July 29, 2025 • 22 mins
This podcast has taken me all over the country. We’ve even had discussions about trips you can take through Europe and other places. But sometimes the coolest spots to hang are right under your nose. Truthfully, one of the reasons I wanted to start doing Delightful Destinations was to learn more about some of the areas right near me that I didn’t know much about.
In my time living in the Baltimore area, I’ve spent most of it living in Baltimore County. For those of you listening that don’t know the area, Baltimore County essentially wraps around Baltimore City and extends up toward Pennsylvania. It’s a massive expanse of land that offers a lot of different resources. You have the more urban feel that’s adjacent to the city, and you have a lot of rural land filled with farms, horse training facilities and beautiful areas to experience the outdoors. Not to mention the hundreds of miles of shoreline on the Chesapeake Bay.
I think Baltimore County is an untapped resource for a lot of folks in the area. As I said, when you live somewhere, it’s easy to overlook what you have at your fingertips. So, I hope today’s conversation will offer some insight into special areas of Baltimore County that people need to check out.
Joining me today is Tom Yorke. He’s the Chief of Tourism for Baltimore County.
In my time living in the Baltimore area, I’ve spent most of it living in Baltimore County. For those of you listening that don’t know the area, Baltimore County essentially wraps around Baltimore City and extends up toward Pennsylvania. It’s a massive expanse of land that offers a lot of different resources. You have the more urban feel that’s adjacent to the city, and you have a lot of rural land filled with farms, horse training facilities and beautiful areas to experience the outdoors. Not to mention the hundreds of miles of shoreline on the Chesapeake Bay.
I think Baltimore County is an untapped resource for a lot of folks in the area. As I said, when you live somewhere, it’s easy to overlook what you have at your fingertips. So, I hope today’s conversation will offer some insight into special areas of Baltimore County that people need to check out.
Joining me today is Tom Yorke. He’s the Chief of Tourism for Baltimore County.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everybody, Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name is Jeff
Saint Pierre and this is episode thirty eight. If this
happens to be the first time you've check out the program,
I appreciate your time. Delightful Destinations is a show that
I created so I can speak with representatives from different
locations around the country and learn more about these incredible
places that we have all around us. I'm always looking
(00:20):
for an excuse to get away from home and try
something new, and I hope this show will help inspire
you the next time you're looking to escape the daily grind.
This podcast has taken me all over the country. We've
had discussions about trips you can take through Europe and
other places, but sometimes the coolest spots to hang are
right under your nose. Truthfully, one of the reasons I
wanted to start doing Delightful Destinations was to learn more
(00:41):
about some of the areas right near me that I
didn't know much about in my time living in the
Baltimore area. I've spent most of it living in Baltimore County.
For those of you listening that don't know this particular area,
Baltimore County essentially wraps around Baltimore City and extends up
toward Pennsylvania. It's a massive expanse of land that offers
a lot of different resource I mean, you've got the
more urban field that's kind of adjacent to the city.
(01:03):
You've got a lot of rural land filled with farms,
horse training facilities, and beautiful areas to experience the outdoors,
not to mention the hundreds of miles of shoreline on
the Chesapeake Bay. I think Baltimore County is kind of
an untapped resource for a lot of folks here in
the area. As I said, when you live somewhere, it's
easy to overlook what you have right at your fingertips.
So I hope today's conversation will offer some insight into
(01:24):
some special areas of Baltimore County that people need to
check out. Joining me today is Tom Yorkey, is the
chief of Tourism for Baltimore County. And I think you're
going to walk away from this conversation knowing that if
you live in the Baltimore area, you don't have to
drive hours to get somewhere to enjoy yourself. You can
just pop right over to the county. I got to
ask you with a name like that, you know, Googling
you is kind of interesting because you get a lot
(01:46):
of different answers.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Oh, for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I sadly I'm not the lead singer Radiohead, so I
am the guy from New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
But I saw the spelling, I was like, well, I
definitely know it's not the same guy because there's an
H in the Radiohead singer. But it's a very very
interesting name to have with you.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, I was very popular in college. People always seek
me out.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
That's very funny. I've been a little nervous about this conversation, Tom,
because I've lived in and around Baltimore County. Live in
Baltimore City right now, but I've spent many years in
Baltimore County as well, and I'm nervous because it's hard
to talk about your own local areas sometimes, you know,
it's easy for me to ask questions about a place
that I don't know anything about. But I've lived in
Baltimore County and I feel like I have a pretty
(02:28):
good understanding. But I'm sure there's still some untapped resources
that I've never been to before here, So I'm looking
forward to learning more about the county that I've spent
a lot of time in.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So it's funny because I agree with you, I live
in Baltimore County. But at the same time, like every
day I'm finding out new fun things about the county.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It's so diverse.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
There's so much going on in the county that truly,
like it's almost impossible to know it all.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, And I always think too about like going back
to where I grew up. I grew up in southern
New Hampshire, and even now, like as someone who hasn't
lived there full time and gosh, almost thirty years, it's
wild to go back and be like, wow, is this
where I grew up? Like is this the tech? Like
I feel like you just don't see the things in
your own backyard the same way that other people do
when they're coming in to visit.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I had, like.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Before starting this job, I hadn't spent a lot of
time on the east side of the county and growing
up in you know, the Jersey Shore. When I was
in Essex and Middle River, I'm like, oh my god,
this feels like home. Like it it's so cool getting
out there and like seeing the water and you know,
eating out on the water and then really experiencing it again,
and like it's it's there's so much going on in
(03:32):
the county that truly every day you can.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Find something new.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And it's interesting too because Baltimore County does Baltimore County
fully envelope Baltimore City. Does it have a full circle around.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Uh, there's a.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Little gap where they know where there's water there, but
at the end of the day, we truly do kind
of hug the city.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, And it's interesting because Baltimore County really does have
a little piece of everything. Like you've got city feel,
you've got water feel, you've got farm land. I mean,
Baltimore County really just does have this perfect piece of
literally every type of landscape you can imagine.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And when you think.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
About it, you can drive ten minutes in any direction
and you have a full different experience.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Yeah, I mean we haven't talked about it yet, but
I know in our notes here I have the breweries
and I totally forgot that, like Guinness is even part
of Baltimore County. Like to me, that seems like Anarundo
County just because of where it sits, But that's Baltimore
County right there on the edge.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
That's truly a destination within itself. I mean, the national
headquarters for United States Guinness is in Baltimore County and
you walk in and it's almost like breathtaking, Like it's
just massive, open air like with fresh beers that you
could only get there, that that Guinness brewers are making,
Like it's amazing, and it's five minutes from my.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
House, Like it's so cool.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
It is funny, like when friends of mine are coming
to Baltimore for the first time, they ask, like, oh,
what should we do, And like, literally the first answer
I give them is Guinness. I like, there's all there's
two now in the United States, but for a long time,
this was the only Guinness hub in the United States,
right here in Baltimore County, and I was like, you've
got to go see it. Friends didn't believe how special
(05:05):
this place was until they saw it with they're own
two eyes.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
And what's amazing is you could literally walk to Heavy Seas,
which is also an amazing brewery. So it's just the
literally next door to one another, and you can have
probably the best beer experience you'll ever have in write
in Baltimore County.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
That proximity has gotten me in trouble a couple of
different times. I have to like, we'd start our day
at Guinness and be like, you know, let's go check
somewhere else out Heavy Seas is right down the street.
You know, it's kind of funny and this is sort
of off topic, but I'm going to tell you because
we're talking about this right now. My family and I
just went on a trip to Europe. We did a
vacation to Europe, and one thing that I found fascinating
is like, if you went to a restaurant in Spain
(05:43):
and you said I'd like to have a beer, they
gave you the beer. Like it was they only had
one beer. You had one option, and in some respects
that was kind of freeing to know you didn't have
this like gigantic menu to search through. But also I
was like, man, I kind of missed the idea of
like going to a brewery or a place where it's
like I can try a lot of different flavor. I
mean BC Brewery too. I Mean that's the the first
(06:03):
place I ever went where you put a card in
and you kind of got charged with the ounces that
you drank that day. I was like, this is a
fascinating concept.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
My wife is gluten free, so I like breweries kind
of got shut down for me for a while. But
then BC has like five different gluten free beers you
can have, so I'm like, oh, that's that's our spot now.
And it's they're in a great location in Hunt Valley.
Like it's like when you think about Baltimore County, like
between the breweris and wineries, you're within ten minutes of
one almost wherever you are, Like, it's just great locations.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, I mean wineries right there too. We didn't touch
on that yet. We've just been talking about the beer
drinking aspect, but I mean Baltimore County has the premier
wineries of Maryland for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
I Mean Bordy is just the prettiest place you can
ever get, even if you don't like why, Like like
you just can hang out.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
There for the day.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I mean, and it's right next to John so you
can again walk from one.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
To the other.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Like it's it's such a great spot to spend your
afternoon with your family and just kind of hang out.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It's so pretty and the wines are amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, absolutely, So I know there is at least one
major event coming to Baltimore County this summer that a
lot of people are really excited about, and that's the
BMW Golf Classic. I've had a bunch of friends talking
and I'll be totally honest with you, Tom, and I'm
not trying to bag this event. Watching golf to me
is like watching my grass grow. It is not something
that I but but you know what I feel like
going in person and seeing it like firsthand might be
(07:26):
an exciting experience for me.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
So I could understand saying like, all right, golf isn't
for me, it's the top fifty golfers in the world. Yeah,
are going to be playing at the exact same time
in Baltimore County. Caves Valley and Owens Mills in the
middle of August will host literally one of the best
tournaments in the world is going to be right here
in Baltimore County. So truly, like, if you think golf
(07:50):
might be for you or you want to experience it live,
this is the tournament to get to.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
You will see the absolute.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Best golfers in the world at one of the premier
golf courses. So it's truly it's going to be amazing
and like We're really really excited to host it in August,
and then you know, when everyone comes in, we will
want to invite everybody to our county courses as well.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Caves Valley may not be approachable for everybody, but we.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Have fot Hollow, Graystone, Rocky Point, so there's a ton
of great local courses you can play when you come
in for.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
The golf tournament.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Tom, Before I ask you my next question, how long
have you been with Baltimore County Tourism?
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So I'm still relatively new. I started in October of
last year.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, well, maybe you'll know the answer to this question
because I've been in Maryland in this Baltimore area for
about seventeen years, and I've heard of the Caves Valley
golf course like it's one of the golf courses you
know of in this region. But at the same time,
I've been hearing a lot more high profile events in
recent years. Did something change, Like is it just marketing
or did the PGA tour just be like, hey, wait
a minute, there's this amazing, untapped resource right here in
(08:52):
Baltimore County.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
This is the second time they've hosted the BMW.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
The first time they did an amazing job, and I
think the PGA was like we're coming back.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Like it wasn't really a hard sell for.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
The second run through because it's just it's such a
nice course and.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
It's such a beautiful area.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
The golfers had a great time, they stayed locally, So
I think that just truly it was it was an
easy sell for the second one.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I think it's cool too, because you know, in this region,
we do have premier sports, like you've got the Ravens,
you've got the Orioles, and you get the Preakness that
comes through every year, but Baltimore County doesn't necessarily have
its it's you know, stronghold on one particular event. But
bringing in this golf I think that's super exciting.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
But what we find a lot of the times is
that folks that are coming in for the Ravens or
the Orioles, they're spending a day with us as well.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, and we're happy, like we're huge partners with the city.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
We love Baltimore City and we truly love to share
a trip with them. Is that you know, you know,
hike and bike with us for a day, stay in
the county and then.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Go and see the o's.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I mean hopefully they went in that day and then
come back to us and you know, come up an
amazing dinner and what are our amazing restaurants.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, and on top of that too, I mean I
love going downtown to Baltimore City and staying in a
hotel there, but prices can be a little more affordable
maybe in the county, so it's an easy uber ride
or light rail trip right downtown to check something out.
So you could easily stay in Baltimore County and save
yourself a few bucks.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Well, like I said earlier, we truly kind of hugged
the city there, so it's easy to pop into the city,
go to whatever event you wanted, and come right back
to us and stay overnight.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I think the eastern parts of Baltimore County, as you
mentioned earlier in this conversation, have also been sort of
an untapped resource for me, and I have not spent
a ton of time in places like Essex or Middle River,
and that's a shame because there is some beautiful stuff there.
I mean, Baltimore County has over two hundred miles of
water right along. Like I grew up in New Hampshire,
I think we had fifty miles of coastline. I meanwhile,
(10:45):
Baltimore County has two hundred miles of it. That's insane.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah. No, I mean you go to a place like,
you know, Charlie's.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I mean I've been very specific, but like Charlie's and
you have dinner there, and it's right next to stan
Up paddle Boarding and they have minigall and it's just
there's so much to do on the water in Baltimore County.
And I said it earlier, is that you know, I
live in Caytonsville and honestly, I had never done it
before I started this job, and I was like, oh
my god, it's amazing. And like a week after I
(11:13):
started here, I had my entire family out in Essex
and Middle River because I was like, it's so cool
in that area.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
To your point, I mean, there's so much water.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
I don't own a boat, but I know a guy
that has a boat, and it's the best spot to
be it so and it's just a matter of like
experiencing because it's so much fun on the east side
of the county.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah, they say having a friend of the boat is
the way to go. That's the best. What's so awesome
about the Bay I think is that you can have
sort of the ocean feel without the ocean stuff, Like
you don't have the waves the same way in the bay.
You know, you can experience boat and you can experience
fishing and crabbing. You can do all of these things
that you might not necessarily be able to do the
(11:53):
same way just you know, across on the Eastern Shore
if you want to go to Ocean City. I think
having that bay opportunity really gives people a lot different options.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah, I mean drop your kayak into the water.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I mean I have two little kids and that they'll
jump in with me, and it's so much fun, you know,
experiencing you know, a full day on the water. And
to your point, it's easily accessible, like there's there's really
no barrier to entry here, Like it's so easy to
get in, have a great day, and then you're walking
to your dinner and wherever you're staying.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Tom. I've been here, like I mentioned, for about seventeen years,
in the Baltimore area, and I've bounced around a bit
between the city and the county. I feel like I've
touched on a lot of big things in the county,
but what are some hidden gems maybe of Baltimore County
that people aren't necessarily aware of.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So I think that really, when you think about it,
it's you kind of have like your favorite spot. It's
all right, you know, I go to Pertaps, go to hike.
What you truly need to do is really think about
all right, that's kind of that's because you live on
the south side of the county. But there's also you know,
Marshing Point, which is a beautiful area.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
There's lock Raven Reservoir, there's Oregon Ridge.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Is that you know, kind of go into our website
and discover all the things you can do in the
county because there's every area is kind of providing its
own specific events or things that are just absolutely beautiful.
There's downtowns and you know, Catonsville incredibly walkable downtown, so
many stores, so many restaurants.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You've got Towsing, which kind of is a little bit.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Of an urban feel to it, which is very different
from any other area of the county. So truly you
can experience almost anything if you kind of kind of
look and kind of say, I want to discover something
new today.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I actually love We moved our office. Our office had
been in Hamden in Baltimore City, and I really enjoyed
that after all the upgrades and stuff that have been
made there. But we just moved to Twison about four
years ago and we're right in the center of things
and I absolutely love it. I mean, I love being
right there in the heart of things, like the restaurants,
the activity I always say during the school year too,
like driving through the college. Just the life in that
(13:54):
area is so awesome to see.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So I drive from Catonsville, which on the sat outside
of the county two thousand every day, which on the
north side of the county, which is great for me
because then I like, I'll drive by Randallstown. I'll be like,
I haven't been there yet. I need to check it out,
and I'll literally get off six p ninety five and
like drive through downtown.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
But like, all right, this is really cool. We need
to talk about this a little bit more now.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
And you know, you make a really good point, and
you said this earlier, like people kind of stay in
their neighborhoods. They find their spots and they stay with
those spots. And Baltimore County is so much bigger, I
think than people realize, and it can be easy to ignore,
like I have not spent I have friends that moved
to Caytonsville ten years ago that I have never been
to their house because I live on the north side
of the city and I just have not gotten around.
(14:36):
But I hear so many wonderful things about the Catonsville area,
and I just I think it's important. I know people
listening right now might not all necessarily be in the
Baltimore area, but I think it's important to explore the
place where you live and go to some of those
areas that are right around the corner, but maybe they're
not convenient for your day to day life.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
So I going back to breweries.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I had never been to Big Truck before from the
north side of the county, and it was amazing to
bring my kids there because it was like, oh my god,
it's so pretty insane. But you kind of need to
go explore, like it's it's just that, like like explore
the county because there's so much going on.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I mean just the We touched on breweries earlier
in this conversation, and we talked about a couple of
the bigger ones that are you know, closer to the city,
but there are so many wonderful ones that are out in,
like the farmlands you mentioned. Big Truck is Inverness, Baltimore County. Yes, okay.
And then we've got Pharmacy Brewing, which is one of
my personal favorites as well. I mean, I have there,
you go, I have a four and a half year old,
(15:31):
and there's nothing better than going to a farm and
enjoying a nice strength. There's space for the kids to
play around outside, and it's not really you know, inconvenient
for the other people that are enjoying their day. I mean,
there's some really magical places in Baltimore County.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
It really is just an amazing spot.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I moved here from New Jersey, I guess about twelve
years ago, and when I told my wife I was,
you know, search for a new career, she was like,
the only thing, the only thing she said to me
was we can't move.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
She was like, she was like, we have to say
in Baltimore County. She was like, we were not moving. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I love that. You know, it's also interesting to me
and I don't know how Fami. I mean, you run
tourism so I'm sure you know, but I don't know
how familiar are with the northern part of Baltimore County.
But my wife lives her family is from upstate New York,
so we will take eighty three straight through to go visit.
And I always forget how much space there is between say,
Baltimore City and Pennsylvania. There's a lot of room up
that eighty three corridor and a lot of things up
(16:26):
there that I just we've never really gotten off the
highway before, and I feel like that's such a shame.
I'm sure there's beautiful spots to check out.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Oh yeah up there. I mean, the Cocky's Bill area
is amazing.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Timoniums up there, like just great towns, great great neighborhoods,
great downtowns as well, like they're all walkable, all just
you know, great stores and great restaurants.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
So, I know that your job, your tourism job, has
taken some changes in the last couple of years. You've
kind of done a significant rebrand to try to bring
some more people in. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
So I think that you know, this is predates me
en roll, but they did an amazing job of kind
of really identifying what Baltimore County was. So they switched
from visit Baltimore County to Discover Baltimore County because I
think that's kind of what our conversation.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Has been so far.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
It's that you can truly discover something new every single
day in Baltimore County.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
So they really wanted to identify, you know, what it.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Is we had to offer here, and you know, it's
all the stuff that we kind of hit on before.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It's that you know, hiking and biking the waterways.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
You know, there's amazing crab locations that you can you know,
have an amazing dinner at. There's great downtown shopping throughout
the county. So they wanted to not separate from the
city but really identify what the county had to offer.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
So that's really why they shifted the brand.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And I think, you know, it pops really well, and
they did an amazing job with you know, the shifting
and to discover Baltimore County.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
You mentioned shopping and one thing or one location that
I just recently rediscovered. I had lived in right next
to the Owens Mills Mall for about a year of
my life, but that was going back twelve years or so.
I just went back to that area for the first
time and it's completely different. I mean all the stores,
the cost goo, all of that. It was wild to me,
like that whole area has grown up so much over
(18:10):
the last decade that it's really turned into kind of
a destination in itself.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
You think about all the you know, truly the investment
going into Baltimore County is really encouraging to see.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I mean, Owens.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Mills has, you know, an amazing downtown, amazing hotels. You know,
you go over to the Avenue in White Marsh, that's
just an amazing shopping district with awesome restaurants. Hunt Valley
Hunt Valley Town Center is awesome and just has so
much to offer. So you know, there's almost anywhere you're
looking in the in the county there's going to be
(18:41):
a great spot to shop.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
So Tom, tell me, where do people go if they
want to start planning their trip, they want to find
out more details, find some more information. Where's the best
place to.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Go discover Baltimore County dot com. We have both stories
which are somewhat timely. If you want to know what
events are coming up right now, that's going to be
where you want to go.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
We also have guides, so if you're.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Looking for the best pet friendly spots, like, we got
guides right there that'll tell you where you should go
for pet friendly or whatever else.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You're looking for.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
So, or if you just kind of want to needle
into you know what restaurants, we have all that there.
You go to our bikes area, tell us what area
you want, what kind of food you're looking for, We'll
give it to your right there. So Discover Baltimore County
is a repository for everything going on in the county.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
I got to say, I'm looking at your website right
now and I have one small issue with it, Tom.
And at the time that we're recording this podcast, it's
just after July fourth, and there is a picture on
the website discussing, you know, July fourth festivities, and there's
a gentleman wearing a New York hat in it, and
I just don't like it, Tom, I don't like that.
I don't feel like a New York hat should be
front and center on the Baltimore County website.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Duly noted, I will tell you, while I'm a Mets fan,
my son's and Orielspan so you feel the exact.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Same way.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Around here. You just got to be careful with those hats.
You know, I grew up in the Boston area. I
think I'm currently wearing a red Sox at now as
we're chatting. Yeah, but well, you know what, if you're
representing Baltimore, we got to get rid of that New
York thing. I'm just saying. But you know, you mentioned guides,
and I do think that's so important because a lot
of tourism places are doing things more like this. They're
cultivating experiences for people. And you can get lost in
(20:13):
a website if you just go looking for information, you
might not know what you're looking for. But a guide
is perfect. Like, say you want a water trip, Okay,
you've got a water guide. Here are a bunch of
things involving the water that you might enjoy. I think
that is so smart, Tom.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yeah, well, and honestly, the way we do it normally
is just that what is it that we're looking for,
Like you personally, like when you're thinking about your weekend,
like what is it you're googling? And that's what we
want to make sure that we're providing to the visitors
is let's make sure that we're giving them all the
facts about Baltimore County, so it's really easy to.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Plan a trip.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And I love too. Again going back to the website,
right there at the top, the tagline says for the curious,
and I think that is so that's so poignant. And
we talked a little bit about this, but it just
I think there is so much to explore and be
curious about in Baltimore County, especially if people that have
lived here their entire lives, they might not have seen
a lot of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, we know that people know a lot about Baltimore City,
and we want people to think a little bit, like
be curious, look into Baltimore County. There's so much to
offer here, like come our way that we've got it
for you.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You make a good point, because I think when you
are the areas surrounding a major city in this country,
your message may get drowned out because the major city
will probably get most of the most of the noise,
they will get most of the attention. So that's an
interesting point to make, Like we got to get people
to experience the areas just outside those city walls.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
There's so much out here and it's so easily accessible
on your visit to Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
City that we want to make sure that you're coming
here as well. Well.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Listen, Tom York, this has been fantastic Chief of Tourism
for Baltimore County. I love talking about the place that
I live in because there's always some stuff that I
don't know about despite having been here for almost two decades.
I think it's fantastic. And the work that you're doing
with Baltimore County and getting the message out is fantastic. Again,
what's the website people go.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
To Discover Baltimore County dot com.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Tom, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you,
and hopefully we'll run into each other at Guinness one
of these days.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Likewise, look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Big thank you to Tom Yorke for his time. Again.
If you want to find more info about Baltimore County
and start planning your visit, you can check out discover
Baltimore County dot com. And thank you to all of
you for listening to delightful destinations. My name is Jeff
Saint Pierre. Until next time, be well,
Hey, everybody, Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name is Jeff
Saint Pierre and this is episode thirty eight. If this
happens to be the first time you've check out the program,
I appreciate your time. Delightful Destinations is a show that
I created so I can speak with representatives from different
locations around the country and learn more about these incredible
places that we have all around us. I'm always looking
(00:20):
for an excuse to get away from home and try
something new, and I hope this show will help inspire
you the next time you're looking to escape the daily grind.
This podcast has taken me all over the country. We've
had discussions about trips you can take through Europe and
other places, but sometimes the coolest spots to hang are
right under your nose. Truthfully, one of the reasons I
wanted to start doing Delightful Destinations was to learn more
(00:41):
about some of the areas right near me that I
didn't know much about in my time living in the
Baltimore area. I've spent most of it living in Baltimore County.
For those of you listening that don't know this particular area,
Baltimore County essentially wraps around Baltimore City and extends up
toward Pennsylvania. It's a massive expanse of land that offers
a lot of different resource I mean, you've got the
more urban field that's kind of adjacent to the city.
(01:03):
You've got a lot of rural land filled with farms,
horse training facilities, and beautiful areas to experience the outdoors,
not to mention the hundreds of miles of shoreline on
the Chesapeake Bay. I think Baltimore County is kind of
an untapped resource for a lot of folks here in
the area. As I said, when you live somewhere, it's
easy to overlook what you have right at your fingertips.
So I hope today's conversation will offer some insight into
(01:24):
some special areas of Baltimore County that people need to
check out. Joining me today is Tom Yorkey, is the
chief of Tourism for Baltimore County. And I think you're
going to walk away from this conversation knowing that if
you live in the Baltimore area, you don't have to
drive hours to get somewhere to enjoy yourself. You can
just pop right over to the county. I got to
ask you with a name like that, you know, Googling
you is kind of interesting because you get a lot
(01:46):
of different answers.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Oh, for sure.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
I sadly I'm not the lead singer Radiohead, so I
am the guy from New Jersey.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
But I saw the spelling, I was like, well, I
definitely know it's not the same guy because there's an
H in the Radiohead singer. But it's a very very
interesting name to have with you.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, I was very popular in college. People always seek
me out.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
That's very funny. I've been a little nervous about this conversation, Tom,
because I've lived in and around Baltimore County. Live in
Baltimore City right now, but I've spent many years in
Baltimore County as well, and I'm nervous because it's hard
to talk about your own local areas sometimes, you know,
it's easy for me to ask questions about a place
that I don't know anything about. But I've lived in
Baltimore County and I feel like I have a pretty
(02:28):
good understanding. But I'm sure there's still some untapped resources
that I've never been to before here, So I'm looking
forward to learning more about the county that I've spent
a lot of time in.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So it's funny because I agree with you, I live
in Baltimore County. But at the same time, like every
day I'm finding out new fun things about the county.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It's so diverse.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
There's so much going on in the county that truly,
like it's almost impossible to know it all.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, And I always think too about like going back
to where I grew up. I grew up in southern
New Hampshire, and even now, like as someone who hasn't
lived there full time and gosh, almost thirty years, it's
wild to go back and be like, wow, is this
where I grew up? Like is this the tech? Like
I feel like you just don't see the things in
your own backyard the same way that other people do
when they're coming in to visit.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
I had, like.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Before starting this job, I hadn't spent a lot of
time on the east side of the county and growing
up in you know, the Jersey Shore. When I was
in Essex and Middle River, I'm like, oh my god,
this feels like home. Like it it's so cool getting
out there and like seeing the water and you know,
eating out on the water and then really experiencing it again,
and like it's it's there's so much going on in
(03:32):
the county that truly every day you can.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Find something new.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
And it's interesting too because Baltimore County does Baltimore County
fully envelope Baltimore City. Does it have a full circle around.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Uh, there's a.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Little gap where they know where there's water there, but
at the end of the day, we truly do kind
of hug the city.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yeah, And it's interesting because Baltimore County really does have
a little piece of everything. Like you've got city feel,
you've got water feel, you've got farm land. I mean,
Baltimore County really just does have this perfect piece of
literally every type of landscape you can imagine.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And when you think.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
About it, you can drive ten minutes in any direction
and you have a full different experience.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Yeah, I mean we haven't talked about it yet, but
I know in our notes here I have the breweries
and I totally forgot that, like Guinness is even part
of Baltimore County. Like to me, that seems like Anarundo
County just because of where it sits, But that's Baltimore
County right there on the edge.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
That's truly a destination within itself. I mean, the national
headquarters for United States Guinness is in Baltimore County and
you walk in and it's almost like breathtaking, Like it's
just massive, open air like with fresh beers that you
could only get there, that that Guinness brewers are making,
Like it's amazing, and it's five minutes from my.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
House, Like it's so cool.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
It is funny, like when friends of mine are coming
to Baltimore for the first time, they ask, like, oh,
what should we do, And like, literally the first answer
I give them is Guinness. I like, there's all there's
two now in the United States, but for a long time,
this was the only Guinness hub in the United States,
right here in Baltimore County, and I was like, you've
got to go see it. Friends didn't believe how special
(05:05):
this place was until they saw it with they're own
two eyes.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
And what's amazing is you could literally walk to Heavy Seas,
which is also an amazing brewery. So it's just the
literally next door to one another, and you can have
probably the best beer experience you'll ever have in write
in Baltimore County.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
That proximity has gotten me in trouble a couple of
different times. I have to like, we'd start our day
at Guinness and be like, you know, let's go check
somewhere else out Heavy Seas is right down the street.
You know, it's kind of funny and this is sort
of off topic, but I'm going to tell you because
we're talking about this right now. My family and I
just went on a trip to Europe. We did a
vacation to Europe, and one thing that I found fascinating
is like, if you went to a restaurant in Spain
(05:43):
and you said I'd like to have a beer, they
gave you the beer. Like it was they only had
one beer. You had one option, and in some respects
that was kind of freeing to know you didn't have
this like gigantic menu to search through. But also I
was like, man, I kind of missed the idea of
like going to a brewery or a place where it's
like I can try a lot of different flavor. I
mean BC Brewery too. I Mean that's the the first
(06:03):
place I ever went where you put a card in
and you kind of got charged with the ounces that
you drank that day. I was like, this is a
fascinating concept.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
My wife is gluten free, so I like breweries kind
of got shut down for me for a while. But
then BC has like five different gluten free beers you
can have, so I'm like, oh, that's that's our spot now.
And it's they're in a great location in Hunt Valley.
Like it's like when you think about Baltimore County, like
between the breweris and wineries, you're within ten minutes of
one almost wherever you are, Like, it's just great locations.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah, I mean wineries right there too. We didn't touch
on that yet. We've just been talking about the beer
drinking aspect, but I mean Baltimore County has the premier
wineries of Maryland for sure.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
I Mean Bordy is just the prettiest place you can
ever get, even if you don't like why, Like like
you just can hang out.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
There for the day.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
I mean, and it's right next to John so you
can again walk from one.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
To the other.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Like it's it's such a great spot to spend your
afternoon with your family and just kind of hang out.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
It's so pretty and the wines are amazing.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, absolutely, So I know there is at least one
major event coming to Baltimore County this summer that a
lot of people are really excited about, and that's the
BMW Golf Classic. I've had a bunch of friends talking
and I'll be totally honest with you, Tom, and I'm
not trying to bag this event. Watching golf to me
is like watching my grass grow. It is not something
that I but but you know what I feel like
going in person and seeing it like firsthand might be
(07:26):
an exciting experience for me.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
So I could understand saying like, all right, golf isn't
for me, it's the top fifty golfers in the world. Yeah,
are going to be playing at the exact same time
in Baltimore County. Caves Valley and Owens Mills in the
middle of August will host literally one of the best
tournaments in the world is going to be right here
in Baltimore County. So truly, like, if you think golf
(07:50):
might be for you or you want to experience it live,
this is the tournament to get to.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
You will see the absolute.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Best golfers in the world at one of the premier
golf courses. So it's truly it's going to be amazing
and like We're really really excited to host it in August,
and then you know, when everyone comes in, we will
want to invite everybody to our county courses as well.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Caves Valley may not be approachable for everybody, but we.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Have fot Hollow, Graystone, Rocky Point, so there's a ton
of great local courses you can play when you come
in for.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
The golf tournament.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Tom, Before I ask you my next question, how long
have you been with Baltimore County Tourism?
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So I'm still relatively new. I started in October of
last year.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Okay, well, maybe you'll know the answer to this question
because I've been in Maryland in this Baltimore area for
about seventeen years, and I've heard of the Caves Valley
golf course like it's one of the golf courses you
know of in this region. But at the same time,
I've been hearing a lot more high profile events in
recent years. Did something change, Like is it just marketing
or did the PGA tour just be like, hey, wait
a minute, there's this amazing, untapped resource right here in
(08:52):
Baltimore County.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
This is the second time they've hosted the BMW.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
The first time they did an amazing job, and I
think the PGA was like we're coming back.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Like it wasn't really a hard sell for.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
The second run through because it's just it's such a
nice course and.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
It's such a beautiful area.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
The golfers had a great time, they stayed locally, So
I think that just truly it was it was an
easy sell for the second one.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
I think it's cool too, because you know, in this region,
we do have premier sports, like you've got the Ravens,
you've got the Orioles, and you get the Preakness that
comes through every year, but Baltimore County doesn't necessarily have
its it's you know, stronghold on one particular event. But
bringing in this golf I think that's super exciting.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
But what we find a lot of the times is
that folks that are coming in for the Ravens or
the Orioles, they're spending a day with us as well.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, and we're happy, like we're huge partners with the city.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
We love Baltimore City and we truly love to share
a trip with them. Is that you know, you know,
hike and bike with us for a day, stay in
the county and then.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Go and see the o's.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
I mean hopefully they went in that day and then
come back to us and you know, come up an
amazing dinner and what are our amazing restaurants.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, and on top of that too, I mean I
love going downtown to Baltimore City and staying in a
hotel there, but prices can be a little more affordable
maybe in the county, so it's an easy uber ride
or light rail trip right downtown to check something out.
So you could easily stay in Baltimore County and save
yourself a few bucks.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Well, like I said earlier, we truly kind of hugged
the city there, so it's easy to pop into the city,
go to whatever event you wanted, and come right back
to us and stay overnight.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
I think the eastern parts of Baltimore County, as you
mentioned earlier in this conversation, have also been sort of
an untapped resource for me, and I have not spent
a ton of time in places like Essex or Middle River,
and that's a shame because there is some beautiful stuff there.
I mean, Baltimore County has over two hundred miles of
water right along. Like I grew up in New Hampshire,
I think we had fifty miles of coastline. I meanwhile,
(10:45):
Baltimore County has two hundred miles of it. That's insane.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yeah. No, I mean you go to a place like,
you know, Charlie's.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
I mean I've been very specific, but like Charlie's and
you have dinner there, and it's right next to stan
Up paddle Boarding and they have minigall and it's just
there's so much to do on the water in Baltimore County.
And I said it earlier, is that you know, I
live in Caytonsville and honestly, I had never done it
before I started this job, and I was like, oh
my god, it's amazing. And like a week after I
(11:13):
started here, I had my entire family out in Essex
and Middle River because I was like, it's so cool
in that area.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
To your point, I mean, there's so much water.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
I don't own a boat, but I know a guy
that has a boat, and it's the best spot to
be it so and it's just a matter of like
experiencing because it's so much fun on the east side
of the county.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Yeah, they say having a friend of the boat is
the way to go. That's the best. What's so awesome
about the Bay I think is that you can have
sort of the ocean feel without the ocean stuff, Like
you don't have the waves the same way in the bay.
You know, you can experience boat and you can experience
fishing and crabbing. You can do all of these things
that you might not necessarily be able to do the
(11:53):
same way just you know, across on the Eastern Shore
if you want to go to Ocean City. I think
having that bay opportunity really gives people a lot different options.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yeah, I mean drop your kayak into the water.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
I mean I have two little kids and that they'll
jump in with me, and it's so much fun, you know,
experiencing you know, a full day on the water. And
to your point, it's easily accessible, like there's there's really
no barrier to entry here, Like it's so easy to
get in, have a great day, and then you're walking
to your dinner and wherever you're staying.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Tom. I've been here, like I mentioned, for about seventeen years,
in the Baltimore area, and I've bounced around a bit
between the city and the county. I feel like I've
touched on a lot of big things in the county,
but what are some hidden gems maybe of Baltimore County
that people aren't necessarily aware of.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
So I think that really, when you think about it,
it's you kind of have like your favorite spot. It's
all right, you know, I go to Pertaps, go to hike.
What you truly need to do is really think about
all right, that's kind of that's because you live on
the south side of the county. But there's also you know,
Marshing Point, which is a beautiful area.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
There's lock Raven Reservoir, there's Oregon Ridge.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Is that you know, kind of go into our website
and discover all the things you can do in the
county because there's every area is kind of providing its
own specific events or things that are just absolutely beautiful.
There's downtowns and you know, Catonsville incredibly walkable downtown, so
many stores, so many restaurants.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You've got Towsing, which kind of is a little bit.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Of an urban feel to it, which is very different
from any other area of the county. So truly you
can experience almost anything if you kind of kind of
look and kind of say, I want to discover something
new today.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I actually love We moved our office. Our office had
been in Hamden in Baltimore City, and I really enjoyed
that after all the upgrades and stuff that have been
made there. But we just moved to Twison about four
years ago and we're right in the center of things
and I absolutely love it. I mean, I love being
right there in the heart of things, like the restaurants,
the activity I always say during the school year too,
like driving through the college. Just the life in that
(13:54):
area is so awesome to see.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So I drive from Catonsville, which on the sat outside
of the county two thousand every day, which on the
north side of the county, which is great for me
because then I like, I'll drive by Randallstown. I'll be like,
I haven't been there yet. I need to check it out,
and I'll literally get off six p ninety five and
like drive through downtown.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
But like, all right, this is really cool. We need
to talk about this a little bit more now.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
And you know, you make a really good point, and
you said this earlier, like people kind of stay in
their neighborhoods. They find their spots and they stay with
those spots. And Baltimore County is so much bigger, I
think than people realize, and it can be easy to ignore,
like I have not spent I have friends that moved
to Caytonsville ten years ago that I have never been
to their house because I live on the north side
of the city and I just have not gotten around.
(14:36):
But I hear so many wonderful things about the Catonsville area,
and I just I think it's important. I know people
listening right now might not all necessarily be in the
Baltimore area, but I think it's important to explore the
place where you live and go to some of those
areas that are right around the corner, but maybe they're
not convenient for your day to day life.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
So I going back to breweries.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I had never been to Big Truck before from the
north side of the county, and it was amazing to
bring my kids there because it was like, oh my god,
it's so pretty insane. But you kind of need to
go explore, like it's it's just that, like like explore
the county because there's so much going on.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Yeah, I mean just the We touched on breweries earlier
in this conversation, and we talked about a couple of
the bigger ones that are you know, closer to the city,
but there are so many wonderful ones that are out in,
like the farmlands you mentioned. Big Truck is Inverness, Baltimore County. Yes, okay.
And then we've got Pharmacy Brewing, which is one of
my personal favorites as well. I mean, I have there,
you go, I have a four and a half year old,
(15:31):
and there's nothing better than going to a farm and
enjoying a nice strength. There's space for the kids to
play around outside, and it's not really you know, inconvenient
for the other people that are enjoying their day. I mean,
there's some really magical places in Baltimore County.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
It really is just an amazing spot.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
I moved here from New Jersey, I guess about twelve
years ago, and when I told my wife I was,
you know, search for a new career, she was like,
the only thing, the only thing she said to me
was we can't move.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
She was like, she was like, we have to say
in Baltimore County. She was like, we were not moving. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I love that. You know, it's also interesting to me
and I don't know how Fami. I mean, you run
tourism so I'm sure you know, but I don't know
how familiar are with the northern part of Baltimore County.
But my wife lives her family is from upstate New York,
so we will take eighty three straight through to go visit.
And I always forget how much space there is between say,
Baltimore City and Pennsylvania. There's a lot of room up
that eighty three corridor and a lot of things up
(16:26):
there that I just we've never really gotten off the
highway before, and I feel like that's such a shame.
I'm sure there's beautiful spots to check out.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Oh yeah up there. I mean, the Cocky's Bill area
is amazing.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Timoniums up there, like just great towns, great great neighborhoods,
great downtowns as well, like they're all walkable, all just
you know, great stores and great restaurants.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
So, I know that your job, your tourism job, has
taken some changes in the last couple of years. You've
kind of done a significant rebrand to try to bring
some more people in. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
So I think that you know, this is predates me
en roll, but they did an amazing job of kind
of really identifying what Baltimore County was. So they switched
from visit Baltimore County to Discover Baltimore County because I
think that's kind of what our conversation.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Has been so far.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
It's that you can truly discover something new every single
day in Baltimore County.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
So they really wanted to identify, you know, what it.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Is we had to offer here, and you know, it's
all the stuff that we kind of hit on before.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
It's that you know, hiking and biking the waterways.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
You know, there's amazing crab locations that you can you know,
have an amazing dinner at. There's great downtown shopping throughout
the county. So they wanted to not separate from the
city but really identify what the county had to offer.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
So that's really why they shifted the brand.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
And I think, you know, it pops really well, and
they did an amazing job with you know, the shifting
and to discover Baltimore County.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
You mentioned shopping and one thing or one location that
I just recently rediscovered. I had lived in right next
to the Owens Mills Mall for about a year of
my life, but that was going back twelve years or so.
I just went back to that area for the first
time and it's completely different. I mean all the stores,
the cost goo, all of that. It was wild to me,
like that whole area has grown up so much over
(18:10):
the last decade that it's really turned into kind of
a destination in itself.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
You think about all the you know, truly the investment
going into Baltimore County is really encouraging to see.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
I mean, Owens.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Mills has, you know, an amazing downtown, amazing hotels. You know,
you go over to the Avenue in White Marsh, that's
just an amazing shopping district with awesome restaurants. Hunt Valley
Hunt Valley Town Center is awesome and just has so
much to offer. So you know, there's almost anywhere you're
looking in the in the county there's going to be
(18:41):
a great spot to shop.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
So Tom, tell me, where do people go if they
want to start planning their trip, they want to find
out more details, find some more information. Where's the best
place to.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Go discover Baltimore County dot com. We have both stories
which are somewhat timely. If you want to know what
events are coming up right now, that's going to be
where you want to go.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
We also have guides, so if you're.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Looking for the best pet friendly spots, like, we got
guides right there that'll tell you where you should go
for pet friendly or whatever else.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
You're looking for.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
So, or if you just kind of want to needle
into you know what restaurants, we have all that there.
You go to our bikes area, tell us what area
you want, what kind of food you're looking for, We'll
give it to your right there. So Discover Baltimore County
is a repository for everything going on in the county.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
I got to say, I'm looking at your website right
now and I have one small issue with it, Tom.
And at the time that we're recording this podcast, it's
just after July fourth, and there is a picture on
the website discussing, you know, July fourth festivities, and there's
a gentleman wearing a New York hat in it, and
I just don't like it, Tom, I don't like that.
I don't feel like a New York hat should be
front and center on the Baltimore County website.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Duly noted, I will tell you, while I'm a Mets fan,
my son's and Orielspan so you feel the exact.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Same way.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
Around here. You just got to be careful with those hats.
You know, I grew up in the Boston area. I
think I'm currently wearing a red Sox at now as
we're chatting. Yeah, but well, you know what, if you're
representing Baltimore, we got to get rid of that New
York thing. I'm just saying. But you know, you mentioned guides,
and I do think that's so important because a lot
of tourism places are doing things more like this. They're
cultivating experiences for people. And you can get lost in
(20:13):
a website if you just go looking for information, you
might not know what you're looking for. But a guide
is perfect. Like, say you want a water trip, Okay,
you've got a water guide. Here are a bunch of
things involving the water that you might enjoy. I think
that is so smart, Tom.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Yeah, well, and honestly, the way we do it normally
is just that what is it that we're looking for,
Like you personally, like when you're thinking about your weekend,
like what is it you're googling? And that's what we
want to make sure that we're providing to the visitors
is let's make sure that we're giving them all the
facts about Baltimore County, so it's really easy to.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Plan a trip.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
And I love too. Again going back to the website,
right there at the top, the tagline says for the curious,
and I think that is so that's so poignant. And
we talked a little bit about this, but it just
I think there is so much to explore and be
curious about in Baltimore County, especially if people that have
lived here their entire lives, they might not have seen
a lot of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Yeah, we know that people know a lot about Baltimore City,
and we want people to think a little bit, like
be curious, look into Baltimore County. There's so much to
offer here, like come our way that we've got it
for you.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
You make a good point, because I think when you
are the areas surrounding a major city in this country,
your message may get drowned out because the major city
will probably get most of the most of the noise,
they will get most of the attention. So that's an
interesting point to make, Like we got to get people
to experience the areas just outside those city walls.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
There's so much out here and it's so easily accessible
on your visit to Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
City that we want to make sure that you're coming
here as well. Well.
Speaker 1 (21:40):
Listen, Tom York, this has been fantastic Chief of Tourism
for Baltimore County. I love talking about the place that
I live in because there's always some stuff that I
don't know about despite having been here for almost two decades.
I think it's fantastic. And the work that you're doing
with Baltimore County and getting the message out is fantastic. Again,
what's the website people go.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
To Discover Baltimore County dot com.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Tom, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you,
and hopefully we'll run into each other at Guinness one
of these days.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Likewise, look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Big thank you to Tom Yorke for his time. Again.
If you want to find more info about Baltimore County
and start planning your visit, you can check out discover
Baltimore County dot com. And thank you to all of
you for listening to delightful destinations. My name is Jeff
Saint Pierre. Until next time, be well,
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