Dive Snobs, tales from the Watt.

Mid-week clean-up slabs. Malibu Beach, 11/19/2019.

I love this bar
It's my kind of place
Just walkin' through the front door
Puts a big smile on my face
It ain't too far, come as you are
Hmm, hmm, hmm I love this bar

-Toby Keith

   Dive bars, it's what we do. It is what the the Quest, the Patrol, the Journey, whatever we call it, has always been about. Finding those curious taverns with enough peculiarity to remain unknown, yet food tempting enough to take another bite, first rate drink, and atmosphere with the character to bring us back, has always been the objective. Such lofty goals have required at most, weekly critiques and at minimum, monthly. Combined with the recording of our culinary/surf adventures (for historic preservation), I could see how the faint of  heart and mind may begin to fade. Target and LWatt, my cohorts in crime, had never shown signs of dimming natures, but my concern as of recent has been their hardening of heart towards the lesser refined of taverns visited. Mention a name, and they immediately turn their noses up if it ain't by the water or on the beach. LWatt has walked in some of these places just looking them up and down, eyeing the middle aged, drunk, dancing bimbos in the corner, as if they didn't belong. Target especially has become a mite pretentious. He has even reached the point of insisting on being ready with alternative choices should the menu or ambiance not meet his expectations...prior to sitting down. I'm not sure what they're expecting. Linen napkins maybe or fancy, schmancy silverware? I fear they're turning into a couple of real dive snobs!

Berlin startin' to do the holiday dress-up.

   More seasonal weather had moved in last week. Nor'east winds and rain battered the shore at the close of the weekend. However, by mid-week the swell had cleaned up. Water now shuffles between 50 and 49F. The weekend opportunities are waning. We still have the Journey, and this week's choice cut was a real local dive on one of the side streets of Berlin, MD. The Burley Inn Tavern was a literal hole-in-the-wall that the Crew had critiqued about five years ago...and it didn't do too awful badly. Yet, true to his recent form, as LWatt and I were in transit, Target was calling and saying we still had a chance to change before we got there. I gave him an emphatic "No!". But, the damage was done. The power of suggestion was at work. LWatt was throwing up the wall of questions as we arrived. We marched on. The exterior was rather unassuming. Three large plate windows with two industrial glass doors on the bottom floor of a white brick apartment building. However upon entrance, the place was jumping. A dart tourney was in play. The bar, worn with age and replete with it's chrome, diner style stools, was packed. In the corner, the dancing bimbos. Definitely a locals night.

The dive snobs were eyeing the place up and down, shaking their heads. Regardless we found our table, the trooper in all of us pushed to the point of no-return. Our bartender turned waiter was on it with beers for Target and I, and a house Bloody Mary for LWatt. From the menu, we ordered up the Cheesesteak Sub, Spicy BBQ Wings, and the appetizer special- Broccoli Balls. "Balls!" said the King, and he laughed because he had...sorry, sidetracked. Our beer was served on room temp glasses, and were not overly cold. LWatt's Bloody Mary was fair...more a standard than a standout. The balls had a good mix of broccoli and cheese, fair taste, but were a hair overcooked. The Parmesan ranch sauce was killer...it needed to be to overcome the overcooked. For the 2nd week in a row, the wings were a disappointment. The Spicy BBQ were actually barbecue sauce over buffalo wings. No bueno. The sub was the most promising. Tender shaved top round with melted provolone on a toasted roll. Overall the place had a dank, loud local character to it. Great classic rock music, and plenty of screens around to catch Thursday Night Football. A mild tab helped to pull the place up a notch. If your nose is up expecting a 5-Star restaurant, forget about it. You've paddled out into the wrong break. And, although the Burley Inn Tavern wasn't the greatest in our area, more of a place to chill and grab a beer with your girl and some bros, it was not a bad dive to pay a visit. Certainly wasn't the lowest scoring. Isn't that what the Journey is all about?

THE RATINGS-

Cheesesteak Sub: B-

Spicy BBQ Wings: C

Broccoli Balls: C+

Beer: C

Atmosphere: B-

Value: B
Overall Score = 2.46

Inevitable, tales from the Watt.

“But when fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed."  -Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot
Leaves holding their breath, South Gate Pond, Ocean Pines. 11/14/2019

   You can run, but you can't hide. Cold nights make for cool, crisp mornings, leaving the ocean waters in the low 50's. Five dark thirty has meant no surf during the week. Solstice is but little more than a month away. Leaves have turned all sorts of colors, like they're holding their breath for the inevitable, then exhale, die, and fall to the ground. Yep, no escaping it, the holiday seasons are upon us. They do the creep. Walmart...as usual...has been all out since October. The local grocers have begun to glean shades of red and green. We have seen lights here and there. Black Friday and Cyber Monday ads are in the papers, mags, and Internet sites. Before ya know it, radio stations will be going all Christmas music. No wonder burn out comes so swiftly...for most.
   This past week we hung around Ocean Pines South Gate area. DeNovo's Trattoria had not yet put up the decorations, although they had some Thanksgiving specials going on. We were there for the inevitable judgment. The Crew's critique. The restaurant had mostly dining, but we were there for the bar area. A Pines locals joint, the bar had just enough seating where only a few patrons forced us to a high top table.

Our waitress, though not completely knowledgeable of the menu, was very attentive and had mine and Target's beers to the table in short time. As DeNovo's was Italian and featured pizza, a large Cheese Pizza it was...with half Pepperoni, and half Bacon, extra crispy, and a pound of Old Bay Wings to start us off.

The wings were less than. In both presentation and taste, they were little more than baked chicken wings dusted with Old Bay. Meaty and hot, yet they had no punch nor flavor. Now the Pizza surprised us. It had an excellent crispy crust, the toppings were well baked into the cheese and sauce giving the pizza an overall good taste worthy of a future take-out order, should the need arise. In retrospect, the place had limited TVs...primarily around the bar. The bar itself was vanilla...mostly dated white pine and limited seating. Surrounding music was too low to hear. The beer selection was fair, but the glasses it was served in was at room temp. However, it was the pricing that bumped DeNovo's above average; probably one of the lowest tabs of the year. This place was not a standout, but the Pizza alone would be worth a return trip. We said our "good-nights" as the Journey moved towards Berlin and the next destination, the Holidays in hot pursuit.

THE RATINGS-

Pepperoni-Bacon Pizza: B+

Old Bay Wings: C-

Beer: C+

Atmosphere: C+

Value: B+

Overall Score = 2.55

Abandoned But Not Forsaken, tales from the Watt

Not forsaken...dippin' toes in the cold. Target's call on last week's knee-high break.  74th Street, the OC. 11/6/2019.

   Abandoned, but not forsaken. Kinda how we would describe our mid-week surf sessions. Dark by 5pm, it had become an impractical mission to attempt to get in water time at day's end. Besides, post-sunset is feeding time for those pelagic varmints who got nuthin' better to do than rummage about the shallows of the shoreline. The water having dropped into the upper fifties, I had no desire to be chilled and chewed. Moreover, the weather had changed. Nights were getting cooler. This evening the rain was coming. For now, no more surf for the Crew. But over the next few months, taverns, dives, saloons, and bistros will all be part of the sets that will be rollin' in for our critical enjoyment under cover of our offseason.
   The latest eatery that we tendered, and the first of this year's Daylight Standard Time, was the Pines Public House. In a building that was formerly a Pizza Hut, in a corner of Ocean Pines south entrance, walls covered in birch bark sheets, a see-through fireplace, the bar veneered in slices of pine, and capped with a quartz top, it was like walking into a mountain lodge. And the menu showcased comfort food, and cocktail options to ward off the damp night. LWatt decided on the house Margarita as Target and I had a couple of drafts delivered from their extensive (15 crafts, 3 domestics) selection. I'm not sure how many qualified for a taphouse, but the Public House was pretty close.

From the menu we chose their already famous Bacon Bourbon Wings, the Pines Pub Burger, and as it was taco night, the Pines Street Tacos. When the food arrived, there was no doubt as to the effort put into the presentation, however it was soon obvious that the burger was the last that was cooked. The three tacos were plentiful with a good amount of mahi, shrimp, beef, and all the fixings...big for street tacos. But they were cold, which muted the taste. The wings had an excellent Bourbon BBQ sauce with bits of bacon. Big, meaty, and just warm, which stole points from the experience. For the second week the leading choice was the burger... a half pound of Angus, sliced pork belly, cheddar cheese, Asian slaw, house bourbon sauce, and crispy onion straws on a toasted bun. Cooked medium well, it had a very good flavor and was fat, hot, and juicy. Plenty of TVs around the bar but no music, at least that we could hear. The food was plentiful, and the bill was very bearable. With an offering full of potential, this restaurant will undoubtedly be worth taking another ride through it's menu on a future occasion. Yet regardless of the presentation, if they don't improve on the quality served (i.e. temperature), the Pines Public House will find themselves abandoned AND forsaken. As for our Pines tour, the Crew will be gunning for the next stop on our Journey.

Pines Public House, 11/7/2019.
THE RATINGS-

Bacon Bourbon Wings: B-

Pines Street Tacos: C+

Pines Pub Burger: B+

Beer: B

Atmosphere: C+

Value: B

Overall Score =  2.75

Whispers In The Dark, tales from the Watt.

"Everyone is a moon and has a dark side, which he never shows to anybody."
-Mark Twain
Just a shadow along the face of the dark side, 66th and Holidays. 10/30/2019

   The last surf sesh of the season for the Crew. It had been cloudy most of the day, so getting in the water before 6pm was not enough to keep the gloom from swiftly rolling in. LWatt was finishing up work and on her way. Target stood on the beach...no chair, as it was expected to be a short one. Bobbing in the line-up, I stared off into the horizon. The sets were becoming hazy, and difficult to read. Although the winds were light, thigh to waist high waves held up regardless of most being lefts or straight on close-outs. I tended to struggle on the backside, and in the dark- even worse, so I would search the crest of each set for a hint of a frontside with such intent I thought would hear a whisper as another wave folded as if to say "there was your right." Overcome with impatience I paddled into several. Out of position, taking off late and pearling, or too early and missing it altogether, I was finally able to slip into one such slot...a short takeoff that ended abruptly. It would be the closest to any kind of ride all night. Darkness began to shroud everything around me. Sets became mere shadows, and the whispers drowned out by the crash of each breaking wave. After the next  half hour or so of getting knocked around, and looking towards the beach barely seeing the shoreline...or Target... I called it a season and half rode the next breaking wave into the beach. While I still had potential weekend surf, the end of Daylight Savings Time pretty much ended in-week surf for the Crew. LWatt was walking over as I was getting out, and together with HT, we headed back across the dunes until next Spring.
   Throughout the summer Target had balked at going to our next destination. It faced Ocean Highway, and not the water so LWatt was not enthused either. At any rate, Liquid Assets on 94th Street had been whispering in my ear most of the year.

It was less of a beach themed location, and more of an upscale, comfort food, leather seats, couches, sip your bourbon, smoke your cigar kind of place. Not a single beer on tap (although a decent selection of bottles and cans). The walls were lined with pinewood shelving, stocked with all types of spirits. The wall to the left as we entered was lined with refrigerated cases filled with domestic and craft beer. All for purchase of course. A veritable bar/bistro in the middle of a package store. And our arrival timed perfectly with their "Whiskey Wednesdays" free tasting. Taking our seats at the bar, Target and I put our brews on tab and as we asked for glasses, our bartender whisked a couple out of a frig and did a stylish half pour to start.

From the menu we put in for the Crispy Ahi Tuna Pot Stickers (new for our expanding palates), the Paprika Dry Rubbed Wings, and the Wagyu Burger. Like I had said, a little more upscale than our usual dives, cloth napkins and silverware were laid out prior to the food arriving.

The Pot Stickers were decent; nice and crisp, but not hot. Paprika on wings raised an eyebrow, however they were big, meaty, and hot with a delicious taste. The burger was the best of the three. Obviously a high quality cut of beef, ground and cooked medium well, it was hot and juicy with melted cheddar, house pickle relish, beer mustard, and chipotle ketchup on a warm, buttery bun...nice! This place was for noshing and socializing, not TV as there were only two. The music was a tad techie for us, but the Rogue Ale Whiskey tasting made up for it. And the tab was milder than expected. Finishing the food, brews, and whiskey, we headed out into the night. Saying our goodbyes, I thought I heard the whispers again. The return of voices from the blocks away Atlantic? Early Halloween spirits perhaps? Target and LWatt would say, probably the Rogue Ale spirits. Either way...'tis the season.

THE RATINGS-

Bottle/Can Beer: C+

Crispy Ahi Pot Stickers: C+

Paprika Dry-Rubbed Wings: B

Wagyu Burger: B+

Atmosphere: B-

Value: B-
Overall Score = 2.71