Pickin' and Grinnin'

A couple of years ago, a friend and I got in his boat and went up the (Patuxent) river to the Sea Breeze, and had some great hard crabs. I probably reported about it. We have been meaning to recreate that experience ever since, and for one reason or another have not been able to.

He recently had that “second best day of a boat owner” experience, so river travel wasn’t an option this time, but we finally managed to make good our intentions last night. In the intervening time between last night and the original episode, my mind somehow had changed “Sea Breeze” into “Drift Inn”, so we pointed the flutter mobile north and confidently turned at Captain Leonard’s toward the water and the Drift Inn. After driving a little while, we passed a sign about Drift Inn, but thought it was an advertisement and kept going. And going. And going. Pretty soon it became evident that the car was again heading east with no sign of a waterfront, let alone a crab house. Hmmm, maybe we should have turned back there. So did a 180 and retraced our many steps back to the sign. Sure enough, turn here. We did. And again drove and drove, and by this time the smart phone GPS was activated and showed we were in fact headed for the water, but with only one building at the end. I distinctly remembered that Sandgates was right by the Drift Inn, so was puzzled by that. Eventually we did arrive at the building with the Drift Inn sign, but hey! This isn’t where we were! More consulting with the smartphone revealed we were in fact not at the right spot. More driving (humbly aided by satellite this time) eventually brought us to the Sandgates Inn and the nearby…….. Sea Breeze!! That’s it!! But we did have a nice drive through the northern part of the county.

There were quite a few cars, so while I parked, the possibility of a table was checked and I was waived in. While we were “please wait to be seated”, the young lady at the stand was busily typing something into the computer system (a nice foil to the traditional “crab shack” atmosphere). After quite a few minutes, she started writing something on a clip board, still head down “ignoring” us, although she had set out our menus earlier. Eventually my friend said, “um, are you going to seat us?”. Never raising her head or eyes, she replied “my pen ran out of ink”. Oh. I see.

Finally whatever administrative task she was attending to was accomplished and we were taken to a table along the windows facing the water with quite a nice view. After our driving tour, we were pretty thirsty and hungry. Before she left us, she wrote “Rose” on the brown paper with her now working pen and departed. Soon thereafter Rose showed up and asked about drinks. A pitcher of Miller Light, please, and an order of hush puppies. Off she went to retrieve that while we perused the menu. Of course all we wanted were steamed crabs which were listed as that famous “market price” for a dozen. Market price in the end turned out to be forty bucks, but it’s been so long I really don’t know if that is indeed “market” price. It certainly didn’t deter other diners as there were many platters of the crustaceans on the tables strewn with bits and pieces of shells, dead men, and just plain crab guts. Pretty quickly she returned with a red plastic basket (of course) of the little lumps of dough and the welcomed very cold beer in that cheesy plastic pitcher that is required. We ordered the crabs, and got down to business. Water view, cold beer, hush puppies, and Old Bay in the air. Doesn’t get much better. The hush puppies were steaming hot, and were really very good. They were nicely crisp on the outside, and not heavy on the inside with many kernels of corn. Hit the spot and took the edge off.

And, just before the last little morsel of puppie was consumed, the steamed crabs arrived, all orange and with the requisite Old Bay aroma. They in fact must have just come out of the steamer because you could hardly touch them, let alone going for the meat. I thought that they were not as “Old Bayed” as some I’ve had which let the flavor of the crab come through. So after a cooling off period, we waded in, and began picking. It had been a while since I had done this, so it took a few minutes to recall the technique (thank you Ms. TB) and I did pretty well. Many times I got that whole lump from the backfin. Talking, picking and enjoying and slurping the beer. We did manage to get through all the (13) crabs and split the last one. Just about the right amount. Rose, who had many years on most of the rest of the waitstaff, was pleasant to talk to when she checked occasionally. She said to come back in September or October when the crabs were “really big”. I think we will. I’m sure there are other places around but think you would be happy here. They have a great bar area as well, which is as big as the dining spaces. A “Just Right” place in my book.

I suppose there are similar experiences around the country, but sitting down to a brown paper covered table with that little cardboard caddy of cocktail sauce, malt vinegar, shakers of Old Bay, salt and pepper, and communally digging into a pile of crabs where you really interact with the food is a nice thing. Brings people together over food, and with the tedious cracking of the crabs provides a time to converse and share experiences. A great feature of our region.

And for this menu, for once this is where you can revel in T-shirts, shorts, flip flops and your ball cap on backwards. That is appropriately

DFD

PS: normal Friday “to do” is kind of suspended this week due to the weather. Yes there will be a river concert tonight (last one for heaven’s sake), but my “to do” will be stay inside read a book and wait for nightfall.

Not much and Nice....

As the heat and humidity goes up the brain goes down. Not much to report/or comment on lately.

They have replaced some of the (appropriately?) dead trees by Texas Roadhouse and I see the neon has been turned on. After Buffalo Wings and Beer arrive, I think maybe a ferris wheel and midway would be a nice addition.

Oh, since I often carp about the inhumanity of people (especially in their autos) I should pass along a good thing that happened yesterday morning. I decided that given the relatively nice day, I would stop by the car wash on the way back from Starbuck’s and get some layers of crud removed from the flutter mobile. This of course meant that I had to muck out the back seat which accumulates “junk” at an astonishing rate. One of the items I found buried was a measuring tape that somehow had found its way in there for some now long forgotten purpose. So I put it on the trunk lid (a very convenient flat space) and went about throwing away the Starbuck’s cuffies, old newspapers, various receipts, empty water bottles and such. Having gotten the interior “wash ready” I got in the car, and headed for Starbucks. You can probably guess what happened. Anyway I was sitting at the light by 235/4, ready for the U turn and looking at text messages (stopped auto, foot on brake), when I was startled by a knock on my window. There was a nice lady there with the measuring tape in her hand and gave it to me with a smile. Now, from the driveway of the digs to that location is three or four miles at least, with many stoplights and those inhumane drivers doing gosh knows what. I was amazed that the thing survived the journey. I thanked her for her kindness.

As it turned out, she was also headed for coffee, but once inside she declined my offer to buy hers. So see, there are some considerate people out there that save me from my own senility..

met some friends for drinks and apps last night at the Front Porch...good cheese plate.

Oh, in closing and without comment I pass on this photo taken at the local grocery affixed to the top of the bread shelves….




watch your step..and

DFD

A Little Better Today....

Well, the weather gods that caused my depression of yesterday must have felt guilty as they provided some relief yesterday afternoon. Clouds gathered from the north, thunder rumbled (sending me and John Deere into the garage) and rain began to fall. What followed was an extremely pleasant couple of hours of gray skies, gentle rains and a constant undertone of thunder. Never was anything threatening, just peaceful and calming. Maybe I should move to Seattle, although contacts there say that everybody is up in arms because they have a heat wave, with temperatures soaring into the low eighties.. Here the sun is beating down again, with temps projected into the nineties, but with lower humidity. Is it September yet?

And I did forget one food related snippet from the weekend.. Friday night after we bagged going to the River Concert (which I think stayed outdoors, by the way), we decided for some reason to get some takeout from Monterey, just up the road. Not finding a takeout menu kicking around the counter we had to navigate the website (which is very colorful and festive). As usual a stunning amount of choices and combinations to work through, but I finally settled on “Enchiladas Yolandas" which were described as Three chicken enchiladas topped with special sauce, served with rice and guacamole salad. MFO selected a burrito dish. Called and ordered, and then in a few minutes drove up and retrieved it. It included our orders and of course a big bag of tortilla chips with little dishes of their red and white sauce. I particularly enjoyed the white version, as readers know I am not interested in highly spiced or heat in food. Anyway, my point is that despite some misgivings, I really enjoyed the enchiladas. They were filled with chunks of chicken, readily identified as real cut up chicken breasts, covered with a cilantro based creamy sauce that was quite nice. Salad and rice was, well, salad and rice. I guess I don’t classify Monterey as a “chain”, and we did have a nice takeout. FWIW.

And then last night we watched Antiques Road Show, with the usual parade of people with things from yard sales, Aunt Tillie’s attic, and so on. We always enjoy that, although there is an occasional “That should be in a MUSEUM!” from archivist MFO. And after that we listened to the President and then the speaker of the House. How in the world did we get here? It’s astounding to me. Of course I have my opinions, as do you, and that’s great. But what gets me is that both “sides” claim that they know “what the American People want”. Nobody has contacted me! You know what I want? I want all this stuff to quit and just get it done. It’s like the recent NFL football silliness. Everybody knows it will be done, but we have to do all this posturing, dancing, and claims that only they know what is right. Personally, I don’t really mind nor see how closing tax loopholes for the hedge fund managers hurts, but the House feels distinctly that they must be continued. I’m so tired of this bickering. Surely there must be a little give on both sides (no there isn’t and stop calling me Shirley!). Anyway the dance continues..

And funny, as I’m typing this I’m also watching our county commissioners on Channel 95. No fireworks or acrimony this morning, but a nice contrast to the ritual going on up the road..

I got a nice comment from a reader in regards to my noting that half the “landscape trees” in front of the ugly Texas Roadhouse were dead. It was pointed out to me that it was “Just like Texas!”. Point well made!

And, I see that Buffalo Wings and Beer continues moving forward, as does the"new" McDonalds near G&H jewelers.

Go get a diamond, a quarter pounder, and you are

DFD

Whew.....

Words I never thought I would utter: "Good news, honey! It's only supposed to be 94 today!"

We bailed on whatever form the River Concert took on Friday, and the Feeder's weekend was pretty much spent cowering on the couch trying to fight the heat induced exhaustion and depression. (Does it show?). When you go outside and your glasses immediately fog up, something is very wrong. Besides the brain going dead, appetites tend to grow dull and a light salad or something like that is all that is desired. However, I did grill some apple wood smoked pork chops on Saturday night to celebrate the alleged cold front that was to produce the "only 94" temps of yesterday. But, in reality the thermometer cruised by that and our backyard was again in the upper nineties..

Last night produced some MNR and lots of thunder and lightning which was a nice change of pace. Maybe today it will "only" be in the low nineties..

In times like these, I always recall the novel Giants in the Earth, set in the Dakota Territories of the late 19th century where one of the characters goes nuts because of the incessant winds. Welcome to the summer of 2011.

Other than that, life is good. Especially if you can

DFD with light colored loose fitting clothing..

maybe the mood will improve with the day...

Frying Friday..

After bombarding you with traffic struggles and extreme makeovers for pools, so as a service to the readers, we’ll stay very short today . This heat is stultifying..

To Do:

St. Mary’s College: tonight’s River Concert has been moved back a half hour “for weather considerations”, like an extra 30 minutes would make some difference, but whatever. They are also considering moving it into the Athletic Center. Air conditioning and hard bleachers. I guess look at the colleges web site

Calvert Marine Museum – acoustic folk music concert by Dramtree-O from Norfolk, VA. $5 at 7pm tonight.

Historic St. Mary’s City – the annual Tidewater Archeology Weekend starts tomorrow, 10 to 4. Tours and actual digging opportunities. As an aside, don’t look for your favorite chapel docent to be on station this weekend. He doesn’t want to add to the 500 graves on site.

Leonardtown – Downtown Tunes tomorrow night “about six” on the square. Featured band will be Dance Hall Ghost, lead by local talent Gary Rue. Southern Rock, boogie woogie (is that word still used?) and so forth. Free, of course

At any or all of these things, DFW(eather), like buck naked..

Done:

MFO and I went up to Jefferson Patterson Park last night to hear a lecture by Tom Horsley, currently from the University of Michigan. Topic was “Revealing Buried Archeological Remains Using Geophysical Techniques”. He described magnetic, electromagnetic, and ground penetrating radar techniques to locate graves, buildings, palisades, roads, etc., that have become “buried” over the years. Interesting stuff. Techniques have been used at Historic St. Mary's City

Noted:

Kind of beyond our normal range, but of interest to some is a concert by Eric Bibb, the “Blues Troubadour”, to be held Sunday at 7pm in St. John’s Vianney Catholic Church in Prince Frederick. Having a blues concert in a Church is kind of an interesting paradox. Generally the subjects of most blues songs are not necessarily in line with the doctrine of the church. Tickets are a respectable $35, but he is sort of a national figure. What caught my interest is that he is the son of Leon Bibb, somebody I used to listen to in the folk music craze of the
'60's

Weather:

Please make it stop it hurts just to think of

DFD