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Documentation

What makes a place a "Place"?

Sometimes it is a recipe. We should then document the food item(s) that are unique and special.
We should provide images of them and an analysis of what it is about them which is meaningful.
We should provide recipes where available with permission of course (perhaps these could be conveyed to be put in our  vaults as trade secrets until they are needed to  restore and re-construct.).
In any case we need to tell people what "charm"  looks like on the plate!

Sometimes it is atmosphere. We will need to know specifically what it is. Some places have lots
of stuff sitting around but it still doesn't make it as atmosphere. You know what I mean - lots
of bottles on shelves- tankards, mugs antiques..... It would be atmosphere if you could only reach
up and use one but they are often glued down or under the watchful eye of staff armed no doubt,
with shotguns.... We should have photos of the aspects of atmosphere considered important. Things that are real. What is food for your eyes which serves as appetizer for the food on the plate?

Sometimes its the staff. The "patter" of human voices playing upon each other. Perhaps a joke
or line of wit or a story. We can post them here- maybe even a sound file! Maybe it is just that
human touch. The way the expression "hon" occurs naturally with the proper inflection rather
than being forced or studied.What book would you bring to read there? What story would you tell there?  Take your tape recorders with you.

Should it be "antiquity"? Should we require a test of time- if so what is the age suggested?
For the National Register of Historic Places it is I believe 50 years. Should we go for less or
more? I could use your input here. Maybe the recipes need to be old- or the personnel. In
any case a test of time might be useful. We won't shy away from obtaining a history of the
place in its many transformations if need be and we can post it here.

I would like to provide minimally: A locational map, A view from the street, An interior view and
an image of the most significant aspect.(or two). I will provide hours of operation and hours
for specific services. I will also include a history and any recipes provided. A phone number
will be included.....anything else?  send email

You may send me photos, your own personal studies and observations to provide the information described above at the following ordinary snail mail address:

Conrad Bladey
PO Box 268
Linthicum, Md. 21090
USA

If you let me know in  advance you can send me scanned in images via e.mail attachment.
Yes I will be willing to go out with you on a research  mission- just plan in advance. I will
not accept any free food or services from any business.
While I will accept  MAIL I will not accept any  FEE-MAIL  (that is Bills) You must pay
your own way. We must strive to be as fundless as possible . Donations of  course sent anon. to the address above will not be returned nor will they be recognized or even associated with the sender.
Checks should be made out to my daughter:
Margaret Christiana Bladey   whose college money I am eating and drinking up in this venture!
 
 

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Places Thus Far

Please excuse any splinters or rough edges we are still sanding and constructing!
But dont mind our mess go in in!

The  list was  submitted by one Daniel Rodricks (Baltimore Sun/Channel 2) click here
to read column (soon to be posted?).

•  The descriptions are however, my own! ©Conrad Bladey 1998 e.mail for permission
•  I have also made musical selections please play them as you begin to read a selection!
•  Suggested stories are provided in outline- that leaves you to fill in and create!
•  I told Mr. Rodricks that I would make a pilgrimage to these places. I mark those I have visited already with an X at the end of their entry.

This list  has not been tested against any set of guidelines so you should let me know what you
think of Dan's suggestions and and of course... of my observations! send email
These are not all endangered places.
Bengies and the Woman's Industrial exchange are endangered P L  E A S E!   Please ! Please! Please! Visit them at once and do it frequently!
I submit this list as reflective of  the essence of Baltimore Charm- They are the "must experience"
list.
I wish to convey the atmosphere of each place. We must consider it as important as the food-food for the mind and the soul!
Eventually we shall have photos.
I would also like to suggest reading material that sums up the atmosphere. What novel would you read in the place? What story would you tell? What music does the place conjure  up?  Any suggestions- perhaps a favorite quote as well? send email

I have indicated with a b those places which offer beer. I believe it should be up to the
individual establishment to determine for their own reasons whether or not to offer beer
for sale. However, if the establishment is not able to offer beer for sale with fine food
due to the expense of regulations or the denial of the community of the freedom to provide
patrons with customary beverages then this is an unnecessary limitation of rights which
we should work to eliminate. Perhaps fine establishments who can not afford the permits
required should obtain city funding or tax breaks so that they might be able to do so. It would
make far more sense to keep beer in these establishments than to subsidize a major hotel
chain to create drinking establishments elsewhere.   Please let me know of your observations. A b+ indicates a
wide selection. I am also particularly concerned with the state of Bread in America today. There
is more to a sandwich than its stuffing. If you present a jewish corned beef sandwich, for example
it should be on excellent jewish rye bread with a crispy crust a firm but not dry crumb,
and available in seeded, without seeds, onion and German.
Places maintaining good ethnic Bread traditions are marked by a # sign.
Bread  out of plastic bags just does not do- it needs to be out of an oven!

Dizzy Izzys (Now The Diz)

(410) 235-0171
Location
300 W 30TH ST, Baltimore

Bar, Restaurant, Baltimore, Remmington. Absolutely the best! Great home cooked food and personality.

Dotson's
Glen  Burnie: (carry out) ribs, chicken barbecue (b across street in pm)
Music Click Here  (Baltimore Rag!)
Address: 7317 East Furnace Branch Road
               Glen Burnie, Md. 21060
Phone: 410-768-2784

Across the road fire blazes hot
The suburb fades
The metal roof steams
Primeval smoke permeates the mind
The country calls out with ribs, collards, mince, chicken
Barbecue for the ballpark- bonemeat for the child
At home the hands are warm blood red,  sticky, licked  clean
The smoke- the flavor speaks of home and lasts.
The druidic flavor of the holy oak
Works its enchantment upon the mind.
The blood of the tomato sacrifice spurs the home team-
On to victory!

Link to Map: click here
Music:
Story:
Book:
X

Chick  and Ruth's b
(note this is not in Baltimore submission error but we will let it stay  for a  while!)
Web page clickit here
Annapolis- deli sandwich
Address: 136 Main St.
               Annapolis Md.
               21401
Phone:        410-269-6737

Having a patriotically good day? Maybe a politician did something you approve of -or maybe
just did something? You got your tax refund back and it was more than you thought you
would be getting? Maybe you have just retired from the government or public life. If you are having a good politics day  well then Chick and Ruth's is the place for you. You can begin the morning with a pause for the pledge- call for the times. There is a flag front and center.

You can order sandwiches named after your favorite politico. Around you the walls reflect the faces of the famed and those of the infamous as well. The Maryland State Seal 'tis a virtual whose who of Maryland politics as well as some media magicians.

On the other hand if you are having a bad politics day,  well then friend, please stay away!
I mean Annapolis is bad enough with politicos and their extremely trendy well sunglassed
and suited aids and employees wandering squeekycleanily about the place discussing
judges and politicos....poor sea gulls cant be fed because they might have a bodily function!
Its so clean even the winos wear bow ties-and the shops! And...well.... talk about plastic! The tourist shops are everywhere and you can hear the vacuums going in all of them sucking out the bills from customer's wallets!  Then there is  the traffic!  All this combined with  a bad
politics day followed by encounters with Annapolis merchants  would not be good preparation for Chick And Ruths .You  would  probably find yourself  maybe not so unintentionally spilling  mustard on the politician in the next booth,or, maybe, that whole cream pie you ordered was not just for you.....so stay away till you have recovered!

But still,... even on a bad politics day it is a good place to take the test. I do this periodically myself-What test you ask?  Just the test  to see if I am still in control. I have always been lucky! You really must  bring a suitable witness like  wife,  parent or co worker-especially one who has periodically heard you rant and rave concerning the ultimate fate and or prescribed torture for the politico who just happens to be just walking into the deli headed to the next booth! One such test for me  involved meeting a former governor while walking near the harbor in Baltimore. All others in our group walked up for a photo with the Gov. but my wife kept her eyes on me watching me intently......another opportunity.....but...another governor does not get pushed in the harbor! I am in control! Shucks!
I passed the test  again!
When am I ever going to let go and enjoy my freedoms of self expression!

Well at Chick and Ruths not only are politicos all over the walls -they are  in all  of the booths.
On the way down the isle - Hi governor, I senator, How's the money Louis.....
They are all there old and new young freshmen and old retired dinosaurs. Planning a career in politics?  Well then,  stop in and visit with them from booth to booth! A virtual think tank of Maryland political mind cells!  I wonder how many bills get passed through Chick and Ruths before they hit the state house up the block!

The place is very relaxing and an ultimate deli.  Excellent dill pickles on all tables. A huge menu all 24 hours even the breakfasts! You can even stay there above the place in the bed and breakfast!  A very concerned management-out personally chatting to customers booth to booth the  entire  time! But the real amazing aspect is the tin ceiling. Beautiful, ornate silver and with the flag quite patriotic. A good sandwich, well, good for Maryland standards that is....real thin cut steak and
cheese but the bread.....well I handed the management a card for a real bread bakery. With such good meat filling the sandwich/sub really suffered of limp bread. I know Marylanders have  soft gums which would be lacerated. Stop getting your bread out of plastic bags guys!. As a real good bread maker  told me it was a $6.00 sandwich on 3 cent bread! (can't we have an option at least- white, rye, wheat, plastic or REAL?)

So If you want to do your politically correct duty on a good politics day brave the traffic of Annapolis and walk past all of the plastic tourist shops to real America. Order the sandwich named after your favorite politico! Or maybe order half of a George Bush and half of a Bill Clinton and let them go at it in your stomach!  I could easily imagine being in the mid west !I knew though that I had left Baltimore for Annapolis- the soft soundlands of Anne Arundel. Not a word of Greek!
You can really forget about the outside world entirely. But remember-the meter and those quarters! Annapolis is trying to collect all of the world's quarters! Not a free space in town. Come early or else you will have to send a runner in to place your order as your cruise around the circles.

And if you'r  not having a good politics day???? - I can't think of anything better place for...
"Food fight anyone....?"  Or maybe you can  try to  demonstrate that you are really more in control than you or they think! If so please remind your dining partner to bring in the bag with the straight jacket! ...just in case!
Link To Map: click Here
Music:
Story:
Book:

 Attmans b
Baltimore- corned beef

Web page click here
Music: Click here
Address: 1019 East Lombard St.
               Baltimore Md.21202
Phone: 410-563-2666   Fax: 410-563-0222

Where on chalkboard walls one might look forwarding addresses
for war waked urban, vanished businesses
Projects loom and even the museum..... is closed
A brave team rushes into action to save the corned beef sandwich
   from the extinction to which its own rye bread has already  gone- along with the Yiddish-It's- Mamma.
All of the treasures of Israel laid out for the asking in grand spendour: salads, olives, halva and lachs...
Politicians beam out their schmaltz from the walls-
Elbow to elbow the hustle of conversation of business of home of
the old times. The chickens in the old images not yet plucked
the  streightforward,manly pickles await their liberation.
But is  that woman marked up as meat really   s t i l l   Kosher.
I hear the boxcar on its way---best eat before my ticket is issued.
I fear we have already entered the showers....

Link to Map:click here
Music: click here
Story:
Book:
X

Suburban House

 The best, absolutely the best Kosher Diner in Baltimore....Great Matzaball soup.

Weis no beer
Baltimore- corned  beef
Music: click here
Address:  1127 East Lombard Street
                 Baltimore, MD  21202

Phone:                 (410) 276-7910

The grand meat falls anarexically paper thin  upon the limp rye and requests an audience
I unkosher it by choice with a piece of swiss, it sighs relief ---now it can be itself----free from claim!
And good,  too cooked tender upon the cafeteria front line
I enter the cavernous hall pausing to read of history of  when rye still must have had crust
Upon the far wall Hebrew and Yiddish maybe Polish are spoken in the faces
Now  only the remains of Baltimorish resound.
Not many Hons more common here are the correct and suited Maams the ring of peasant coin jewelry now replaced by that of the cell phone..
No one has today the shoes  for the streets of the 30s and 40s- nor any of the Bhrog!
But the talk is lively and comfortable. Of home, of the kids.  A relaxing escape with space
Stretch out and go back for a large cookie. Was there talk of an implosion?
And is it true what they say that  even Nipper has left the museum for another city bone?
Now what did you have there says the Jewish Grandma scrutinizing every lettuce
leaf for a trace of an unrecorded option. None found I tip myself with the change!

Link to Map: click here

Story:
Book:

X

Martick's # b

Now closed so this is a memorial:

Baltimore- French / Ultimate in Atmosphere!
Music: Click Here for Music
Address: Martick's Restaurant Francais
                214 West Mulberry Street  (knock hard on door ring bell & be Patient!)
                 Baltimore, MD  21201
Phone:      (410) 752-5155
Hours: Lunch: Tues.-Fri. 11:30-2:00   Dinner: Tues.-Sat. 5:00-11:00

I did not feel the heart attack at all- not a pang. I simply arrived at the Blue and White herringbone /chevron door and knocked. No hall of bright light nor clouds, but, a comfortable church pew in the front row! Above was a black lacquered coffered tin ceiling. And  all along as I knew it was to be ----the high altar of the supreme being: the huge rustily defunct espresso maker adorned with the leavings of pilgrims-sympatheticly crushed metal vases,  pictures,flowers, more...I hear in my mind's cafe the words of Brecht and Weill from Happy End- "seele gerettet" (soul rescued) As I move down the steps Weill's calliope like cord progressions resound between my ears......
Sometimes doorways open to sideways worlds which provide the ultimate relief. All senses fed and nourished and massaged. Aromatic foods wonderful lights,the bricks of ages Here I would plot with the deity the re-birth of Baltimore. We would plug the future's draining vortex just after plastic scraped as a ring from the tub walls of the world passed the trap. St Pauli girl and me walk through the rich corriander,ginger and fennel flavored mists-timeless- beyond the Ho and Yo of the streets and the rants of Louis and his omnipresent little  plastic covered pies. Be gone microwavery, I am God- the Great Good Dagda and I will be your waiter....and even Shorty will take off his hat and dig in to succulent sacrifices of lamb fresh veg and spice. I can not simply return!  I will soon be  there to dwell!- Thursdays I think-upon this other shore St. Pauli Girl and I shall sip the ginger soup as in our minds we hear Lotte Lenya sing -"the schoenste auf die ganze continent" (the most beautiful one the entire continent!) and... all is well sir, even, yes even, within the ruins of our world. Postman Forward my Mail!....hold the fee-mail (bills!). Splendid, outstanding,  excellent, words fail......The bodies fallen, killed for the treasury's deserts have been quickly removed! I shall stand between anyone and the last slice of the German Chocolate Cake!

Wanted: One independently wealthy food/waitstaff worker for whom to sit at the
               right hand of the father within- the spleandor of his kingdom to serve as  its own
               reward- (really) help wanted- fortune lacking- rewards priceless!
               Contact the management- 410-752-5155

Link to Map: click here
Story:
Book:
X

Hausners b

Regrettably Hausners is no more. The family that owned the place called it quits and cashed in on the artwork. A sad day it was too. when the doors closed for the last time. Baltimore still is without a good German place.

Baltimore- Atmosphere
Music: click here
Address: 3242 Eastern Ave
               Baltimore Md.  21224
Phone: 410-327-8365
Link  to Map click here

Yes indeed its grand to see you all again! Roman Emperors, and you too!  white skinned marble
woman- all but totally revealed beneath her thinly chiseled robes. We settle in with the Moors...
the battles.... the horsemen. The place is wild with artistic journeys. Men on horseback- still
lives being still. A Valhalla of art. We can only visit you here these days. Gone you all are
from the walls of the homes of our friends -if ever you were there at all.  Dispersed with the
treasures of the family living room when the ancestors departed. But here you are -the maiden
on the wall tosses me a kiss while the other one in the corner steals one from another man!
But the maid continues to pour out that wine-yes she remembered I will take the red please
Danke Sehr! Bitte whines the drunk on the far wall-one for him too- the maiden fills his tankard. Good thing too the house is well supplied  as those Roman Emperors do like their drink. Well daughter how do you like these fine folk? "What is a knudle?" she asks-and it comes a snowball in rich gravy her extra terrestrial treat from the planet of Germany-till now so far away. Grand food -one of everything! Will she eat it? ----You bet she will! Those Roman emperors don't mess around with children who don't eat!  And neither do the bronze hunters I add. As the dumpling disappears I wonder?.... will the white maiden come home with me this time?
 

Story:
Book:
X

Matthew's
Baltimore Eastern  Ave.
Pizza

Web page- http://www.matthewspizza.com/
Music: click here
 Address:           Matthew's Pizzaria
                          3131 Eastern Avenue
                          Baltimore, MD  21224
Phone:                          (410) 276-8755
Link to Map: click here

We ascend from the East from the avenue into Virgil's clouds.
An Itallic urn with fresh flowers- vases with more decorate an altar to the Renaissance.
We pause to worship Michalangelo before we walk reverently toward the grand image
of the Major Domo and founder in his heavy ornate gold frame---his forehead speaks the
truth of quality. His guardianship from the lighted recess permeates the room and speaks
of quality of  unadulterated freshness. The Renaissance is in control. The ship Itallia laid out deck by
deck awaits us to return to the pizza of the Italian Gods. Photos of Italy carry us away
Not the pizza of any crude hut this...it is worthy of only of the best of the piazzas of Venice
as it arrives I enter a room fronting the Grand Canal. I read the paper and crave a shelf
full of books- the tensions of the day lifted-- the mind of the literati calls out. I raise my glass
to the barrel and press its tap. I toast Italy! But hey!! What is this! It is but sugar water-I descend
with a thud ---my God! We are in America! The Chianti, Valpolichella all trimmed off the
main ---tossed overboard so that the ship can sail to greatness---can't have a nation of
drinkers now can we?  Never mind  it was after all  most grand and wonderful while it lasted and I can wait till I get home for the trace elements.  And maybe next time I will call ahead to see if I can
bring it in. I did and you can bring in wine! I purchase a jug of Piasano--my love you will travel
everywhere with me in the large cooler in the truck bed trace elements for the body and mind!
 

Story:
Book:
X

Women's Industrial Exchange

This place was able to save itself but now two restaurant re-makes later the place is terrible. Whoever got rid of the old style uniforms and traditional menu seems to have sold out to speculation and money without regard to the fine traditions of Baltimore.

Web Page: http://www.womansindustrialexchange.org/
Baltimore (Charles St.) Chicken salad /Atmosphere! Historic! Wonderful!
Music:For music Click Here
 Address:   Woman's Industrial Exchange
                  333 North Charles Street
                    Baltimore, MD  21201
Phone:            (410) 685-4388

Its 8:00 on a wet spring  water drip soaked foggy morning
Thoughts of earthworms dancing under layers  of  wood mulch free aha! The songs they must hear...
Now....Cut short  by the work-a-day deadline.
I escort my wife into the truck bound  for establishment defense to save our nation.
The new cd of the Whisky Priests, workin class lads from Northumbria in Britain plays:

Into the smoky morning
And I'm trudging down  the line
Past the dirty tanky e ngine
Going to the mine

Rows of pit folk's houses
Like regiments in time
Taste the gritty    skylight
When you're going to the mine- (Going to the Mine, Whisky Priests, Think Positive, 1998.)

She is dropped off for the defense but I the suburban half the mister mom am bound for
the trenches heads down in the muck still waiting for the call "over the top" and our liberation. Pat Buchannan....
Nahhhhhhhh Newt? Nahhhhhhhhh.....I answer my e. Mail carefully explaining for the 100th time to an Irish gentleman in Japan  about Cromwell:

"And after having tortured her to a pain she could not stand
Down through the streets of Portadown they dragged her to the Bann
O'Shane appointed as her guard to guide her on her way
And the thought of five young children was leading her astray"

I  explained how in 1641 had it not been for Catholic atrocities there would have been no Cromwell!

"At least the hundred faithful souls in Portadown were slain
All were the deeds of Popery their wicked words to gain
But god sent down brave Cromwell our Deliverer to be
And he put down Popery in this land us Protestants set free" -(Portadown)

E. Mail sent I reflect....a few hundred tossed naked into the river to their deaths....you know that's nothing in Baltimore of the tri- century murder rate-  will it reach 365 this year again? The police and the newspapers seem more concerned about playing  the numbers than hot pursuit- now that's only  three centuries or more found  bodies in a city surrounded by deep water and no shortage of cobble stones and burlap sacks. No wonder the blues lick their lips down in the polluted muck of the bay.

This Just In records the daily torture of children in a city now run by African Americans and Irish...their chance is come.....but....even  their humanity keeps their  rise  to the  occasion limited-who  would have thought! .Crime, Urban Blight, murder, torture....Physteria are the bombs that fly over our trenches. Bullets flying in post offices, Agricultural Agent offices, schoolyards.... Is my daughter learning in her expensive parochial school where the priests loose track of readings at first communions, the hymns are canceled, where the only silence in the service is for the family photo ritual,where in 4 years of education in a region filled to the brim with struggling cultural institutions the school and the girl scouts have only managed to take in bowling and Disney, where my free lectures on the saints Bright and Patrick are refused and all that counts is fund raisers and money, my daughter's hair again a mess as she struggles with mom who pulls  the hairs from her head, Yes... that's my new electric hedge trimmer now left out in the rain for several days, long haired dachshunds  roam the trenches with me covered in the white mud of the test kitchen, the 200 dollar kitchen maid mixer falling off the table spewing them with yet unbaked crusty rye, the mixer almost broken is bent back into shape as I tackle the bills, barely health care paid oral surgery bills taunt me, I reflect on the famine of culture.

As In Ireland here in Linthicum in the trenches there is  good food but alas the perfectbread of the nearby European bakery is exported from our culture starved lands-bound for Columbia, Severna Park, Ruxton maybe Sparks- and the tables of the elite.  We scratch at the store shelves only to harvest weak and soft,limp crusts.... Designer beers from two neighborhood breweries is priced out of the range of our economy shattered budgets- we must in the beer revolution drink the swill of Bud Lite and Coors....even our Natty Boh (that one eyed son of a....). gone forever- the brewery ruins now in triage.

 Briget dachshund lass, pride of my joy a stor mo cree,  has just severed the handles of my favorite canvas bag, and is working half way through her nylon leash my mind runs to the streets of  last summer -the visitation of a Belfast night as my art car went up in flames....I contemplate the future, I worry of education, of crime, of bills, of a local culture detaching itself from the West, of the death of reciprocity-how many free dinners have I given that guy? And not a crumb in return....Thank you  notes things of the  dim past.  Of never seeing the interiors of neighbors houses or even exchanging  a word over close to two  decades my mind begins to boggle.....I know! They are all spies....as in the village of the "Prisoner" I am not a number I am not even a free peasant let alone a free man....peasants eat and drink well!.......but then...... I remember.....  through the fog of battle that I had been granted-
 A day pass.
I was to be evacuated for health reasons: shards of tooth  from botched dental work coming through my gums....I worked my way down the trench to the waiting light rail train past puppy marked papers the crater of my daughters room and, stacked dishes at breakfast, stacked fee-mail-bills,  trashed  junked male,  dazed I boarded Schafer bahn rail line lite-I collapse.....my nervous hand hovering above that all important yellow strip that signaled the driver to stop.
I pressed the tape at Lexington market......
I walked uneasy through the teeming masses, past scent oils, dodging weaving men waving bag bottles wondering about
 well dressed men and of their small round plastic covered pies. The city had survived the  war but barely. It was still mostly empty ruins managed by robber barons.  It saw new construction--tributes exacted in the form  of  high rise hotels convention centers of the professional elite and sports arenas whose cost to the fan was measured in gold bars or lifetime credit card debt and not the old the antiquated... dollars and cents.
. I walked carefully to my destination urea vapors from alley ways, litter in gutters always wary of danger-watching for the  carving knife to appear, mapping  on fellow peasants in the crowd.
---- At last I made it up  Saratoga, down Charles
Finally!!  A friendly doorway. Amazingly its door still in place!
 The Woman's Industrial exchange.
 Tranquillity, the world outside shut out.
 White walls with pastel paintings in a classical style almost as cave art extending  re-assuring connection with the culture of the West. Wonderful hand made clothing -no machines no tags from foreign lands. I was
guided to a table by a beautiful engraved fireplace by a  matronlike helper.
I was made welcome my rehabilitation commenced immediately.
 My concentration turned to the menu.
Yes! The robber barons had not yet reached this place. I filled myself with hand made salad, soup, coffee and
had change -lots of change from the $20.00 bill.
My recovery surged ahead. Restored! I felt like the evacuated war crazed
vet in all those world war  movies who meets his love in the rehabilitation hospital  while he mends his body
before going again to the front.
Cured and ready once again to face the spring offensive of the trenches once again I paid my check and  thanked all for their help and patience.
But then I read a sad mournful notice:
 Damsel in distress.  The words of Kurt Weil's Happy End are heard in my mind: seele in not (soul in danger)
What!! My refuge and Cure no more!
 Tears welled in my eyes as I looked up at here for what might be the last time. The robber barons were closing in - The third column. They needed the money and there was none! They needed it for their all consuming plastic high rise hotels and their money sucking stadiums..... I thought of panic of desertion of flight. But then my mind turned to the movies.
What would that hero have done? Wiping the tears from my eyes I looked up at the damsel  the  patriotic speech  of all finales filled my lungs.
No!  dear matron!  I shall not retreat, not until all of our culture, our country our churches our schools and our streets are  reclaimed- I shall fight the battle and win it for you for all for the children we shall deny the blue crabs their bodies we shall climb the highest mountains we shall  make our culture of the West of Greece  And Rome of pizzerias and bread  and souvlaki proud! .(powerful  stuff that chicken  salad!) . The maiden was in tears of joy as filled with the promise  of liberation. The gray skies turned to blue and white. A soft breeze blew....
I gave the lady a final wave-I pressed her hand  one last time in mine  and headed for the train the last frame of the movie pans across the train front in large letters the sign read
 CROMWELL!
Dear readers there is more to life that McDonalds. Hop aboard the Schaefer Bahn Light rail and go visit this damsel in distress. We need  her haven, her  kind reassurance,  her cure for our ills. Your patronage can make a difference.
 

Link to Map: click here
Story:
Book:
X

Yellow Bowl  #  b
Baltimore  (Greenmount Ave.)
Fried Chicken/Ribs and more....
Music: click here
Address:   Yellow Bowl Restaurant
                 1234 Greenmount Avenue
                 Baltimore, MD  21202
 Phone:           (410) 685-2932
Link to Map: click here

It was a walk past the prison --quite a loud place . So past the intake center
up through urban blight with the smells I knew from my youth in urban
archeology in London- plastery damp dank air of abandonment with a
hint of mold - the archeological record in the throes of creation.
Then from behind the metal grill on a still inhabited
corner came a rich and more lively aroma.
It was 1970 when I last smelled it---on the back of a yellow school bus
in the country suburbs of suburban Montgomery Alabama in the days of
the Governor. When.... pulling up with screeching breaks at houses with
license plates for roofs and an ever changing set of children waiting
to board ---turkeys took flight from the dusty road the bus suddenly
was transformed from white suburbia into the smell of freshly fried
chicken and the screaming voice of a scratchy James brown conveyed from a battery
powered 45 player.
The chicken would never wait till lunchtime that schmaltz filled the
air and provided a much needed boost for the days schoolwork for our
downtrodden friends
Anyhow.....
The big whiteman strode into the Yellow bowl and ordered some of that
fried chicken. A chicken breast pressed between two slices of white
bread. Excellent!  I felt cured of my long hot day. I ordered a beer and encountered a
phrase which was quite fitting but which I had not used so was confused. I was in ethnia
without a phrasebook!  I took a can but what I wanted was a large long necked  one in
the wide mouth glass bottle! I declined the paper bag for the beer-I was not
ashamed to be a drinking man!  I then  sat in the dining room
contemplating the banner proclaiming the oldest black owned Restaurant in
Baltimore.I wondered however, all the while, if the neighborhood would
defy the archeological process long enough for me to make my way to
the car.
Someday I would like to go with a few friends to tell tales at the
Yellow Bowl (-bring on the  ribs and corn bread!) ---tales of the South of
the farms, marching bands, and Indian mounds--fried chicken and sugar cane--
the kind we used to tell outside the general store in West Virginia sipping long neck
buds after a day of digging holes in the ground.Yup I should have
gotten that big beer. That chicken has roots in the heartland -the crispy skin
of America's marble bag!   And I didn't even  have time for the ribs or the corn bread.
So.... back across  the  highway the neighborhood still teetering on the edge
of the archeological record which will, in the name of fried chicken, be held
back a while longer! ---I hope!
Story:
Book:
X

The Doghouse
Baltimore (Fallsway)
Meatloaf Sandwich -a Landmark since at least the 50s
Music: click here
Address:617 Fallsway
              Baltimore,Md. 21202

Phone: 410-685-7269
Link to Map click here

A parking place! My kingdom for a parking place!
There's one no- its only a  30 minute meter- and I had food to find.
Better luck on the second try. But the meter must  eat first- good thing I had quarters.
(I will next time take the light rail and walk from center street. A good walk would stir up the
lipids in the blood to make room for more!) The Doghouse sits just over the Jones falls
expressway which divides the Baltimore Sun Buildings from the prison on the other side.
An old prison visited  by Dickens himself I believe. Ah! Yes! prisons ---the home of many
a good writer from time to time! Perhaps that is why the Sun is so close! Anyway...
my initial reaction to the stark modern look of the Doghouse was a bit shaky. Did I have
the right place?  Well let's see--meatloaf sandwich---yup! at the top of the menu---must
get one! The head director in charge made it personally. Are you drinking? Yes I said
usually -but what.....well I had to settle for Coffee.  No beer!  The sacrifices you have to
make in order to live in America! Can't go tainting the news by selling beer to cub reporters
now can we?  Anyway I got the sandwich with its huge slab of meatloaf.  Its aromatic spices
and sheer bulk rooted my feet into the floor as I braced against the stand up counter.
This was a sandwich you had to lean into from a standing position. It needs only a slice
of fresh onion. Let the spices pour out unhampered and course through your system.
Looking around I saw that this was the place of the ultimate in working lunches. No relaxation
here. Standing up like prize fighters lunching workers proposed and counter proposed between
large manly bites of sandwich each powered by the energy of the knowledge of the imminent
nature of the other's dead lion.   The conversation speed round like a sparking locomotive
on the Christmas garden track-no lions died and all returned to the workplaces . The business of America is Meatloaf--assembled not accumulated as the Doghouse proclaims!
I also found  a good large cup of excellent coffee and large exceedingly hot fries which seemed to stay
hot until the next dead lion approached!  Do lions actually die or is that just a newspaper escape clause? Well get off of your dead lion and go for the meatloaf!  A good place to confront the business day head on!
 

Story:
Book:
X

Samos  #+  b (across the street you can bring in)
Baltimore (Oldham St.)
Greek

Web Page: http://www.samosrestaurant.com/
Music: Click Here
Address:Samos Restaurant
               600 Oldham Street
                Baltimore, MD  21224
Phone: (410) 675-5292

In a small corner within fields of Baltimore Marble steps surrounded by
the nourishment of the culture of Greece is the small Baltimore Agean island
of Samos. Its walls are windows upon Greece its windows graceful with
curtains provide glimpses of dark coffee houses and treasure chest groceries
of Greek delights. Hard Real bread, Minoan Easter Cookies, Feta cheese....
Sticks of succulent lamb launch your mind into greek dance. The moussaka a meal
in itself draws upon your senses aromatic your thoughts travel to the tavernas
of Athens and the souvlaki bars  of Heracleon Crete  where stacks of souvlaki
sticks are  measured in feet and beer in liters. I feel at home  in my peasant garb.
Wines tempt  me  from the shelf. Comfortable quiet corners to dine with your
muse over the best pita in the world -round fresh magic carpets covered in magic
sauce and fresh veg. I run across the street to the bar for an armload of beer bottles.
The muse is thirsty! Ambrosia can not wait! If only Zorba and his English writer
friend were here----or is it them at  the table on the side. "Quick"  Zorba says " we
must hurry  the lamb!  it will burn!" The muse agrees and we dig in.  Nick the
chef and owner brings fresh souvlaki succulent,  aromatic the muse delights!

Link to Map: click here

Story:
Book:
X

Ikaros b  #
Baltimore(Eastern Ave/Greektown)
Greek

Web Page: http://www.ikarosrestaurant.com/  (This is one great web page)
Music: Click here
Address:
Phone  :410-633-3750
(closed Tuesdays- more later...)

Upon a busy street with all the bustle of Baltimore's Athens between bakeries
and gift shops, coffee shops. Blue and white Greek flags flutter in the breeze.
Posters remembering the Greek Revolution portray men with guns fighting for
freedom. The police confer concerning teetering high citizens, beckoning
women,  and the pure fruit and nuts of the city---their decision ----to pick up lunch
instead and let the city wobble along. At Ikaros one finds the formal qualities of
a family table in the countryside in the ancient paneled room. Friendly, but the
old crow like women in black look down on you from the walls where Grecian
windmills play. One feels the weight of tradition and the sense of the duty of
hospitality which is the essence of Greek culture. A place to learn of greek foods.
Bulging grape leaves, feta salad, lamb- cooked and served properly with style
of a Greek patriarch. One is hear to engage in eating -from course to course
ending in pools of honey surrounding filo layers and crushed nuts. Your partner's
conversation is obscured by aromas -how could business be done in the presence
of such food. It speaks to you -of centuries of  preparation, secret sauces and spices. You
view your friend through golden glasses of retsina and you astonish him by turning
the water of Ouzo into the milk of life! To the devil with the business deals- do
you know how to make this food? Can you knot the stems of the ouzo soaked
cherries with your tongue?  The feathers of our wings loosen as we fly ever closer
to the gastronomic sun of Greece. Never to mind as the Greek/Turkish coffees
tell us that we shall dance through the night sleepless enough to remember it
all and maybe to creep at midnight into our own kitchen to recreate the edible
songs of the day.

Story:
Book:
X

Sip and Bite b (#- french bread on request maybe said staff.... otherwise ordinary soft bread for
                                              sandwich)
Baltimore (Boston St.)
Chicken  Pot Pie  Wednesday night
Never  closes
Music: Click Here
Phone: 410-675-7077
Address: 2200 Boston St.
              Baltimore
              21231

I blow in on the cool misty drizzle of a harbor morning
I land at sea still upon a floating dock depot next a land locked Ocean liner.
The dock  the old aluminum carry out box  folded into Deco shapes
Punctuated by welcoming soft neon signs.
A warm cozy booth beckons
A patter of Greek from the kitchen announces quality
The friendly waitresses of the morning have replaced the
Rose clutching bored tipsy maidens of the late night and their yet
again drink night hungry mates----who called plays still... over the drowsy
heads of their companions. Here in their berths they had  docked anchored
at last to good food. The still undesignated wives saving their complaints for
later years, had strangely, kindly,and, forgivingly spirited them away.
I feel to be in the depot of wondrous rants at the edge of both
harbor and town for those trains I am now too late-  I shrug -not enough money
for the retsina on the menu--a grand wine list it is indeed- I toast them all
none-the-less fervently with a glorious and  cerebral 10:30 AM
budweizer washed down with a cheese stake sub as the diner
finale's of late night ago, long,  city rants pass before my mind.
As my friend's thick ham slices dissapear he says: "nice place"
-I say: "nice home" -nice warm midnight depot of the blazing
urban rant. Now where in my suburban family bound world
can I board that train again---that illusive rosé express of the night that
liberator of the mind-stiffiner of bodies. I have however still,  found the station
- a worthy goal as from its waters edge I  see once again
the sparks of  the past. I  remember those many dances in alcoholic
slippers upon the urban landscapes of the world.

Link to Map: click here
Music:
Story:
Book:
X 

Jimmy's

Sadly this place still exists but is only a pale reminder of its former self. Prices have gone up and they refuse to sell pitchers of beer! What an insult! And an inconvenience for those wishing to linger for several hours without bothering the wait staff which has better things to do.

Baltimore (Fells Point)
Address:  Jimmy's Restaurant
                801 South Broadway
                 Baltimore, MD  21231
Phone:         (410) 327-3273
 

From discussions with locals I hear this place was once  special amongst former state politicos.
I would love to know more but could not find it there -now in its place was a rather ordinary
fast food grill  -exceedingly well lit but in possession of beer taps and pitchers. I always feel
sweaty watching waitresses in tennis shirts  and shorts--- and not for the right reasons-
too teamlike and athletic. The place looks quite new-almost plastic. If you could stick quarry tile on it well they did it!  A good place  take a non drinker  for a lunch meeting as it is not a bar or pub yet you can get a cold beer. Maybe there  is a secret which I have not received! If so please share it! It obviously was not the  cheese steak sub which was rather meatless and had a slithery limp roll! With early lunchtime time in Fells Point someting special and a treasure there are simply too many
places to go to sample the olde style atmosphere before the lunch and evening hours
bring infernal crazyness.  So I lost an hour! For the 10-1145 time slot try John Stephens
where a conetmplation over a beer with a paper and classical music is a sure cure for
most malladys! But If you know the secret of  Jimmy's please share it and I will return!

Link to Map: click here
Music:there is none !
Story:
Book:
X

Bertha's b+  #
Baltimore(Fells  Point)  Mussels
Music: Click Here for Music! (the tune of Elsie Marley song excerpts below!)

Web page: http://www.berthas.com/
Address: Bertha's Dining Room
                734 South Broadway
                 Baltimore, MD  21231
Phone:               (410) 327-5795

If I were looking for Elsie Marley I would probably
stop in at Berthas. There she'd be sittin in the corner with the
keelman and the pittman who as they say "drink bumble made from gin!"
-(Byker Hill)

Well I don't know 'bout that though. You see she had lost her money and
without money is no state to be in when you arrive at the dock of Bertha's.
But there are days and nights (and sometimes I find, whole months...) when the  world's wrath
must be treated with the cure of reckless abandonment and fiscal irresponsibility.

Once I could sit  back with a
National Boh -the only fluid priced so that you could have more than
one from the students thin billfold- now tho the billfold be thicker it buys only the foamy head of the proper dosage-Jaesus when are they going to fix the health care system!

 Some do say that life is more- than beer and they might be right. "Ask not pearls from those mussels but ask only that there be mussels and a comfortable place to eat them!". And it is a well-worn-in shoe of a place, that Bertha's.

"Elsie Marley's grown so fine
She won't get up to serve the swine
But lies in bed till eight or nine
And surely she does take her time." (Elsie Marley)

Cant lay about and enjoy Bertha's, though. The entire neighborhood
casts off its seaside London feel  at about 11:49 and becomes quite
the zoo and unless you are lookin for monkeys well then..... Its also not the good olde zoo of the port. You won't find ordinary guys
off the ships or off work from  the factory or local bakery. It's herds
of whatever convention is in town- one time it was firemen looking for
beer transfusions, mostly it's college, of the stogie and earring- "cropped headders".
Like Columbus searching for the Indies-products of the Maryland educational system that they are- they  dock in Fells Point plant their dockers on the quay And proclaim the place "Georgetown". They next   light up their cigars pull wads of green from
oversized pants pockets shout: "Where can I get rid of  all of this
pesky green paper!" -the publicans of Fells point are ready for them. But I digress....

Where was I- Yes! Board the water taxi at the Industrial Museum on the highway over near Locust Point (park and call the taxi from the phone across from the museum!). A good trick is to bring along a tape player with headphones and listen to Handel's water music! ...the taxi turns to a barge of gilt teak, your child hand feeds you fresh grapes as your wife activates the fan!...

Get to Fells Point (AKA London sans Air fare)  at 9:00A.M.  (just be sure to put the curly wig  back in the bag) -some days you can catch breakfast with Berthas or elsewhere....wander around till the taps open and get your meditation and drinking accomplished. By the way you will need one pocket for the quarters to feed the meter (that is if you arrive like a peasant) and the other full of $20's for the beer.

To tell you the truth and for the most part apart from the few
remaining locals you find early in the bars the most interesting
folk are those you find pan handling along the cobbles of Fells Point.
At Bertha's the best crowd is an exception to the rule when it arrives
for Jazz once a week. A good place to bring your child for the real music- its good and the atmosphere amazing. Nothing like a good jazz band to drown out the sucking sound of the vacuum on your wallet!
I pause in the midsection of the bar....I look up to the musical instruments hung from the ceiling and then out the door at the misty
evening and the harbor. My mind turns in the jazz note of the band to
the Southlands, to New Orleans and the mighty river. The mind sits down
upon the cotton bale but then, as I look toward the bar the contrast
grinds the gears in my cultural transmission as the cotton bale becomes a large hard lump of hard coal of coaly Tyneside-Elsie Marley's
inquirin 'bout a fag! I exchange a handful of bills for a fresh tapped
newcastle broon as Elsie  strikes up a Swan and lights the stub of a cigarette.....

Well don't know about you, but as a Peasant and Farmer I can scarce
afford to drink with Elsie at Berthas very often. And you know despite
the well pulled and handcrafted beers and the fineness of the well designed port of call, where I would truly love to spend my days, there
are no fiddles playing the music of the Coaly Tyne or even of softer
London. The beers of the peasants have been found but they are no longer to quench a peasant's thirst. They are reserved for the moneyed aspirated bankers and the investors. And that will be the failure and ultimate cause for the end of the Craft Beer/Real Ale movement.  There are no pork pies on this bar- but- for a while and while the money lasts tis...lovely for the mind.The cultural transmission  finally shifts gears, the crest of the hill, of the night, is reached but... I can't find Elsie? Not again! Was it the pc pure speech vigilantes or  the anti smoking lynch mob that's got her this time!
God! I am getting tired of those last minute rides  through the gallows crowd to cut  her free! But wait....whats this....The band is playin
that olde tune again...

Phew....close one....not as bad as I thought. Back off guys.....
I work my way through to the marble slab by the bar....she's not
dead!!!.... I tip a little of the broon from my glass into her mouth as her face contracts as a fresh conch hit with vinegar.
.....just out of money!
Quick Elsie we must be gannin...I see the fright-the anti-pan handler specter in the eyes of the crowd.....She struggles up cringing at the maddened crowd we slowly move to the door....But then...Elsie lets out a blood curdling scream as I too realize the plight which might have been....To the bathrooms !!she shrieked. For if there is one place for which the juice of the honey waggon, the highly touted organic staff of life represents sheer Armageddon it is Fells Point! And we had left home without our empty milk jugs once again! Well drained financially and
urinarily we bid the wondrous haven adieu!
"Now that's the end of my story
"Let's have another round of booze
And if anyone should ask you just tell them
I've got the St. Fells Point Pc, Inflationary, dog gone,
 in-side out-house  B l u e s! " (adap.t of St.James Infirmary)

But, we will share the 1/2 pint of Irish Whisky with the
pan handler along the block as his stories, certified
Seinfeld free give hope to humanity...

Did I mention that Bertha's mussels are wonderful! Indeed they
are that! Very good cooking is done in that thar kitchen. From
time to time my mother in law comes into town.....you know she
never forgets that credit card and we dine as kings and royalty....
And I ask of the waiter kind sir do you have any of those Eat
Berthas Mussels bumper stickers. He  replies: "sure they are over
there help yourself!" and then in front of the high altar of marketing
wonders I do, and do and do!

   "Keep your feet still Geordie Hennie
    Let's be happy through the day
    For we can not be so happy through the night!"

(adapt.Keep your Feet Still Geordie Hinny)

Remember- get outta Fells point before high noon or risk turning
into plastic!-and that would not be environmentally sound!

(hey folks there isn't anything wrong with Fells Point that a little decline in profit taking
or perhaps a little city investment in the customers-let's call it a beer enterprise zone grant, as commonly extended to wealthy hotel speculators would not cure!)

Link to Map: click here

Story:
Book:
X

City  Markets b (most bread is soft crust but there are some exceptions)

All municipal markets are open Monday through Thursday 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM; Friday and
Saturday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Closed Sunday. For more Information Click here!

A good web page: http://www.baltimoremd.com/arabber/baltmars.html

The Cross Street Market is located at 1065 S. Charles Street in the heart of Federal Hill.

Hollins Street Market, located 26 S. Arlington Street in the heart of Union Square historic
     District. The Market is closed on Monday.

Broadway Market is located at 1640 Aliceanna Street in the heart of Fells Point.

Belair Market is located at 4760 North Gay street next to Old Town Mall.

Northeast Market located at 2101 East Monument Street located north of Patterson Park.

Lafayette Market located at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Street in the
     heart of Sandtown Winchester.

Lexington Market (a privately run market) is located at Lexington and Howard streets in the
     heart of our Market Center. Hours of operation are 8:30AM to 6:00PM, Monday through
     Saturday.
 

Farmers Markets: Two wonderful farmers markets in the heart of the city = great reason to get out of bed early on the weekends.....
Web Page: http://www.bop.org/index.cfm?page=events&id=3

Bengies endangered
Chase  Drive In Theater

Web page: http://www.bengies.com/
Address: 3417 Eastern Blvd.
               Chase Md.  21220
               (near Martin St. Airport)
Link to Map: click here

Phone:        Be sure to call for house rules!
                  Features and show times:410-687-5627        In depth info:  410-686-4698
                  Box office: (twilight only)  410-686-4598

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How to Help

Absolutely....Join in!
Knock on those doors- go on in and explore and conduct research. What is the charm of the place?
What should the city fathers work to preserve? Let us know where the place is and we will add
it to the list. Fan out throughout the city -leave no stone unturned - no menu unread- no beer untapped, no story unheard!  Then send the information to us : send email

Do you have special skills which might help in putting together proposals for city funding and tax breaks? Perhaps a bit of donated legal assistance? Are you a professional photographer who could
capture the charm in image? Are you involved in the local/ regional media and would be able to
spread the word of a  friend or business in need?
If you can help let me know send email   I will maintain a listing of all those dedicated to this effort who possess professional skills. Focusing those skills will help to preserve Baltimore's Charm. How
can we possibly continue to work if it disappears? Please let me know if you wish to make your
involvement public or remain behind the scenes.

You may send me photos, your own personal studies and observations to provide the information described above at the following ordinary snail mail address:

Conrad Bladey
PO Box 268
Linthicum, Md. 21090
USA

If you let me know in  advance you can send me scanned in images via e.mail attachment.
Yes I will be willing to go out with you on a research  mission- just plan in advance. I will
not accept any free food or services from any business.
While I will accept  MAIL I will not accept any  FEE-MAIL  (that is Bills) You must pay
your own way. We must strive to be as fund less as possible . Donations of  course sent annon. to the address above will not be returned nor will they be recognized or even associated with the sender.
Checks should be made out to my daughter:
Margaret Christiana Bladey   whose college money I am eating and drinking up in this venture!
Actually any funds received will be applied to direct costs if any of maintaining this page or
conducting the documentation and visitations required for this work to proceed. We are not
a non-profit. We strive to be profit less and will offer to account for funds received.
 

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