Think back to the town you grew up in. I’ll bet you can remember that somewhere, probably on the “older” side of town was a kind of a run down brick building with maybe a tank or a field piece in front of it. And close to the road there’s always a sign sort of like this:
In most towns in America, you can find an American Legion Post and it's highly probable they’ll have a “night”. Steak, Shrimp, Taco, Fish and Chips, Spaghetti, you name it. When a fine dining place does it, it just isn’t right. But hey – American Legion? You bet – it’s traditional. We were invited by some friends to join them and theirs for “steak night” down (it's always "down") in Ridge on Saturday night, and we accepted. As Southern Maryland residents know, Ridge is a special place, roughly pronounced “Reeidge” in the local vernacular. Not far from Scotland Maryland,(the home of Tubby Smith), Ridge hasn’t changed much (except for lack of tobacco) over the years, and has more or less remained true to historical Southern Maryland. You’re an outsider if you live north of 235/5 intersection. So we were happy to accept an invite to join up with their party to enjoy dinner. It’s in that classic American Legion hall style, a small brick building with the appropriate beer signs in the window.
You enter straight into that bar, which had a flat screen glowing in the corner. Due to the relatively early hour, I was hopeful of catching the final few holes of the Bridgestone Invitational, but apparently more people were interested in the NASCAR going’s on, so that was on. Silly me. Anyway, after walking through the comfy bar, you pay your 13 bucks garnering a little red ticket to prove you’ve paid, and enter “the hall” (which doubles as a bingo venue), with the Legion materials on the wall and the game tables are covered in oil cloth with setups for the "night".
Pick your folding chair and settle in, maybe “playing” the placemat while waiting for friends or food.
There is a side table with tea, water, soup and salad and condiments. (A1 being one of them).
Eventually one of the “girls” (more later) comes and asks you how you want your steak cooked, and if you want a baked potato (or not), green beans and/or corn. Our order taken, there was time for conversation. In this venue, I think social considerations outweigh the culinary interests, and most people there seemed pleased to just sit and talk about the neighborhood and catching up. The majority of our group were long time residents and I learned that some of them had made their living being butchers. I heard all about butchering a pig, and using “everything but the squeal” for scrapple, chittlin’s, and something called “souse”, which was new to me. An inquiry resulted in the information that it was the boiled feet, ears, (etc.,) and sounded like it resulted in sort of an aspic with "undesirable" parts of the swine. Most of the ladies said they were not fond of that product..
Anyway, one of the "girls" arrived auctioning off our steak dishes on melamine plates with a little plastic stabber indicating degree of doneness. Although I had pictured corn as meaning “on the cob” it appeared that it meant "canned" as were the beans. As expected the potato arrived in foil, hot as heck.
How you do a steak with any taste for thirteen bucks escapes me, but it was actually fairly tasty, generally cooked as ordered (mine medium rare) although the texture left a little to be desired.
As you know by now, I am all about expectations and “what’s right”, and the Ridge Steak Night seemed to fit that to the fullest. An inviting bar, plastic plates and cups, the big bowl of salad, a lot of people enjoying conversation and fun, and a tip jar for the "girls” makes it a “just right” experience.
It was a great evening. What a tradition like no other. Find some friends, look for the signs and go see what’s inside. American Legion “Nights”. It could provide material for a book… Hmmm….
And this is one place where you might be able to relax and not
DFD
No comments:
Post a Comment