Unfined and unfiltered from April 2012.
This is from last April 2012. It’s unfined and unfiltered. Never finished it. Here it is.
We took the N Train from Union Square to Astoria and jumped on the M60 bus. We flew Spirit out of LGA direct to MYR. LGA terminal is an oversized petri dish. No bars!?! The flight sucked. The plane was dirty and we had a whiny bitch sitting in front of us. She wouldn’t shut up. One complaint after another. She made a short flight feel like an eternity. I’m certain if the pilot could have heard her he would have nose dived into the Atlantic.
When we arrived my parents were waiting at the terminal. Our first stop was at Kroger to pick up wine. Surprising, huh. I hurried to the wine section and selected 4 bottles. The 2010 J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon which we drank with my mother’s sausage and meatball lasagna. The lasagna was great and the Seven Oaks is a very good wine from Paso Robles region in CA. I finished the night falling in and out of sleep watching Rollerball.
The next day we headed up to La Belle Amie Winery in Little River, SC for a wine festival. Big band music and wine tasting. It was quite the scene. Older couples dancing and carrying on. Haven’t experienced anything like this since the Limelight.
Their wine is made from Muscadine grapes, super sweet and taste like grape juice. Fortunately, they were also selling some wines from Twisted Sisters wine company, sorry no connection to Dee Snider. We chose the Chenin Blanc. One of the four available dry wines and surprisingly drinkable. It paired well with BBQ pork sandwich and fresh potato chips.
Richmond, VA
We stopped in Richmond for coffee. Our usual Richmond coffee stop is out of business. This is where smart phones come in handy. We found GlobeHopper online. Drove around the block and successfully parked after nearly driving head on into oncoming traffic. There was a guy singing and playing guitar inside. He sucked. Boring like wall paper. We ordered two double cappacino’s and split Richmond like we’d hit a bank.
Baltimore
We arrived in Baltimore around 9:30pm.
The day before we’d reserved a room at the Mount Vernon Hotel conveniently located a block away from Charles Street. $89 with AAA discount. Good deal. There is parking garage across the street from the hotel. Keep in mind it closes around midnight. We checked in and headed down to Mc O Sheas. We ordered a bottle of Chilean wine. It was un-offensive, soft and round, perfect for an unsophisticated palate. Acceptable, but boring. A ordered a glass of Tempornillo. The waiter was super friendly. And the food solid. We headed back to the hotel. I stepped outside briefly for a smoke, I was soon approached by a character that resembled Bubbles from The Wire. I’m not sure where he came from, he appeared out of nowhere as if he had been hiding in the gutter. He mumbled something about me taking pictures of the hotel, I said yep. I threw down my cigarillo butt, headed up to the room and starred out the window at the Enoch Pratt.
The next morning I ran down to 711 to see if I could find toothpaste. Of course they didn’t have any. A and I then headed down to the Harbor looking for food. We didn’t find anything interesting. We walked and walked and walked. Without caffeine it was possible one of us would wind up in the Inner Harbor. We made a quick stop at CVS and headed back toward the hotel area. On the way up Charles St. A noticed a sign that said Jack and Zach Food. A’s intuition led us in and I’m sure glad it did.
Met up with an old friend at The Daily Grind who is homeless, and might still be.
Philadelphia
We did a taste test. One cheesesteak from Geno’s and one from Pat’s. Pat’s won but wasn’t great. Geno’s meat tasted and smelled how I imagine rat would taste. It was gross. Back in 2009 we ate at Ishkabibble’s on South Street, much better.
We took the N Train from Union Square to Astoria and jumped on the M60 bus. We flew Spirit out of LGA direct to MYR. LGA terminal is an oversized petri dish. No bars!?! The flight sucked. The plane was dirty and we had a whiny bitch sitting in front of us. She wouldn’t shut up. One complaint after another. She made a short flight feel like an eternity. I’m certain if the pilot could have heard her he would have nose dived into the Atlantic.
When we arrived my parents were waiting at the terminal. Our first stop was at Kroger to pick up wine. Surprising, huh. I hurried to the wine section and selected 4 bottles. The 2010 J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon which we drank with my mother’s sausage and meatball lasagna. The lasagna was great and the Seven Oaks is a very good wine from Paso Robles region in CA. I finished the night falling in and out of sleep watching Rollerball.
The next day we headed up to La Belle Amie Winery in Little River, SC for a wine festival. Big band music and wine tasting. It was quite the scene. Older couples dancing and carrying on. Haven’t experienced anything like this since the Limelight.
Their wine is made from Muscadine grapes, super sweet and taste like grape juice. Fortunately, they were also selling some wines from Twisted Sisters wine company, sorry no connection to Dee Snider. We chose the Chenin Blanc. One of the four available dry wines and surprisingly drinkable. It paired well with BBQ pork sandwich and fresh potato chips.
Later that night we met my brother at BoneFish Grill. My first time in a BFG. The Bang Bang Shrimp and Scallops wrapped in bacon to start. I ordered the Sirloin Steak & Crab Cake Dinner. The food was acceptable but nothing that will knock you out of your chair. We took a bottle of 2010 Cline Zinfandel, BFG has a $10 corkage fee. Again, the wine was acceptable but it ain’t gonna knock you out of your chair.
DRIVE BACK TO BROOKLYNRichmond, VA
We stopped in Richmond for coffee. Our usual Richmond coffee stop is out of business. This is where smart phones come in handy. We found GlobeHopper online. Drove around the block and successfully parked after nearly driving head on into oncoming traffic. There was a guy singing and playing guitar inside. He sucked. Boring like wall paper. We ordered two double cappacino’s and split Richmond like we’d hit a bank.
Baltimore
We arrived in Baltimore around 9:30pm.
The day before we’d reserved a room at the Mount Vernon Hotel conveniently located a block away from Charles Street. $89 with AAA discount. Good deal. There is parking garage across the street from the hotel. Keep in mind it closes around midnight. We checked in and headed down to Mc O Sheas. We ordered a bottle of Chilean wine. It was un-offensive, soft and round, perfect for an unsophisticated palate. Acceptable, but boring. A ordered a glass of Tempornillo. The waiter was super friendly. And the food solid. We headed back to the hotel. I stepped outside briefly for a smoke, I was soon approached by a character that resembled Bubbles from The Wire. I’m not sure where he came from, he appeared out of nowhere as if he had been hiding in the gutter. He mumbled something about me taking pictures of the hotel, I said yep. I threw down my cigarillo butt, headed up to the room and starred out the window at the Enoch Pratt.
The next morning I ran down to 711 to see if I could find toothpaste. Of course they didn’t have any. A and I then headed down to the Harbor looking for food. We didn’t find anything interesting. We walked and walked and walked. Without caffeine it was possible one of us would wind up in the Inner Harbor. We made a quick stop at CVS and headed back toward the hotel area. On the way up Charles St. A noticed a sign that said Jack and Zach Food. A’s intuition led us in and I’m sure glad it did.
Met up with an old friend at The Daily Grind who is homeless, and might still be.
Philadelphia
We did a taste test. One cheesesteak from Geno’s and one from Pat’s. Pat’s won but wasn’t great. Geno’s meat tasted and smelled how I imagine rat would taste. It was gross. Back in 2009 we ate at Ishkabibble’s on South Street, much better.
