Safety First, the Watt's notebook.

Post Eta clean up sets. 18th Street, OCMD. 11/14/2020.

Well, all I can do in the end

Is bury it in the cellar
And only a fool would pretend
To blame it on the weather

-Seether, Dangerous

   We begin the official Crew-time 2nd Season, again. It's been a long year. After watching March through May slice by us due to the pandemic, we tested the waters. We started off kinda one foot in one foot out. Managed to squeeze a few rides from the slow June surf, but we were already into the third week before restarting our epicurean Quest. Across the summer months we played it safe. Distancing on the beach was not too difficult, but we chose our foodie destinations cautiously. On our stretch of the Right Coast, we were fortunate that many of the taverns, bars, and tiki dives we patronized were designed with both indoor and outdoor dining. And, in our comprehensive search for new locations we had a fairly decent mix of old and new. I know it was unusual for the Crew of the past, but we have kept all about safety first.

    The colder weather had set in. The week's heavy rainfall, brought on by the remnants of former hurricane, now Tropical Storm Eta creeping along the coast from the southwest, finally drying up as we drove up to the evening's layover. The latest challenge has been to continue to find a location that provides the comfort in safety that current times demand. Bad Monkey West (OC) was one of those bar & grills that met the criteria. Visited in June of '19, Bad Monkey has developed a firm hold of West OC. After taking a right at the last light before the Harry Kelley Bridge, there were three folks at the bar and only a couple of tables occupied, including ours in the corner with a view of the southern end of Ocean City and the Sinepuxent Bay. Course, it's Standard Time, so it was dark.

We scanned the beer and food menus within our view of the lights. A couple of brews for the Target and I and a few moments later, and we had our requests in. Old Bay Wings, The Country Boy- an 8 oz. burger, pork BBQ, and cole slaw, and a couple of Blackened Mahi Tacos.

I will begin by saying that it was a lot of food...not that we don't usually handle it, but it just seemed like a whole lot more than our usual spread. Maybe they were trying to get rid of the rest of the food as it was near closing (places closed by 9pm-10pm these days). Either way, the wings were hot, fat and juicy, nicely dusted (although we'd have taken more), and we got ten. The burger-BBQ combo was loaded and tangy...very tasty with plenty of chips. Lastly the tacos, also loaded with fish and trimming, but only warm and very dry

...the disappointment of the trio. Our waiter was eager to please, bringing our drink order out followed by the food both in short order. And, he was very good with the follow up. TVs were well located no matter where you sat, with a variety of sports. Music played included our classic rock favorites. All in all, in the current atmosphere of exposure, Bad Monkey served up good comfort food in a safe environment. It is why we came back. 

Bad Monkey West, 11/12/2020

THE RATINGS-

Old Bay Wings: B+

The Country Boy, Burger/BBQ: A-

Blackened Mahi Tacos: C

Beer: B

Atmosphere: B

Value: C+

Overall Score = 2.88