Picture yourself walking through the old world charm in downtown Annapolis, walking the banks of the Chesapeake or taking a trip to Key West, Charleston and San Francisco all without leaving Maryland. If you want to do all that in one evening, plan an evening for dinner at Ports of Call Annapolis and the journey you will embark on will leave you in dining bliss.

When you first walk inside of the Ports of Call located in the Doubletree Hotel Annapolis, it is reminiscent of the dining of yesteryear on a luxury cruise ship or on a Pullman car. The dark wood trim lining the restaurant and the dimly lit lights ensure a great ambiance for your dining pleasure. Its appearance just says, “First Class,” and the food says it even more.

For example, Annapolis' sailing and boating enthusiasm is showcased via the vibrant colors of an Annapolis staple, the U.S. Naval Academy. Wooden sailboats replicas are used as decorative items throughout, and random plank flooring is reminiscent of wooden boats that lined the harbor back in the early years of the yachtsmen. Each table top features nautical maps of such port cities as Boston, Charleston and San Francisco. You can find a different place to sail to each night of the week.

"My vision is to offer Annapolis a restaurant with energy and vitality,” says Vuxinic, who brings 18 years of culinary experience, having worked in the kitchens of Colorado's Loews Giorgio and Pinehurst Country Club, and the Ritz Carlton in Missouri. "I celebrate Ports of Call with simple, straightforward ingredients to complement their own flavor ... such as Citrus Grilled Mahi Mahi paired with a crisp Napa Valley Chardonnay or bold Australian Shiraz."

So after a brief description of the restaurant from General Manager Jessica Jackson and a chance to look over their extensive wine menu, we set sail for what we believe is sure to become one of the best destinations in Annapolis.

If you’re a wine connoisseur, this is the place for you. Boasting the area’s most extensive “wine by the glass,” list, which means not 2, 5 or even 10 types of wine are available by the glass, all of them are available. This means that you don’t have to spend 50 or 60 dollars for your favorite bottle wine, only just to have a glass or two.

Ports of Call’s huge wine list and the chic bar that sits in front of the restaurant compliment each other very well. Both offer vast selections and again with the windows opening to the patio, it is like stepping on deck of luxury ship. From the bar, there are eight specialty drinks, seven signature martinis, which includes the Port City Martini, which is filled to the brim with Grey Goose, Chesapeake Bay Bloody Mary Mix and served in an Old Bay Rimmed Glass. This is sure to set your bearings in the right direction.

Keeping with the crab flavor, we moved north from Charleston up to the Chesapeake Bay for some appetizers. We decided on the St. Michael’s Blue Crab Dip, which again is another one of the chef’s signature recipes topped with melted cheddar cheese and garnished with fresh fruit and lightly toasted French bread. If you like plenty of crab, get ready as this one hits you like a ton a bricks when it comes to the flavor. While none of our staff can say we had the experience getting hit by a ton of bricks, but if you did, it is something you would remember for a long period of time, so is the dip.

If you like crab cakes, then the Maryland Crab Cakes are a must. Prepared and packed full of lump crab, other restaurants in the area take notice because Ports of Call takes all the crab the watermen have brought from the Eastern Shore you will know why. This is another must have at $26.00

Continuing to navigate the East Coast, we ventured 1000 miles south on the menu to southern most point before you fall off into the Atlantic Ocean in Margartiaville, Key West, Florida.

Just like vacationing to Key West, Ports of Call menu selections might have you conjuring up fond memories of a fabulous Key West sunset, walking down Old Town lane smelling the jasmine, or singing along downtown to a popular duo at one of the bars on Duval Street. This is how close to authentic Ports of Call comes with their menu selections.

For our next journey we turned the menu around and headed for the Port of San Francisco. With six different menu items to choose from, the flavor from the west is authentic as the seals lying in the San Francisco Bay or the sounds of the cable cars rolling past you on the cobblestone streets. The Avocado and Mango Crab stack combines a different flavor that most restaurants in the area would love to have. Stacked with jumbo lump crab meat hand tossed in Dijon mustard remoulade and layered with fresh avocado and mango, the presentation takes the cake for this item. It was so stunning; we didn’t want to knock it over to taste it.

While there is not a port listed on the menu from Texas on the menu as of yet, anyone would gladly go inland to have the 20 ounce Bone In USDA prime Cowboy Ribeye Steak topped with maitre’d butter. This is a steak that would make cattlemen jealous from Abilene to Fort Worth. Three selections of steaks include the New York Strip and Filet Mignon for those with a beef craving.

No voyage at Ports of Call is finished without trying some of their homemade deserts. The Carolina Bread Pudding, Vanilla Crème Brule and Chocolate Decadence are for those who love sweats and want to talk about them the next day.

For the business travelers who have come to Annapolis/Baltimore/Washington area, you no longer have to look for a different dining choice each night. With the unique 10 percent off option that Ports of Call is offering for selecting one of their featured port on the following evenings, the difference is just one night away. This is the scheduled port of the day.