[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nacho4Sara *
**on the driving…
Preach on, sister!!
What is this “FREE first Thursday” you talk of? Me think me heard of it on radio but me no recall. Tell me more you will?
Frankly, folks in Baltimore should take a little drive west. Past Gaithersburg, past Frederick, all the way to
Hagerstown MD!
Now, get out of your car and look around. It like you’re not even IN Maryland anymore. Heck, it’s like you’re not even in the 21st CENTURY anymore!
And what’s that music you hear? You can almost hear the theme from “Deliverance”!
I COULD say “at least it’s not West Virginia”, but that’d just be mean!
Tsk…You need to get up to Hagerstown more often. The new monorail line has just been finished out to the expanded air-plex complete with a new auto-gyro pad and a dirigible docking tower.
Hagerstown-Washington County Salutes
Gods and Generals Appreciation Dinner - Dec 10
Make your reservation now Grizzrich!
“Join us for an appreciation dinner celebrating Gods and Generals. Invited special guests include directors: Ronald Maxwell and Ronald Smith; actors: Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Daniels, Robert Duvall, Stephen Lang and Jeremy London. This very special event will be held at Fountainhead Country Club on December 10, 2001 with registration and cocktails at 5:30 pm and program and dinner at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $40 per person or a table of 10 $380. The event is sponsored by Farmers and Merchants Bank, Maryland Film Office, Parris N. Glendening, Governor, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Lt. Governor. Please contact Donna Long for additional information. You may register for this event online click here.”
Now look here. What do you have against Hagerstown? I’m not saying it’s a raging metropolis or anything, but it was always a decent place to go for a day (when I lived out in Sandy Hook, and later Sharpsburg).
Well, at least somebody got a clue at the last minute… the washington (cough-cough) post
Shame I didn’t get here sooner, but most of my free time is eaten up by Chicago traffic. I’m taking the Bus and the Metra now so have a bit more time to check the boards.
Since so many of Maryland’s wonders have been eloquently praised, let me keep my remarks brief. I lived in the Baltimore area for 20+ years. 1994-1997 I lived in a row home in Sowebo. 3 stories, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, nice back yard, about 1400 sq feet plus an unfinished basement. $400/month +utilities split 3 ways (about $160/month each for everything). It was great. I moved to Minneaplois and paid $750 for 900sq.ft. one bedroom. Then to Chicago and paid $950 for the same.
I’ve committed to my job in Chicago for the next 3-4 years. Then I’ll be headed back to the east coast, either the Wilmington/Philly area or to Bmore.
I miss Sunday afternoons most of all. Either at the Cats Eye and the 1919 or Cross Street Market and Mums.
Thank god there’s not enough employment there for a mass movement to Bmore. That would just bring in too many people and ruin the place.
Or an aged steak? My experience on the East Coast is that y’all want your beef fresh, not hung for a while in the cooler. I’ve not had a really good steak since moving from one of those “Flat Rectangular States” to here.
And since I imagine they breed cattle somewhere in Maryland, you have less excuse than people in landlocked states, huh?
What, carrion that’s been just hanging there for Dog knows how long? 
Yeah, I’ve had it. Fine, fine stuff, delightfully tender and flavorful. But OTOH if the Health Department allowed it and I had the time, I wouldn’t object either to Mr. Steer walking into the restaurant before my very eyes 30 minutes before I have a piece o’ him.
But seriously, folks, the year I spent out there where a “hill” is an exotic object, I delighted in the outstanding opportunities for fine dining whenever I could afford to – but people who will dig into aged steak will not be fazed by a mere crustacean covered in nasty herbs. It’s the other ones, the ones whose only sight of “crabmeat” is a tub of processed generic-marine-creature flesh – you know them, you saw them living around you back there in the Middle Middle – those were the ones that were so much fun in Terra Maria.
(And they’re still a lot of fun down here in SJ…)
Just a funny story for my fellow Marylanders. I was talking to a friend ( who is NOT from around here ) explaining the virtues and glory of Old Bay. She said that it sounded good, maybe next time she was with her BF, she could use some for flavor while…um…giving head.
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: cringe
I had to explain that this ain’t honey, hon.
If she weren’t such a friend, perhaps you might suggest that she sprinkle some on her… um… “nether regions” before her BF “nibbles the taco”, as it were.
(Emphasis mine)
:rolleyes:
Esprix
Now, now, Esprix, I’m sure we all find white guys who wear bandannas to look hip and cover up bald spots as annoying as Evil Gandhi does. That Hulk Hogan, what a raghead!
I’ve eaten aged beef plenty in Bmore but never in the midwest. They seem to put their emphasis on “genuine Angus” rather than the age or lack thereof. When I buy good steak at the grocery I tend to wait until it turns a bit green on the edges before I cook it. It’s better that way. And, I eat it bloody.
I think members of the Black community in Bmore tend to eat their steaks well done. This pretty much eliminates any benefit you get from aging your beef and so I think they tend to buy fresh.
Generally, steaks I had in Bmore at restaurants were only in the 10-14 ounce range. Which is about right, if you’re going to have a salad and a couple vegies and a potato. In the Midwest, and in Texas, I frequently end up with steaks that are too large to eat and priced to match.
Prices in Bmore have been going up steadily, or so I hear, but last time I was there (Octber2001) I went to the grocery and bought ground beef for $0.99/lb. and local tomatoes for $0.34/lb. (Yes. There were still local vegetables for sale in October). I bought other stuff but those were the two things that struck me as significantly lower priced than here in Chicago.
Property taxes are relatively high in Bmore city. And the Inner Harbor is a tourist trap so of course prices are high there. Fells Point can be expensive depending on if you stay on Broadway or wander off the beaten path a bit. Also, you tend to get a lot of free rounds in Fells if you tip well.
My parents sold their 5 bedroom (it was seven until we knocked out some walls) home on a corner lot (.25 acre or so) in a nice neighborhood in Bmore county close to the Bmore line for $114k in 1999. That house would easily be $750k in Niles, Illinois, which is an equivalent area near Chicago.
Liquor sales laws are screwy all over the country. I think Maryland laws are kind of average. No worries about the 3.2 thing. Sundays are a bit awkward. And it’s really hard to get carryout between 2am and 6 am. It varies a bit from county to county.
I don’t think of Old Bay as being super spicey. It’s mostly Celery Salt. Still, I wouldn’t want it on my genitals. There’s cayenne and paprika involved.
The things I love about Bmore have more to do with culture than with pricing, but I really don’t understand why anyone would complain about the prices there.
Culturally, Baltimorons, myself included, have pride in some fairly strange things. The Block. Extremely odd fashion sense. Natty Boh. Glassphalt. Formstone. Rowhouses. Poe. Multitudes of transvestite hookers. Gum chewing diner waitresses named Myrtle (or Ida, or Mable, etc.) with giant pink hairdos. Cab Calloway. $1 homes. John Waters. The Colts Marching Band. Most of this stuff would take a while to explain, but you get the idea I hope.
sigh Just had to wipe a tear from my eye.
God, I love this place!
Umm…did I miss something in this thread?
Wow, I had forgotten how much I missed Maryland 'til reading this. I agree with astro that the Eastern Shore is truly nice. My sis went to Washington College, so I visited there for awhile. After that, she moved to Baltimore, and that was fun too. My fav place to eat was Bertha’s Mussels. Almost worth the 5 hour drive from Jersey…
Sis since moved to MA 5 years ago…
Like how you skipped over New Jersey and Delaware. Okay, I know the actual existence of Delaware is still being fiercely debated, but how could you overlook beautiful NJ?
After a while, you get used to the smell and forget all about it. 
D&R
<yawn>
I’d expect something a little less predictable and a little more creative from you, Weirddave
[sub]P.S. What’s D&R?[/sub]
D&R= “Duck and Run”
And hey, I’m just kidding with ya. I love NJ. I think it is really cool how they copied our aquarium in Camden, and the fact that they filled it with only local NJ fish was awsome! It’s so much easier just to walk by and see them all floating on the top of the water, without having to try and make them out in all the clutter on the bottom of the tank. (Tires, bottles, Chevy Novas and Mob informants)
Got your Roth IRA working? Got something (most likely chemical) in your house with the name “DuPont” on it? Well, that’s all the proof ya’ need.
Thbbbt…!