Friday night I joined a couple of Rotarians and braved the vagaries of the beltway to attend the final farewell picnic for the visiting team from Greece. They were a really nice bunch of young people. The picture below sort of shows their enthusiasm. It was held at a “farm” in Northern Potomac, although I think “estate” might be a better description..
Saturday, the weather guessers predicted rainy and thunderstorm conditions all day, but fortunately they whiffed. Which meant that instead of drenching rain, we had pretty much drenching sun. Which also meant that the annual garden pilgrimage was held in ideal conditions without host home owners worrying about mud tracking gawkers. It was a splendid tour, featuring several classic southern Maryland houses and gardens that most of us wouldn’t have a chance to see otherwise. Before ending my tour at Clocker’s Fancy I decided to quickly check the activity at the Brick Chapel at Historic St. Mary’s City. Three hours and half later, I finally had to leave to make the next event. Between Pete and me we must have told the story of the Chapel and its history and reconstruction to maybe 50 or 60 visitors. It’s always surprising to see the range of interest in the visitors. Some patrons are really genuinely interested in learning the history of the Chapel and its role in early Maryland, and others are “yeah, yeah, okay we saw it, let’s move on”. I really enjoy the interaction. People continue to fascinate me.
The garden tour seemed to be a big success. The “one ticket does all” modification was a great idea. Hope they keep it. As usual, parking was problematical, and I don’t think that can ever be solved. Looking forward to next year’s edition.
The reason for terminating the Chapel duty was the Kentucky Derby fund raiser event at Sotterley Plantation. We had attended last year and enjoyed it. Solo this year, but also enjoyed it seeing the usual crowd normally gathering at these things. Food was available, leaning toward the Derby tradition, that is, with a southern flair. Pimiento and egg salad sandwiches, some really good Oysters that were sort of oyster stew in a shell (not sure how traditional that is), but they also served “Burgoo” which is a local stew native to Kentucky. A little research shows that it’s one of those dishes (like the overworked crab cake, chili) that there is no such thing as “best”, it’s where you are and what you like. Traditionally it contained wild game such as squirrel and raccoon, but now days generally barbequed mutton and chicken, along with potatoes, onions, cabbage, corn, in varying proportions. The Maryland version I didn’t contain mutton (I don’t think) but it was fairly tasty. Of course we all enjoyed the horse race and the surprise winner.
Sunday can be dealt with in one sentence. Rain. Wind. Cool. Hockey, golf, the Tudors and HD TV. Okay, a few more than one. But pretty gloomy all around which seems to be the case today.
This and That:
Petruzzi’s in Wildewood has shuttered, and word has it that it will be replaced with a (same owner) “Irish Pub”. Worked for Leonardtown…(hold the Irish part)
The 7 – 11 in Lex Park has “plywooded”, leaving only the one in Solomon’s open (?).
Without comment - a decal in the rear window of a pickup caught my eye over the weekend: “Body Piercing Saved my Life” which brought me up short until I noticed other decals with religious content.
One time only:
While I never, ever, would recommend going to Applebee’s for the food, today might offer a good reason – one of the local youth basketball teams (Southern Maryland Elite) will receive 15% of your bill.
A final quick musing:
There was an article in this weekend’s Washington Post magazine entitled “Foodie Free – For All” which accounts numerous food blogs in the DC area. “Call them reviews, posts, essays, whatever. Basically, anyone can be a food critic now. If you can chew, swallow, and type, you’re good to go……It’s all part of the rowdy on line food world that has changed the dynamic between restaurants and the public”. Somehow, it sort of depressed me. I don’t know why, maybe the “bigger, better, faster, prettier” syndrome. Besides the better known Chowhound and Yelp, it listed 5 more local ones. I didn’t look.
DFD
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