Part 1. PIT BEEF
Wednesday night I headed down to CSC's final rehearsal for the reworking of 'Much Ado' so it could travel down to Fenwick Island for a one-off production. Then after rehearsal I headed down to PKP's house for a final late-night evening of geek games and Doritos. I also indulged in some caffeine-free Coca-Cola. A very good time, as always. I spent the night down at PKP's, and then on Thursday morn we all headed down to the beach, with BJ and I in the rental truck together. I only meowed a little bit. We stopped at a gas station and I ate a hotdog. We saw and smelled PIT BEEF. We heard for the first time and were amazed by the Blues Brother's 'Rubber Biscuit.' We pondered the headline 'Family Butcher Butchers Family.' And eventually we arrived down at the show site, which was a little outdoor theatre on the grounds of a fairly swanky and lush resort community. Spent the afternoon and evening setting up the show and mildly hoping for a rainout. The show went pretty decently, although using wireless mics was a bit of a pain when we had no time for any sort of tech rehearsal and the sound guy didn't have an up-to-date copy of the script. So aside from a few embarrassing sound-related incidents, the show ran smoothly. And Finn made his stage debut and was actually ad-libbing lines. Struck the show that night, finished up at around 11pm, and I had somebody bring me a beer from the resort bar located nearby. Because I had only had a hotdog and a protein bar to eat that day, the beer made me feel very loopy. So PKP and the Beej and I and Bj's ladyfriend Abby headed to the condo that the resort was putting us up in to get cleaned up. The condo turned out to be a huge, 3 bedroom number that was really darned nice. I had my own bedroom and bathroom with a shower that was about 7 feet by 10 feet. I could've had a party and invited all my friends plus the Golden Girls and we could've all hung out(no pun intended) in the shower and still had room to spare. The living room of the condo looked like this:
So after I got cleaned up, Beej and Abby and Pat and I headed out to find some food, having been told by the sound-guy that a place called 'Smitty McGee's' was a real nice place. It turned out to be a sports-type bar with a live band that was not very enjoyable. I was, however, able to get enough food to keep me from getting drunk off one beer. And it was 3 dollar import night, so that was nice. BJ got a G&T that literally had a fly in it. I got a bacon cheeseburger that was surprisingly baconless. But our waiter, Stu, took care of both situations. Thanks, Stu! After food, PKP and I headed back to the condo for sleepy-sleepy, and Beej and Abby headed down towards Bethany, where her family had a condo.
Friday morning we woke up, PKP made some delicious eggs, we hunted for the milk bottle that Finn had expertly hidden in one of the cabinets, packed up, checked out, and then PKP and T-Pain and Finn and I headed down to Bethany Beach for a day of fun in the sun. Note: attempting to park a 16-foot rental truck in a small, crowded beach town is not easy. But after eventually finding a suitable spot and getting some help from a friendly, OCD parking officer, I got the truck parked and we rendezvoused at the beach. Beautiful weather, big waves, and the beach wasn't uncomfortably overcrowded. Finn was loving the water and especially the sand. And attempting to eat all the sunscreen. Later in the afternoon, BJ and Abby arrived and we hung out for awhile, swam, ate fries. Packed up our shit and we all headed out, the PKP family and I heading back to DC and Baltimore, respectively, and BJ and Abby staying in Bethany for some lunch and then eventually heading home. I drove the rental truck back to PKP's and picked up my car and headed towards Baltimore, where one J. KNESE had arrived from St. Louis via Maine, NYC, and Philly, and was waiting with my wife for me to arrive home so we could have delicious Crosstown burgers (with bacon) from the Hamilton Tavern for dinner.
Part 2. HOBO'S CRABS
After driving through a bit of traffic downtown (apparently there was some sort of anime/Japanese pop culture convention going on -- lots of youngish people walking around in strange costumes) I made it home and the Jeanners and Jeffrey and I got some tasty burgers, and the waiter made fun of Jeff for getting his sans onions. Headed home and went to bed after a long day.
A slow start to Saturday morning, but we had a nice breakfast with fruit and biscuits and eggs 'n fake sausage. Then headed out to the Hamilton street fest, which consisted mainly of food booths and overpriced crafts and clothes, and three music stages set up -- two with bands and one DJ area back in an alley. There was also a classic-car auto show going on, and J-Dog, Jeff and I found the dipstick on many classic cars. Jeannie had a tasty ice treat made by a man named Jiggy. Jeff and I were silently panhandled by a man with '$1.00' written on a piece of tiny scrap paper. After we'd had our fill of the street fest we headed out west towards Catonsville, checked out the Patapsco Valley State Park, where we hiked and saw a deer, a log teepee, a trail marked by strips of a wife beater, a train tunnel, a woman with a wiggly butt and too many water bottles, shirtless hooligans, and post-apocalyptic abandoned factories with open dumpsters. Leaving the park, we checked out the main street of Catonsville, which it turns out shuts down at 6pm. Except for a large antique store that we proceeded to fill up with our farts. I say we because, although I participated, it wasn't just me. Didn't feel like eating in Catonsville, so we headed home. Saw a handmade sign on the side of Route 40 that said "HOBO'S CRABS." Not sure exactly what they were selling. Got home, I made a stir-fry and G&T's and we taught Jeff how to play Carcassonne. A fairly low-key evening. Sunday morning, repeat breakfast w/ biscuits, eggs, etc. then headed downtown to Sunday-morning market. Kept our eyes peeled for human poop. On the ground, not for sale. Left the market and walked around Fell's Point, ducked into a bike store, brushed off a street magician, bought cheap Tom Waits CD's at the Soundgarden. Drove to the Inner Harbor where we checked out Federal Hill, walked around, saw some more folks in anime costumes, loaded up on maps, and ate frozen custard. Rushed off to Towson to pick up our CSA vegetables and then headed home where we lounged on the porch, ate mini-pizzas and watched a squirrel with a broken tail. Then it was time for me to head to work and the Jeanners to give J. Knese a lift to the airport.
Told you it was a busy weekend. What am I forgetting?
Right now I'm listening to the cheap Tom Waits CD's that I bought at the Soundgarden, and I am enjoying them. This morning I loaded all of our jackhammered concrete basement rubble into a portable dumpster called 'THE BAGSTER' which we place in the front of our house and mysterious silent invisible men will come to collect within the next 5 days. Work this afternoon.
The Jeanners is leaving town for 3 days this week, heading to Atlanta for work training.
