MD, DE, MD

Baltimore, MD

I have a friend who lives in Baltimore, so on my way to Delaware I decided to stop and spend some time. First stop, the Inner Harbor. Walked around, enjoyed the sun (but not the heat and humidity), didn't rent a dragon paddle-boat, and had dinner at Cheesecake Factory. Why Cheesecake Factory? Because when you are trying to make it to the Orioles game you just go with it.

Camden Yards was great. It was warm, it was welcoming, it was everything that a great ballpark should be. If you've never been there for a game, I highly recommend it. And its always interesting to visit another ballpark. Citi Field is surrounded by chop shops. But Camden Yards is in an area of Baltimore where people are just around, I imagine even on off nights. A great neighborhood field (and I kept the above can).

After the game, we walked to a place called Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar. And it was awesome. Awesome! I had a blast, and I wish that there was a location much closer to me so I could go on a more frequently. Basically how it works is there are two pianos, drums, keyboards, guitars, and a bass, and about 5 or 6 musicians. If you want to hear a song, you write it down and put it on one of the pianos with a tip. Then they play it. And they can play pretty much anything. I requested "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon. No problem. You can also join them onstage with a fee, so my friend sent me up there. I got onstage and was informed that I would be performing "New York State of Mind." Of course! Haha. I had had a few drinks, but I did OK, and everyone in the bar dug it.

Rehoboth Beach, DE

The main reason for the trip was to attend the wedding of a college friend of mine in Rehoboth Beach. On my way there I stopped at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, took the tour, and had some samples. What was the coolest part of the tour? Honestly it was when the tour guide told us that every two weeks they get a case of beer as part of their pay. Um, where are the applications, please?

Rehoboth itself was good, but hot. We checked out the boardwalk, went to Funland, played mini-golf on a roof, and got frozen custard. I'm not a huge beach guy, but I enjoyed myself. And the wedding was a lot of fun. Great food (a mashed potato bar), very tasty pinot grigio, and a shuttle to and from the reception. Sold.

Annapolis/Laurel, MD

Sunday I drove to Laurel, MD, to spend some time with another friend. But what do you do in Laurel? Well, you go to Annapolis! I had been there before, but my friend had not. It was a gorgeous day, and the Washington/Annapolis area is one of my favorite areas in the country, so I had a good time. We walked around the harbor for a while and ate at the Acme Bar & Grill (dynamite wings and onion rings). One of the guys working there said that it extremely busy due tot he power outages from the massive storm that came through Friday night, and the fact that they only had one server working didn't speed things up any. But you know what? "Think globally, drink locally."

When we drove back to Laurel, we checked out some of the damage from the storm (technically called a "derecho"). The picture below is just one section of damage, but says so much.