Thanks everyone......
now on with the crustaceans....
Sunday November 20 Unfortunately unlike yesterday, today was a cloudy day, although no rain was in the forecast which is always good.
Having done some research I imbibed on some morning Joe at
Zu Coffee in Suburban Annapolis. The dark roast was surprisingly better than I expected and If I return to Annapolis I would likely sooner return there than head directly into town to try to scope coffee downtown.
After coffee, and a couple of Debbie's Salted Oat Meal Cookies to hold me over, i left Annapolis and headed down to St Mary's County in Southern Maryland to an old favorite
St Mary's Landing. 
The restaurant was pretty packed with locals when I arrived. The waitress asked if I wanted the buffet and I quickly replied "no, menu please" I knew what I wanted, "The Charlotte Hall"
With the local specialty, stuffed ham as the star of the meal. Stuffed ham is a "corned ham" stuffed with kale, cabbage, onions and spices. It came with a potato cake and choice of bread, in my case, whole grain. The menu noted that the stuffed ham is served hot, however it is traditionally served cold, my only regret is that I didn't request it cold, because this is the way I've preferred it in the past, but it was still just as good as I remembered.
After breakfast I wanted to explore some of St Mary's County but didn't want to venture too far south since I wanted to head back north for the remainder of the day.
I wanted to head to
Copsey's Seafood Market I wasn't sure if I was going to buy anything but just wanted to take a gander.......unfortuately...
Copsey's is no more
....out of business and has been replaced by the Big T's Crab Shack and Seafood Market which was closed anyway.
I walked over to the Drug Store next door and one of the ladies in the pharmacy in back, recommended
Thompson's Seafood Market a couple of miles down the road in Mechanicsville.
And I'm glad she did.
I had a nice conversation with the owner who presented with several of their wares....
Including crabs...
both alive
and dead
Oysters
and Rockfish
I mentioned that I just had a big breakfast and was looking for a snack to hold hold me over until I returned to Baltimore...
After perusing the menu
I knew what I really wanted...Since I wasn't having the greatest luck with Soups on this trip, I asked for their crab vegetable soup..
And all I could say is
WoW! This is probably the best Crab Soup I've ever had. A spicy broth and chock full of crab meat. As I left the market, I didn't see any seating in the immediate area and in order to get a photo I had to slurp some of the soup because I didn't want to spill any on the hood of the rental car, of course afterwards I observed some picnic tables in my peripheral vision in the distance......
Thompson's Seafood was a great find, and if the rest of their seafood is anything like their crab soup, then it truly deserves a
Roadfood review.
After exploring "Old Charlotte Hall" I realized there really wasn't anything to see and returned to Baltimore (after hellacious traffic in the DC area due to the Redskins game)
It's been a while since I had a pit beef sandwich, in fact the last time I enjoyed one was back in 2007. Unfortunately the place I really wanted to check out
Pioneer Pit Beef, is closed on Sundays and I really didn't want to return to
Chaps since I heard that there is better.
After doing some research, I decided to check out this place..
Kirkwood Pit Beef in Catonsville. Their sign advertised free samples
When I entered inside I didn't realize it was take out only, however the counterman said that I could eat in the adjoining pizza parlor, next door,
Sorrento's.
I asked for my pit beef, medium rare served with horseradish and a smattering of raw onion and bbq sauce (I forgot to ask for mayo) with sides of beans and fresh cut fries with a request for a sprinkling of old bay and a spritz of cider vinegar on the fries....
This sandwich certainly delivered and was just as good as it looks. Loaded with pink, tender and flavorful pit beef. Certainly better than what I remembered Chaps to be and as good as this sandwich was, I can't imagine how much better
Pioneer would have been had they been open.
In the parking lot of
Kirkwood Pit Beef and
Sorrento's Pizza Parlor I noticed a sign for sweet potato pumpkin shakes.
Curiousity got the best of me. After I finished my meal inside
Sorrento's I asked for the pumpkin shake and was told it was actually made from Sweet Potato. I ordered one in the interest of "research"
and it was actually quite good, the thick and refresing shake not only tasted like pumpkin pie but it had actual bits of pie dough in the shake.
After lunch, I drove to downtown Baltimore and parked in the heart of Little Italy and strolled around admiring the architecture and signage.
I walked by the flag house and star spangled banner museum and unfortunately they were closed. This is where the flag was made that
inspired Francis Scott Key to write our national anthem.
I also walked by the Shot Tower
I believe this is where they manufactured Musket Pellets in the old days. It too was closed. I understand
Michael Hoffman was a regular customer.
On my walk over to fells point I also caught glimpse of
The Baltimore Tattoo Museum- they
were open but I had no desire to check the place out..
Fells Point, an old Baltimore Neighborhood full of cobblestone streets and brick building which houses quaint shops, bars and restaurants is a fun place to spend the afternoon.
One of the landmarks....
Bertha's, is famous for their Mussels. I visited their bar which appeared to be as old as dirt, sat down, actually had a Brew out of Philadelphia's Yards Brewing Company called Thomas Jefferson's Tavern ale and watched the Ravens play Cincinnati....In fact while walking around Fells Point it appeared everyone was at a bar watching the Ravens Game....
After walking around a little more I stopped at one of my favorite coffee houses, the Daily Grind for an iced coffee..
At this point, around 4pm it was starting to sprinkle a little, this surprised me because the forecast called for no rain. It wasn't too bad though and I made my way back through little Italy to Harbor East. I've never been to this part of the Inner Harbor before and strolled around a bit before heading to my final stop for dinner..
Joining the Ravens game traffic out of Baltimore I slowly made my way to this favorite standby...
The G & M Restaurant When I arrived,
Signman was already there, and shortly afterwards
Buffetbuster's "Cousin Johnny" well actually, he's everyone's favorite cousin. I hadn't seen
Johnny in two years since the Buffalo Bus tour.
I knew what I was getting....
The double Crabcake plate- I wasn't making the same mistake I did the day before by just ordering one...
Signman I believe got one crabcake...
and Cousin Johnny got the baked stuffed oysters
The crabcakes were just as good as I remembered, I couldn't tell you which were better the crabcakes at
G & M or the crabcakes at
Suicide Bridge. They were both fantastic.
Unfortunately the onion rings were not as good as the ones I remembered enjoying on my last visit 4 years ago and
Signman warned me about that before hand.
After dinner and saying our goodbyes I headed back to the airport for my flight back home. I was actually back home just after 11pm..
--
Stay tuned since there are no more trips planned for the year, however I will begin "2011 the year in review" sometime within the next week or two.
<message edited by wanderingjew on Wed, 11/30/11 9:50 PM>
