Well, kind of a "this and that" today. No great dining experiences, although we can
start out with a surprising dining experience.
MFO’s volunteer efforts are in large part devoted to the SMC Historical
Society, where she meticulously preserves, photos, letters, and ledgers brought
in by our county residents. The Society, like
everybody else is strapped for money (thank you, county!) and so they hold a
dinner in spring and fall. Last Friday (4/6)
was the spring edition. They try and
select a “theme” that was part of our history for each event, such as
Moonshine, Tobacco, and so forth. This
one was devoted to Oysters.
As usual it was held at the Olde Breton Inn on Society Hill
in Leonardtown. In honor of the
bivalves, they set up a shucking table
Where the little morsels were being (carefully) released from their
shell by the gentleman
Having been around “shuckers” on this side of the Atlantic,
and “openers” on the other side, I would say he poses no threat to competitions
in either place. I was not sure of the
origin of the little guys, but many had a very elongated character which I found
somewhat off-putting.
Also, they were a bit difficult to consume. I really don’t
like to cut one in half, so ended up with folding it over like some do pizza. A bit unnerving, although the flavor wasn’t
bad, not terrific, I’ve had better. . A
local told me they were called “spots”.
As most locals know, Eddy Bailey has held sway at Olde
Breton Inn for years and years. And, for years and years,
the dinner is served as a buffet, and for years and years, it has been unswerving in the choices.. mashed potatoes (with gravy like material), some sort of cheesy
potatoes, green beans with pimento and bacon bits, green salad, chicken cordon
bleu (courtesy of some food service), fried oysters, and finally a carved steam
ship round of beef, with choice of au jus or horseradish. Most members of the Historical Society have
been for years (and years), and that is what they expect and what they like. I was shocked/surprised this year to find the cordon
bleu hing was replaced by crab stuffed chicken! Over my brief years of attendance, I have pretty much settled on ignoring most
of the other stuff, concentrating on the oysters, which are always good, and trying my luck with the beef. Out of curiosity i did try the variation of the chicken
which can be seen on
the right, with the beef tucked in behind it.
As I said, the oysters are always good and plentiful. The chicken was a welcome change at least.
The program that evening consisted of a talk by Dr. Henry
Miller (of Historic St. Mary’s City) about the history of human consumption of
Oysters, going back thousands of years. Then
Captain Jack (Russell) a waterman who operated a Skipjack for years, and then
matriculated to politics. Told us about
the history of the skipjacks and the “oyster wars” between Maryland and
Virginia, and called on several of the retired oyster and watermen who were in
attendance. I love to hear them talk,
some with such local accents that you have to struggle to understand them. Then of
course there were stories from them, a delightful evening.
The next day, I was scheduled for “Chapvol” duty, meaning I went
down to Historic and manned the Reconstructed Brick Chapel of 1667 for a few hours,
answering questions for patrons, and talking about the history of the Chapel,
Lord Baltimore’s Colony, the discovery and reconstruction of the current Chapel, and so on.. As I have said before, interest ranges from
casual to enthusiastic and part of the fun is to know when they’ve had
enough. Eye contact breaks, nodding and
shuffling toward the door, signs like that give you clues as to when you say "Thank you for visiting the City today".
Anyway we have added a new exhibit to the interior of the
Chapel, the famous “Lead Coffins”.
After being discovered in the early nineties, and eventually unearthed
and opened, they spent time in the Smithsonian as part of the “Written in Bone”
exhibit, and now are finally on display in their original location in the right
transept fo the chapel.
6150
It is really a nice presentation with the recorded video
talking about the discovery and research associated with the journey of the
coffins. Their presence kind of alters
our/my usual patter. Adapt.
Without repeating my whole Chapel Chatter (which forms our
reports of visitation, numbers, questions, etc.) I will pass on one interesting
thing. A man somewhat younger than I (which
applies to most people) and his daughter came in, and said they had never been
in the chapel before and wanted to see the coffins. So, I started to go into the Coffin speech
and he said, “Oh yeah, I bet Henry was very excited”. On their way out I said “how did you know
Henry?”. "Oh, I was in graduate school
with him!" Of course a short Michigan
State discussion followed. It’s always
fun and illuminating to see who walks in the chapel doors.. If you haven’t seen the coffins, come on
down!
Lastly, I found a couple of cartoons in the New Yorker which
MFO receives weekly that kind of tickled my funny bone, especially this one
Been there, done that, and still live in constant fear..
And who hasn’t hung around wine stores enough to hear one of
these
Oh, MFO and I are going to be taking a little (key word)
trip to OK to attend the graduation of a great nephew. Most of the “Otto” side of the clan will be gathering,
and MFO wants to seem them. So leaving Thursday,
and returning Tuesday. Please (insert
name of favorite deity) no violent weather or quakes. Thank you..
And, although it is in the Midwest (or does it qualify as “West”?) we will be packing duds so we can
DFD of steak or ‘que
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