Fuelin' The Yule, notes from the Target

"We all know Santa is a good ole boy." -Straight, No Chaser.   Main Street, Berlin. 12/17/2014

  It's the holiday season. Santa Claus is comin' on into town. So, it must be time for the Crew's annual X-Mas sesh. Invitation only. Much excitement and fanfare. Lights. Cameras. Limited action. All taking place in the Coolest Small Town in America...Berlin, MD. Truth be told, tis the only Christmas party I find worth attending.  See, the Crew knows what the Spirit of Christmas is all about. And, we try to live at least a little of it each day. It's part of what keeps the Journey going. To fuel the yuletide fires, a bit of a roving session and the partaking of holiday refreshments in two of Berlin's cool establishments. Started in the ultra-trendy and renovated historic Atlantic Hotel.  Nice crowd...to the point that we had to squeeze into the last two seats at the bar.  Upscale.  People dressed festive like. But the Crew is never out of place.  We are the everyman who can fit into any social setting and leave the people wanting. While the draft selection was limited, and the glasses our brews were served in didn't fit the deserved holiday presentation, we enjoyed the crowd.  Post first round and we decided a return trip would be more apropos to carve up the menu. Feeling the holiday spirit, I picked up the tab for the entire Crew. Onward to the next locale.

   The Burley Inn Tavern, or the B Inn as I like to coin the name, was just a short walk down the street.  Upon entering we felt immediately at home.  Fairly new, opened for about a year. We had our bartender bring on a couple of Miller Lites and put some Spicy BBQ Wings and a French Dip Sub on the barbie. Wattman set up the jukebox with some excellent classic southern rock and we crashed the grub.  The bar crowd seemed to revolve in and out as DWatt jumped on the wings and I downed the beef.  For me it was classic bar-food, but for the Watt, the wings seemed to be a hit. Nice spice, but a bit much sauce. The room was a melding of classic rock, sports, the holidays.  Nice night. This time around, DWatt grabbed the tab for all of us. 

   While the Skeleton Crew is only two, we don't much give it a thought. Good friends and good times make us richer than most. So, from the Crew to all, Merry Christmas to you and yours.

The Atlantic Hotel:

Beer: B-

Atmosphere: B

The B Inn Tavern Ratings-

Spicy BBQ Wings: B

Beef French Dip: B-

Beer: C+

Atmosphere: B-

Overall Score = 2.69

Mele Christmas Y'all, the Crew 12/17/2014.

Cool Runnings, the Target's notes.

"Cold? I'm freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off!" - Sanka Coffie   Cool runnings, 47th Street break. 12/14/2014

   Winter Solstice nears. The week gives little view of the beach-head as it is pretty much pitch by the time we're headin' down. For this, among other reasons, we have chosen to expand outwards. Shake things up a bit. Make a few runs to parts somewhat unknown, or at the very least forgotten. The Watt pointed towards Berlin, Maryland. A tour of the 2014 Coolest Small Town in America; spiffed up for Christmas. Figured we should try to get some of this "coolness" before year end.  The place was truly lit up. I cruised in through town last Thursday where there was nary a home, tree, store front, or light post that wasn't strung up and lit with decorations. A refreshingly high standard of taste. Main Street is lined with small boutique shops, antique stores, and restaurants. After leaning down approximately eight side streets I located the night's establishment.

   Blacksmith Bar & Restaurant on Pitt Street. Nicely appointed. Small with seating for less than fifty. But at the time of our parking up to the bar, about ten, including us. I could immediately tell this was not our usual type of Journey stopover. Not a TV in the joint. The people hanging out in small cliques. Our barkeep was on it though, and she immediately brought us a couple of cold local craft brews. Since it appeared we were going Sho' upscale, we skippped the wings (zip on the menu moved us in this direction). With '80s "B" sides on the sound system we decided to groove to the new. Beef Empanada with cheddar and homemade salsa, and an Eastern Shore Bahn Mi...slow cooked shredded pork shoulder and crispy scrapple topped with pickled veggies, cucumber and Siracha mayo.  Good stuff. The empanada was an excellent small meat pie with just the right hint of spice and the salsa/slaw balanced the flavors perfectly. The Bahn Mi was a Shore twist on a Vietnamese sandwich...only the locals or local at heart can appreciate. Nicely done. But the absence of a TV left us restless bringing an end to our respite, and thus we continued our sojourn into town to check the deco and scout the next stop. Until then...

THE RATINGS-

Beef Empanada: A-

Eastern Shore Bahn Mi: B+

Beer: B

Atmosphere: B+

Overall Score = 3.31

Deserted Call, the Target's notes.

"Ride, ride ride the wild surf."  Looks angry.  We'll pass. Castles at 37th. 12/7/2014

   The beach is pretty much deserted this time of year. Cold, wet sand. Too much for most to bear. Waves are a lonesome lot. Almost angry. But they continue to roll and crash. An explosion that no matter how obnoxiously loud or faintly subtle, serves as a never ending call to return. Catch just one more ride. For us a call to remain strong to return strong.

Northside Winterfest, 12/4/2014

    First winter blast has come and gone.  Regardless of the almanac and the experts, the brevity has left all wondering just how wicked this winter is gonna be. Snow? Ice? Or, just that bone chilling damp cold that zaps the good health of everyone, and sucks the joy out of even the simplest attempt at fun. For us...no zapping, no failing attempts at fun. The stitching of one wave to the next may have

been put on hold, but the Journey continues. We conquer the winter blues with a few hours of a warm bar, hot apps, good sports on the tube, and a couple of cold brews. Granted, we are dependent upon upon the quality of establishment chosen. The wrong place filled with empty rickety chairs, no music, crap TV, and warm beer can have a debilitating affect. That is the risk we take. The deserted call of the offseason. Truly a shot in the dark this time of year. That being said, we return to the locale that we began our rating system with almost three years ago.

Winterfest tram.

   JC's Northside Pub on 127th and Coastal Highway. Tucked into a strip center right next to Northside Park, there were a handful of patronizers and the lone barkeep seemed to have things well in hand. Twenty beers on tap (including PBR!) put the Watt in an immediate selection tailspin. Brews were served in chilled (not iced) glasses. We put in for the Northside Wings, meaty well cooked wings with a nice house spiced honey barbecue that was quite tasty. But the star was the Green Card Panini. Well seasoned chicken breast with sauteed onions and green peppers, shredded cheddar-jack, and a house made salsa. The plate was pure Stoke Brah! Wow! We took in a car auction, caught up on the latest goings on with life, and watched the Thursday Night Football kickoff. Tab was paid. and as has become tradition we walked to the Winterfest of Lights and perused the tent and displays. Too miserly to put out for the tram ride, we dealt with the dropping temps and rising winds (bayside, not beachfront...go figure) and checked out the sparkle, undaunted. The weekly Journey coming to a close, we headed off into the night strengthened for another week.

THE RATINGS - 

Northside Wings: B

Green Card Panini: A-

Beer: B+

Atmosphere: B

Overall Score = 3.25

Mele Kalikimaka