being put on in conjunction with Harford County and Baltimore City.

Participating nurseries include the Timonium Lowe’s Home Improvement, Cockeysville Home Depot and Towson Home Depot, Valley View Farms in Cockeysville, and Watson’s in Lutherville, among others.

What a great way to make Baltimore County a better place to live, while offering savings to Baltimore residents!

Fantastic Master Bath in Timonium Townhouse

A fantastic master bath in a Timonium Townhouse is hard to come by.

Enter 2313 Wonderview Road, a gorgeous townhome in Timonium with a brand new super master bathroom!

Two Cherrywood marble counter top sinks have individual mirrors and dual sconces for good lighting.

A brand new extra long shower showcases ceramic tile work, including built in shelving. The sliding glass door and a window creates a light and airy space.

Recessed lighting overhead and a new ceramic tile floor make for an incredible and inviting place to start your day and end the evening.

The walk-in closet is right off the bath, so you can continue to enjoy the luxury as you choose your clothes.

Spacious, open and warm, this master bath is highly unusual for the Ravenwood / Chapel Hill townhome community.

A gorgeous bathroom in a large, beautiful home!

Contact me for more information on this great Timonium townhouse or other Timonium houses.

Timonium Home Sales Statistics February 2010

Timonium houses have dropped a little in value over the past year — with average 21093 home sales remaining in the low $300,000′s from February 2009-February 2010.

Sold values dropped 10% from February 2009 to $310,000, but under contract was up 1%. Also to note is that there were 34 that settled this February over only 18 last year at the same time.

List prices are down from $349,000 last year to $340,000 this year.

Considering the multiple blizzards we had in one week in February, these numbers are much better than they could have been!

View the February 2010 Timonium Home Sales Report.

Please note that these are statistics from the multiple list. The chart is an overview of the zip code and does not take into account the type (condo, townhouse, single family) or condition of the home. To have a true value understanding of your Timonium home or Lutherville neighborhood, these factors need to be taken into consideration. If you would like a Lutherville or Timonium home price evaluation, please contact me today.

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