Rust Never Sleeps, tales from the Watt

It's better to burn out than it is to rust  -Neil Young, My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
Smokin' 67 Camaro SS. Seacrets lot, 5/16/2019

   After a rainy offseason, I guess there is always a level of corrosion on the Shore, salt air and all. Let's face it, the cold and moisture only serves to further aggravate the stiffness. As the Young One said, "rust never sleeps." So, we need to keep up on the body of work. Fix the dings. Strengthen the weak points. Yeah, ah no...I'm not talking painting the house, or renovating a classic hot rod, although the OC Cruisers were in town through this weekend. To further the decay, the conditions we encountered this week were not a whole lot better than two weeks ago. Weak, knee-high mush with no power. Fast breaking and fast dying. My rust showed as I worked to scrape my first ride of the season, a backside no less. Target's rust showed as he missed the shot. Although, he seemed to have no problems catching the failed efforts. No pic, no ride so we profess. As we crossed the dune, catching the red, pink, and blue hues of the sun setting across the bay, corrosion resistance was in order.

Mush and rust. Rodeway's and 30th, 5/16/2019.

   Post session, a repeat call that was a long time coming- Fish Tales on 22nd and the Bay. Place had a few more patrons than we would have thought, though I am sure the Cruisers helped. It had been five years since our previous visit. As we entered, the tiki bar looked the same and was full save three seats on the corner. Taking our places the bartender was almost instantly asking for our drink requests.

Good service to start. Served in plastic. Not so good for service. Maybe because we were in a bar that was part of a marina complex. Glass is not good for business. Still, we are an elite Crew, deserving of glass. My IPA was good as was Target's Summer Shandy. We must reiterate...plastic cups- not good. Gotta say, the ice-cold Miller High Life can was the saving grace. We ordered up their Maryland Crab Soup, the Rooster Agave Wings (ordered before), and the local Cheeseburger.

The soup was hot, but basic restaurant grade; seafood/Old Bay flavor, not a lot of crab. The burger was charbroiled, but less than average. And, the wings were the most controversial...myself and LWatt liked them...meaty and cooked well with a light spice. Target felt they were small and not very warm.

So a rating that was unresolved. But I am the editor and thus invoked editorial discretion. The atmosphere was a bright spot. Nice beach resort scene. Excellent bay views. Good background music. Service got slow towards the end of our evening; fair overall. And, our tab was tolerable. No doubt that a future visit will occur. Maybe within the next five years. Guess the real question we ended the evening with...did I really get my first ride of the season?

THE RATINGS-

Beer: C+ (plastic-ugh)
Crab Soup: C

Local Cheeseburger: C-

Rooster Agave Wings: B-

Atmosphere: B

Value: B-

Overall Score = 2.42

Bad to the Bone...Chevrolet Bel Air. Seacrets lot, 5/16/2019.

Fast Food, tales from the Watt.

“Bad food is made without pride, by cooks who have no pride, and no love. Bad food is made by chefs who are indifferent, or who are trying to be everything to everybody, who are trying to please everyone… Bad food is fake food… food that shows fear and lack of confidence in people’s ability to discern or to make decisions about their lives.”       – Anthony Bourdain, RIP

   Day one of the new season. Not a memorable session. The day started out promising enough. Salisbury saw 90 degrees. Even closer to shore saw the mid 80s. But, by the time we hit the beach the clouds had moved in, storms were on the radar, and the temps had slipped to the lower 70s with winds dropping the feel into the 60s. The water, now around 53F, exposed surf conditions that were crap all day. We knew that going in. Sometimes I can squeeze out a ride here and there, but not this evening. Choppy and disorganized, the waves had no size and those that did break evaporated soon after. One had to be fast to grab one...it had been a long off-season...no fast food for me. Truth be told, it would've been a very short meal.

Early season fast food slop, 67th and Holidays. 5/2/2019

   So, poor surf on the first day. Certainly, we would follow up with a better finish. Not so much. For the second time this year, a mundane choice to review. In both cases the fare, like the waves, did not catch on. We ended up at Fat Daddy's on the corner of Dorchester and South Baltimore Ave. Walking in, they had a fair craft beer offering...twelve on tap. However, there was no bar. As a matter of fact, this place was more a fast food restaurant than the tavern or bar that we usually seek out (a theme of the night- more fast food). They didn't have servers, or bartenders. Not even a host. Poor conditions to start for the second time in the evening. After checking out the menu, LWatt decided on the Cobb Salad while myself and Target chose an Angus Beef Pizza and Cilantro Honey-Mustard Wings. We had to go up to the cashier and order our food and drinks (yes, I got a beer). We couldn't start a tab. We had to pay for it up front and then they called out when it was ready...like a Chick-Fil-A, or dare I say, McDonalds! At least some of those places will bring it to your table...this place, you had to go up and get it. The salad while it tasted fine, was small and served in a plastic bowl. The pizza was not impressive with an underdone, very doughy crust, although the toppings saved it from being sent back. We didn't even finish it (and that's unusual for me). The best part of the meal was the wings. Served in a plastic basket, they were crispy and hot, but the cilantro was almost unnoticeable, AND there was no celery with our wings. No celery! One more pain point I had was our bill. It was as much as any mid-level restaurant, plus reflected a spot for a tip! Tip for what? Here's a tip- build a bar, get a barkeep. At the very least, hire a wait staff. Ok, they had some TVs and fair music, but this is Ocean City damn it! Make your patrons feel like they are on vacation and not dining in a Subway with beer. Looking over previous posts, you'd find I rarely beat up our contenders, but in this case I felt the website pic of the beer taps was very misleading. We shan't return anytime in the near future.

THE RATINGS-

                Cobb Salad: C

                Cilantro Honey-Mustard Wings

                W/O Celery: C+

                Angus Beef Pizza: D+

                Beer: B-

                Atmosphere (no bar Dude!): C-

                Value: C-

Overall Score = 1.96